The Bullying Epidemic.

A blog I follow called Single Dad Laughing (SDL at www.danoah.com) recently posted a series of highly personal memoirs. They are some the author's personal experiences with bullying throughout his life. There are 15 in total and can be read here. Be warned, it's a long read if you go through all of them, and they're explicit at times.

This video was included at the end:





I'd like to extend the broad discussion of bullying to this blog. You don't even need to go read the memoirs to add to this conversation. We have a lot of posts citing specific bullying incidences due to controversy surrounding homosexuality and race. Are these the only two bases for hate crimes? What else are people intolerant of? What kinds of people bully and what leads them to do it? What can we do about it?

What draws me into this discussion are the poll numbers SDL cited at the beginning of his memoirs. He wrote:


"I tested the waters. I placed a very unscientific poll on my blog and asked my readers to “check all statements that apply to you now or in the past.” I let it run for 48 hours, curious to see what the results would be. At the end of two days, more than 22,000 different users participated. It was by far the most involvement I’d ever had in a poll. But far more shocking than the number of participants was the result of the poll.

43% of participants reported they had been bullied “viciously.”
64% of participants reported they had been bullied “minorly.”
27% of participants reported they had been a bully to others.
48% of participants reported they had seen others being bullied and done nothing.
57% of participants reported they had seen others being bullied and stepped in.
And only 0.6% of participants reported that they had never bullied, been bullied, or seen bullying."

These numbers surprised and shocked me. I can't think of any time when I've been bullied - or even witnessed bullying. I do vividly remember trying to turn my friends against someone I disliked in elementary school once (we'd leave this girl out of our games and talk amongst ourselves about how 'uncool' she was). It lasted about 4 days before my teacher sat me down and was very blunt with me - I didn't realize how cruel I'd been until then. I never did anything like it intentionally again. Was I a bully? I think so. Did it stem from a fear of people who are different from me? I'm not sure.

What are your thoughts? What have your personal experiences been with bullying? Does all bullying stem from misunderstanding of 'diversity'?

Alabama Immigration Bullies Schoolchildren

Immigration laws in Alabama are taking a toll on those who deserve it least: children.

Here is an article, posted by USA Today, about how Hispanic families are afraid to send their children to school in a time when the state is cracking down on illegal immigrants of all ages. For the first time, children enrolling in school are required to provide an American birth certificate, or else some proof of their legal status. Even the children who were born and raised in the U.S., but have parents who were not, fear the questions and suspicion they face from the school system. Some families are even relocating, as is illustrated in this video posted at cnn.com.

The United States prides itself on being a nation of security, so why are we forcing our most innocent demographic to hide like fugitives? Young kids shouldn’t have to live in a state of fear, worrying that one wrong move or a slip of the tongue will get them and/or their families deported. No child should feel they cannot even get a basic public education in a safe environment.

This isn’t just a failure on the part of the sate of Alabama, but on the U.S. as a whole. For too long the issue of immigration has swept under rugs. Legislatures have shuffled the rules around and made small, virtually insignificant passes at trying to control the situation, when in fact an entire overhaul of the immigration process has been in order for decades. I’m not suggesting there is an easy solution here – there definitely isn’t- but I don’t feel enough effort has been made to examine the issue. The immigration system is complicated and broken, but the last thing we should be doing is scaring people into submission, especially kids.

Hiring Locally for Farm Work Is No Cure-All

Here is a fascinating article about a farmer in Colorado who figured he could hire less foreign workers and replace them with local workers who were out of jobs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/us/farmers-strain-to-hire-american-workers-in-place-of-migrant-labor.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

I found the following paragraph telling:

Six hours was enough, between the 6 a.m. start time and noon lunch break, for the first wave of local workers to quit. Some simply never came back and gave no reason. Twenty-five of them said specifically, according to farm records, that the work was too hard.

It's important to note that these workers were all getting paid $10.50 per hour. Despite the Great Recession it appears as if we still need guest workers.

