Sex Trafficking in the United States

Danielle Miller

Prof. Sieben

Teaching Writing

Argument Paper

6 December 2011

           

“Ladies of the Night”

(A closer look at the problem of sex trafficking in the United States)

Sex trafficking is a global epidemic that is growing each and every day, however, people living in the United States understand that the problem is just as severe state side, as it is around the world.  According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, sex trafficking is defined as, “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.”  Many of the reports focus on either sex trafficking abroad, or international women being trafficked into the United States; the fact that no reports have been recorded about domestic sex trafficking causes huge problems for trying to put an end, or at least create a solution, to the problem.  

Although not many reports have been done to truly gage how dire the sex trafficking situation is in the United States, some researchers and organizations have begun to gather information to help bring more of a factual based awareness to the issue.  In the report, Human Trafficking Into and Within the United States: A Review of the Literature, researches found that between 244,000 and 325,000 American youth are considered at risk for sexual exploitation, and an estimated 199,000 incidents of sexual exploitation of minors occur each year in the United States.  Based on this report, only the minor’s being trafficked are counted, these figure do not include all the people over eighteen years of age who are trafficked in the United States as well.  In another report, Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States, researchers noted that the United States has been less visible as a site for transnational and domestic trafficking in women because, for one reason, research on sex trafficking in the United States has been limited. 

One of the major problems with the way sex trafficking is handled is that a lot of the time the prostitute is the one charged in the crime when they’re caught in the act.  Many “johns” are not charged when they get caught with a prostitute, but the female is.  In the report, Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States, researchers report that the penalties for human trafficking are far less punitive in most countries than the penalties for drug trafficking.  Somehow, I feel the opposite should be the case.  Trafficking a human being seems far more of a crime to me than the trafficking of illegal drugs.

Much of the public also seems to unaware of just how close to home sex trafficking is hitting.  Street prostitution, escort services, strip clubs, massage parlors, and internet pornography are just a few of the places where innocent women and children are being forced into sexual servitude.    In the report, Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States, researchers report that the Metro New York area, Manhattan specifically, has the highest number of escort service listings in the yellow pages, which falls second to the listing of attorneys.  The sex industry works off of the basic business model of supply and demand; if there wasn’t a demand for women, there would be no need to supply them through trafficking.  In Mickey Goodman’s article, “Super Bowl a magnet for under-age sex trade,” child-rights advocates said, “Pimps will traffic thousands of under-age prostitutes to Texas for Sunday's Super Bowl, hoping to do business with men arriving for the big game with money to burn.”

Part of the problem with addressing the issues of sex trafficking in the United States is that Americans don’t want to accept that “upstanding” American men are taking part in continuing this hideous cycle of abuse.  It’s easy for American’s to sit back and say, “oh that’s a Chinese issue,” or “that only happens in the Middle East,” because than we, as Americans, can blame the “barbaric” nature of the people in those nations for not putting a stop to such a heinous crime.  In Lesile Bennetts article, “The John Next Door,” a victim of sex trafficking, who was forced into the industry at the young age of 10, quoted, “They’re the cops, the schoolteacher—the dignified, respected individuals. They’re everybody.”

Another major flaw with the mindset of the American public is that the women involved in the sex industry, specifically those over the age of eighteen, make the conscience decision to be there, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  According to Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States, researchers report that eight-six of U.S, women reported being physically abused by their pimps and traffickers while in the sex industry; one half of those women described frequent, sometimes daily physical assaults.  Many of the beatings take place as a way to control the women.  The pimps instill such fear in them that they couldn’t run away if the door to the brothel was left wide open.

Based on many of the reports out there on sex trafficking, one may feel discouraged that there will ever be a solution to help deal with this issue; however, there are ways to start to help bring attention to the issue.  Two ways are through education and public awareness.  One of the biggest hurdles domestic sex trafficking faces in the United States is the complete disregard that it’s even happening here.  Educating the public is one way to help them see that sex trafficking in the U.S. is a very real and huge problem.  A third way to help address sex trafficking in the U.S. is stricter penalties and consistent law enforcement.  As of late, law enforcement departments have been setting up task forces specially designed to tackle sex trafficking crimes.  Although these few examples are a start, much more needs to be done to help stop these crimes, and save the women and children forced into them.

