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Statistics for lack of sleep from students and reasons for it, according to an article on The Tartan.

For my You and the World project I decided to talk about a very serious and life changing thing, and that is drug abuse. According to WebMD Drug abuse is when you use legal or illegal substances in ways you shouldn’t. You might take more than the regular dose of pills or use someone else’s prescription. You may abuse drugs to feel good, ease stress, or avoid reality. But usually, you’re able to change your unhealthy habits or stop using altogether.Many high school students take many risks and tend to try new things and one of those things is drugs. Most high school students use these drugs for recreational use and they do it because of their curiosity or from peer pressure. According to Luxury Rehab Center “Adolescence is a time to try new experiences, take risks and explore new identities. While all of these developmental changes can lead teens in a positive direction, they can also lead to drug abuse if a teenager falls in with the wrong crowd, has a difficult home life or is a victim of trauma. Today many teenagers have easy access to drugs and alcohol, and experimenting with chemical substances doesn’t necessarily mean that a teenager will turn into an addict. However, parents should be alert to the possibility that if a teen’s behavior or personality suddenly changes, drugs may be involved.” While highschool students are subject to try new thing, substance abuse becomes a growing problem when high school students become obsessive over the drug they are using. “Adolescence is a time to try new experiences, take risks and explore new identities”. While all of these developmental changes can lead teens in a positive direction, they can also lead to drug abuse if a teenager falls in with the wrong crowd, has a difficult home life or is a victim of trauma. Today many teenagers have easy access to drugs and alcohol, and experimenting with chemical substances doesn’t necessarily mean that a teenager will turn into an addict. However, parents should be alert to the possibility that if a teen’s behavior or personality suddenly changes, drugs may be involved.” According to a rehab center.  Drugs are anything ranging from marijuana and alcohol to harder versions of these substances like vodka and heroin. This information is important to prevent your friends and family from going down the wrong path to losing their social life, inability to keep up academically, lose organization in life, and damage their body in some consequences death.

This issue has affected teens all over the World but mainly the United States. Most drugs change your state of mind to a ‘high” state. This state alters your perception of reality and usually releasing dopamine in the brain which is the feel good hormone in your body which you usually feel when you are rewarded or feel pleasured. According to The Drug Abuse Website sponsored by the government most drugs affect the brain's "reward circuit" by flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. This reward system controls the body's ability to feel pleasure and motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones.  Teenagers often are willing to take the risk and drawbacks of the drug due to its outstanding positive effect of being high. The most commonly used drugs consumed by adolescents are marijuana, nicotine, and alcohol all of which have been fairly popularized around young adults and adolescents. The real issue with these two powerhouse drugs and more is not if they should be legalized or saying “Don’t do drugs” the real issue is the countless stigmas and false information about these drugs and since most adolescents do not know the real truth and drugs are more like the forbidden fruit adolescents are ambitious enough to try the substances to see what it’s all about. We need to come together and clear the air about drugs before it becomes a bigger problem like drug abuse to prevent teens from harming themselves.

Did you know the average ticket prices in the WNBA in 2011 were $15? This is crazy considering that there are tickets in the NBA sold for thousands of dollars. I’m going to be do my You & The World project on Women in basketball. I’m interested in this topic because I am female who plays basketball. I take this sport seriously so I felt like it would be helpful to know how the WNBA and college women basketball players were treated. I learned that there is a huge difference between a NBA and WNBA player, and it’s not just the difference in the gender. In one article I read called “ Top WNBA Salaries vs. NBA Salaries: Who Gets Paid More? “ I learned that Steph Curry made 11.4 million dollars in 2016. Yet, the highest paid WNBA player, Nneka Ogwumike gets paid 95,000 dollars. Steph curry isn’t even the highest paid NBA player and he gets paid over 75% more than Ogwumike. Ogwumike works just as hard as Curry to get to where she’s at right now. There are many wage gaps like this in the WNBA

This is a picture of Nneka Ogwumike from her twitter's profile picture.

