Freedom Riders

The Freedom Riders have been a true inspiration to many Americans. It is amazing the danger that they put themselves in. The most surprising part was that the second group knew that they could die so they signed their final wills and testaments. The Freedom Riders were literally ready to die for the cause. Recently, Malala Yusufzai, a young Pakistani girl, was shot at point blank range. She was shot because she wrote a popular blog about the Taliban. Malala wrote about how bad the Taliban was and how horrible her life was being a girl in Pakistan. She was a symbol of hope in the world. Many people saw this and finally discovered the truth about Pakistan. She knew the danger that she was getting into, much like the Freedom Riders, but she still wrote that blog. Luckily, she survived the gunshot but might never be able to speak again. The Arab Spring is a hotpot for activists. In the past couple of years, there have been riots and uprises where people put their lives in danger just to support their cause. Their cause was freedom, they wanted to overthrow the dictators that were ruling their country. The difference is that they had numbers. The Freedom Riders only had a small group of people and they went against a large group of people who would do anything they could to stop the Freedom Riders. That makes the Freedom Riders even more unbelievable. The documentary about the Freedom Riders is incredibly moving but I think hollywood would be able to convey the magnitude of the Freedom Riders. Every movie that I have seen that was based on a true event in history has been able to convey the right message. Hollywood does a great job with dramatic movies and they would do a great job with the Freedom Riders.

Parenting

Its seems that most parents are now beginning to "baby" their kids more than they used to. With more and more scientific studies coming out and changing the way adults parent their kids. The upcoming parents have grown up in a technological world. With most jobs needing a good education now, instead of being able to go work at a steel mill like people used to, the job market is extremely competitive. Because parents know this, some of them have the urge to control almost every part of their kids' lives in order to give their kids an advantage. These parents have strict rules and are incredibly involved in their kids' lives. In my opinion, the kids could have three different outcomes. The first is the perfect result, a kid that respected his parents rules but didn't always follow them and they learn life-lessons. That kid will probably grow up to be successful. The second child is a kid that follows their parents rules to a point but never learns any life lessons and thus becoming a mama's boy, a kid that becomes to reliant on his/her mother or father. The third kid is someone who gets so annoyed with their parents that they rebel against them at every single chance he/she gets. Even though I believe that more parents are taking on this new parenting strategy, there are still parents that have a different parenting methods. Usually those adults take after their own parents. If their parents were tough, they are most likely to be tough. But no one wants to be like their parents so those people won't be as tough. But there is no perfect way to parent, but every parent tries their own blend of order and freedom. There are parents who let their kids have all the freedom they want. Whether a parent uses order or freedom, their is no guarantee of how their kids grow up. I know great kids whose parents give them a lot of freedom and I know great kids whose parents don't give them any freedom. Unfortunately there is no way to make sure your kid will be great, but as long as you support them, they can't be a disaster.

Race Relations

It is unbelievable when you think that the Freedom Riders took their trip only fifty years ago. Because the difference in race relations has overcome a dramatic change since then. It seems that the northern states were about the same as they are now. Blacks and whites were almost completely immersed in each other's cultures creating one big culture. The more surprising part of the 60's to me were how the southern states treated blacks. It was horrendous. I was in the South over the summer and saw almost no difference in race-relations between the north and the south. In fact, more people joke about racism up north then they are in the South. This might be because they are trying to make up for being so racist for so long or something else. I can not advocate for the South when talking about their race-relations but I can describe what I experience in the suburbs of Philadelphia. First of all, the area is an extremely diverse area. There is a good percentage of whites, blacks, hispanics, asians and even more. That being said, I do not believe that there are any social restrictions that would make any one of those races more or less likely to succeed in life. Also, the only time that I hear something racist is when people are joking about it. Now yes, people do joke about racism more than they should. But I honestly believe that anybody that jokes about racism do are not truly racists. By truly racists, I mean treating people differently because of their race or assuming something about someone because of their race. There are probably true racists at WHS, but racists are look down upon so harshly that those true racists are too afraid to show that their racist.