Works Cited:

Bennetts, Lesile.  “The John Next Door.”  Newsweek Magazine 18 Jul 2011.  The Daily

 Beast online.  Web.  4 Dec 2011.

Clawson, Heather J.  Dutch, Nicole.  Grace, Lisa Goldblatt. Solomon, Amy.  Human Trafficking Into and Within the United States: A Review of the Literature.  ASPE August

 2009.  Web.  4 Dec 2011.

Goodman, Mickey.  “Super Bowl a magnet for under-age sex trade.”  Reuters 2 Feb

            2011.  Reuters online.  Web.  5 Dec 2011.

Hughes, Donna M.  Raymond, Janice G.  Sex Trafficking Of Women In The United

            States.  Coalition Against Trafficking in Women March 2011.  Web. 4 Dec 2011.

how does one really achieve great classroom management skills?

Today while observing, I noticed that the biggest struggle in most classrooms is managing student behavior.  I'm a product of Catholic school, so students misbehaving to the degree I've been witnessing weren’t even a thought in my fellow high school peers minds.  Now, that’s not to say that my high school didn’t have its fair share of kids who would act out, but it was nothing compared to what I've been observing.  In one of the classes I observed today, made up of 3 female students and 21 male students, the level of noise was so great that I couldn’t hear my self think, let alone the teacher verbally give out n assignment.  The teacher was giving the students a journal prompt to write about; she had to repeat the question 4 times, and still students were asking what the question was.  I began to get really frustrated!  This teacher is a veteran teacher, and to be honest I expected her to be able to control her students better than any other teacher, but that wasn’t the case at all.  I'm unsure of why the classroom got so out of control in the first place.  What was causing these students to have such a lack of respect for their teacher?  What was giving the teacher such patience that she didn’t run out of the room and never return?  It made me start thinking about my own future classroom.  What if my future students behave that way?  Do I have a plan of action to deal with a situation like that?  Or better yet, what can I do to prevent a situation like that from happening?  The teacher I observed put on a movie for the rest of the period, and that seemed to settle the students to a certain extent, and could almost swear I saw her raise a little white flag from behind her desk!  Ok, so maybe she didn’t actually raise a little white flag, but she may as well have.  The people I really felt bad for were the students who were actually trying to learn.  I can’t imagine how annoying and distracting it must be to be in a classroom where the majority of the period is based around the teacher telling your peers to pipe down and pay attention. 

Response to Arielle's Post 11/14/11

I really enjoyed Arielle's post about change, or lack thereof in our world.  Her post made me think of a unit I'm working on for another class.  My unit is focused on civic responsibility, which relates well to Arielle's post.  The books my students will be reading all deal with issues of women’s rights in foreign countries, including but not limited to arranged marriage, child sex trade, and many more.  One thing I want my students to walk away with is the notion that no matter how far away a problem may seem, or how big of an issue it may be to tackle, they can help.  I think that most of society thinks unless their completely solving the problem, they can’t make a difference.  However, the smallest action can result in something life changing for the person who's receiving the help.  The final piece to my unit is going to be the students setting up and running a "Women Around the World Awareness Week."  My students will be hanging up posters and flyers of facts they learned through the class, and the books they read.  They will also set up some sort of fundraising project, and all the money raised will go to a foundation that sponsors young girls in third-world countries to go to school.  I want my students, and the school for that matter, to realize that change or making a difference can be as simple as selling a cupcake, no one’s asking them to change the world.  Arielle brought up great points in her blog that really speak to how society looks at change; it seems that change is looked at as something difficult, something that is usually unattainable.  We all need to realize that change is attainable, and that what may seem like the smallest contribution could lead to the biggest reward to the people who need it most. 