This is the problem. Women aren’t treated as equals to men. When young girls see this, they get discouraged. Sometimes as a result of being discouraged, people give up. You might not think this is a big deal but it can become a major problem.The WNBA is small. It only consists of 144 players at maximum. So if there are a bunch of women the WNBA because of the shortage of pay there will be no WNBA. Without a WNBA why would colleges offer scholarships to their women’s basketball teams? Many people use these scholarships to go to school, so that’s a significant amount of women not attending college. A big cause of under pay in the WNBA is the fact that the WNBA doesn’t get enough publicity. The more people watch the WNBA and buy tickets to their games, the more money they make. The WNBA gets their funds from the NBA.

The WNBA’s structure is completely different from the NBA’s as well. There are 349 women’s basketball college teams. This is great but it’s also one big system filled with heartbreaks. There are only 12 teams in the WNBA conference and only 12 players permitted to a team. In the NBA there are 30 teams. There are at least 14 players per team and 491 players in the league total. No wonder why WNBA players aren’t getting paid what they deserve. The WNBA doesn’t have enough publicity because the league is too small.

These are the name of all twelve teams.

I want to change the salaries, team expansion, and amount of publicity the WNBA has. An idea I had was to write a letter to the WNBA and NBA explaining how unfair this is to all the hardworking females that want to play basketball. If they expand the players in the WNBA maybe more people would watch and buy tickets to games. With more people watching, the publicity would go up, along with the money they indorse. Then female basketball players would get paid the equivalent amount to men in the NBA.We need to act on these problems because our actions can determine the next woman’s future.

This is my annotated bibliography.It has most interesting facts I’ve found about this topic.

This is a sign about things men do to get women's attention when catcalling and how they feel about it.

                      https://www.theodysseyonline.com/catcalling-is-harassment

Growing up is not as easy as it may seem, especially if you are a young woman. We are in a society where men feel the need to make snarky comments about our bodies without thinking twice about it.  As women some of us develop at different ages. Some girls can be 12 with a well developed body that makes them perceive as a woman at least 18 years old. So men believe it is okay to make sexual comments towards them without thinking that they may be under the age of consent. While learning new things I want to have a clear understanding on the view of women being harassed in some way of catcalling. I know that there will be many stories that will be very harmless to the person but also stories that will seem extreme for a guy trying to get a woman's attention especially if you do not know what their intentions of where they are coming from. My goal of this project is to bring awareness to people around our community even the that catcalling is a product of harassment. Many people feel as though it is such a thing that makes people feel uncomfortable and threatened while walking down the street but, it's time we try and do something to stop men from doing outrageous things when it comes to trying and talking to a female.

I am very interested in this topic because catcalling is something you witness everyday. Someone is either staring you down or even making remarks that make you feel unsafe. For example Ashley Ross would take precautions “I’ve even gone to such lengths as wearing a sweater over my workout clothes every single time I step out the door, even midsummer, as my curves in Spandex seem to give men—of any age, race or neighborhood—the welcome invitation to comment on my body.” She would do this because she felt unsafe in her surroundings while she felt confident in her body but other people felt as though it was their opportunity to gawk over her body. I feel as though this is something to make aware to people because this affects the way women view themselves. This topic matters to me because I have experienced instances where I myself have been targeted by men between the ages of 15-25 stare me down or even scream out trying to get my attention. Which makes me feel threatened and even unsafe in my surroundings. I feel as though readers should know about this because it gives them information about what is occurring around the world if this personally hasn’t affected them because everyone may view catcalling different. Doree Lewark is someone who feels as though she is a fan of catcalling saying “When I know I’m looking good, I brazenly walk past a construction site, anticipating that whistle and “Hey, mama!” catcall. Works every time — my ego and I can’t fit through the door!” Now this makes you think about how many women feel this way. Do they really look for the attention or are they genuinely afraid when walking down the street in some spandex after going to the gym?

