Inquiry Project

For my inquiry project I am interested in researching the topic of health education in the school systems. Something else I would like to touch upon is the teachings of sex education and nutrition to high schools students and even younger.

Something that makes me want to touch upon sex ed and the fact that it seems like health is always a joke, at least in my experience and many other people I talk to. Health class was always given only because it was required and a way to lessen up the space in gym glasses. In any case, the other day in my Study of Human Diseases class we talked about Sexually Transmitted Infections and it was brought to my attention how little my classmates knew about the topic. At the beginning of the class we had a group activity in which each group was assigned a STI, they would have to write symptoms, treatments, preventions and anything else that goes along with that. It was obvious that there were few students who knew the topics very well and many who knew nothing more then the fact that they didn't want the disease. I have always found sex ed interesting because as a young person I think it's incredibly important to know what kinds of diseases are out there and ways to protect yourself. It's also important to know how to deal with your life if God forbid you do get some type of disease. Getting back to my project, the example I gave from class just shows how little schools are teaching about sex ed and how to protect and take care of yourself. The average teen loses their virginity around age 16, this means that sex ed in the high school education should be absolutely more in depth. Also, the United States is known to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates, why is this you may ask? Perhaps it's because teens need to have a better understanding of what can happen to them and how to prevent it, if they do have this education and background I think that this rate would eventually diminish and things would change.

Another topic that interests me in the health education aspect is the talk of nutrition, another way teens should be told how to take care of themselves. Being raised in a house that did not enforce proper eating habits I am now not proud to say I am a 20 year old woman who does not eat a lick of fruits or vegetables. Now I am currently reaping the disadvantages of unhealthy eating habits in my health and overall well being. That being said I think it should be throughly enforced to teens and younger students how they should be nourishing their bodies and things that would help better their overall health. Considering America's pediatric obesity rate has been on the rise, one might assume that the government would take notice and perhaps try and educate it's school students so that bad habits will change.

After class thoughts

In class today for those who were not there, we had a very interesting conversation about how democracy and "idiocy" plays a part in the classroom. Many times in the class I found myself being reminded of my school experiences.

I pride myself on being lucky to the fact that I went to an exceptional high school and had many exceptional teachers. Although as we all know there are always kinks in the chain. My freshman year I had a physics teacher who was horrible, let me clarify. He spoke to us as if we were "kids", and had no problem referring to us, as well as our parents on back to school night as kids. That was red flag number one for me. Also he taught in a way in which he thought that everyone knew exactly what he's talking about, even though physics is a hard subject in it's own, he didn't seem to explain the concepts as much as he should have. This being said, about 75% of my class was failing. Once this was brought to the attention of the administration he was fired. Naturally it took the rest of the year to find someone else, but the students were told that our teacher "was not offered another job for the upcoming school year." So in my situation I felt lucky that my administration as well as the people around me saw that there was a problem that was large enough and had to be handled.

Also we talked about the fact of conforming to what we are told to be. At which I brought up the song "American Idiot" by Green Day. I think that this song is fantastic at getting a certain message across. That message being that we don't need to conform and that we all should have a mind of our own and use it! It's also comforting for me to know that I finally have been in classes were I feel, as well as other students, not shy to speak our mind. I feel like the biggest difference from high school to college was the fact that teachers are actually interested in your opinion and not necessarily how much information we can memorize. I also remember the first few weeks of school raising my hand to be excused for the ladies room, and the teacher telling me that I didn't have to ask and just go. I was shocked when I first heard that. For me college has been a learning experience for myself and how I think. I feel like my critical thinking skills have increased so much I can't even recognize my own thoughts.

One thing I wish to accomplish in the future if I teach is the encouragement of free expression and critical thinking. I feel like the school systems will be much better if they promote the students to critical think.

Babel

For my Global Issues class I had to watch and make a presentation on the movie "Babel." Many people only know this movie because Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are in it. Despite the fact that two famous actors were in this movie, I would highly recommend anyone to watch it. The issues that it tackles are ones to take notice to and ponder on.

Quick summary, the story has four different scenarios of four very different types of people that we find out to be in some way, shape, or form connected. There are a few major topics that this movie addresses, one of the main ones being language(also concerning communication). There are many subtitles but it barely effects the flow of the movie. Other things that the movie covers are stereotypes of people and also diversity in cultures. It also tackles the topics which are very current to what's going on, terrorism and immigration. Mind you, these are very broad topics that to people who haven't seen the movie mean nothing, but hopefully to the people who have watched the movie, you can give me some feedback on what you think about the topics that I got out of the movie.

Parker Reading Assignment

"This buzzing variety does not exist at home, or in
churches, temples, or mosques either. It exists in public
places where diverse people are thrown together, places
where people who come from numerous private worlds
and social positions congregate on common ground."

I think that this quote answers the question of who has access to education. Although it does not specifically say who is getting education, it shows that our schools are diverse and that our schools have students with many types of different backgrounds.

Walking into a school in many parts of the United States you will see through the halls that our country truly has the most diverse population in the world. You can also look at our schools for a basic, broad look into what goes on in our society. Since many people in the States have gone through public education it is fair to say that the professional world starts at the schools. Exactly what I’m trying to say is that it is important that people take a hard look at our schools and specifically public education because it shapes what is to come for tomorrow. Many people may sometimes forget how diverse our population is, but it is important to remember that there is not only one type of people in our society.

In direct answers for the question of who exactly is taking advantage of our education, you can not simply say that it’s just one gender, race, culture etc. It is clear that our schools contain so many different types of people it’s hard to narrow it down to one single population. What we can say about who is getting educated though, is that while they are learning the curriculum being taught by education they are at the same time being taught from their fellow students about how diverse our world truly is.

Women and the Family

Quote from Parker reader that I would like to respond to on my own.

"As society grows more complicated,” she continued,
“it is necessary that woman shall extend her sense of

responsibility to many things outside of her own home if

she would continue to preserve the home in its entirety."

This quote could have many different types of interpretations. You could see it as, the woman should branch out of the house and try to gain responsibilities other places, but at the same time remain the sanity of the house. You can also see it as the author saying that it is time for women to not be in the house and getting out and making a name for herself. After reading the quote over and over I can't seem to think which one I believe to be true. This is where I open up a question to my fellow classmates, what exactly jumps out at you when you read this quote?

haiku time

Life is so crazy

Between school, work and "fun time"

Where has the time gone?

For those who don't understand my blatant point that I'm trying to get across, my life is incredibly hectic. I am a full time student taking 15 credits (of classes that are quite time consuming as well as challenging) work 2 part time jobs (I work as a physical therapy aide also at a tanning salon) which takes up about 30 more hours of my week, and try to juggle having a "full time" boyfriend as well :) Sometimes it seems like I need more hours in the day just to have time to myself and breathe. I also seem to forget that I can't spread myself to thin because ultimately I need to make myself #1, and obviously lately I have been slacking considering my nose is dripping as we speak (not true, but it might as well be), and I sound more like a guy than I do a girl.

Seriously, where has the time gone???? It's October already, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I only have two years left of undergrad, pending I get my act together and finish all my classes on time. Also this time of year brings me to think about my relationship with my boyfriend Tom. On the 26th of this month we will have officially been together for 4 years. Mind you we both are only 20. So this means that we have spent almost a fifth of our lives together...that's nutty. People always ask me among other things, "Why aren't you experiencing life?" "Go out and meet new people." The way I see it, is that I'm happy. Ultimately isn't that what we are all reaching to achieve...happiness? Well at least I am. And as long as I'm happy why would I change a thing?

Now that I'm done with going off on a tangent, hopefully you will all realize exactly how crazy my life is :)