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KGXd4TUEMc

If you see something, say something

" if you see something, say something" and no I'm not talking about the MTA. In the midst of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, I started thinking about legendary coach Paterno. Paterno, a celebrity in his own right, is not the accused, however, he seems to be smack in the middle of the whole scandal. This got me to thinking about what we, as teachers, are teaching students about bullying. We teach young people to step in or speak up of they see some sort of wrongdoing going on. The Penn State scandal is a perfect example as to why teaching that lesson to young people is vital. Paterno may not have abused those boys, or even witnessed the abuse taking place, but he was made aware of what was going on and said nothing. Does that make him as guilty as the actual abuser? Perhaps not, but to be aware of that caliber of abuse and not intervene does make him guilty to an extent. For students, it's the same thing. If they see a fellow peer being bullied and just standby and watch it happen, and than that student commits suicide that night, the stander by will feel a certain level of guilt. The Penn State scandal is a good lesson for society in general: we are all held accountable for the wrongdoings we see or are made aware if, and if we don't do anything about it, well then the blood is on our hands too.

creative piece # 2(not sure which i like better)

“The Heights”

By: Danielle Miller

Corona

This was our home.  A place I still cherish to this day.  There was no better place to grow up, in our eyes anyway, than Corona.  Everyday was like Sunday dinner, one big family loving, fighting, and of course eating.  Just driving down Corona Avenue with your car windows open would embed the aroma of “galic” in your seats.  Walking down the streets, you’d hear a million conversations at once, some you’d understand, and some you’d know only the “bad” words your parents had taught you in their native tongue.  Growing up in Corona was like living in a real life gangster movie; you had you “Robert De Niro” types, your “Joe Pesci” types, but we just knew them as a part of our “familia.”  You knew everybody, and everybody knew you.  Your neighbors were your cousins, and local shop owners were your parents “pisan’s” from the mother country. 

            Ya see, my friends and I had all known each other, for the most part, since birth.  All of our parents grew up together too.  My mother, for example, she’s lived on the same street her whole life!  This isn’t something that many people of today’s generation could say.  A lot of the neighborhood people could share similar stories. 

            Driving through the neighborhood now is a completely different world.  The colors of red, white, and green still stand, except now they stand for a different kinda people, people who come from “south of the border.”  Even thought the area has changed almost completely, I can still see every memory in my mind; my first bad scraped knee; my first kiss; the place I smoked my first joint, all of it.  No matter what direction I turn, I see a memory; Anthony and Jimmy jamming out in Mr. Pallino’s garage; Lisa breaking up with her boyfriend for the 15^th time; my uncle stumbling home from the bar.  Things were crazy back than.  There are moments I wish I could recreate, and others I wish I could long forget.            

Not everything is "our" business

I know this blog is going to seem completely ridiculous, but I'm going to write it anyway.  Today, Kim Kardashian announced she was divorcing husband of 72 day, Kris Humphries.  Many of you may stop reading here, but just hear me out.  As I watched TV this morning, many stations had a breaking news alert that Kim was filing for divorce.  Many people would blog about how idiotic that may be, or how idiotic Kim may be in general, but the whole situation left me feeling kind of sorry for her.  Here's a woman who has had her fair share of struggles in life(many of which the public doesn’t know about), and yet people are so quick to criticize her.  Just for a moment, I'd like for you to imagine being in her position, to have most of the world rooting that you fail, hoping that you fall on your face, just so they can say "I told you so."  Kim suffered years of physical abuse from her first husband, the unexpected death of her father, and many publicized breakups, but yet "we" hate her, why, because she marketed herself well and became an overnight millionaire?  The whole situation got me to thinking that as a society, were way too involved in celebrities lives.  If we asked our grandparents, 50 years ago no one was saying much about the escapades of celebrities.  Why is it that people today think its their business to have an inside look into very private matters?  Are we that bored with our own lives?  Or, are we looking to point the finger at how bad someone else's situations are, so we dont have to look at our own?  So what, she got divorced after 72 days, how many people stay unhappily married for 30+ years and regret it!  The way i feel is that Kim wouldn’t have a judgment about my life, so why should i have the option to have one about hers?  We should focus on the things that our important in life, and stop focusing on kicking someone when they’re down. 

start of my short story

            The perfect first date.  We all know what I’m talking about; everything goes perfectly.  He calls, leaving the most incredible voicemail, the kind of voicemail that makes you think of him as being ever wittier than he was to begin with.  He invites you on the perfect date, nothing too stuffy or pressure bearing, just a casual movie and dinner date.  Scratch that, a dinner and movie date, that way just incase the dinner doesn’t go as “perfect” as you’d envision it, the movie is that great escape of sitting in silence for about an hour and half, trying to semi-enjoy what’s happening on the screen as opposed to the horrific way your meal ended.  However, that’s not how my date went.  It was perfect!  The meal was great, the conversation was beyond what I’d ever experienced; everything was perfect, right down to the way he signed his name on the check.  This date was the first of many perfect dates I’d go on with Jude. 