"The N Word"

This an article I found that shows how a light hearted morning show can get very tense with the use of one offensive word. While reporting a story, Barbara Walters says "the N word", in the exact same context that Whoopi Goldberg said it just seconds before. A fellow host, Sherri Shepherd, gets very uncomfortable when she hears a white person say it, as opposed to a black person. Shepherd goes on to say that she uses "the N word" with her friends and does not mind when black people use it but "When white people say it, it brings up feelings in me." I find it interesting that two people can say the exact same word in the exact same context, but if one is white, the word becomes offensive. Whoopi points out that it is only the older people that have a problem with the word, that teenagers now just do not care. I like how Whoopi says "Let's not pretend that this isn't part of the fabric of America." Racism is very much a part of the American past and present, but we should try to not let it affect our future.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/barbara-walters-n-word-view_n_992656.html

Race Issues Penetrate Religious Event

I was watching "Inside Mecca", a documentary about the Islamic pilgrimage that Muslims make to Mecca. The pilgrimage and subsequent days of worship is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. You would expect such a large and awesome religious gathering to inspire feelings of acceptance and peace from the gatherers. However, this documentary shows that not even religious gatherings are immune to prejudice or segregation.

Watch from 6:33 - 9:12 and then 33:33 - 35:20.



It is important to note that only Muslims are allowed into this religious gathering. Earlier in the documentary, it is stated that 80% of Muslims are converts. However, the woman from Texas is a victim of some racial profiling. As seen in the video, some Muslims there still expect to see an Arab muslim, and have a difficult time adjusting to seeing a white muslim. Earlier in the video, she tells how she needed to have extra documentation to prove that she was Muslim to sign up for the pilgrimage, since her name doesn't sound like a Muslim name.
The Muslim from South Africa also feels out of place because of his race. At the Hajj, the travelers are divided into sleeping areas by the region that they came from. The black man from South Africa also endured many comments because of his race, so he decided to worship in another region's area because he fit in better though. We had watched a video in class and had talked a little about the segregation that just happens in certain areas - how the whites band together in one neighborhood, the Latinos in another area, etc. Interesting to see how that "natural" segregation happened even at this religious event.

Increased Poverty in Latin American Children

An interesting article posted in The New York Times indicates that poverty of Latino children outnumber impoverished white children within the US. This is pretty shocking because the Latin American population only makes up 16% of the entire population in the US. Interesting statistics to look at and the explanation of the author is even better. If you are interested go ahead and take a look at the link below.

"Hispanic Children in Poverty Exceed Whites, Study Finds" by Sabrina Tavernise

The most ambitious social experiement to alleviate poverty in our lifetime

Pay close attention to how cultural and structural factors are talked about in this video.

Racism in Hawai'i

I was looking up racism against Polynesians in America and actually ran into racism against whites in Hawai'i. Since people usually don't hear about prejudices towards whites I thought this would be interesting to share with the class. I know many Polynesians, Hawaiian's in particular, that are racist towards whites. Often times I think they grow up with that perspective. With our history with whites it's easy to not like them. I didn't think racism was this bad in Hawai'i and still don't feel it's really like that. I've read blogs and articles where whites feel unsafe in Hawai'i or hesitant in coming and I'm pretty shocked. I've never read such negative things about Hawai'i. Wondering if anyone has experienced this or have anything to share.

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2009/fall/prejudice-in-paradise

I was also wondering about the concern about Kamehameha Schools. People feel that it is considered as discrimination or segregation to have schools of Hawaiian ancestry. The story behind the schools is that Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (long story made short) left her money for these schools for good education of the Hawaiian children. Shouldn't her wishes (made around 1884) be considered and recognized even in this modern day?

http://www.discriminations.us/2006/12/in-paradise-“diversity”-means-no-whites/

I feel that a lot prejudices stated are connected closely with our history.

The Culture of Poverty Debate

Gay Parents Bashed

What would you do observes how people react to gay parents with children being harassed by a waitress.

This takes place in a small conservative town in Texas which is very family oriented. I assumed that the reactions would be very different than they were. I thought more people would be judgmental. I was pleasantly surprised and even brought to tears by the kindness and understanding of the most unlikely people in this restaurant.

