RayH

On friday **february 9** we had a guest speaker she was from the toybox foundation. The toybox foundation is a group of people who are trying to help the street children in guatamala. these children are forced to sleep in dumps and make shift shelters because they are orphaned or thrown out they eat out of garbage cans and dumpsters, they are looked down upon and mistreated they are brutally beaten and sometimes killed... by police and security personel the guest speaker told us about her time in guatamala and some other stomries from people she had met through the foundation. we all sat in a circle in the class room and she went around the circle asking each of us to recount an injustice that had befallen us or that we had witnessed. I felt a littles helpless listening to her speak about the children and how they were forced to live with out proper food, shelter, education, and medical attention. Most of these children die at young ages, most of them are drug abusers and are forced into a life of crime inorder to survive. At the conclusion of her sesion i felt a little more aware of what was happening and i felt a bit better knowing that there were people out there trying to help the children and guide them down the right path. __Article One__ This article is about a girl who is continually bullied throughout secondary school. The worst part of it was that the teachers at the school would not recognize the problems and the bullying because they believed that there was no bullying at their school and they looked down on the girl because she was apparently a bully but in real life she was the victim. I think that the fact that the bullying was not taken for what it was and that the just let it slide is worse than the act itself. I can’t relate this situation to my life experiences.

__Article Two__ This article is about a high school student who becomes openly gay, and is harassed constantly because of it throughout his high school life. There is a similar situation at our school where a gay student was brutally assaulted just for being homosexual and open about it. This could have negatively affected the decisions of other gay students about being open about their sexual orientation. The main reason these things happen I think is because of fear of something different from the supposed norm.

__Article Three__ This article is about a Muslim girl who wears a hijab which is like a head scarf to school and is bullied and harassed because she is a Muslim. I think this is one of the most idiotic things that can be done to some one, labeling them because of their religious beliefs, just because some one is a Muslim doesn’t make them a terrorist and just because some one is atheist doesn’t mean you worship the devil and sacrifice small animals ok so some one has a different opinion than you suck it up and get over it.

__Article four__ This article is about a student who was bullied severely over the internet this is a new form of bullying that is growing in popularity and it is one of the worst types in my opinion because it is no longer on the playground. it follows you home you can’t get away from it this adds to the stress of it all, knowing what is waiting for you around every corner. This case was so severe two girls 14 and 13 years olds were charged.

April,18,2007 Discusion question #1 I don't think there are any major issues with women being treated as a minority in my community And i believe that in canada most women are treated as equals.

I am blown away by the fact that Iraq is so caught up in this war that it is risking an economic and moral collapse. The war that started on a lie has engulfed nations and is sucking their economies dry unlike the U.S. Iraq doe not have the funds to wage a war and continue to perform economically; Schools and health care are being affected. What is more important health and education or waging a pointless war?
 * May 28, 2007**