Today, during one of my classes, I was trying to engage my students in an educated class discussion about the themes from a story that we previously read. Some students were participating, but the majority of the students sat passively in their desks, content with letting others speak.
At the end of the discussion it dawned on me that few, if any, students actually voiced an opinion. There were many general statements and "what ifs" but no real arguments. No one sat up and said "I believe that...because...and..." No one challenged an idea (except for me) and no one verbally fought for their views. It was depressing.
The whole situation ignited a fire within me. Do my students have any original thoughts? Do they have opinions on major topics that will hugely impact their futures? Do they even care about their futures?
I realize that the kids sitting in front of me today are between fifteen and sixteen years old. I realize that they still have much to learn about life (as do I). But, what I refuse to accept is that they are willing to let others dictate how and what to think. Better yet, I refuse to accept that they lack passion for something, anything in their lives. Yes, I know that many students are passionate about their sports, hobbies, or sometimes even their studies, but this world is a big place. There is much going on that directly impacts our daily lives - I am asking my students to care, at least a little bit, about some of these things.
This week, write to tell me what you care about. What is your view of the many issues that shape our society? How do you let your views be known?
14 comments:
try to know at least a little bit about something I would argue about. I am growing up in a hugely republican house and family. Personally, I see that the country hasn't been destroyed so Obama can't be too bad right?
Today in class no one was armed with any kind of knowledge on the subject of population control. I know several people next to me made remarks they didn't want to talk because they weren't sure what to say. I wasn't even sure how I would argue my point if I had spoken. Everyone used a basic argument loosely based on morals. I think that a lot of people were afraid to talk because they were afraid of being judged by the others, I know I was. I guess the reason I can argue with my friends is because I know how they have already judged me.
Population control is an interesting subject that pretty much every 15 or 16 year old wouldn't know what the hell they are talking about. Others think seem to not give a damn and I could only imagine what went on in your head Mrs. Stoklosa after a certain someone made comments that, in my opinion were stupid. I know everyone in this class has taken biology. As I was trying to come up with ways I would debate my view I thought back to an important graph. I think that humans do not need to mandate over how much others can procreate, nature does that for us. A little thing called carrying capacity is an important element in thinking about how population works.
The graph of carrying capacity is a line showing exponential growth. If you can't remember what this looks like, click this http://carrier.pbworks.com/f/carrying%20capacity.gif
Once the population of a certain species gets over the carrying capacity, the population will fall. Lets assume the carrying capacity of the Earth is 100 billion people. Once the population goes over that, it falls down to a level the Earth can sustain. Factor in things like war and disease and the population of the Earth will be at sustainable levels.
Of course the problem with this is the periods of time in which the population is over carrying capacity. During these periods, competition for food, water, and living space will be tremendous. Such is nature's way of survival of the fittest. Those who are too old or sick will die. It's sad but true. Today we consider ourselves above nature's ability to kill off the weak with medicine and technology, but we can only do that for so long.
Technology then becomes a driving force in the lives of people. The need for a way to produce more food or water will cause people to look for new ways to genetically modify food to produce more than before (already done today). Sadly this period of time will not be for those going green because growing organic is a huge waste of space compared to what could be grown from modified plants. Space colonization will be something people will hugely consider when the Earth can't support them. Even today we are looking to set up self-sustaining colonies on the moon.
(cont'd in next post)
The point is, over population will happen to humans. It's happened to plenty of animal species in the wild. Humans are animals, and will abide by nature's rules. Population control seems viable, because it shows us the false premise that we would be able to perfectly sustain ourselves if we limit our growth. My belief as stated above is that there is no need to do this because nature takes care of this itself.
Back on the main question, I try not to be completely ignorant in a topic. I try to understand both sides and compare them. I understand why people are against stem-cell research (I'm not). I can't blame them for thinking it is unethical. I can, however, blame them if they argue against it without some evidence that clearly states "this is not going to help anyone and is a complete waste of time and money."
On the subject of evidence, I do not taking any kind of writing seriously without a link or citation of some kind. Newstories are an exception because it's generally assumed the reporter did some reporting. Things like letters to the president saying he isn't American or people who say Russia could take America in a war and then bring in stats posted by a user on wikianswers generally are not credible. It's nice to know people care about their world, but they need to be a bit more educated and understand how it works better. If you talked to my step dad about politics he seems like a sensible person who did a lot of research and knows what he is talking about. I do not agree with most of his views and think some of the radio stations he listen to are just so insane I don't understand how anyone could seriously listen to them (Rush Limbaugh).
I like to listen to my grandma because I like to think she knows what she is talking about. She is the only democrat in my family. She doesn't talk politics with my family because she knows that someone like my step dad has formed his own opinions and will not step away from them. I dare not to talk to my family because I think they are idiots for some of the things they believe. Seriously, if you still think Obama was not born in America after his birth certificate was brought forward and then showed all over the internet, there are some problems.
There are many issues that need to be dealt with immediately. The wars in the Middle East need to stop. I honestly find zero reason to be there in the first place. Okay, our former-president made a mistake. We're sorry, don't take it so seriously. It's only causing more casualties and more money that could be used for something more productive. I think America has bulled enough countries for the last century or so. I try to express this in anti-war rallies and when I get into discussion with my friends.
Another issue I am interested in is the war on drugs. I can clearly see the advantages and disadvantages of both sides since I had some knowledge of both. The truth is, if you don't like the no-drugs policy in America, then go to Amsterdam or something. It's these drugs that are spreading cancer, pollution, etc. I can see how legalizing several drugs can help with the economy, but it's just going to under-influence the next generation of adults. Again, I have talked about this in many blogs and topics in school and in various clubs.