I have a lot of respect for the two main men in this video. They both represent what I feel is the ideal Christ-like person.

My personal opinion about gay parents raising children? I am all for it. There are enough kids in this world with no parents who need homes and need love. Love from two moms or two dads is still love, there is no difference. It will absolutely not "make them grow up to be gay", that is just ridiculous.

Also ridiculous, how there are apparently still states in this nation that allow discrimination against homosexuals in public places. If you have thought that sexual orientation wasn't a human rights issue up until now, please reconsider.

As you watch this video truly ask yourself how you would react in this situation. I hope that we could all be that voice of kindness, love and tolerance. As is said in the video, "Silence is the only failure".

What Would You Do / Racism In America

Do racism and discrimination still exist? Here are a couple of videos that try to answer this:

Universities Seeking Out Students of Means

Universities Seeking Out Students of Means
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: September 21, 2011

Money is talking a bit louder in college admissions these days, according to a survey to be released Wednesday by Inside Higher Ed, an online publication for higher education professionals.

More than half of the admissions officers at public research universities, and more than a third at four-year colleges said that they had been working harder in the past year to recruit students who need no financial aid and can pay full price, according to the survey of 462 admissions directors and enrollment managers conducted in August and early September.

Similarly, 22 percent of the admissions officials at four-year institutions said the financial downturn had led them to pay more attention in their decision to applicants’ ability to pay.

“As institutional pressures mount, between the decreased state funding, the pressure to raise a college’s profile, and the pressure to admit certain students, we’re seeing a fundamental change in the admissions process,” said David A. Hawkins, director of public policy and research at the National Association for College Admission Counseling. “Where many of the older admissions professionals came in through the institution and saw it as an ethically centered counseling role, there’s now a different dynamic that places a lot more emphasis on marketing.”

In the survey, 10 percent of the admissions directors at four-year colleges — and almost 20 percent at private liberal-arts schools — said that the full-pay students they were admitting, on average, had lower grades and test scores than other admitted applicants.

But they are not the only ones with an edge: the admissions officers said they admitted minority students, athletes, veterans, children of alumni, international students and, for the sake of gender balance, men, with lesser credentials, too.

At many colleges and universities, the survey found, whom you know does matter. More than a quarter of the admissions directors said they had felt pressure from senior-level administrators to admit certain applicants, and almost a quarter got pressure from trustees or development officers.

“If external parties are trying to influence admissions decisions, that’s a concern that strikes at the legitimacy of the whole process,” Mr. Hawkins said. “We certainly have standards, but there needs to be awareness that when the economy starts to crumble, the standards may start to go out the window.”

Lloyd Thacker, executive director of the Education Conservancy, a two-person nonprofit he founded in 2003 to improve college admissions, said the Inside Higher Ed findings were troubling.

“There’s always been elements of this behavior, but it seems to me that it’s growing,” Mr. Thacker said. “I don’t know whether to blame it on hard times or lack of courage and leadership.”

Mr. Thacker said his own research had found students becoming more cynical about higher education.

“Students say, ‘They’re cheating us, so we can cheat them,’ ” he said. “The cheat they see is that colleges are out for themselves, not for them as students. Our research, with 2,500 students, found that of all the sources of information students get about higher education, they thought the least trustworthy sources are the colleges and college reps themselves.”

While community colleges said their most important challenge in the near future was reduced state funding, all the other institutions named rising concerns from families about tuition and affordability.

Admissions directors at many public universities said in the survey that recruiting more out-of-state and international students, who pay higher tuition, was their top strategy. At community colleges and private institutions, admissions officers were more likely to say that providing aid for low- and middle- income students was their focus.

More than half the admissions officers from four-year institutions said that coaching by parents or college counselors was making it harder to really learn about applicants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/education/21admissions.html?_r=2&ref=us

Since many colleges and universities are having hard time financially, they are accepting students who can pay full tuition without scholarship and student loan even if they have lower grades. Also, they are accepting minorities. Then what about normal students with decent grade but don't have enough money to pay full-tuition? Do parents' wealth still matter in childrens' education?