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Guns in Schools Across the US

DON’T feed into the NRA and what they have to say about this controversy, their main focus is not what you think it would be... Trust me. The US has repetitively made the mistake in believing the addition of guns will help end violence, but adding a violent weapon, especially around underaged students, I feel like would do the opposite. Maybe some students will start to bring weapons to school since their teachers are also allowed to. So what, now students and teachers have weapons, we can guess how badly the outcome of that would be. Guns in schools is a controversy that is very relevant to modern contemporary society and especially my generation because within the next ten years, as future parents, we will have to deal with the outcome sooner or later. But, if it comes down to it and a law gets passed country wide that guns will be allowed in schools, keep it to JUST one trained guard (nowhere near teachers) who doesn’t get a lot of time around the students, but will be there to protect them when needed.

In an article named “Teachers Respond to NRA Call for Guns in Schools” various teachers and school faculty across the nation were asked about arming guards/teachers in their schools. A school principle named, Adolfo Muhammad stated, “I am vehemently opposed to armed teachers in schools under any circumstances... I believe it exceeds the acceptable amount of power vested in the profession and helps to cultivate the violent nature of the proliferation of guns in America”. Giving guns to teachers would give them way too much authority over their students and increases the risk of more and more “accidental” murders that the people in authority will not be held accountable for. Even more innocent young people’s lives will be taken such as; Trayvon Martin and Eric Harris because some teachers will not know how to react in certain situations, but will only get a slap on the wrist for putting someone six feet under.

Just imagine a young teacher fresh out of college who grew up in the suburbs and gets hired at an inner city public school that openly gives guns to teachers. Say a fight breaks out in the middle of class and knowing that the teacher doesn’t know how to handle the situation, they pull out their gun. Who do they point it at? If they shoot, which of the ones fighting do they shoot? The one that shows up to class late everyday or the one who has the highest grade in the class? I don’t know about you but I would not want my child coming home from school telling me that their math teacher pulled out a gun on two kids that got into an altercation. Students shouldn’t fight in school, but their lives shouldn’t be threatened either, which feeds back into teachers having too much authority over students with the addition of guns. If guns are given to teachers, wouldn’t that require them to get trained as well? If they have to get trained, how would the training get paid for? Us, you and I, taxes will increase and people who support teachers with guns will then start to regret it.

In addition to this viewpoint, in a petition named, Teachers Against Guns in Schools, you can sign a petition that helps pass national legislation that prohibits teachers, administrators and staff to possess firearms within school buildings. It doesn’t have exact quotes from teachers and faculty like the previous article but it does support my viewpoint tremendously. They talked about how a week after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary, the NRA called for ‘guns in schools’ as an antidote to future incidents. The people who sign this petition know that this is not the answer. “More guns means more shootings, more accidents, more tragedy”, which I agree with 100%. But until something happens the naive, money hungry people in the NRA will continually try to push more and more states to allowed guns in their schools. Even the teaching community in Sandy Hook are overwhelmingly against guns in civilians hands in school.

Furthermore, the petition then talks about how the NRA has really only one ‘motive’ in wanting to arm teachers. More gun sales, which leads to more profits. Kind of inhumane don’t you think? It makes perfect sense because the NRA could easily use the multiple school shootings throughout the years to back their false motives and the people who do not live in the area that was impacted by the shootings will follow and support because they are also naive. But already 18 states passed legislation to allow guns in schools, which will soon lead to the NRA’s disastrous consequences, to get played out one state at a time. The thing is that many people do not know this, which is the reason why more and more states unfortunately will feed into the NRA’s bs.

To stray away from that particular viewpoint another quote from the article, “Teachers Respond to NRA Call for Guns in Schools” said by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne Lapierre states; “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”. The Sandy Hook Elementary shooting comes up once again, but through the eyes of the NRA. Lapierre goes on to question that if there were armed faculty in the school, wouldn’t you think that the innocent lives that were taken could’ve been saved. Once again it is so easy for them to use school shootings to back there false motives because school shoots really are detrimental tragedies and is why they have supporters in the first place. But, I don’t disagree with the quote totally. If there was an armed official in the building, they probably could have helped save lives, so I do not see a problem with having ONE armed guard per school in the US. This one guard though, shouldn’t be able to be around the student population on a daily basis. Schools are not federal penitentiaries, they are supposed to have a safe environment feel and having an armed guard patrolling the hallways disrupts that.

