The video, "Former child soldier Ishmael Beah recounts his past” is about how a 12 year old boy named Ishmael is forced to become a child soldier in Sierra Leone. The video is closely related to the article, "Teaching Kids to Kill", this is because both of them portray child violence and how children can be influenced to do certain things. Ishmael forgets his identity and is forced to believe that killing is okay and if he does not kill, he will be killed. This tactic scares Ishmael and he is forced to kill people at such a young age. This is also shown in the article, "Teaching Kids to Kill" because Michael i is influenced by games that killing is okay and it is not that bad. In all, the connection that relates to both pieces is that children are influenced by other things, such as adults or media and are forced to do certain acts of violence because they start to think that it is right.
I believe that Ishmael should have not listened to the commanders gave him the option of killing or being killed. I do not believe they would have killed Ishmael and they would have let him go. If Ishmael and all all his fellow colleagues came together and did not kill anyone they probably would have not been killed. Thus, I challenge the fact that Ishmael did not choose the option of being killed because how can one live with the guilt of having killed another soul, I know I would not be able to live. I also challenge that fact that Michael picked up a gun and shot many people. It is not only his fault, it is his neighbours as well because they left a gun so close. Nobody can say they shot people because that is what happened in a game, a game is not reality. No right child on earth would ever do such a thing.
A concept that really stood out for me is that children can be influenced very easily by anything, like by other human beings or by social media. Ishmael is influenced to kill human beings by other human beings, it is ridiculous. Children are influenced very easily by others because they have a very small mind and they do not believe that anyone would do anything to harm others but this world is very cruel and they do inhuman things. In the article, Michael is influenced by social media and does impulsive things in a matter of minutes. In all, children are very innocent minded and believe that everyone is nice and everything they see is what they are supposed to do, thus they are influenced very easily and do crazy and dangerous things.
After listening and reading these two things, I have changed my view of children and some human beings. Children are so innocent and can be influenced so easily to do the most dangerous and scary things. The people who influence these children should be ashamed because they intentionally change young children's view of the world and take advantage of their innocence. I got to learn how mean some people can be and to what extent they can go to to achieve their goals.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
Monday, 30 March 2015
The Sniper
The Sniper is about a waging civil war against the Republicans and Free Staters in which a Republican soldier has to fight for his life and kill his enemy. Throughout the story, he is lying on the roof above a parapet as he tries to kill his enemy. As he peers over the parapet, he gets shot on the arm and he has to clean his wound and bandage it up. Due to this incident, the sniper loses his rifle and is left with a revolver. With only a revolver, he has to think on his feet and make up a plan that will somehow manage to kill the enemy. He decides to put his cap on the revolver and make the enemy think that the cap is his head. As he lifts his revolver and makes his cap go up, it immediately gets shot so he quickly makes the cap fall of the roof and he makes his hand dangle off the roof. The plan works and the enemy thinks he has succeeded in killing the sniper, but he is sadly mistaken. Once the enemy stands up triumphantly, the sniper takes his shot with his revolver and hits his enemy, resulting in his death. The sniper fills with excitement and decides to leave the roof and find his company commander. As he is walking, he decides to go see who he managed to kill because he was a good shooter, but the enemy ends up being his own brother.
Indiana lawmakers looking to clarify religious-freedom law that could discriminate against gays
I wanted to talk to you guys about this article, found on The Independent because it revolves the social issue in my novel, discrimination. Nowadays, one would think that discrimination is decreasing in our society today, but in some places it might be getting worse. In the world that we live in, one should be able to express their sexuality without being looked down upon, but unfortunately there are always going to be places where it is like that. In this article, it talks about a religious-freedom law that was previously made that had many conflicts involving gay rights. It caused a lot of controversy, thus the politicians in Indiana decided to clear out the terms. I believe they are doing the right thing by doing so because if people think that the government is discriminating against homosexuals, what would stop them from doing the same. The world has come so far with gay rights and it has a couple more steps until the issue is completely dealt with. Hopefully in the near future, all humans start becoming more open about who they are and not judge people for being different. If you want more information about the article Indiana lawmakers looking to clarify religious-freedom law that could discriminate against gays, visit: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/indiana-lawmakers-looking-to-clarify-religiousfreedom-law-that-could-discriminate-against-gays-10144988.html
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Blog Entry #2
Since my novel, The Monkeyface Chronicles is about a boy who is discriminated and hated on due to his physical appearance, I wanted to talk to you guys about what cleft lip and palate actually is and how he feels about it.
Cleft lip and palate is a facial deformity that occurs to babies before they are born, typically during the first trimester of pregnancy. It occurs in 1 out of 700 babies in the world and is the most common birth defect in the United States. It is when you have a missing piece of skin above your lip and a hole in your palate. Moreover, a baby can have other birth defects alongside cleft lip and palate, but it is not for certain. Babies can have only a cleft lip, cleft palate or both. Nobody really knows how a child can becomes cleft lip and palate, but they are becoming close to finding out as technology is improving throughout the years. Infants born with cleft lip and palate have all kinds of surgeries during infancy and receive speech therapy during childhood. At the end of the day, they live normal lives.
The protagonist in the novel, Philip is born both cleft lip and palate and is very ashamed of his appearance. He wants to quickly grow old and have plastic surgery to change his appearance. He always thinks why he had to be born that way and how his "perfect" twin was not born cleft lip as well. I believe that Philip should not think that way and be proud of who he is and how he is. We only get to live on this planet once, we should be grateful no matter how we are and love the way we are.