            The next few weeks gave me that feeling in my stomach, you know that feeling of being in middle school again and waiting for a response on the, “do you like me, circle yes or no,” note you passed to your crush during math period.  Date after date, Jude’s perfection only seemed to improve, contrary to the popular statistic of the first few dates only going downhill.  His kiss was perfect, his laugh was impeccable, the way he’d brush my hair behind my ear before he kissed me.  I knew that when it came time to take our intimacy to the next level the moment would be just as perfect.  The moment came, or shall I say rather, the moment came and past.  It was kind of like eating one of those big hot pretzels, but all the salt fell off before you could take the first bite.  There was no flavor, no taste.  Feeling completely baffled, I started to wonder how everything else could be so perfect, so connected, yet, the area we should have been the most “connected” felt more distant than anything. 

            Later the next day, I met with my two “besties”.  As we all know, a situation like mine beckoned to be “lunch talk.”  The advice I received was split.  Tina said, “if the sex was cold, the relationship is doomed to freeze over too.”  Not exactly what I wanted to hear, because everything other than that was all I could have ever imagined.  Jill gave me the advice, which I took, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, and try again.”  I figured if I was into Jude enough, I could melt even the coldest of glaciers. 

            That Friday we went out to a swanky little lounge.  I had more than my fair share of drinks; I thought that maybe I was a bit inhibited the first time, so I drank as much as I could, trying not to cross that fine line of strongly buzzed and hot mess.  The date, once again was flawless.  I had on my best push up bra, my highest heels, and enough perfume on to make a hooker blush.  In my mind, I saw the sexiest, sassiest of nights happening.  We reached my apartment.  The kisses throughout the elevator ride lead me to believe that nothing could ruin this moment, it would be perfect.  Reaching the bed, I began to parade around in what I believed to be a sexy manner.  Jude sat on the edge of my bed, looking at me with semi-glazed eyes.  As I began to do a little “shakin,” those high heels began to work against me; falling over in the middle of a “get your man hot-and –bothered dance” kind of kills the mood.  But hey, I’m a trooper.  I picked myself up, flipped my hair back, pouted my lips and…well he laid there passed out.  I guess we both crossed the line into “hot mess” territory.  So here we were beauty and the sleep.  What was my next move going to be?  Could Jude and I ever figure out how to take the heat from our dates into the bedroom?               

"Remember me as a Unicorn" - Jamie Hubley

My post tonight comes after reading yet another horrific story of a teen suicide.  Jamie Hubley killed himself this past Friday; he was a 15-year old gay male who ended his life after a long battle with depression.  When the article came up in my AOL news feed, I couldn’t help but think, how many young people have to die as a result of bullying/non-acceptance before someone really intervenes, and realizes what a catastrophic "epidemic" this issue has become.  Not only did I happen to read this article today, but over the weekend I got to watch the second part of Anderson Cooper's bullying special.  I cried through most of the episode.  There were children of varied ages on the show sharing their stories of how they've been bullied in school.  One little boys story particularly stuck with me.  Kyle, a boy of no more than maybe 10 or 11 years old, shared his story of being bullied in a bathroom at his school.  What he described next shocked me to the core.  Kyle walked into the bathroom, where there was already a group of boys convening, he entered one of the stalls and within a matter of seconds he felt something dripping on his head.  When Kyle looked up, he saw one of the boys urinating on him.  I had to pause my DVR at this point because i felt sick to my stomach.  How could another human being conduct this sort of behavior on another human being?  Where did that boy learn that what he did to Kyle was acceptable?  The strength that Kyle showed sharing his story on national television far surpasses the strength of any grown man I've ever met.  Watching the bullying special and than reading the article on Jamie really made an impact on me, and stirred the activism pot within me so to speak.  People are always saying, "I don’t know why he/she did it?  Why didn’t they just get help?  Could it have really been that bad?"  My answer to those people is yes, it IS that bad.  Imagine another child  urinating on your child, for no other reason than the fact they felt like it; imagine your child being called insulting words day after day; imagine if your child had no where to turn for help.  Bullying IS that deadly; my question is, when is someone going to step in and help these unheard cries to be saved?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7urQmIzv_3E