This is a significant issue in the world because it makes themselves feel as though that this is their fault because of their choice of clothing or even makeup they decide to wear that perceives them to be older than usual and maybe more appealing to older mean. This outrage of catcalling has gone out the roof, “a staggering 98% of women surveyed in 2008”, reported that they had experienced cat-calling and harassment, which is completely insane these number have stayed the same and it is now 2018. When thinking about it these acquisitions men are getting from making comments about any little thing they see on a woman's body are making them feel as though anyone will brush off their comments and go on with their day. In reality this doesn't work that way, there are many risks but the main risk of stranger harassment to mental health is its effect as a chronic stressor a stressor can be any environmental or external event  that causes stress to an individual, which becomes chronic when it is experienced on multiple occasions over time. The effects placed on anyone creates difficulties of actually feeling safe while even working or just walking out of their front door into their cars. It's insane. All of this research will help everyone see that they are not the only ones going through catcalling everyday and how it is not their fault at all but the thirsty men out there that feel as though it is their job to compliment a woman without realizing them feeling unsafe or even threatened.

     These are the statistics of Street Harassment in the United States.

                                                     https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/news/street-harassment-statistics

All of my research has impacted the way I have started to think about catcalling. What I am truly wondering about is what if the tables were switched and women were making these comments. Would the men feel mentally and physically unsafe or will they just take everything as a complement and boost their confidence about themselves. Also what is going on to stop or bring awareness because when looking at the data there is hardly any current information from 2018 only from the span of 2008 to about 2015. What I hope to learn about while going on is how to make this problem significan at this very moment because of all the data being almost 10 years old when trying to find information about something that is occurring all over the world not just in the United States. I want to make this known again and show that no matter what peoples opinions are that they need to take a stand and make something happen.

                 Catcalling isn’t just in the United States it is happening around the world this image was taken in France.

                   https://collegecandy.com/2017/09/21/france-catcalling-law-legal-details-full-story/

If you want to check out more of my research check out my Annotated Bibliography:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1semQkUFkWIfrTt7-4D7wBLAFR4YS0_vT0ISagUwy2bw/edit?usp=sharing

Kayla Kelly                                                                                                                            2/23/18

English 9

Ms. Giknis

You and the world projet       

                       I Abhor Animal Abuse;I Amend Animal Abuse

                           My Dog

Before                                           After

How many animals get abused in the U.S

https://www.petsafe.net/learn/help-prevent-animal-cruelty

The Numbers are high considering the chart, 60% of all abused animal victims and 60% of them are dogs, 83% are cats and dogs, and if you think how many people abuse animal across the united state.The SPCA is is a good choice , because most time they have to euthanize animals if they don’t have enough room, but They said the don’t ethinzia adoptable animals, and they try to save as many animal as much they can which is also why it is also a good choice, and  they are getting less animals in so they don’t have ethinize as much, and maybe more room. And animal abuse is a very serious problem, and SPCA is still good because they try to help as much as they can, it is like me trying to help every homeless person of the street and taking them in to my home I can’t do that to all of them, I don’t have enough room to do that, not to mention I have small house, so I would have to let go of some people like what SPCA does, but now they probably don’t do it as much ( they do not accept birds , dogs, cats, small animals). An the ACCT is a good choice too because like my interviewer said the ACCT  is an open it take shelter,so they will take any animal bird, cats, dogs, etc. So if you know you can’t take care of an animal please take it to ACCT, or any shelter, because if you know you can’t take care of it it is a form of abuse and it is better off in any shelter. She also said that abuse is what they regularly see so don’t be afraid to take the animal in , but if it would be related to the police like your neighbor is the abuser then call the PSPCA.And if you help lessen the number of animal coming in , and to help people take care of animals, and if you don’t know how to take care of an animal but you enough money to take care of one then you can look on web sites and ask for help, don’t be embarrassed, there is more people like that than you think.

