Gangs and Violence in Schools :: Crime Safety Security Education Essays

Gangs and Violence in Schools During the first week of my junior professional experience, I remember my cooperating teacher reading to me an e-mail that she received from the school's administration. It was informing all of the teachers of new ways to identify gang member; the colors they may wear, they way they write certain letters of the alphabet. A few days later I recall seeing one of the students in my class making different hand gestures, which I later learned were gang signs. Then, a couple of weeks into my full participation in the classroom, another one of my students was suspended for breaking another student's jaw. Yet another of my students was suspended rather recently for threatening to bring a gun to school. All of these incidents, along with an assembly that was held one day about gang violence, have made me much more aware of the violence and gang participation that takes place in urban schools. Because it seemed so prevalent in the Trenton school district, I decided to delve deeper into the issue of gangs and violence in schools. I have learned that in Trenton there are "three main gangs - the Bloods, the Crips and the Latin Kings," (NJ.com) some of which have been known to have members as young as thirteen. This alarmed me, because this is the age of most of my seventh grade students. It was hard for me to picture any of them being in a gang. I, like many suburban dwellers, have never had contact with gang members, not to my knowledge anyway. Now I am working in a school full of students who encounter gang members everyday, and may even be a part of a gang themselves. When I became aware of the regular occurrence of gangs in the Trenton area, I began to wonder why adolescents, usually males, join gangs in the first place. Though there are many explanations and, of course, each young male has his own reason, many of them [the reasons] revolve around the issues of safety, respect, money, and a sense of identity†¦Many of them [the gang members] learned at an early age that they were vulnerable if they did not belong to a gang that would protect them when they were threatened by other gang members (Patton 59).