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/17/jamie-hubley-commits-suicide_n_1015646.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C104998

Danielle Miller

Teaching Secondary Writing

Prof. Sieben

Critical Lens

3 October 2011

"All literature is protest.   You can't name a single literary work that isn't protest."

Richard Wright (adapted)

According to Richard Wright, “All literature is protest.  You can’t name a single literary work that isn’t protest.”  In other words, authors write with a sense of purpose that usually pertains to a certain situation of which they agree or disagree with.  This is shown to be true in To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.  Each of these authors uses literary techniques such as theme, characterization and point of view to support many works of literature protesting against social injustice.

In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee writes about human dignity that joins everyone. Her story takes us to a sleepy, Southern town called Maycomb, where a mixture of people was living. Theme and characterization are demonstrated throughout this novel, which makes the reader feel a strong sense of emotion. Many themes occur in this novel including compassion, drama, and care for the characters. The underlining themes encompass issues around maturity, human dignity and prejudgment, but most of all courage. The definition of Courage is mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and to withstand danger, fear or difficulty. Moral courage is most apparent in Atticus, Mrs. Dubose, Boo Radley and Miss Maudie. Throughout the novel, the actions and feelings these characters exhibit show the true meaning of moral courage The novel is filled with experiences that readers can identify with; kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and grief are some of the themes that produce and show a great deal of injustice. In one scene, Atticus tells Scout, "You never know the person until jump into their skin and walk around in it." The characterization in this novel has a greater truth to it. For instance, the names of the characters come to represent certain things.  For example, "Atticus Finch" represents strong leadership and a hard worker; Atticus always teaches his children that they must learn to be compassionate and understanding of the problems and conditions of life faced by other people.  "Bob Ewell" stands for evil, which in this case is true considering what happens to the protagonist's brother at the end of the story; "Tom Robinson" is a victim of which the Ewell family dislikes African Americans, because of his race.  Through both of these literary devices, the reader can see how Lee feels about the social situation of which she is writing about. 

Similarly, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, which focuses on the social injustices of that time period.   Miller writes about how the society accuses one another of witchcraft, based mostly on hearsay by the other characters.  The historical setting of The Crucible may seem distant, but in many cases it allows readers to become one with the story, and create their own ties to the characters. Scattered throughout this play are reoccurring signs of theme and of different points of view or perspectives. The uprising of Salem witch trials influences the theme of this play. Almost everyone in the town of Salem is affected in some way; by the end of the play, most of the female characters have been accused of being a witch.  The differing points of view are mostly based in religion, meaning some characters hold “the word of the Lord” to a much higher standard than others.  By illustrating a society from both a moral and religious point of view, Miller is able to show why the characters stayed true to themselves. By allowing the reader to view the community in this light, we are able to see why the characters made their decisions to go against the social norm and speak out, staying true to themselves but having to face grave consequences.  In some instances the play suggests you have to lie and Miller, via Hale, makes this clear "God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride."  Miller poignantly illustrates the fate of Salem from both a religious and moral viewpoint, allowing the reader to see the struggles for most of the people living during that time period.

“All literature is protest.  You can’t name a single literary work that isn’t protest.”  This is shown to be true in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.  Both works exemplify this common theme of how many works of literature protest against social injustice. With the literary elements of characterization, theme, and point of view, the story comes to life.  For many readers, the situations that were written about aren’t situations they’ve directly dealt with, but through the genius of fiction, the reader can feel as though they are part of the protest.

Critical Lens

Danielle Miller

Teaching Secondary Writing

Prof. Sieben

Critical Lens

3 October 2011

"All literature is protest.   You can't name a single literary work that isn't protest."