I have a dog(the first picture above) that is probably been through that, Although we don’t know her back story besides her being shot 16 times and her being still here, not to mentions she had a couple of disease before the adoption center got her, and usually dog adapt and if she was wild she probably would not have a disease, but who knows she may have escaped, but I mean she is in my family's care for about 2 years in march 12th and she is very happy and she is always wagging her tail, beside when she goes for a car ride, tha vacuum goes on , and if we put on a tv show that has a gun shooting a one point like a mystery show,or if there is a fake gun like a nerf gun near, which would be the trama

Rabies: why most people terrorize dogs.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/ZfjkR0gtFqB-jQ/animal-rights

Dog are Abused 20% More Than any Other Animals in the U.S

But  Abuse can’t get unnoticed, and that means we have to start speaking up, I mean the abuser doesn't have to know a thing, most calls are autonomous, and you don’t have to tell the person that you going to tell, like almost every one of my site say to do, because it is important.And what is even more important is that 100% of people who commit  sexual homicide has a history of animal abuse which is kind of bothering that a lot of them do that, and it doesn't mean the other way around so if there is a neighbor who is abusing an animal doesn't mean they will commit sexual homicide so don’t be afraid to do your own actions and report them.Not to mention abusers, abusers don’t give the animals enough room for  them sometime to breathe and grow, or give them too much room, like the whole yard but can’t use all of the yard because they are chained up from the picture in many sites. Which is again terrible, considering the effect, which is physical and mental health issues.Or animal hoarder, I mean they collect animals and are like I can take care of them even though they obviously cannot, but they completely think they can handle everything but they have a lot cats, dog, etc.

And to kind of wrap this up a bit, I read the laws(which I suggest for you if you care for animal, because one of my site suggests it too in one of the steps for reporting animal abuse). first, animal abuse penalty includes the officer to file a felony charge(a felony is a severe crime and is viewed severely by the society, and can include murder, robbery, kidnapping, etc)dog fighting is already a felony, and breaks down into different grade pentaly’s base on how hard the abuse is. And veterinarians have civil immunity( where you don’t get served the punishment) now I don’t get too much of this but if they actually harm animals I think they will get charged because rules are rules, I think it is only for checking things from the dog and stuff. And a little bit obvious but if they commit animal abuse they will have to give animals. And did you know there is a new law that if someone abuse horse’s they will be charge the same charge as abusing dog and cats.

                                          Annotated bibliography

1. “Animal Cruelty”Learning to give,https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/animal-cruelty

The definition of animal abuse is the acts of violence or negling the animal on purpose or at least mostly on purpose.and it is important to know which ones are which because, police or animal control will know and asses the problem, like if it is dog fighting, and you say i don’t know abusing an animal in a backyard, they might think oh only one and not bring enough equipment, to ring them to a shelter. This abuse can cause physical and emotional pain, considering my dog whenever she hears gunshots(even on TV, plus we live near an country club that has an gun range) she gets scared and when we first got her she was jumpy and whenever and man/boy try to take her collar off she would growl, but when me or my mom took it off she did nothing(she is fine now and is very happy and understands that we will not hurt her and stuff because now my dad and brother can take her collar off) so that memory will live on.

• Animal abuse is very cruel and hurtful to other animals (I do not trust SPCA because if they run out of room for animals, they ethiniza some animals)

• It is very horrible because animal are just like us, they have feeling just like us, so it is very unfair for someone to do that to an animal.

              2.“Animal abuse and Human Abuse: Partners in crime” PETA,https://www.peta.org/issues/companion-animal-issues/companion-animals-factsheets/animal-abuse-human-abuse-partners-crime/

Studies have shown that aggressive animal are likely to be abused because people are afraid and a coward. 100% of sexual homicide  has a history of animal abuse.Albert Desalvo killed 13 women and abused puppies so it can back up my reasoning.

• It is very usual for a sexual homicide person to abuse animals

• And I am not surprised that aggressive animal get abused more,because again people are cowards

3.“Animal Abuse”Amarican Human https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/animal-abuse/

4.I didn't know that there was steps, I kind of knew some signs but I am not sure whether I will recognize the signs.owners often neglect their pets because they don’t know there pets need, but most of neglect is on purpose.but outrageous because human system can take calls right at that minute, but they get a lot calls so they will not take the call right at the moment.