Antigone society

In, being self-centered about Ideas frequently affects peoples' judgement Sophocles raises this Issue in his play Antigone. He believes that listening to the wise benefits your judgement, but the result of refusing to listen leads to tragic outcomes. Sophocles uses Ate to develop the characters' Inability to take In others' perspectlve_ Sophocles first addresses the tragic results of not listening through Anugone's refusal to take advice. In Sophocles's prologue, Ismene states â€Å"[Shel has no strength† for burying Polynlces against the states' jurisdiction, while Antigone pronounces thatIsmene â€Å"use[s] that excuse† to avoid trouble (Sophocles 76-83}. Even though Ismene says she doesnt have the strength to go against the state, she really means that she doesnt have the willpower to choose between the Gods' and Creon's law because defying either law will result In punishment. Even though Ismene Is belng cautious ot her choices, Antigone believes Ismene is toolish t or not siding with her. Antigone chose to believe herselt without thinking about Ismene's point ot view. In result, Antigone ends up putting herselt between both the laws ot the lands and the God's law, which results in her entombment.In addition to Antigone putting off her sisters' point of view, Sophocles uses Antigones inability to take others perspective into consideration. During CreonS and Antigone's argument. Creon expresses his opinion of Polynices betrayal of the city by saying. â€Å"The good dont want to share honors with the bad† (Sophocles 534-6). Antigone retaliates by mentioning, Mho knows that is considered righteous below . . I cannot share their hate, only their love† (Sophocles 536-8). Creon's belief that Polynices shouldnt be honored in burial conflict with Antigones', in which Polynices deserves burial to honor the Gods' laviAntigone doesn't realize Creon's point of view, standing up for the city, and goes with her own belief without taking Creons' into account. Despite standing up for herself, Antigone's failure to acknowledge Creon's perspective causes her demise Even after being locked away behind a boulder, Sophocles proves Antigone's disastrous consequences when Antigone, â€Å"[hangs herself] by the neck, fastened by a noose of fine linen† (Sophocles 1226-7)_ Antigone, trapped In a cave due her actions, hung herself so she wouldn't die at the hand of Creon. Anugone's refusal to listen to others'Ideas, such as creons, lead her to trouble and death, supporung Sophocles's maln point that tragic consequences come from refusing to listen. Antigone's refusal to take advice results In her unfortunate demise. In addltlon to Antigone's downfall due to blind recklessness, Sophocles uses Creon to display how tragic consequences develop trom not listening. During the first scene ot Antigone, the Guard explains to Creon that he â€Å"[wlshesl to tell [Creon his time, Creon's reaction is that, â€Å"[The Guard] is trying to t alk around the problem. † (Sophocles 245).The guard is cautious of explaining the bad news, trying to void blame, while Creon assumes the guard is guilty due to him talking around the problem. Creon's lack of the guard's point of view causes him to blame the innocent, which later causes Haemon commit suicide because Creon punishes his love. Even though Sophocles uses Creon's actions to show tragic outcomes, he also uses Creon's frustration to demonstrate his inability to look at other peoples' perspective. During a dialogue between Creon and the Guard, the guards asks, â€Å"May I say something, or should I Just turn and go? (Sophocles 325) Creon, agitated due to the breaking of his aw, exclaims, miou have annoyed me Just by saying that† (Sophocles 326). Creon's frustration towards someone breaking his law resulted in him not fully understanding that the guard didn't want to bother the king while he was mad.. The guard was nervous to explain his point of view to Creon d ue to his recklessness after Antigone defied his law. In result to the guards inability to explain his perspective, Creon becomes even more agitated and promises to kill him if he doesn't find out who touched the body.Sophocles ends his play by showing the reader Creon's destroyed life after not taking advice through others' perspective. Creon's son guided the sword, leaned on it and thrust it into his ribs.. † while Haemon â€Å". Creon's wife † struck herself in the heart with her own hand. † (Sophocles 1240-1; 1321) Creon's wife and son both killed themselves due to his refusal to listen to others advice. If Creon had only listen to others and used their perspective as well, his family wouldn't have taken their own lives. Creon's self centered ways of not taking advice destroyed his family.Even though Creon is used to show that consequences develop through not taking advice, Sophocles also uses Creon's and Haemon's stubbornness to demonstrate the tragic result of not listening. Sophocles provides an argument between Creon and Haemon in which Haemon retaliates to Creon's saying, â€Å"At our age, taught reason by a man so young† by declaring â€Å"Taught nothing that is not Just! If I am young, I do not need more time to study what's right† (Sophocles 738-40). Creon believes that Haemon is too young to be credible and taken seriously because of his age.Haemon however, considers himself credible due to the fact that Creon is making horrible decisions . Creon, not yet knowing that his decisions are tragic, and Haemon, not knowing that his dad doesnt see what's going on, end up fighting. Because Haemon's nd Creon's stubbornness get in the way of them seeing each others point of view, Haemon runs away and ends up committing suicide. After discussing credibility and getting nowhere, the father and son discuss the distinction between what the â€Å"fellow- citizens deny' and â€Å"[how the city shouldn't] tell [Creon] how [he] ou ght to rule it† (Sophocles 745-6).Haemon brings up the issue of the citizens siding with Antigone to bury Polynices body. They believe Polynices should obtain a proper burial no matter what even if he betrayed the city or not. Creon argues that the citizens of Thebes shouldn't be telling the king how to rule the city. Creon believes that the king should uphold all the power and not give the citizens a choice. Creon and Haemon argue for two different sides of the law neither, which adds even more tension and perspective. After all of this arguing between Haemon and his father, Haemon â€Å". thrusts a sword] into his ribs† and Creon loses everyone who he cared about (Sophocles 1241). Haemon killed himself due to the lack of support he was shown by his father. Creon's inability to listen to Haemon's point of view cause his own son to kill himself. By not listening to each other, both Haemon and Creon suffer from onsequences with one of them dying and the other one having to go through life without anyone who cares for him. Creon and Haemon suffered because they both lacked the capability to express other ideas than their own.As a different way to express his theme, Sophocles uses Ismene's and Antigone's discussion to prove not taking helpful advice can ruin a relationship. After learning Antigone was caught, Ismene admits, â€Å"l did the deed if she consents, and I will take and bear the charge† (Sophocles 552-3). Antigone answered with, â€Å"But Justice will not allow this to you, since neither did you want nor did I share it. (Sophocles 554-5). Ismene, caring for her only family member left, tries to save her sister from death with the cost of hers.But Antigone doesn't allow Ismene to do this and convinces Creon that she definitely broke the burial law. This causes Antigone to be doomed by the law of the land, resulting in her death. After having her sister announced guilty, Ismene asks, â€Å"But now-what can I do to help you now' (Sop hocles 568). Antigone replies by telling her, â€Å"Save yourself. I do not grudge you your escape† (Sophocles 569). Ismene gives her last efforts to comfort Antigone through her time of need, but Antigone rejects Ismene's offer and declares she wants nothing.Antigone didn't listen to her sister, overcome with pride for burying the body, and Just gave up her only way to live. By letting her pride take place of her mind, Antigone gives up her life because she didn't listen to Ismene's offer. Due to Antigone's actions, she â€Å"[hangs herself by a noose]† and Ismene disappeared, never being mentioned again (Sophocles 1227). Ismene, not wanted by her sister in anyway, disappears from the play to never be spoken of again. Antigone however, suffers from not letting her sister take the blame and finally commits suicide to end the pain.Antigone would not be dead if she let her sister take the blame, but due to her inability to listen to good advice, she ends up dying. In the end, both Ismene and Antigone suffer due to Antigone's rejection of advice. Sophocles demonstrated listening to others' advice and the consequences of not throughout the play. From being stubborn and not taking beneficial advice to not opening your mind to another persons' point of view. Sophocles wrote Antigone with many lessons for our current society. His most important lesson being that listening to good counsel benefits you now but also in the future.