Richard Wright (adapted)

According to Richard Wright, “All literature is protest.  You can’t name a single literary work that isn’t protest.”  In other words, authors write with a sense of purpose that usually pertains to a certain situation of which they agree or disagree with.  This is shown to be true in “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, and “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller.  Each of these authors uses literary techniques such as theme, characterization and point of view to support many works of literature protesting against social injustice.

In Harper Lee's novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Lee writes about human dignity that joins everyone. Her story takes us to a sleepy, Southern town called Maycomb, where a mixture of people was living. Theme and characterization are demonstrated throughout this novel, which makes the reader feel a strong sense of emotion. Many themes occur in this novel including compassion, drama, and care for the characters. The novel is filled with experiences that readers can identify with. Kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and grief are some of the themes that produce and show a great deal of injustice. In one scene, Atticus tells Scout, "You never know the person until jump into their skin and walk around in it." The characterization in this novel has a greater truth to it. For instance, the names of the characters come to represent certain things.  For example, "Atticus Finch" represents strong leadership and a hard worker; Atticus always teaches his children that they must learn to be compassionate and understanding of the problems and conditions of life faced by other people.  "Bob Ewell" stands for evil, which in this case is true considering what happens to the protagonist's brother at the end of the story; "Tom Robinson" is a victim of which the Ewell family dislikes African Americans, because of his race.  Through both of these literary devices, the reader can see how Lee feels about the social situation of which she is writing about. 

Similarly, Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible," which focuses on the social injustices of that time period.   Arthur writes about how the society accuses one another of witchcraft, based mostly on hearsay by the other characters. Scattered throughout this play are reoccurring signs of theme and of different points of view or perspectives. The uprising of Salem witch trials influences the theme of this play. Almost everyone in the town of Salem is affected in some way; by the end of the play most of the female characters have been accused of being a witch.  The differing points of view are mostly based in religion, meaning some characters hold “the word of the Lord” to a much higher standard than others.  By illustrating a society from both a moral and religious point of view, Miller is able to show why the characters stayed true to themselves. By allowing the reader to view the community in this light, we are able to see why the characters made their decisions to go against the social norm and speak out, staying true to themselves but having to face grave consequences.  In some instances the play suggests you have to lie and Miller, via Hale, makes this clear "God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride."  Miller poignantly illustrates the fate of Salem from both a religious and moral viewpoint, allowing the reader to see the struggles for most of the people living during that time period.

“All literature is protest.  You can’t name a single literary work that isn’t protest.”  This is shown to be true in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller.  Both works exemplify this common theme of how many works of literature protest against social injustice. With the literary elements of characterization, theme, and point of view, the story comes to life.  For many readers, the situations that were written about aren’t situations they’ve directly dealt with, but through the genius of fiction, the reader can feel as though they are part of the protest.

I'm Coming Out...

I'm coming out...I'm a registered republican- that’s right I said it!

Last night I watched the GOP debate that took place in Florida.  The candidates looked all shiny and professional, almost like a group of kids on their first day of school.  You know that feeling, we've all had it, and on the first day we promise our parents and teachers that this year were going to do "the right thing" and keep up with our work and grades.  I feel like that’s how these debates are, democrat or republican, all the politicians promise change and betterment; yet somehow when they get to the White House and people are left scratching their heads saying, "um didn’t they say this was going to be different this time around."  Besides all of that, one thing about the debate really bothered me last night: the booing of a gay solider.
I would say half way through the debate, and half way through a bottle of wine, a gay solider asked a question about DADT (Don’t ask Don’t Tell) and his question was met with booing audience members of the debate.  I was in shock!  I had to rewind my DVR because I wasn’t sure if that really happened, or if I had more wine than I thought; it really happened.  The next shocking thing was that the candidate who got asked the question, Rick Santorum, didn’t address the booing and how utterly disrespectful it was, he just went right along answering the question.  The answer he gave didn’t help matters either, not to mention he sounded like a complete fool.  I started thinking to myself as a future educator what the ramifications of this sort of behavior can mean for adolescents.  Let's just say, in my hypothetical classroom, there’s a student who is somewhat homophobic, or on the fence as to whether or not they believe homosexuals deserve the same rights as heterosexuals.  Now, lets say that student watched the debate last night too and saw and heard what the rest of the country did, what do you think that student would think about his/her own thoughts and feelings toward homosexuals?  I think that that student would feel justified in what they believe and would possibly make their feelings toward homosexuals much more negative.  As a future educator, how am I supposed to teach young people about equality and respect if our politicians and elder members of society can’t uphold that?
The people in that audience booed a solider, gay-straight-green or blue, he's a solider.  A man giving his life over in Iraq, day after day for the country YOU live in, for the country YOURE so proud of, for the country YOU stand behind no matter what...well I guess unless you’re talking about a gay solider, because YOU didn’t stand behind that.

