Give a Boy a Gun #5

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser, may have been one of the best books I read in high school. I'll be honest it is not for the weak hearted. It is a very intense and graphic novel, and really gave me the creeps the whole time I was reading it. It really makes you think about a variety of things like, bullying, gun control, Columbine, and today's youth. I don't believe we have a big bullying issue at Deerfield, but it certainly does happen, and probably more so in other schools. It happens all too often and I never really paid any attention to it. During our Wednesday homeroom discussions, every time we talked about bullying, my homeroom would have the same reaction, "Not this again." We talked about it a lot, and I guess we didn't really see the point. We want to eliminate the chances of something like this ever happening, and stop suicide from happening as well. That's why we talked about it so much. And after reading this book it kind of puts things into perspective. We talked about gun control a little bit during class, and I still feel the same way about guns. I don't think they should be legal in anyway shape or form. They only thing they bring is death. It is scary to think that things like this may very well happen in real life, and truth be told we could see it multiple times in the future. Give a Boy a Gun was a fantastic book and I would recommend it to anyone. I think I'll definitely be more aware to bullying, and I think I'll always have the same stance on gun control.

Give a Boy a Gun #4

As they move through high school we learn more and more about the two. We find out that Gary liked to build things. He would build Legos robots and would program them, like they had a mind of their own. We also find out that during the school shooting, Gary and Brendan had pipe bombs on the doors so people could not get out if they tried. "You hear the police reports about how well constructed and intricate those pipe bombs were. I guarantee you, that was Gary's work," one of his friends said in an interview. Now we are at the part of the book called "The Day it Happened." Many of the people interviewed talked about how surreal it was. Gary and Brendan boobie trapped the doors and when they got into the gym chained the doors shut. Students remember being told to move to the middle of the gym and lay face first with their hands on their head. The first person shot was a teacher who was trying to get the boys to stop. He was not killed however. Gary and Brendan started putting zip ties around some people's hands. Sam Flach, who Brendan in a previous email to Gary said he would kill, was one of the first to be zip tied. Brendan didn't kill him but did break a couple of his ribs. According to the people interviewed, they had everything planned out perfectly. They even brought food and drinks for themselves along with flashlights. They didn't want to kill everyone, they wanted people to suffer. They shot Sam Flech in both knees so they could cripple him. Eventually a negotiator came on. Soon after, Brendan's parents came on the loud speaker trying to plead with him and so did Gary's mom. Gary and Brendan then found out that one of their close friends was in the gym, and when they found out Gary wanted to talk to Brendan. However, this made Brendan furious because Gary didn't want to stick to the plan. Gary shut down and didn't know what to do. He eventually sat down and shot himself. As Brendan was walking over to Gary's body, a kid tackled Brendan and others followed beating him into a coma.

Give a Boy a Gun #3

As the book moves on, you get to see more and more of both Gary's and Brendan's suicide notes. In Gary's suicide note, he apologizes to his mother for the pain he is putting her though. He tells her she must move on and that he wishes he could be with her, but he is "at the point of no return." Gary's suicide note is way more different than Brendan's. Brendan is mad at the world in his note. He bashes the teachers and the parents of the town saying they are a huge reason for this. That the parents did a horrible job raising their kids and that kids are not safe at high school when they are a little different. "Well, screw you. Screw all of you. I hope this letter is like a knife in your hearts. You ruined my life. All I've done is pay you back in kind." Brendan finds out that his neighbor has guns at his house at the end of his freshman year. When I read that part, I thought about gun control. That this could have been avoided if guns were illegal. Brendan says in the book a few times, "guns don't kill people, people kill people." In another email to Gary, Brendan talks about Columbine. He idolizes Harris and Klebold, the shooters at Columbine. He says, "I will kill ever friggin' one of them. It's gonna be Columbine all over again, only better." I wonder if all these recent school shootings have been done because they got the idea from Columbine. That maybe Harris and Klebold inspired more school shootings. My guess is that it certainly played a role in some school shootings.