Analysis Of Rankine s Profile Of Serena Williams

Rankine’s profile of Serena Williams describes her as someone that breaks away from the feminine stereotype that Devor has described. Rankine s has described Williams as what she is; an athlete. Williams s athleticism challenges gender roles, as woman are stereotypically viewed as passive and submissive. Any successful female athlete must break away from this preordained notion of femininity as it contradicts the very nature of a successful athlete, which is to be dominant, aggressive, and assertive. Thus Williams challenges and defies the very nature of gender roles by being a successful female athlete, rather than being a passive 1960s house mom. Serena Williams, as a female athlete, challenges the gender roles set by Devor, as she is an aggressive and assertive player. This contradicts with Devor s statement on femininity which says, Femininity, according to this traditional formulation, would result in warm and continued relationships with men, a sense of maternity, inter est in caring for children, and the capacity to work productively and continuously in female occupations. This recipe translates into a vast number of proscriptions and prescriptions. Warm and continued relations with men and an interest in maternity require that females be heterosexually oriented. A heterosexual orientation requires women to dress, move, speak, and act in ways that men will find attractive. As patriarchy has reserved active expressions of power as a masculine attribute,

The Oreo Cookie 100 Years Old Tradition Essay - 1091 Words

The Oreo Cookie – 100 Years Old Tradition Introduction If you were a product, would you want to have your own website and 26 million fans on Face book following your every move? That is exactly what has happened to the Oreo cookie. The Oreo cookie was created in 1912 by the creators at Nabisco. The cookie has seen many ownership changes in its life but has still kept the essence of its look and taste. According to Rosenberg (2014), there have been over 360 billion Oreo cookies sold worldwide making it the best cookie sold in the 20th century. It has been a mystery for over 100 years as to how Oreo actually got its name. There are several speculations and myth but no one really knows the real truth making the cookie even more intriguing to†¦show more content†¦The embossed chocolate wafer has the brand name in the center of the cookie so no one would mistake it for another cookie. The cookie is known as an Oreo Sandwich resembling a two piece of bread with meat in the middle. The correlation is to identify the two wafers with cr à ¨me in the middle instead of an ordinary cookie. The crà ¨me is made from five main ingredients which include powered sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, vegetable shortening, and water. The nutrition facts per serving consist of three cookies that have 160 calories, seven grams of total fat, 25 grams of carbohydrate, one gram of protein, 55 milligram of sodium, and 140 milligram of sodium. The serving size also contains six percent of iron. The original Oreo cookie has been transformed to different colors and flavors. For example, you can now get the Oreo cookie in orange for Halloween, red for Christmas, and winter white color for Canada. The cookie is also in flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and mint. All of these fascinating facts about the original Oreo cookie explain how the brand designed a cookie that is unique in taste and quality. 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Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee - 992 Words