• We can testify or sign a complaint about the abuse like how you sign a complaint about noise

• Neglect in both children and dogs are horrible  and can result in death

“Reasons for abuse” wildlife rescue and rehabilitation http://wildlife-rescue.org/services/advocacy/animal-abuse/

5.Actions can be active and passive, like hurting the animal and not doing anything for the animal. Like some kid decapitated dog and stuff and setting fire on their tails and butts.Passive actions can cause severe pain to a dog or cat

“ U.S Animal Abuse records deleted-What we stand to lose”National geographics.https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-usda-animal-welfare-trump-records/

The roadside Zoo neglected the animals including premature death. And making the monkey Dehydrated while performing experiment on them that is just rude.and whipping elephants and changing them.

• I love elephants so I hate that they would do the elephants

• And I hate that the family zoo would do that and I wonder if they ethinza

Extra websites:

http://placerspca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/faqs.pdf

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/what-distinguishes-a-misdemeanor-from-a-felony.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/animal-cruelty-pennsylvania-libres-law-20170628.html

https://www.today.com/pets/aspca-adoption-euthanasia-s-down-animal-shelters-t109029

A Concussion a Day Leads the Player Astray

Have you ever had an issue on your mind that you just wanted to help solve? The NFL has a huge issue with player safety. That might not seem to a major issue to you or me, but it impacts a lot of people inside and outside the game. It affects all the people within the NFL as well as the 22 million people (on average per game) who watch each game. Too many players are getting hurt each year. Even though the league has tried to help with the major injury issue, what they have done only impacts a small fraction of the entire league. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, has tried his hardest to prevent injuries, and many players agree with that statement. I want to help make the NFL a safer for the players  and more enjoyable for the fans  to watch.

This graph shows how many injuries there were per game in the last 4 years. It is also separated by which day the games were.

Player safety in the NFL is a big deal. Almost 300 players had to leave the game because of a concussion that will impact them for the rest of their lives, and about 6 players had to leave due to an injury every game! Many people who watch the sport rarely know the true details of each injury, and they believe that it might only affect the player for a few weeks or months. Little do they know that some injuries will have lasting effects. There are many players who had to retire from the sport they love because of an injury they did not know was going to happen. People like Bo Jackson, Joe Theismann, and Kevin Everett who never could have imagined what happened to them. These people should the world how nasty the NFL can be and how the rules need to change.

One of the major injuries that is caused by concussions and hard hits to the head is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a disease that grows over time inside your brain that can cause different symptoms over the years. There are 4 different stages and the symptoms get progressively worse. . Another big issue with CTE is that it can only be diagnosed through  an autopsy; which means that scientist and doctors only know if a person has CTE once they are dead. A famous story about an NFL player who had severe CTE is Aaron Hernandez. He was with the Patriots before being found guilty  of murdering a total of three  people. While he was in prison, he commited suicide with a bed sheet, which is when doctors then found out that he had CTE. Doctors believe that is what lead to him being so violent and being suicidal. That is just one major case though. There are many other former NFL players who had CTE and committed suicide.  Dr. Ann McKee did a study that looks at many former NFL players brains. She found out that 110 out of 111 of player’s brains had some stage of CTE. She also found that high schoolers will already have mild cases of CTE at their age.

This is a picture of the brain with CTE and how CTE looks like in its different stages. The brown stain is the tau protein, and over time the tau protein spreads until it is the entire brain. Tau protein can be both good and bad proteins, but in the matter of CTE, it is bad.

Another major issue with player safety is the length of the NFL  Some people think that pre-season should be shortened or just eliminated. Other people think that there is no issue with it or that it should be increased. Many people debate that pre-season should still be 4 weeks, because even though there are injuries in the pre-season, there are also injuries in practice and in the regular season.  Pre-season produces almost the same amount of injuries as practice so if the pre-season is eliminated, that would get rid of at least 25% of injuries.

The reason that player safety in the NFL is an issue is because there are many kids who want to play in the NFL. A lot of teenagers play football in high school and some play college football and others also make it all the way to the NFL. Many people say kids are the future and if kids are playing football and get minor stages of CTE, that could very dangerous to their health, since their brains are still developing. Some people even believe that high school football should be banned due to the danger it poses for their safety. Player safety among the NFL should be important to understand, because people should not want other people to be put into risky situations.

