Social Awareness Project

Interview:
 "Stereotypical Perfection" and the social issue bullying is a huge thing in our society right now and something that many people have different opinions on. As a teenage girl body and face image insecurities is something I know a lot about. Many people feel different about what a "perfect" person is supposed to look like and the fact being this topic is something i feel for and can relate to I sat down with two of my close friends Phoebe Donovan and Cassiopeia Land, where I asked them a few questions about the topic.


What is the stereo typical "perfect" girl to you?
Cassiopeia- Skinny, Boobs, Butt, Curves, Blonde, Tall, Big Blue eyes
Phoebe- Skinny, thigh gap, curvy shape, white, long straight hair

Do you ever feel the need to live up to that standard?
Cassiopeia- All the time, there's a lot of pressure for teenage girls these days which is completely unfair and untrue. Anyone can be beautiful even not meeting those standards.
Phoebe- Yes, a lot of people who are very judgemental make you feel bad about yourself if you don't fit exactly that.

Has anyone ever commented on the way you look?
Cassiopeia- In a negative way- when I was younger, people used to call me fat, it took away a lot of my self confidence.
Phoebe- Yes, I've been called fat or that I have not a good body and it took away a lot of my self confidence.

Is this a big issue for you?
Cassiopeia- Personally not really but I understand how hard it is to feel good about yourself
Phoebe- For me it is a problem because I have a lot of friends who do fit that standard

Have you ever seen someone be bullied about the way they look?
Cassiopeia- Yes I have and there's something that needs to be done about, it sucks.
Phoebe- Yes I've seen a lot of people go through lots of judgements and people be genuinely hurt and bullied.

What do you like about yourself?
Cassiopeia- my eyebrows, cheekbones, legs I've never really thought about it before
Phoebe- hair eyes, skin, my health

Poem "All the images add up to one big picture" 

People make fun
Everyone stares walking through the hall making death threatening glares
Risking it all, running away these people can't seem to realize the impact of what they say
Faking my smiles just to seem strong but all I ever wanted was to tell them they're wrong
Even though I try to laugh along, I'm hurting inside but no one can see
Crowning me with a beauty award? But don't we all see  princesses have hurt.
Taking a deep breath and letting it go, everyone is beautiful that goes to show.

This poem I wrote is based on bullying and all the horrible things it does to you, from the outside bullying may seem innocent but from the inside its something entirely different. The way bullying can make someone feel is scary. We really need to start drawing awareness to this topic because it’s something that there has to be done about.

Media News/Immersion: 
Over the course of 5 days I read different articles about body types and bullying and it talked a lot about the real issues with teens going way too far when it comes to being bullied for things they can't change about themselves. Many teens result to self harm or even sometimes going to the extreme of killing themselves. Its an issue that needs to be worked on, many people are aware of the subject but just shrug it off when no one's talking about it, like it states in the article "Social Media and Distorted Teen Body Image" by Steven Woda they talk about the brainwashing that goes on from  Social Media convincing teens that they aren't good enough because they aren't perfect. This made me realize how shallow social media can be and how easily it is to be persuaded you aren't good enough. This is a topic I feel strongly about and think should have attention drawn to.

NonFiction Reading Response

                                                                                                                               

                                             "Outbreak" Reading Response
                                                 By: Taylor McGloin 812
   
      In the new upfront magazine I read an article called "Outbreak" By: Patricia Smith about the dangerous disease going around called Ebola. Ebola has infected 4,000 people in Guinea, Liberia. It is ravaging West Africa and alarming the rest of the world keeping them on edge and scared. In Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal the deadly disease has killed more than 2,300 people. The outbreak is very much out of control and just getting worse as the doctors and any kind of medical worker struggle to help prevent ebola but also treat the patients with a severe or minor case's of it. Ebola is turning towns into empty ghost like places and tearing apart families. The disease only continues to worsen.

     In this article, you can tell Patricia Smith feels terrible about ebola. You can also tell by her descriptive language that she sees how big of an effect it has made and finds it to be pretty severe. You can see this when she talks about how ebola took all the happy towns and turned them in to sad ghost towns instead. Also when she talks about the way Ebola is decimating families and ruining all the lives of people who have had their homes, cities, countries taken by storm with the deadly disease of ebola. Patricia Smith starts to ask retorical questions throughout her article like when she says "Past Ebola outbreaks have been quickly snuffed out. How, then, did this one spin so far out of control?" The attitude Patricia keeps through the whole writing piece you can tell she's worried about how far the whole disease has and will continue to go.

     During the article Patricia Smith took sad quotes from past or current Ebola patients like Jattu, Lahai, 26, who was a woman that had survived Ebola but when she returned to her village of Sierra Leone, even her family was too afraid to touch her or interact. "When I fell sick, everybody abandoned me" Patricia Smith helped the reader know about Ebola but also its heartbreaking effect on everyone. She introduced the readers to more of an emotional side to this sickness then the facts. Having to read this made me feel horrible that this is happening in other places yet we are doing nothing about it just because its near us.  Although Patricia tried to make it so she had no opinion there were definitely parts in her writing you could see her shock and her heartbreak and as she went along you (the reader) started to feel it too.
   
        This article has changed my thinking a lot. Being a 13 year old girl living in NYC you don't really take into perspective how hard this subject is. How it scars people, tears up families, kills, hurts and ruins lives its difficult. I've never really wrapped my head around it besides the fact of people are sick and its hard to take care of. A lot of people try and joke about the subject but this topic is the exact opposite of a joke. Patricia Smith showed me the hurt and damage with every word she said. I learned a lot from this and I think everyone else should too.
   