In the 1950’s Harper Lee wrote a novel that would eventually change how people looked at literature. Her masterpiece, To Kill A Mockingbird, started much controversy. Some people looked at it as one of the best novels ever written, while others despised it calling it inappropriate and racist. The arguments dragged on for years and still continue to this day. This novel, which tells a story about a white man defending an African American and his children, goes beyond race. If you look deep enough into the background of the novel you can see a connection with childhood. Not only does it focus on how the children grow up, but it focuses on the connection the children have with the adults. Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout, is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. She tells the story from first person point of view. She begins explaining how her brother, Jem, broke his arm. The whole novel leads up to this very point. She lives with her dad, Atticus; her brother, Jem; a nd her black cook, Calpurnia. They live in the small town of Maycomb in the deep south in Alabama. It is said to be a â€Å"safe and secure† town in the 1930’s. It’s suffering from the Great Depression and the outlooks people have on society and race. In Maycomb, Scout interacts with people of all age groups. This is where childhood steps in. One summer, Scout and Jem befriend a boy named Dill. Dill moves in next door with his aunt. He has a very active imagination and likes to join the Finch’s on allShow MoreRelatedKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1049 Words   |  5 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird: How a Story could be based on True Events in Everyday LifeDaisy GaskinsCoastal Pines Technical Collegeâ€Æ'Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama. Her father was a former newspaper editor and proprietor, who had served as a state senator and practiced as a lawyer in Monroeville. Also Finch was known as the maiden name of Lee’s mother. 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Living and Learning the Right to Salvation (the Scarlet Letter) Free Essays

The Scarlet Letter is a novel about love and jealousy, sin and shame, passion and compassion. It is a tale of a woman named Hester Prynne, who engaged in adultery with the town minister, and as a result, bore permanent consequences from this sin throughout the remainder of their lives. While Minister Dimmesdale denied this sin and expressed his regret through shows of self-abuse and crippling guilt, Hester embraced her sins as past experience and learned from them in order to find her own identity. We will write a custom essay sample on Living and Learning: the Right to Salvation (the Scarlet Letter) or any similar topic only for you Order Now While the entire novel is rich with allegory and imagery, the conclusion to be drawn is this: Free will is God’s indispensable gift to humanity, and we must allow ourselves to be open to salvation in light of the choices we make. This theme is expressed through the necessity of sin to find knowledge, Hester’s embracing of the scarlet letter, the difference in the quality of life between Hester and Dimmesdale based on their coping mechanisms, and the very being of Hester and Dimmesdale’s daughter, Pearl. As stated, a major theme in the novel is that of free will and necessary acceptance of the consequences of one’s decision. Hester and Dimmesdale’s situation is comparable to that of Adam and Eve. Like Adam and Eve, the characters in the novel are made aware of their humanness through sin, that is, the realization that free will separates them from other creatures. Once expelled from society, or in Adam and Eve’s case, the Garden of Eden, they are forced to toil and procreate, the tasks that seem to define the human condition. The story of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. However, most significantly, it also results in knowledge. The knowledge of what it means to be human. The scarlet letter was intended by the Puritan elders to be a mark of sinfulness, and therefore, shame. However, for Hester, the scarlet letter is â€Å"her passport into regions where other women dared not tread†, leading her to â€Å"speculate† about what she had always known and explore her inner self more â€Å"boldly† than anyone else in New England. As for Dimmesdale, the â€Å"burden† of his sin gives him â€Å"sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his heart vibrates in unison with theirs. † His most articulate, powerful sermons were derived from the sense of empathy ained from experience. Hester and Dimmesdale contemplate their own sinfulness constantly, and try to repent it with the way they live their lives afterward. The Puritan elders, on the other hand, insist on seeing sinful experiences as a mere obstacle on the path to heaven. Hence, they view life on earth as insignificant, and sin as a threat to the community that should be severely punished and suppressed. While they punish Hester and Dimmesdale, their Puritan society is stagnant, while Hester and Dimmesdale’s experience shows that imperfection and life experience are not evil. They are necessary to personal growth and true, deep understanding of others. Hester realizes and expresses that sin is forgivable, and at times necessary, to achieve a true personal identity in earthly life. After Hester is publicly shamed and forced by her society to wear the scarlet letter as a badge of humiliation, she is unwilling to pick up and leave the town. Although she is free to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and doing so would allow her to remove the scarlet letter and live a life of quiet obscurity, she is unwilling to flee her â€Å"burden†. Hester even reacts with disappointment when Chillingworth tells her that the town fathers are considering allowing her to remove the letter. Hester’s behavior is a result of her desire to find her own identity rather than to allow others to determine it for her. To her, running away or removing the letter would be an acknowledgment of society’s power over her. She does not believe that the letter is a mark of shame and it is not something from which she desires to escape. She does not regret her action simply because she is told she should. Hester stays, refiguring the scarlet letter as a symbol of her own experiences and character. Her past sin is a part of who she is, and in her view, to pretend that it never happened would mean denying a part of her. Thus, Hester openly integrates her past sin into her life. Much unlike Hester, Dimmesdale is scared and ashamed of his past. His attempts to hide what he has done result in his life being a great deal unhappier than that of Hester, who is very candid about her past sins. This is a result of Dimmesdale’s struggles against a socially determined identity. Being that he is the minister of the community, he is often seen as more of a symbol than human being. With the exception of Chillingworth, those around the minister ignore his obvious anguish, instead interpreting it as a sign of holiness. Unfortunately, Dimmesdale never fully recognizes the truth of what Hester has known all along. Individuality and strength are gained by quiet self-assertion and not a rejection of one’s construed identity. Pearl is the lovechild of Hester and Dimmesdale, the mark of their sin. In the novel, Pearl is predominantly a symbol. This symbolic role can be seen in her name. A pearl is the most perfect, innocent jewel. It is polished and defined in its shell by the roughness of the sand around her, and eventually will be released from the shell to become a beautiful, unique piece of jewellery. Throughout most of the novel she is quite young, and speaks relatively little. Her most significant contribution to the plot is the reaction she provokes in the other characters in the novel. She asks them blunt, direct questions and shows how ridiculous the denial, prejudice, and misdirection of the adult world really are. In the novel, Pearl is portrayed to be much more perceptive and honest than adults in the novel, despite (or due to) her youthful tactlessness. Pearl makes the readers and characters constantly aware of her mother’s scarlet letter, and therefore, of the society that produced it. To Pearl, the scarlet letter is such a part of Hester that she does not recognize her without it. Pearl’s innocent comments about the letter are surprisingly insightful, and raise significant questions about its meaning. Similarly, she inquires about the relationships between those around her [most importantly, the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale] and offers her perceptive opinions of them. Pearl seems to be the only character to openly criticize Dimmesdale’s refusal to simply admit to his adultery and move on. Once her father’s identity is revealed, Pearl is no longer needed in this symbolic role. When Dimmesdale dies, she becomes a full human being, leaving behind her childhood naivety. Throughout the novel, the characters’ levels of contentedness are almost always inversely proportionate to their denial of their sins and themselves. God does not expect humans to be perfect. He is willing to forgive so long as we are ready to be forgiven. Hester and Pearl realize and acknowledge their imperfections, and revel in the knowledge that â€Å"perfection† leads to inertness, much like that of their Puritan society. Consequently, they live much better lives than that of Dimmesdale, who steadfastly denies his imperfections and spends incredible amounts of time punishing himself instead of getting on with his life. In light of the choices we make, we are always open to salvation. The only thing that can stop us is ourselves. How to cite Living and Learning: the Right to Salvation (the Scarlet Letter), Papers