Growing up as a kid I was always taught to clean up after myself. My parents would teach me to recycle, separate the bottles from the paper. It only takes a few minutes to separate the trash from what can be reusable. What I don’t get is why everyone doesn’t take a few minutes out of the week to help our environment. We all share the earth so we should all be responsible to helping it and keeping it clean. If we were a green planet we would be a better planet. If we took it a step further and started planting more trees and using alternative sources of energy. I feel if we had fewer commercials about the new iPod and more commercials about growing plants, more people will help the earth.
There are many issues that need to be dealt with in this world. The problem is that those kids you were speaking with are too busy with television shows, movies, and their IPods. These kids need to watch news, and care more about the world around them. Without the information, they do not know what to talk about, and most of them do not understand what the teacher is talking about. Even though the subject being dealt with is easy to manage with the least amounts of information, most kids in the class either did not care, or do not have the intellect to handle a serious conversation without going through it step by step, because that is how the minds of these kids work.
I think you are right. I also read some of the other comments and they are right too. For example, Juan says some people don't watch enough news and they only care about television, etc. Well, to be honest I never watch the news or television in general so he's right when he says some people don't know what to say. It is true that everyone should speak up, but it can be hard when the people don't know what they could add to the discussion.
Im going to have to thank you for telling us to pick a side and voice an opinion, because it really struck home with me. Im glad I finally did take a side in the argument, that I spoke for something that makes sense to me, and that I think is nesaccary. I stopped trying to sugar coat it and make it nice so I wouldn't upset anyone, but really I was only cheating myself.
Aboration has been huge here in America, but there is a new practice, that is tied to abortion. scientists now can take the egg and sperm cells of humans, fertalize them, then grow them in a petry dish. After a period of development they can tell whether the embryos will be a boy a girl. The parents will get to choose whether they want a boy or girl, then they choose one, and the other is dicarded of.
I believe that embryo to be just as human as any of us, and by throwing it in that wonderful biohazard box you have ended a man's, women's life before he/she could even be born out of thier mothers womb. It discusts me that one would voluntarly kill one of thier children.
A plant is inside a seed, a human inside an embryo. Just as one destroys the seed, one destroys the plant. Just as one destroys the embryo, one destroys the human. That is how I look at it.
I think i present a lot of my views and thoughts in my daily journals and my essays. As you probably know im not the biggest talker in class but i do hold A LOT of personal views on our society and different things. I do agree that our class isn't the most outspoke except for a few. However I knowthat most of the quiet ones have strong opinions and views just by reading their blogs.
Personally I myself have been under a load of stress these past few weeks from the AP im taking to Student Gov.(kill me) and then to english. I havent been as outspoken as I'd like this year. I usually am in english too, I will definitely make more an effort now though.
There are many things that i take seriously. The number one thing that I care about the most is hockey. i play everyday, and take it very seriously. But I do care about other things in or example one thing i feel very strong about is the war in the middle east. i thnk thawe should take all the oil, and just blow all the countries up. A merican lives are being lost everyday that can be ended with a couple of nuclear bombs. Why should we sit here and let other countries plan ways to kill us and destroy our country? It doesnt make any sense to me.
One of the main issues that really bothers me is Hunger. I don't understand how there are so many countries with this problem. It is so sad that people have to eat dirt to survive. This problem is huge in Africa and Haiti. In Haiti they actually make dirt cookies to survive. Instead of using money for unnecessary things we should help these countries and this growing problem. People should not have to live like this, especially the young children.
Personally, I do not think we should have population control. People should be able to reproduce as many children as they like. But yes we should educate other countries about birth control and condoms. That would help the situation out a bit. Also people need to have self-restraint and know when to stop having children. You need to be able to provide for a family, if you can't it's probably not a good idea to bring a child into the world. Even if our society gets down to the strongest people live then thats how it will be. Hey the dinosaurs did it. Hopefully we'll be more humane in this sort of situation. But we should not have population control. Also I try to speak my opinions in class, but each time I try to speak someone says what I was going to say. If not that I'm not always fully there, depends on the night of sleep...and yes I know it's not an excuse but it's the honest truth. I'm really not a morning person. I guess I'll try splashing some more cold water on my face in the morning so I'm more awake!
First off, I would like to apologize for not being involved in class discussions. Usually, I do have an argument and views and about the topic at hand, but am too shy to voice my opinion.
One thing I m truly passionate about is animal rights. I think it's absolutely horrific how animals are being treated in today's society. The cruelty, neglect, and experimentation is unnecessary. I have even attended a couple of protests standing up for animal's rights.
My views on things going on the world are very simple. I think we must know at least a little bit about every subject possible. I believe that we as young people shouldn't have to have a desicion made on if we would totally go for or against population control, for example, because on our age maybe some things are more important that others but on a temporary basis, and those views will change and grow better as we mature. With the situation about population control that I recall we were talking about in class, we are not correctly equipped to make that desicion, because we don't have kids that would have not been born for example.
HA this was our class i bet. Yes to me its extremely important to have everyone in the class try to at least form some opinion of their own and to voice it in the class. Its essential because it starts arguments that show diferent ways of thinking or different ideas. Without discussion and students speaking up class is dull and arguments few. Thats why i try to voice my opinion in class because its important for me to get my views out an see what others feel about them. Also if someone really does have a good point when they "Speak UP" then i take it into consideration and may apply it to how i think and feel.
Post a Comment