Give a Boy a Gun #2

Now, the boys are in their freshman year of high school. It seems like as they got older the bullying got worse and worse. During a flag football game in gym class, some football players would pick on the "geeks" of the class. Brendan got hit by one of the football players named Sam Flach during the game for no reason. The coach of the football team simply said with a smirk on his face, "Uh Sam, this is flag football. No hitting." We see here that the school obviously did not take bullying seriously. When you have a faculty member laugh when one student hurts another, there is a problem with the school. The book also showed messages Brendan and Gary posted online to each other. After reading about this story, the author put an e-mail that Brendon had sent Gary. I could not really tell if it was sent when they were freshman or soon before the two shot up the school. Anyways, the e-mail was probably one of the most disturbing passages in the novel. It read, "Sam Flach will die slowly. I will shoot him in one knee, then the other, then a gut shot so he'll have no friggin' doubt where he's going. And he will stare up at me with a fear in his eyes he has never known, and i will put that friggin' barrel right against his forehead and say, "Gee, sorry, Sam," then blow his friggin' brains out." I was disgusted when I read that. It hurts me to think that people can actually dream about this stuff. Especially when it is a kid no older than 18 years old. Not only that, but how could kids treat others like that? In the same section, Brendan has another e-mail to Gary about how the teachers know what it going on, but do not do anything about it. Brendan goes on to say that he wants to kill a teacher for not doing anything about seeing him be bullied. That was the point where I guessed Brendan was the leader of the two. He was the darker of the two and I thought he kind of peer pressured Gary to thinking like he did.

Give a Boy a Gun #1

After a long day of reading, I finished my book. I read Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser. It is a very dark book as you may have been able to tell by the title. The book is about two young men named Gary Searle and Brandon Lawlor. The two high school students are constantly bullied by their classmates. It is a very interesting book, because it is not narrated, it is told through a series of interviews. Most of the harassment is from the football players. The first part of the book is a part of Gary's suicide note. He explains to his mother that it isn't her fault and there was nothing she could have done about it. After the little snippet of his note, it goes into some background about Gary during his childhood. We find out his parents went through a rough divorce and lives with his mother. Brandon moves to the same town as Gary in seventh grade and the two become close friends. The book moves on sharing information about the two friends throughout middle school. They were quiet kids and known as outcasts in their school. In one of the interviews, a girl that had an on and off relationship with Gary and was friends with Brendan said, "When I got back it was different. I can't exactly explain how, but I felt it. There was something dark in Brendan. I don't know where it came from. Whether it had always been inside him, or whether it just started to grow because of the way people treated him in school." The book has an extremely dark tone to it. It made me uncomfortable just about the whole time I was reading it, but I guess that means the author did his job. The author wanted people to feel sorrow for these kids. Bullying is a huge problem, and even though this is a fictional story, it seems all too real.

Binge Drinking

Last week we watched a film called Haze in class. It was about both the hazing that goes on in fraternities, and sororities as well as binge drinking. There were some clips that were very disturbing to me. Some of these kids were so messed up they were doing the dumbest things, and making a complete fool out of themselves. It is no secret that college students and for that matter, high school students, drink to get drunk. I am pretty positive that this problem is never going to come to a complete halt. There have been a number of colleges that have tried the “dry campus” approach to try and cope with all of the binge drinking, however we all know there is no such thing as a dry campus. If kids want to get drunk, there is not much that can stop them. I think the best way to stop the binge drinking is to lower the drinking age. No, I don’t believe that it should be 18; I think it should be 19. The reason being, at a college campus, I would say majority of the students drink on a regular basis, or have had a drink before. It should be 19, because on a college campus the police cannot enforce the underage drinking law all that well. If they could or did, half the students would be arrested. If you cannot police the drinking age, what is the point of having one. I disagree with the argument of 18, because I am 18 and so is the vast majority of my grade. High school students should not be able to buy and drink alcohol. If seniors in high school could, then all of the grades below us would have easy access to alcohol and that is a disaster waiting to happen. All in all, binge drinking a huge problem, and if the problem continues I believe something has got to change.

Fighting in Hockey

For the past couple of years, the NHL has been under fire over a certain rule. The NHL has been criticized over the fact that fighting is allowed in the sport. Ever since hockey was created, players have been fighting one another. However, something many people fail to realize is that it really does serve a purpose in the game. I have heard countless people say that there is no point to the fighting, and that they only fight each other because they don’t like each other. In some cases that’s true, but most of the time there is certainly a purpose for players to fight. As we all know, hockey is a very rough sport and is played very physically. With players who are 6’5 and weigh 220 pounds, and others who are 5’9 and weigh 180 pounds, there needs to be players who make sure that these larger more physical players don’t take liberties on their teammates who are smaller and more skilled. That’s where the enforcers come in. Teams will sign players for the sole reason of protection, and often times it works. These enforcers play a huge role for their team, since players on the opposing teams usually don’t want to scrap with someone who is paid to fight. Therefore, these opposing players don’t take runs at the smaller guys on this enforcer’s team, allowing the smaller and more skilled players more room, and peace of mind that their teammates have their back. And no that’s not the only reason for fighting, there are plenty more. Fights can bring momentum from one team to the other very quickly. Enforcers will fight each other to try and rally the troops, like an energy boost. Not only does it get the players going, the fans get into the game even more. Athletes are considered performers, and the first thing they want is to win, the second is put on a good show for all of the people watching. And yet another thing people don’t realize is the respect around the league that these enforcers have. On the ice enforcers fight each other, but off the ice they are in most cases good friends. They just about always have a great respect for their opponent. It’s a code amongst these tough guys. They have unwritten rules, such as don’t punch a guy when he’s on the ice, or when the linesmen are breaking up the fight. I’ve seen plenty of interviews of professional hockey players saying, that enforcers have the hardest job in sports. It isn’t easy to throw and take punches from someone who weighs 240 pounds. They are often the most liked guys in the locker room as well. It’s a thing that many people think is barbaric, but with no knowledge of the game, it’s easy to come to that conclusion.