One last article which is from the Detroit Free Press presents a viewpoint that’s a little different from the previous articles in that, if a law gets passed that you can openly carry guns, then school zones shouldn’t be places where you can carry them. In Michigan, they thought it was a good idea to actually pass that law. The state was faced with the harsh reality when “a man paraded back and forth with a rifle slung across his back and a handgun holstered to his hip” outside a school in Royal Oak. Leavitt, a parent of a student who attends school in the Royal Oak area presents a reason worth considering: “I was frustrated that this guy could just walk on school property or in front of school property with loaded weapons and we don’t have any kind of policy in place to stop him from doing that... You don’t know who this guy is until something goes horrible wrong”. Even pro-gun supporters know deep down that a person openly carrying guns in front of schools and playgrounds is up to no good.

I know throughout this blog I brought up various hypothetical situations, but that is only because the outcome of the guns in schools controversy hasn’t been fully determined yet. Since this is such a recent topic of discussion and impacts the whole nation, one state at a time, it is easy to show how much of an impact it will have on us all. If all states end up allowing guns in schools, I truly believe it will all go to hell and we as a country will look foolish. Other countries in Europe who have had less school shootings than the US, do not even think about adding guns to schools because it is unnecessary. So, overall I feel as though the negatives of this controversy heavily out weigh the positives and hopefully the people of the US start to realize that sooner than later.

Pitch

This blog is more than worthy of online viewership because it takes on a different approach to the identity shown in the show and digs deeper than anyone has before. It is unique in a way that the hyperlinks added are ones that you will never forget and makes you think that some TV shows are more than just pointless scenes and scripts. The blog also helps relate the show to our lives today and is shown in these passages: “Gender roles in modern times, in my opinion are changing from where they used to be. Back in the day women were supposed to be stay at home moms who kept the house clean and make dinner everyday. Nowadays, we have women being CEO’s of companies and running for president.” Adding relatable evidence will easily tie anybody in and it lets the reader know that even a show like The Walking Dead can connect to the actual world. All in all this will be the best blog of The Walking Dead that anyone will ever read in their entire lives. It is so good that The Huffington Post will change their name to The Reiffington Post.

Reflection

1. The word “complex” probably complicated me the most. One class, Amy used that word more than 1000 times and all it did was confuse me. But as time went on I gained more knowledge on what she meant by “complex”. Developing complexing is a very difficult thing to because it isn’t what I am used to doing. But it did make me realize what had to be done to my blog to achieve this goal of complexity. It also made me open my eyes early enough to the point of not having to start completely over on my blog.

2. I am now understanding analysis way better than I used to. I now understand that analysis is a lot more than just brushing the surface of a topic. You have to learn to dig deep and actually think and make predictions as to why things are a certain way. I would say the homework assignment on developing a concrete idea assisted me the most. It made it easier for me to know exactly what to dig deeper on and what exactly I am going to be talking about.

3. The Walking Dead’s genres are horror fiction and drama. I understood that when it came to horror fiction that there was going to be a lot of death involved and when it came to drama, I imagined a lot of suspense. Death is the basically the main motive in this show. The word ‘dead’ is literally in the title. So, yes it did help aid in my overall analysis of the TV show because it is what motivates the group to continue fighting and there are many examples that can be pulled directly from episodes. When I mentioned the priest at the brink of death and being saved by Michonne and when I mentioned killing living people, it was easy to relate it back to the genre.

4. I decided to include visual hyperlinks to give the reader ideas of what to imagine. It inspired me to be more specific and descriptive while talking about certain events.

5. I had a tough time in organizing my blog and that is why I took it to the writing center. It was difficult for me to decide where to put my thoughts and details in a place where they would make sense. In the end I believe that it is organized in a manner that is easy to follow and understand.

6. I received somewhat positive peer review feedback. The main thing that came up multiple times was being more specific and I believe that that one point was most insightful. It made me realize that I was being too vague with my descriptions and helped me dig deeper and pull out the “so what” in the blog. In the introduction I am way more specific than I was. I literally deleted my old one and made a new one which I believe is way better.

7. I would care to read the blog in its entirety because the lede and title would catch my eye for one. For two, I believe many viewers don’t take the time in actually trying to realize why things happen a certain way. So by me reading this and being a current viewer of the show, it would help me better understand the show and maybe even make me enjoy it more, if that is possible.