The Black Parade takes the streets witha ROAR! MCR album review free essay sample

The Black Parade made the crowd ROAR! My Chemical Romance Album Review By Reed Martizna The Black Parade takes the streets of Rock as being lead by My Chemical Romance, the true kings of Punk Rock. â€Å"The Black Parade† is truly an album to remember. To hearing the roar of the crowd to the House of Wolves, this album is one to rock out to. Lead singer, Gerald Way and his fellow band members made this album due to their recovery to drugs and alcohol. They first started out out as a screamo rock band, then they were not making enough money to go on because of their several arrests from driving to sadly Gerald stripping in concert as he was drunk. Overall, The band went downhill from stardom. A year after rehab, they went started back up on a new album, The Black Parade. The My Chemical Romance album has everything a rocker would love. We will write a custom essay sample on The Black Parade takes the streets witha ROAR! MCR album review or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Awesome singing, Hardcore guitar solos, and the beat of heart on the drums. The only poor thing about this album is that there is not enough songs. Only Thirteen songs plus a bonus track that is not the good as the other songs. But, One song can’t ruin a whole album. The main songs that you will get stuck in your head is â€Å"Dead!†, â€Å"Welcome to the Black Parade†, â€Å"Disenchanted†, and â€Å"Teenagers†. Those songs have great lyrics, wonderful beat, and awesome singing that you will be humming to for days. All the rest of the songs are okay songs but not ones to sing or even hum about. On this album, there is thirteen songs plus a bonus track â€Å"Blood† which the first minute and a half is nothing but an instrumental. So practically, A waste of a track on a great CD. But, One hidden track isn’t going to ruin a great rockin’ out album. Star Review: ****