Great video of the respect they have for one another (it comes closer to the end):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIf9tJATX9k

Affirmative Action

I still cannot decide where I stand on this situation. Before class on Monday, I was pretty sure I was alright with the idea of trying to add more diversity to a school, until a classmate made a great point. Jeremy, who does not agree, said that why should a student be accepted over me just because the color of their skin. If he is more qualified than a black student, why should the black student be accepted over him? It is totally unfair for Jeremy if that is the case. In America we often talk about how someone’s skin color shouldn't affect the way someone is looked at, so why should college admission be any different? I hate to ask all these questions, but I don’t know the answers to them. It almost seems like it would be insulting to a person who is any other race than white. The American Civil Rights Institute agrees with Jeremy in saying, they don't believe that anyone should be more or less qualified because of their race or sex. So as of now, that is what I do believe, that everyone should have the same chance to be accepted as everyone else does. That seems the fairest, and quite frankly is the fairest. Of course there are people who are very blessed much like many families in Deerfield and others who aren’t. I understand they have a much tougher time, but they still have a chance for an education too. Everyone has right to an education in America.

I think it's different from an economic standpoint, or where the person is from. If there was a student from Africa who had been educated to the fullest, though did not do as well on the ACT/SAT as an average white student from America did, I would be alright with the student from Africa getting in to the school over the white student. Why should a student be penalized for the color of their skin? And why should someone be rewarded for their skin color? Like I said before, America is all about equality, and everyone having the same opportunity to succeed. Whether it’s true or not, that’s what people want to believe, it’s what they want to hear. The Civil Rights movement gave blacks equality years and years ago, so why are we treating them almost like they aren’t as smart as whites? It should not be any easier or harder for any one race to be accepted into a college.

If I Were a Poor Black Kid

I think it's obvious that the author’s ideas are right. Anyone could agree with the idea that succeeding in school will usually bring success in the workplace. The author talked a lot about how these kids should use technology to their advantage. Kids at Deerfield High School don’t use technology to their advantage. There are so many things that we could use that would make our school work so much easier, but often times we don’t want to take the time to do so. I believe it’s fair to say that we have pretty motivated students here at Deerfield, yet we take a lot for granted. I feel like I could have written this article because I think the concepts are very simple. The author talks about what exactly underprivileged students need to do to try and get ahead in school. Though, I feel like the author makes it seem like it is easy for these underprivileged students to succeed. These kids grow up in a rough situation, and often times they have bad influences dragging them down. Not all of these kids have these resources this author talks about either. I'm not saying it is impossible for these kids to succeed, but they are not dealt a hand like many other kids are.

I read the Denial chapter of Tim Wise's book, White Like Me. Wise talks a lot about how the history of racial oppression. He talks about the "bubbles" we have in our society, and saying that not all people have the same opportunities in life. I have to agree. I don't believe that everyone has the same opportunity at all. It is true that us students at Deerfield have more opportunities than many students who go to Chicago Public Schools. It just happens to be most kids from Deerfield are white. I'm not at all saying that those students have no opportunities, but it's true many people from Deerfield have some money, and with that money students like me can explore what we want to do for an occupation more than other students can. Though, living in America does give many people great opportunities, whether you come from money or not. Everyone has the opportunity to get an education, and whether or not they take that opportunity seriously, they will still have other things to peruse. That's the beautiful thing about America, there is always a chance for the little guy to succeed. Wise also stated that Americans are improving when it comes to race. I think America has steadily improved when it comes to race relations since the civil rights movement ended. I haven't heard of any huge stories having to do with a hate crime in a real long time. Of course racism will always be around, but just a half century ago, this country was still segregated. There has been immense improvement in race relations.

