This is the third blog to my TED talk. I wanted to branch out and select different issues in society that can relate to people not speaking out. According to a survey taken by The National Institute of Justice, in July 2000 around 6 million men and women were victims of domestic violence. With these statistics, how many acts of domestic violence took place in public? How many people have seen the aftermath of a domestic violence victim at work, school, or in the general public? Of those groups, how many people took a stand and spoke out to help the person? Judging from the “bystander affect”, many say nothing. The “bystander effect” refers to a situation where the larger the crowd is, the less likely someone will step in and help. Many have to question why this would occur. People feel that others will step in. This is called the diffusion theory. Another answer to the bystander effect is the more people around not saying anything leaves the rest of the people to think that there is nothing wrong. With both of these explanations, I am not too sure what to think. I would guess the more people around the more confidence others would have to speak out. Wrong.
In a hidden camera series on ABC titled, What Would You Do? news anchor, John Quinones, puts the “bystander effect” theory to the test. The results are surprisingly alarming. Here they use two female actresses; one white and one black. The white woman is shown first with her abusive boyfriend telling at her then grabbing her arm. After seeing the domestic violence takes place; a man and his wife stand up for the woman. After the couple stands up for the victim the producer asked the couple, why they stepped in; their answer was not surprising. In the next experiment a black woman is then put in place and like the last scene her boyfriend starts yelling at her and grabs her arm. The boyfriend then walks out, and two women come to her rescue. When looking at this clip with the black woman present, pay close attention to the white man in the background. He looked to me like he knew something was wrong but just sat there and did nothing. I left the link at the bottom so you can see for yourself.
Therefore, the question arises again; Why do people walk by when things do not seem right, and refuse to speak out? The paragraphs above, is one theory to explain the reasoning behind why people just walk by, but I do not think those reasons are good enough. If you were to ask people what they would do if they saw someone in trouble, no one would hesitate to say help them but; very few do. There is a song by Tommy Shane Steiner titled What if She’s An Angel. The lyrics highlight different situations that people are confronted with and what to think about. The song has a very inspirational message, which may play in your mind when different situations arise. Maybe you will think twice after hearing what he has to say. Feel free to initiate conversation and ask questions that may come to mind after watching and listening to both clips; it will help me a lot.

http://youtu.be/Tuv2RKJmXn4
http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/

BOE vs EARLS

Being a former high school athlete and involved in the student government, I find it very hard to be for or against a drug policy in schools. I think applying a drug policy for all students would be the best option if they were going to enforce the policy at all. A school’s number one priority is to keep students safe. Is implementing a drug policy a good measure for keeping school safe? I found an article that related to this topic showing firsthand accounts of what students thought about a drug policy implemented in their school. Looking at the quotes from various students provided in this article, many students felt like Lindsay and James to the point that it violated their privacy, which the fourth amendment protects. I disagree with the students to an extent. What is the big deal of drug testing? If you are not doing drugs then you should have no problem taking the test. The drug test policy, as I have discussed in our implications piece is set in place for safety reasons not for punishment. The drug test points out the problem so the school can then help the student's get off the drugs. If a student is doing drugs and tests positive, then the school and the student are both breaking the law right. Enforcing the drug policy would be a good choice because it could prevent kids from using drugs in school. The DARE program can only reach a small group of people.
In contrast, the drug test policy can also be bad thing. The drug test policy only tests for illegal drugs letting the students find other means of getting high. Bottom line is this, if a child is doing drugs they are not going to worry about being caught, or whom it will affect. I think that Earl and James were doing drugs and needed to buy time by taking this case to court. Another reason the two students may have taken their case so far could be that they wanted to be noticed for a radical idea by going against the school. Why do people have to be so liberal all the time? Instead of asking questions on how schools do things, students should try to weigh the pros and cons of every argument then go from there. Another reason I would be against drug testing in public schools would be the cost effect of meaningless tests if there were no real drug problem. Another article I read was on how drug policies were proven to have no correlation with drug use rates decreasing when the policy was in place. Another case where I would disagree with the drug test policy would be a case such as this one; a student is involved in different programs and uses drugs. The student is kicked off the team because he tests positive. Intern, the student starts to use drugs even more just to cope with the loss. There has to be a better way when dealing with students who do drugs. The reason why people in general do drugs is to elude their reality. The school along with the parents should work together to see what void the student is trying to fill by doing drugs and fix that instead of kicking them off a team were they feel accepted in the “real world”. Overall, I think this is a very controversial case with good points on both ends of the argument.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1545.a01.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2138399/