To Stephen Hill, my deepest apologies for the ignorance of the American people- to me, you’re not gay or straight, you’re a hero!

There is more slavery in the world today than back in the 1800's...

       
Recently I read the book, Half the Sky, which for those of you who haven’t read it, it’s a must!  This book is so compelling, so appalling, that’s its hard to put it down for a second.  One thing that I found truly disturbing, and trust me threes no lack of disturbing facts in this book, is that slavery today is more prevalent that it ever has been, with numbers reaming as high as 12 to 27 million people.  Interestingly enough, slavery is now outlawed in all countries.  I think what scared me the most about learning some of these hideous facts is that nothing is being done to stop it.  I can count on less than one hand the number of times I've seen a news station cover a story of modern day slavery.  I bet if you walked into most classrooms around the U.S and asked students if slavery still exists today, most of them would say no.  I mean how can we help stop slavery if people are unaware that it even still occurs. 
Scarier than that, when we look at the human trafficking component of modern day slavery, we as Americans think of human trafficking as something that happens to "those people," the people who live in third world countries and eat a small bowl of rice as a meal for the whole day.  But, we don’t think about the American women who are sex slaves right here in our own backyard.  Think about those women and girls you may see late at night on the streets in barely there outfits and spiked high heels, do you jump out of your car and help them, or do you just turn your head and drive away?  Many of those women on the streets are forced to be there.  Many of them were kidnapped by pimps as younger girls and forced into a life of sex and criminal activity.  On top of that, the women who are forced into these activities often make no money, because the pimp or person who "owns" them keeps it all. In 2005, the Department of Justice reported an estimated 150,000 sex slaves in the U.S.  In 2009, a study found that 300,000 youth in the U.S were at risk for being sexually exploited for commercial use.  These facts are from a few years back and continue to grow as I sit here blogging about it.  I hope that people read this and are inspired to get involved, or to at least educate themselves and others about the issue. 

My first blog...ever

Hi everyone-
So this is my first blog, and I'm kind of nervous about it, since I've never created one before.  I guess I'm going to give this my best shot, and hopefully write about something semi-interesting!

As someone who is becoming a future teacher, I tend to try to listen in on people’s conversations about education, and anything that comes along with that.  Most recently, I overheard a group of people (couples, middle aged) discussing the fact that they hate that their school tax was raised significantly.  I immediately found this interesting since their taxes will affect me getting a job/what my salary will be when I get that job.  The four of them were going on and on about how they cant understand why "teachers" need to make so much money, saying things like, "I mean its not like they have a stressful job or anything; they get summers off; they have free nights and weekends, I mean how much can they ask for."  All of these comments outraged me.  The fact that four people, who have never worked in a classroom setting, were judging how intense or not intense or that matter, the work of a teacher is was downright insulting.  Their conversation swiftly moved from putting down teachers, to where their childeren are going to be attending college is in the upcoming year.  It seemed pretty laughable that the same four people who were just putting down teachers and what they do, moved to talking about the academic success of their children, and what their children’s futures would include.  I wanted to pull my chair over and ask them, "How do you think your children got to where they are?"  I also wanted to pose this to those four people:
if I could lower your school tax dramatically, would you be ok with that?
if I told you I could hire a teacher for half of what a new teacher gets hired for, would you be ok with that?
if I told you that the teacher I just hired only attended 2 years of college, would you be ok with that?
if I told you that your child isn’t getting into a 4 year college because their academic achievement just wasn’t "good enough", would you be ok with that?

So many people complain about things like school tax and teacher salaries, that they overlook the key fact- our teachers hold the future of America in their hands; based on that, would you really want a "discount."