Player safety is a huge issue to me because I am such a huge football fan. Last season, I saw many players out for the season and that upset me. I know that football has a huge risk factor, but there has to be a way to decrease injuries. In my opinion, it just makes the game more enjoyable to watch without players getting season-ending injuries. Football is just so important in my life, and to see preventable  injuries makes me mad. Concussion and ACL tears should be more avoidable all together and that is how I hope the NFL will be one day.

The research that I have done has changed my view. I know a lot more about how the brain is affected because of the concussion. I also learned a lot about CTE and how that connects to NFL athletes. After doing the research, it makes me want to solve the issue of player safety even more. I still have to read more about pre-season and different injuries. I want to learn more about the risk of the NFL and any more surprising brain injuries.

The link to my annotated bibliography is here.

I have known about illegal animal trading for a long time but I never really thought about it. When this project was introduced, where we were told to pick a problem in the world to research and become an expert on; it was hard for me to find what topic I would pick. I finally concluded on doing my project on illegal animal trading. I would not be able to even imagine a world without animals and the fact that many of them are becoming extinct makes me really sad. I thought that I should try to bring awareness to people. When buying products in a foreign country, tourists can sometimes be the contributors to the illegal animal trade as they buy an exotic animal or something made from animal. After doing some research, I found out that animals are smuggled in all different ways and that endangered animals are more popular since they are more rare.

Animal products being illegally sold in in China’s Laomeng Market. Photo credit: Alpha. 7

Animals that are endangered have a higher demand in illegal trading. According to the, Official Web Page of the U S Fish and Wildlife Service, “Illegal wildlife trade is also often unsustainable, harming wild populations of animals and plants and pushing endangered species toward extinction. Endangered animals and plants are often the target of wildlife crime because of their rarity and increased economic value.” The fact that endangered animals are the most wanted in illegal trading, causes endangered animals to be even more vulnerable. This can bring them to the brink of extinction and also makes it harder for conservation organizations to help raise the population numbers of endangered animals as they are either killed or traded off.

The reason why illegal animal trading is such a massive industry is because of the low risk the task pertains. The World Wildlife Fund says, “Corruption, toothless laws, weak judicial systems and light sentences allow criminal networks to keep plundering wildlife with little regard to consequences. These factors make illegal wildlife trade a low risk business with high returns. The poachers—often poor locals—are the usually the only ones caught, leaving the real masterminds and their network safe and operational with the ability to strike again.” The big organizations rarely get caught trading illegally because local people are the ones selling illegal products and who end up getting caught. As reported by The U.S. Department of the Interior, “Poaching wildlife is viable because the monetary gain often exceeds the income that would be available from legitimate sources. Last spring, the Associated Press reported that a poacher can earn $180 for the tusks of a forest elephant and $6,000 for its meat in an area where the average legally earned income is $1 a day.” Traders that work for big corporations usually live in countries with low income, where their income can increase by them trading animals.

When animals are traded they are treated really bad as they are hidden in many different ways. As stated by Smithsonian, “Animals ripped from their habitat suffer, of course. They are smuggled in thermoses and nylon stockings, stuffed into toilet paper tubes, hair curlers and hubcaps.” Traders hide animals in all different ways to be smuggled and transported to be sold. Even when alive, the animals are put in uncomfortable situations so that they are not found.

Yellow-crested cockatoos hidden in plastic water bottles. (Image: Jefta Images / Barcroft Media)

Live turtles being illegally shipped in potato sacks in Vietnam. (© CI/photo by Peter Paul van Dijk)

Illegal animal trafficking is a big problem that contributes to the declining of animal populations and to species to extinction. Big corporations employ people from countries of low income to work for them and sell animals. When animals are transported, they are stuffed into all kinds of places so that they are not heard or seen, which often causes injuries and the death of these animals. Illegal trafficking is one of the main factors driving wild species to risk of extinction. While was looking for pictures to put in my post, I ran across many that showed animals being shoved in all different places, and rhinos with their horns cut off. It was really heartbreaking to see how these animals were being treated. I hope that this will change because even though this problem seems like a circle hard to break, we can help by avoiding buying illegal wildlife animal products.