TED TALK#2

Last Wednesday, we were asked to write what we plan on talking about in our TED talks. I had two ideas in mind one death and why we never talk about it until it happens, and why don’t people speak out when things do not seem right. Keeping the very taboo death and not speaking out topics, one name came to mind. Kitty Genovese for those of you not familiar with her she was raped and beaten to death because bystanders heard the woman’s screams but did nothing. If I am correct, one person yelled out to the attacker to get away from the women so the attacker ran off but later returned to finish her off. After the death of Kitty Genovese it came out that many people heard the woman’s cries for help but chose to keep silent. With this story in mind, I started searching through my Google reader account and found this blog post written by Vicki Bell to her daughter in reaction to the recent suicide of the Rutgers’s student who killed himself after a tape was posted on the internet of him having sex with another male. Her words really hit home in so many ways. I wanted to talk about this because she did the right thing in a bad situation. What Vicki says to her daughter can relate to us all in the future teacher profession or any role in life for that matter. We should send this message to our children in the classroom as she did to her own child. Judging from the movies we watch in class students may not have role models like Vicki at home so we should become their safe haven. Vicki Bell tells her daughter there is “nothing that can ruin your life forever. NOTHING.” This quote should be shared with everyone. People should always keep this in mind when they approach a situation that does not seem right. Do not walk away. Act on it and speak out. Far too often people do not feel they have others to turn to and if they just had that one person to talk to or save them that would have made all the difference. I plan to use Vicki Bells letter and Kitty Genovese story in my TED talk as prime examples of what and what not to do in horrible situations such as the two listed above.
As stated in her letter to her daughter people do not see the big picture until the dreaded aftermath occurs. Is this why people do nothing when they see someone fighting with a spouse, or children fighting in the streets? Is today’s society too worried about the now that they do not think things through and see the whole picture. Kitty Genovese story dates back to 1964 and there are lots of stories just like hers out there, that being said, maybe it is a vicious cycle that needs to be broken. Many of us say we would do something but very few of us do when the occasion arises. Saying things and actually doing something are two different things. I plan to uncover reasons why people do not speak out. We can only use the scared or minding my own business cards so many times. Today people can call 911 anyomously with no penalty and send help, but few do. Why? Put yourself in that person’s shoes it could be you. Would you want people to help you if you were in trouble? Then why not do the same for a stranger. Let us flip roles and do this hypothetical what if your family member were accused in a harsh crime would you turn them in. If you answered No, that could be another reason why so many people do not report crime. I encourage you all to read this blog post and tell me your reactions to it and why. You can find this post on http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2010/10/nothing-ruins-your-life-forever.html then click on the underlined purple “this post by Vicki Bell”. This woman is a true inspiration we should all try her way of thinking in our own lives. The world would be a much better place from it.

So here it goes, I was going to do a blog on cooking in college and how it could actually be fun. I thought I try and save you guys the boredom. After reading Professor Hall’s blog post on everyone’s generation having his or her moments; I could not help but think a lot of our country’s memorable moments where life threatening and how those sudden changes made everyone open their eyes even if it was just for that brief moment. JFK was killed and the country mourned. We can all relate to 9/11 when two planes crashed into the world trade center leaving the country in devastation and shock. The country mourned again. Why is it that once death peaks its ugly head do we try to hang on to that one moment we spoke to our classmate who died in a car crash or why we did not see our loved one in the hospital? If you are guilty of this, you are not alone. I always think I could have done something, or I should have said that. I know everyone can remember where he or she was on that September day. How many of you thought to call love ones and tell them you love them? On the other hand, how many of you were actually a little bit nicer the week after everything happened? I always say things to late or say nothing at all. Okay so what I am getting at here is this; why do people have to wait for tragic events to say what they really feel or take a chance and really start living? What is living? Well the web dictionary states that life is a noun and is defined “the existence in the physical world”. Living is an adjective and is defined as “having a life not dead or nonexistent” How many of us can actually say they are “living” everyday to the fullest? I am going to challenge you to write a simple and obtainable goal for yourself that can be reached in a week. Do not go crazy start out small. For example, I plan to start to read a new book this week other then my assigned textbooks. Here is a YouTube clip I hope will inspire one of you to start thinking about both long term and short term goals. Get out and do something. “Life is too short to put off today what you can do tomorrow.” With all of that said, I was thinking about incorporating some of these things into my TED talk, what do you think. Too much? Too risky? Let me know. Thanks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tjYoKCBYag