See said scared of what she might reveal

“Well when you guys were dating, we dated in school…”

“So he cheated?”

The Problem In School Safety

On December 17, 2008 the School District of Philadelphia adopted a new bullying policy in order to increase the safety of Philadelphia schools. The school district stated the following on their website:

Resolved, that the School Reform Commission hereby adopts the attached primary Policy on Bullying and its prevention/intervention in order to ensure compliance with HB 1067 (PA), amending "Article XIII-A Safe Schools" in the Pennsylvania School Code of 1949, that requires each school entity to adopt a policy relating to bullying.

The newly adopted policy covered just about every piece of bullying, to make sure their procures were up to date with all the rules and regulations given by the state. From defining the act as:

Bullying is characterized by the following three (3) criteria:

• It is aggressive behavior or intentional harm doing.

• It is carried out repeatedly over time.

• It occurs within an interpersonal relationship where there is an imbalance of power (e.g. one person is physically larger, stronger, mentally quicker or socially more powerful).

To laying out the coarse of action if a student were ever involved in bullying. So the issue is not that the system is non-existent but the fact that most kids don’t even know that this is around. Many of the problems that are district has faced in the past couple of months could have been handled better if the schools allowed the students to know of these guidelines. Instead of making the student feel as though nothing could be done, they would have known there were many outlets in order to keep them safe.

How to solve the Problem

ENFORCE THE POLICIES!!

Many schools don’t even mention the act of bullying or violence until something drastic happens. Like the incident that happened at South Philly High that made international headlines. Things like this would not have to happen if we were to crack down on the safety in our schools.

Link to the Policy: http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/s/safety/bullying-prevention/bullying-policy3

The future of school safety

If we were to enforce the policies of anit-bullying then the numbers would decrease. Now, that these rules we’re being enforced, and setting up a no tolerance bullying system the safety of our students would take a turn for the better. If students began to understand the effect of what they have done then that would understand the seriousness of the issue, resulting in the drop of bullying.

If things were to stay the same, then the situation would have to choice but to get worse. Students would continue to act the way they do now, and the safety of our schools would never get better. If we continue to let these bullies think that what they are doing are ok, then students will no longer feel safe. It will not only hurt the schools but the future of the students. We have no choice but to enforce these rules, until kids understand.

My partner, Sky, and I tackled the process of buying a HUD home. A HUD home is a house owned by the state because it had previously been repossessed from its previous owner. The process it self was not very difficult, if you have a good broker/Realtor. Once you have found a decent home you can enter different programs like Teachers Next Door to get a reduced mortgage, as Sky and I did. After having a very vigorous inspection of the house you want to buy, and after it passes you can place a bid and hope the seller excepts it. If they do you can move onto closing to officially own the home, but if not you must start from the beginning of the process. After you official receive the home you must get home owners insurance and then finally sign the closing papers.

Now, even though the process was not very hard the paperwork was extremely difficult. Plus, my partner and I entered the Teachers Next Door Program which just added more paperwork. Filling out the Tax form was the most difficult paper and the rest was just very tedious. There were about 20 pages worth addendums and disclosure we had sign. It seemed a little scary because of all the 'Lead Paint Disclosures' it made the house seem not safe at all to live in.

If I could change somethings about the process, I would make it accessible online. If I was able to fill out all the information once and have it carry over to all the other hundreds of forms like, it would make it so much easier. I think these processes are so difficult because the American government want to be too specific and just difficult. Some things are just not needed in order to do things like buy a house or start a restaurant.

Overall the project turned out good. I feel as though Sky and I were able to make the process easy with out flow chart. Also I don't think we could have done all these this without the assistance of my aunt who is a Realtor and helped us with the process. Thus, proving why you need a good Realtor to handle this process.

In previous blog post, I mentioned the cuts in school safety because of the economy, which turned out to be completely detrimental for safe schools. When researching the safe schools union it took me about an hour and half to this site: http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/s/safety/bullying-prevention/bullying-policy3. Which is the “The Office of School Safety” page. On this site they talk about the process we take in order to keep our schools safe. There was not much.

So for my next step I want to contact some of the leaders of the this part of the school district, and the try to share some of my ideas, and raise the awareness again.

Recruiting

Another main component of this campaign is to make it grow outside of SLA. So I have been looking for students from other schools to help spread awareness in their schools. It is still in the process of growing but I do have students who are willing to help.

Recently an article was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the increase of school violence, and the steps that need to be taken in order to solve this growing problem. Over the past year or so, the issue has received a lot of attention from media because the problem became racial. With the violent attacks towards Asian students at South Philadelphia High, the flaws of the Philadelphia School District were put on display for the entire country to see. A policy is already in place for students in order to decrease violence. Programs that will heighten children’s tolerance for different races and sexualities are hopefully going to change this problem. In an the same article (linked above) Michael Johnson, a science teacher at Germantown High School states, “The policy is wonderful… The implementation is missing." Meaning that even though the policies are there, the district, teachers, and even student fail to enforce it. This problem could possibly stem from the recent cut of the Office of Safe Schools Advocate, which was eliminated in August 18, 2009. According to the National School Safety and Security Services website, “While the State claimed the cuts were for budgetary reasons, Stollsteimer [monitor of school crimes and violence in Philadelphia Schools.] alleged the cuts were due to his advocacy and unwillingness to not document failures by the school district to report school crimes.”