It was 2017 in the late afternoon. I was in 8th grade, it was the 3rd day of spring break. I was hanging out with some friends near my old school’s playground. We were all just chilling doing what kids normally do. Then all of the sudden, I see a gang of 16 kids attacking a kid. I didn't want stand there and watch a helpless kid get beaten up, so I intervened by telling them to stop. What happened next was a blur. I felt a sharp pain on the left side of my face. The world was spinning, everything was spinning, I felt more pain on my face and a group of people surrounding me. They were taking turn, swinging punches at me. When it felt like forever, they stopped and fled the scene. I was then escorted to my friend’s house, my face and shirt cover with stains of blood. After I was cleaned up, I realized that none of the other people around us helped, they just watched. I thought to myself: “Why were we the only ones helping the poor child? Why didn't they help out when we started to become the victim?” That when I became interested in the bystander effect. My goal is to learn why bystanders just watch something bad goes down when they can easily intervene to prevent something bad from happening. So I decided to investigate more about the bystanders effect in my “You & the World Project”.

Many people have become victims to the bystanders effect each and everyday. Bullying happens in front of a crowd 88% of the time. Student do not like to see a bullying happen 90% of the time, but only 20% percent of the time people from that crowd actually take action to help stop it. Why is there only a low percentage of people help prevent bullying from happening, if almost everybody does not support what they see? Well for one thing, people fear of becoming the next victim. They don’t want the attacker targeting them and get harmed. Some bystanders actually join the bullying and making it worse. Some people would keep on encouraging it and with the digital age, we put it down on tape and posted it on social media.  People also think that it none of their business to engage and it not affecting them. People believe that they are powerless and have no idea what to do when trying to help someone out.

Bystanders can also be influenced by the number of people around the situation. People are more likely to intervene when there a few people to no one. But the more people their are, the less they are to intervene. When people don't react, other people think it is okay to do the same.

This line graph shows how the fewer the people around the person who needs aid, the more likely they will jump in and help them.

What I hope to learn as I dive deeper into this project is to understand what going on in the minds of bystanders. I want to interview people who have witness someone who needed aid but never did anything.  I want to know what they are thinking as they see this. I want to know why did they choose to either act or not act at all. Finally, I wanted to conduct a survey seeing how many people had recently been a bystander.  

In the Supreme Court case Whitney v. People of State of California

(1927), the Supreme Court judges upheld Charlotte Whitney’s case under the grounds of freedom of speech. The Supreme Court stated that “If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.” This quote brings me to the topic of my project: the erosion of free speech on college campuses. My general goals are to interview college students in University City about their thoughts on free speech, hate speech, and dissenting views on college campuses.

I am interested in this topic because I, like most anyone in the world, have some unpopular opinions. It is concerning, to say the least, that colleges and college students are so intolerant to those views that there are riots and cancellations when people come to speak. I want to spread the message that words are not violence, therefore should not be retaliated with violence.

The Brookings Institute gathered data from college campuses and it isn’t surprising what they found, but it was still disturbing. According to the Brookings Institute, 41% of Democrats thought that hate speech was NOT protected by the 1st Amendment, even though it is. Another 15% of Democrats don’t know whether it is or whether it isn’t. That 56% of Democrats being misinformed is what I want to help change. I want to inform people on what their rights are and what is and what isn’t protected speech.

A story I would like to share exposes how far this has gone. At Evergreen State College in Washington last year, the administration asked white people to leave the campus. Biology Professor Bret Weinstein objected to an involuntary “Day of Absence” because he felt it was racist and inflicted on his freedom of speech. He said, “On a college campus, one’s right to speak - or to be - must never be based on skin color.” Professor Weinstein was met with 50 students yelling over him, asking him to resign, calling him racist, and even a Nazi. The students blocked him when he tried to leave and blocked the entrances to the college president’s office with furniture. This story and Professor Weinstein’s interviews led me to look into the statistics and other research about student intolerance.

My research has quantified what I already knew. I knew people were uninformed about the 1st Amendment, but the research has made it evident. I hope to learn more about ways to increase tolerance and nonviolence.

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