Hidden Bias

According to Project Implicit’s results, I have a 27% preference to white people. I am not so sure about the test’s outcome. I do not believe that I prefer one race over another. As far as I know, that is the case for most people who don’t carry any prejudices against others. Two people next me got the same results as I did so I feel like it may be common occurrence. I wish I had more black friends, but in the town we live in, it's not a secret that we don't have that many black families here. I have a good friend who is black, and I don't prefer to be around him any more or less than my white friends. As far as I know, a person is a person regardless of their skin color. If you think about it, it really doesn't make sense why people believe whites are superior to everyone else. That's true because their skin is lighter? Why is it that having lighter skin makes you more of a man than someone with darker skin? It really make no sense what so ever. I got wondering when I saw the section of community matters. I still believe that the results were wrong, but our community does not have much diversity. That could very well play a part in my results.

The Help #5

At the end of the book, we find out that Skeeter's book is now a best seller. Her hard work and sacrifice paid off in the long run as all the maids mentioned in the novel receive royalty payments for their help with the novel. In the end everything works out, though a lot of sacrifice was made. Their were many themes in this book, including race, gender, education, and class. I believe race and gender dominated this book. Much of the issues that I found in this book were due to someone's race. The conversations that described how blacks carry diseases whites don't. Also how dependant most of the white people are in this book of their black maids. Kathryn Stockett does a good job going into detail about how tough life for these maids really was. I also saw a lot of stereotypes about gender. Mostly from Skeeter's mom, who liked to think that finding a man was more important than getting an education. How being a housewife is what women should be doing. In the community, tensions between whites and blacks ran high as the whites tried to make sure that the blacks knew they were of a lower economic class than all the other whites were, whether that was the case or not. After taking US History last year, I believe I had a better understanding of what was going on in this book. It was fun to go back and actually know what Stockett was talking about, like the Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement taking place. All in all The Help was a solid book that I would recommend to anyone.

The Help #4

As the end of the book neared, Skeeter finally finished her book. After it is published, all hell breaks loose. People begin to read the novel and since Skeeter named names, Minny's husband is fired from his job since she helped in the writing of the book. Her husband then take his anger out on her, so Minny decided to leave him. It is so unfair how a woman wrote a book trying to show people how tough the lives of black women are the only thing it does is make their lives even harder. It still shocks me to think about how different things were just 50 years ago, and just how divided the whole country was on some issues. Skeeter's book didn't only hurt Minny, her wedding with Stuart Whitworth, the son of a senator was called off due to him finding out the novel was Skeeter's writing. That means a book that Skeeter wrote, because she cares about people was enough to change the mind of Stuart. If that is the reason someone does not want to marry you, chances are it would not have worked out anyways. That is not the only thing that goes wrong for Skeeter after her book was published. Her old friend Hilly threatened to sue her for what she did and exact her revenge on all the maids mentioned. Though a bit of fun comes out of all of this when Aibileen makes a pie with a special ingredient. Hilly had two pieces of pie that had Aibileen's feces in it. In the mist of all of this, Skeeter finds out the reason Constantine left. She and Skeeter's mother Charlotte got into a fight about Constantines newly born baby and Constantine was fired. Yet, another example of a white women thinking she is better than a black woman.

The Help #3

After a long day of reading with a break during the Red Wings and Blackhawks game, I finally finished my book, The Help. In the next couple of chapters, you see Skeeter build multiple relationships with various people. The two that are the most interesting to me are the ones with her mother, and the one between Skeeter and the black maids. In the 1960's, things were obviously very different to what they are now, as we've seen America come a long way since then. However, back then women did not work as often as they do now. When Skeeter graduated and came home looking for a job, like many young women do now, it was like she was doing the wrong thing. At least her mother believed so. Skeeter's mother thought that getting married was much more important than getting a job. She constantly drops reminders to Skeeter that marriage is more important including her calling her college diploma as ”a pretty piece of paper.” It is clear that Skeeter's mother is not entertained by the fact that her daughter graduated from college. Skeeter is also interested on her old maids decision to leave her house and job. However, she can never seem to get a straight answer from her mother. I predict that her mother had something to do with her decision to leave, or maybe that Constantine was killed or is dead. Skeeter's relationship with the black maids including Aibileen, Minny, and her old maid Constantine have all been good relationships. She and Constantine had a strong bond when she was younger, and now that she is older and is writing on Aibileen and Minny, she understands what they have been going through throughout their whole lives. You see how Skeeter has matured as a women since she was young.