This is not only his fault, he is bullied, beat up and left out of many things. Society should be accepting and not put individuals down, we are all humans. It is not only his fellow colleagues, his teachers treat him differently as well. They put him in the worst class even though he is one of the smartest kids in the school. Furthermore, people walking on the streets stare at Philip and give him dirty stares which makes him feel even more ashamed of himself.
He should always be proud of who is is and ignore the mean people in his town. He should not care what others do and he should do whatever he feels right. Also, he should not talk to negative people who put him down and find people who appreciate and love him for who he is.
I do not believe cleft lip and palate is such a bad thing. I lived with it my whole life and never thought of it as bad as it is portrayed in the novel. People sometimes look at me funny, but I look the other way and walk away. There will always be people who make fun of you and treat you differently just because you look different, but you should not let it get to you. I am proud of who I am and I would never trade my life for another.
It hurts me that Philip feels that bad about himself. He should love himself for the way he was born and not think about why he was born that way, and why couldn't be what society calls "normal".
In conclusion, you should treat people the way you would want to be treated and not discriminate because of their physical features. You should always be proud of who you are and not let negative people stop you from doing things in life. Sometimes you just have to look the other way and walk away.
Cleft lip and palate is a facial deformity that occurs to babies before they are born, typically during the first trimester of pregnancy. It occurs in 1 out of 700 babies in the world and is the most common birth defect in the United States. It is when you have a missing piece of skin above your lip and a hole in your palate. Moreover, a baby can have other birth defects alongside cleft lip and palate, but it is not for certain. Babies can have only a cleft lip, cleft palate or both. Nobody really knows how a child can becomes cleft lip and palate, but they are becoming close to finding out as technology is improving throughout the years. Infants born with cleft lip and palate have all kinds of surgeries during infancy and receive speech therapy during childhood. At the end of the day, they live normal lives.
The protagonist in the novel, Philip is born both cleft lip and palate and is very ashamed of his appearance. He wants to quickly grow old and have plastic surgery to change his appearance. He always thinks why he had to be born that way and how his "perfect" twin was not born cleft lip as well. I believe that Philip should not think that way and be proud of who he is and how he is. We only get to live on this planet once, we should be grateful no matter how we are and love the way we are.
This is not only his fault, he is bullied, beat up and left out of many things. Society should be accepting and not put individuals down, we are all humans. It is not only his fellow colleagues, his teachers treat him differently as well. They put him in the worst class even though he is one of the smartest kids in the school. Furthermore, people walking on the streets stare at Philip and give him dirty stares which makes him feel even more ashamed of himself.
He should always be proud of who is is and ignore the mean people in his town. He should not care what others do and he should do whatever he feels right. Also, he should not talk to negative people who put him down and find people who appreciate and love him for who he is.
I do not believe cleft lip and palate is such a bad thing. I lived with it my whole life and never thought of it as bad as it is portrayed in the novel. People sometimes look at me funny, but I look the other way and walk away. There will always be people who make fun of you and treat you differently just because you look different, but you should not let it get to you. I am proud of who I am and I would never trade my life for another.
It hurts me that Philip feels that bad about himself. He should love himself for the way he was born and not think about why he was born that way, and why couldn't be what society calls "normal".
In conclusion, you should treat people the way you would want to be treated and not discriminate because of their physical features. You should always be proud of who you are and not let negative people stop you from doing things in life. Sometimes you just have to look the other way and walk away.
Thursday, 12 March 2015
Blog Post #1
The book that I am doing for my independent study unit is “ The Monkeyface Chronicles” and it is about a young boy named Philip who was born with a facial deformity, called cleft lip and palate. He is discriminated by everyone because of his condition. Throughout the novel, he wishes he could have something done to minimize the effects of his deformity, but there are not too many options where he lives. According to an article on The Guardian called “Cleft lip and palate: a brighter future for babies,” now children born with cleft lip and palate have more treatment options than ever before. Nowadays, babies are get diagnosed appropriately and are living happy, normal lives. This relates to the novel because Philip is cleft lip and palate and he is put down because of his appearance. If he looked like what the society calls “normal,” then he would not be treated the way he is throughout the novel. This relates to the social issue, which is discrimination because he is discriminated because of his appearance. If doctors can treat this deformity more effectively, it could help thousands of people around the world, including Philip. If you did not know, about 1 in every 300 children is born cleft lip and palate. Moreover, this novel is very near and dear to my heart and it is very relatable because I was also born cleft lip and palate. If you would like to see the article, you can click this link and read through it, http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/31/cleft-lip-palate-brighter-future-babies. If you want to get more information on cleft lip and palate, you can visit kidshealth or the Ontario Cleft Lip and Palate website and it would be amazing if you joined the cleft lip and palate organization to aware people about cleft lip and palate around the world have help cure it.
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
President Obama's War Request
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/11/obama-asks-congress-for-war-authorization-against-isil.html
President Obama tells his government to authorize a three-year limited war against Iraq and the Levant, causing the US to get involved in another Middle East conflict. How much more conflict will the US cause or be involved with? It is a question that is waiting to be answered. This can affect the whole world and cause astronomical damage to everyone across the world. Hopefully, the Middle East and the US get over this conflict and become peaceful nations in the near future.
President Obama tells his government to authorize a three-year limited war against Iraq and the Levant, causing the US to get involved in another Middle East conflict. How much more conflict will the US cause or be involved with? It is a question that is waiting to be answered. This can affect the whole world and cause astronomical damage to everyone across the world. Hopefully, the Middle East and the US get over this conflict and become peaceful nations in the near future.
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