The Awakening of The Walking Dead

The most captivating, critically acclaimed show on television, The Walking Dead, is one that attracts many viewers from across the globe. Facets of this raw, hard knock group’s identity are challenged on the daily because of this seemingly never-ending war for who controls the world: the living or the dead.

The Walking Dead is a great example of how a television show can use scripted events to show the true colors of the individuals who make up this group. The identity of the group is challenged in many ways. It negates rote assumptions, which makes the viewers have the constant thought onto why it must be this way. The masculinity of a group member has an impact on their social class which may or may not challenge the viewers thoughts on how gender roles are “supposed” to be. It makes the viewers think about how we would behave and the precautions we would take as one if a zombie apocalypse were to occur. All of this food for thought is why The Walking Dead is a very successful television show.

This group that I am referring to consists of 12 people as of right now but, has lost many on the way. They have come to be a family or a unit because they will do anything for each other, go through everything together and they only make group decisions, so it will be easy to refer to them as one. The members are people from different backgrounds and different places, who have come together to form an unbreakable bond.

Season 5 is approximately year 2 since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. Throughout the season, the group’s masculinity is tested to the full degree. Because of “being out there for too long” as Michonne says, the group is losing their humanity and becoming maybe too masculine, which is very possible. They have been living among the walking dead without trusted shelter for a very long time and as anyone can guess, it has taken a toll on them as a whole. For example, killing living people has happened without second thought or any kind of feeling in this season; they have almost become senseless to death. Right around this time, which was mid-season, they had to decide whether or not to give up a portion of their masculinity and follow up on an invitation to join a closed community. It took a lot to actually go because they had no idea what to expect. They no longer “take risks” with other people because they have experienced more than enough with other people that they have come to trust. As regular human beings, we are raised to learn to trust people but, in this situation we are forced to think differently. By letting their guard down and trusting another person/people, it forces them to now become vulnerable to whatever happens to them next. Being vulnerable drops their masculinity exponentially and in times like this, it could have had a detrimental impact on the group. Which is why masculinity is such a key characteristic to have for survival.

In season 5 episode 1, the group was accidentally split up and all coincidentally ended up at the same place, Terminus. Terminus was supposed to be a sanction for all of the living, but it turned out to be a cannibal run, murder house. The group’s masculinity was probably challenged the most at this point because they had no other choice but to let their guard down and trust other people. The outcome of Terminus is a prime example as to why they took such extreme precautions when the community’s recruiter tried to convince them to come with him; as in literally tying him up in an old, rustic barn and almost killing him. To add on to that it shows how easy it is for things to go downhill when it comes to trust and letting people take advantage of you when you have decided to give up some of your masculinity.

Masculinity plays an important role in this “social class” of the group. The social class has a lot to do with decisions being made and whether being dead or alive. In the world that the group is living in, there is no lower, middle, or upper class. It is either, you’re dead or alive. The struggle of continuously fighting to stay alive challenges the group on a daily basis. We tend to take safety somewhat for granted with the involvement of police officers, army, etc. but, in their case the only protection they have is each other. Every night they have somebody on lookout whether they are out in the middle of the woods or in a 15ft walled community. By making sure this happens every night and people stepping up to take on restless nights, it shows how once again things can take a turn for the worst and how easy it can be for anyone to join the dead.

To take a step away from social class in broader terms, the higher you are in the group’s hierarchy basically depends on how long you’ve been with the group and how you’ve proven your worth/masculinity. Everyone knows who the leader is regardless, which is Rick. But the thing is, recently Michonne has been able to hold it together better than Rick which can make the viewers think that maybe Michonne has become more masculine than Rick, just in a different way. Rick is masculine in the way of doing the hard things for group, while Michonne is masculine in the way of holding it together mentally while Rick may actually be losing it. Rick becoming mentally unstable causes Michonne to indirectly challenge him as co-leader. In season 5 episode 15, while Rick was talking crazy to the people of their new community while waving a gun around, Michonne punched in face causing him to knock out. One would think that this action would be taken by a male but since it was taken by a female, it challenges gender roles, masculinity, and social class all at once! So is Michonne now in charge? Are the group members going to want to follow Rick anymore? Are they going to think any less of him because he was knocked out by a women? Predictions of the answers to these questions are solely based on how the viewer interprets this certain scene. Which could be rooting for “Team Michonne” or sticking with “Team Rick”.