Some key players in this issue are the names we hear in Philadelphia all the time. Officials such as, John Street (when in office), Chaka Fattah, Paul Vallas, and 150 community leaders were said to have pledged to increase the saftey of schools in Philadelphia back in 2004.

The Pledge:

We, the public officials and active citizens of Philadelphia, entrusted with "securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," pledge to work together and with our youth leaders to combat violence in our schools and to build safe and supportive neighborhoods for young people throughout the city.

Even though Street is no longer is office, this pledge to uphold the safety in schools was taken 6, almost 7 years ago but at yet the violence in out schools has increased.

From doing this research it seems as though my main job is to get these officials back on track with their plans. It seems as though they have forgotten about the problems in school, because of the small policies they put in place but did not truly enforce. Issues such as money, health care, and the recent elections have totally taken the attention away from our schools and their lack of safety. It is time now to bring it back.

Some recent hearings on school violence were held back in January. There were 11 hearings with more than 125 testimonials from activist, city leaders, student, and parents. The topics of these hearing were of coarse about the South Philadelphia incidents. Other then those hearing there haven’t been any recent hearings about the violence, which I hope to change soon

Work Cited Page

Sachdev , Nina. "The School District Needs the Feds to Tell Them What to Do?!." Philly Now 1 Sept 2010: 1. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2010/09/01/the-school-district-needs-the-feds-to-tell-them-what-to-do/>.

Trump, Ken. "School Crime Reporting and School Crime Underreporting." National School Saftey and Security Services. National School Safety and Security Services , 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_crime_reporting.html>.

Graham, Kristen. "City panel says hearings on school violence heard of problems and also promise Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20101117_City_panel_says_hearings_on_school_violence_heard_of_problems_and_also_promise.html?page=1&c=y#ixzz164fHQiCF Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else." Philadelphia Inquier 17 Nov 2010: 1. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20101117_City_panel_says_hearings_on_school_violence_heard_of_problems_and_also_promise.html?page=1&c=y>.

                                                

Shared Interest

His Views on School Violence

“Congressman Brady also won nearly $1 million in violence prevention funding. And, on the heels of tensions at South Philadelphia High School, he was able to secure $100,000 for the Main Line Chinese Culture Center for after-school and weekend programs at the Russell Beyer’s Charter School.”

-Press Release from 12/16/09

According to this idea of natural selection humans are still around today because of the adaptations we have developed as time has pasted. We use almost everything on our bodies to “survive” in this world, and to keep our species going. Sometimes though these certain adaptations we have acquired over time have stopped being about surviving. We stopped worrying about what could continue our species and began to only focus on our own wants and needs.

 Women overtime have formed a certain shape that we call an, hour glass figure. Consisting of broad hips, big chest, and small waist, we have classified this adaptation as normal. Many people attribute wide hips as a great necessity for child baring. Meaning a women with bigger hips are more suitable to bear tons and tons of children. But that mind set has changed, and not only because of time but because of cultural differences.

In an article in the Telegraph written by Andrew Hough, “..a man was more attracted to a woman based on the size of her waist compared with her hips.”  Which is not always true. In a study done by Women’s-Health.com 80% of the men tested preferred slim women. But according to evolution, a women of a slim stature would not be suitable for bearing children. So why would some men prefer this? Something that could mean the possible end of our species because of a halt in reproduction. This has also been proven to me when talking to my fellow classmates. Some boys talk about their love for a girl with amazing curves, and with smallest waist. While other boys gush over slim and trim girls. This proves that over time, we stopped caring about the aspect of reproduction and only the satisfaction of attraction.

1.     What motivated you to come out and vote?
He voted because he is a committee-person.

2.      What would you like to see changed in our political system?.

He really didn’t want to change anything, just to keep the democrats vote up.

3.     Do you vote in every election (How regularly do you vote?)
Votes every election.

4.     Do you know why we vote on Tuesday?
No

5.      Where have you encountered the highest amount of ad campaigning? Radio, TV, Print, Internet, other.

Television

6.     What was the most memorable campaign ad that you have encountered?
The Obama campaign.

7.     Are you always sure of who you are going to vote for when you walk into the booth or are you still deliberating?
Yes.

8.     What changed do you hope to see in Philadelphia as a result of this election?

He wants to help the Democratic Party to get back in.

9.     What impact do you feel that your vote will have on the election?.

Helps to keep the Democratic party in.

10.  Did you learn about voting in school? If yes, did that impact your willingness to vote today?
Yes.