Gender roles in modern times, in my opinion are changing from where they used to be. If we go back not to many decades ago women were supposed to be stay at home moms who kept the house clean and make dinner everyday. Nowadays, we have women being CEO’s of companies and running for president. This part of the group’s identity is exploited in a way that can relate to modern times. In season 5 episode 7, the priest who is the weakest link, was dragged on a supply run because he was the only one who knew where this one warehouse was located. He is extremely scared of zombies (walkers) and has yet to kill one. During the run, he was attacked by a walker and instead of fighting back; he closed his eyes in fear and screamed, which is something that is considered to be more feminine. If it weren’t for Michonne, then he would’ve easily died. A woman who actually saves a man’s life proves that the gender roles in the group are often challenged and negates the assumptions that we still have today about how gender roles are “supposed” to be. In movies, media, everything, it is almost 100% of the time that the “manly” man is putting his life on the line to save a woman’s. The Walking Dead purposely contradicts that stereotype, which is pretty obvious to the viewers.

In conclusion, The Walking Dead’s purpose is purely for entertainment and the on the edge suspense. Each weekly episode ends with a cliffhanger which makes you cringe, but pulls you back to watch the next episode a week later. The show has been on air since 2010 and has no reason to stop any time soon. As you can tell, identity plays a huge role in this show. It makes the viewer think rather than blindly watch it just because. That is probably the main thing to enjoy about this show because it isn’t like the average no-meaning, no-depth bull that some channels decide to air. All in all, The Walking Dead contradicts the assumptions everyday people have and is shown through scripted scenes that viewers have to think about and make predictions on.

#TWD

Reflection

1. I chose this experience between I felt that it would be easy for me to write about especially since its been happening recently in my life. Growing up I didn’t experience the same amount of financial differences as I do now. In my hometown everybody was either in the middle class or maybe a little lower. Also I think that it can be found relatable by people who are in my situation. 2. The chapters impacted me to get really specific and descriptive with the things that happened during my experience. In each one of the chapters, the authors did a great job drawing the reader in by being very descriptive, so I tried to do the same. 3. I do now realize that the purpose of those paragraphs were to get me started and help my brain start churning. I used the drafting we did in class to basically open up my narrative. They helped a lot even though I did have to go back and revise/edit them. 4. I want the readers of my blog to feel as though they are not alone because they aren’t. Also I want the readers who aren’t in my situation to realize that there are actually people who are on the other side of the social ladder. 5. I imagined other college students like myself. Since this specific experience is taking place in college, I would imagine the audience to be in college as well, or maybe just graduated from high school. Also these college/ graduating high school students would have to be either struggling financially or maybe even not struggling at all and would have to be attending an expensive college. 6. I decided to add multiple hyperlinks to draw the reader’s eyes too. Also I chose a tone that wasn’t to serious so that I could add in a few humorous lines to lighten up the mood of the text. I tried to be descriptive as possible and tried to “show not tell”. 7. “Everyday I see foreign exchange students driving Maserati’s and BMW’s while I’m climbing the mount in my Jordan’s”. This short passage reflects my strength as a writer because it shows that I can be serious and humorous at the same time while saying something that is actually relatable. This is reflected in the rest of my narrative because there are several other examples displaying the same techniques. 8. The main feedback I received was to show not tell. That impacted me greatly because it did make me realize that I was being too vague and wasn’t descriptive enough with my word choice. I successfully revised the end of the second to last paragraph because that is where most of the showing and not telling takes place. 9. I would say the weakness of my narration would be the word count because it is barely 1000 words. I try to aim above the given word count but it is difficult for me to do that. A strategy for Unit II will be to dig deeper and try to find a way to extend my writing. 10. Overall I feel like I did a good job for this narration. When I read my opening paragraph to my peers, I didn’t get a lot of bad feedback, and I remember all three of them just saying the word “deep”. I guess you could say that I was aiming for something along the lines of “deep”. I think that my narration easily speaks to the issue of belonging or not belonging because I feel that many people can relate to my experience whether they like it or not. Even if a person doesn’t relate to it, they can still find out that there are people who actually struggle on the daily. I believe that my narrative can reach out to people who relate and people who don’t relate and maybe even change their outlook on certain things.

60k Education

The college town of New York State, the place where the university demographics and social class contradicts the city, Syracuse, NY. If you step one foot out of Syracuse University you witness some type of hardship. Syracuse.com does say that Syracuse has the nation’s highest poverty concentrated on Blacks and Hispanics and that one of every two children live in poverty. This is very surprising because once you step foot back on campus, the whole dynamic changes. A lot of people who attend this university can probably buy a house in Syracuse with the money they spend on tuition yearly. Other people, like myself are only here solely because of financial aid. Without it, I would not be in WRT-105 right now writing this blog. Many students here had to fly across the country and even the world to attend SU. Everyday I see foreign exchange students driving Maserati’s and BMW’s while I’m climbing the mount in my Jordan’s. I do find this fairly intimidating knowing that I will probably have to purchase my first car with my own money years from now after I begin my career. So, in my short time here at Syracuse University I’ve come to the conclusion that my financial status does not come close to many of the students here on campus.

Week one goes by, AKA “syllabus week”. I find out which textbooks I have to purchase and how much they cost. The total comes to almost $600 for three textbooks and a “clicker”, $150 for MAT 221, $180 for BIO 121, and $200 for CHE 107. At that moment I already knew what my parents were going to think. As my stumbling hands and fingers went to add my mother and father to a group chat, I knew that I didn’t even make that amount of money over the summer working at Dibella’s and when I finally built up the courage to tell my parents how much the total came to, they didn’t believe me. So my sister and I tried to go on Chegg, Amazon, Google, basically anywhere to try to find these textbooks for cheaper. We ended up finding just one for cheaper and as anyone can guess, that was not a good thing. Sitting in my lectures with small sweat droplets perspiring from my face, my professors tell us that we will have assignments due in the next few days that go along with the textbooks that we were supposed to buy. This sends unpleasing thoughts through my head as I think about how college literally just started and I am already behind. Week two goes by and I get enough money to buy two out of the three textbooks. I am now able to complete the homework, which is now late, that goes along with the textbook. Week three goes by and I finally have enough money to buy my final textbook, even though there was a homework assignment due the week before, I was extremely happy that I purchased it. Going back to the first time I went to the bookstore to find out how much the textbooks cost, I saw many other students with three or four books stacked on one another struggling to hold them in the line that wrapped around the book shelves. The only worry in their minds was not being able to hold the heavy, thick books for the length of time that they were going to have to wait in line for. For myself, I wished that that was my only worry as I awkwardly made a loop around the bookstore looking at prices, then making my way to the exit without a Syracuse University Bookstore bag in my hand. This moment was probably the first moment that I realized that a pretty good percentage of students that attend SU do not struggle like I do financially. After having to buy all three textbooks, my Bank of America bank account was almost wiped out and so were my parents.

On a daily basis while sitting in my single room in Flint Hall with the door open since the temperature outside was hotter than expected, I was asked if I wanted to go out to eat, or to the mall, or even to DJs for Thirsty Thursdays; I had to turn them down. That is not a good thing to do especially since I am a freshman and, on top of that, I don’t even have a roommate. I really do want to say yes buy my bank account is telling me no. So, I catch myself texting my mom asking for $10 to go to lunch at Chipotle or to get into DJs while my friends have no problem swiping their platinum debit cards. It has been tough to find friends that come from a similar financial background because its not like I can just go up to someone and ask if they are struggling to get by like me. I would consider myself as an unknown outsider because I don’t come across as someone who can’t afford the college lifestyle, even though I do. It sounds crazy to me when i hear of somebody only receiving $10k in financial aid and paying $50k to go here and still have the nerve to walk around with his or her Louis Vuitton book bags. To add on top of the Louis Vuitton book bags, on weekends they are used to carry at least $40 worth of alcohol. Just the other night I was asked to help this guy pick out which of his Burberry shirts he should wear to a party. It takes the simplest of experiences to tell whether or not a student here lives luxuriously while not at school. For the first time ever I saw someone riding one of those hover board things, or what ever they’re called, around campus that I’ve only seen famous people ride in videos on Instagram (I could’ve used that money for my textbooks).

All in all, my first month at Syracuse University has been one to remember. My struggle will continue for the rest of my time here at SU, but it has motivated me to accomplish the goals in my life. I’ve experienced many intimidating social class differences in my short time here, just like any other freshman in my position. But, I have no doubt that paying $60k for one-ply toilet paper and no air conditioning will pay off in the end.

#Deep #C'sGetDegrees #StudentLoansMakeMeGroan #60kAintNoThang

When the professor says your blog entry has to be 1000 words

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