Book Club Independent Essay

   
Taylor McGloin                                                                                                                  11/6/14
812                                                                                                                                        ELA

                                               ELA Independent Book Club Essay


     Throughout Sherman Alexie's book "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part- Time Indian" many people have seen the things that might cause a parent to label it as inappropriate, there have been many aspects that aren't exactly content that a 13 year old should be reading. Despite Sherman Alexie's questionable writing material this has helped kids learn what and what not to do and how to handle certain situations. It has had some things that aren't the most kid friendly but has topics and problems in the world that we need to learn about one way or another. Regardless if u try to hide it these are real topics going on in the world and not just fictional book characteristics or problems. This book should not be banned in my opinion but I see why parents would not want there kids reading this or think it would be a bad influence. Although they may have the opinion for their child they do not have to set it up like that for all the other children that may be interested in learning something new.

     Many reasons why this book should be banned are because of sexual content, racism, foul language, and many more things. To start this off I'm going to talk about racism. In this book they discriminate blacks and whites and tend to make fun of native americans quite a lot. This is all 100% not okay. In the book they talk about how whites deserve more credit then blacks because they are better and more deserving not only do they say that but they use racist curses and phrases to talk to certain characters. This could make someone feel uncomfortable talking about or reading about, this could even make someone feel insecure about there own race. As for foul language there is way more then enough in this book. They use words like "faggot" as an insult when being gay is not at all a problem. They call character to character things like "asshole" or the characters might even say mean things to each other like "I don't give a shit about you." All these words are highly discourage for kids my age and could make kids feel bad hearing them or reading them in a book or hearing in a presentation. The last thing I'm going to talk about is sexual content in this book they talk about Masturbation a lot and go into detail which isn't an appropriate things for kids to be reading about.

     Although there are many reasons why this book is inappropriate this book does teach its readers about the real world and not just a fake fictional kid world that doesn't exist. It prepares kids for what they might see and learn when these situations occur and not only helps them know what to do but makes it less scary so they know what to expect. Many parents are asking to ban these certain books from the school library but just because its too much for one kid to handle doesn't mean its gonna be the same thing for the next. Kids need to be educated and able to read real books with real social realistic issues instead of sticking to the same safety reading. They shouldn't have banned this book because it is a humorous, interesting book that kids will miss out on if they aren't ready to mature in there reading tastes and levels.

     To sum this up "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part- Time Indian" by Alexie Sherman should not be banned although there is questionable material. It is a great book that should be appreciated instead of put in a non readable bin. Kids need to learn and step up what they're reading to a more mature level then they're at right now. If the book is too much for them they can always stop reading instead of having the book be completely unreadable and banned.
   

Synthesis Page

 Claim : Belly is a willing hero because she is always ready to help anyone with any problem they encounter. She helped her family friends with everything during the summer. Conrad and Jeremiah who are supporting characters and like her brothers are going through stuff that also involves there parents divorce. She continues to care and love and help. This shows shes a motherly figure and a willing hero to all her friends and family.

Book Response

       In the book "The summer I turned pretty" by Jenny Han, a story about a girl named Belly unfolds. Belly is a sweet girl who is considered the 'cute little sister' of her family and close family friends. Her unrelated brothers who she has been close with for the longest time (Conrad and Jeremiah) treat her like she needs caring for and that its there job to protect her. Thats about the exact opposite of what Belly wants when she feels as though she's finally ready to grow up. When this cute boy named Cam talks to her at a party one of her friends dragged her to she gets excited and sees how much of Cousins Beach she's been missing out every year. She realizes while she has been sitting home playing cards with her mother and Susannah, Conrad and Jeremiah's mother there have been real things happening. Belly is very afraid of change but I think she's finally come to a realization that change can be good and sometimes it's whats necessary in life to have fun.

       For example when Belly talks about how she never should've brought her friend Taylor to Cousins Beach because it changed everything. She's afraid of things not staying the same and being just the slightest bit different. When Taylor came the boys seemed very interested in her which made Belly mad because she envied Taylor. By the end of Taylor's visit regardless of the good and bad times she was so happy for everything to be back to normal. Quickly another change occurred which made Belly upset understandably. Her brother had to head back from Cousins Beach which was the first summer without him which made her feel uneasy. Belly also finds out this one year Mr. Fisher isn't coming up because a chance of divorce between Susannah and him. Belly becomes so surprised and sad that now it'll be different. Belly spent most of her time in the safety of swimming in her own pool. going to the beach with her family and staying in the house I think Cam although helped her make changes and step out of her comfort zone which now that she's doing she loves.

      In conclusion, Belly learned the lesson change is good and happens for a reason. Cam really helped her with that considering after they met they spent most of there time doing all sorts of different things together. Belly got to experience Cousins beach full on for once and even though some elements were missing like Mr. Fisher not being able to come down, Steven leaving early and bringing Taylor up for a short while. Cousins beach had many memories this time around and even though not everything was the same she had a great time. Belly realized that at the end of the book which was a change she had to make.

Book Response

     
                            To all the boys I've loved before" By: Jenny Han Response 
                                                     By: Taylor McGloin 812

Over the summer I read the book "To all the boys I've loved before" By: Jenny Han I enjoyed this book a lot. Its one of those books I bet many girls can relate to. It had things that made u think very deeply. The book was very interesting and the topic was a topic most girls my age would be interested in. The whole plot of the book was very complex and confusing which was good and bad. The main character Lara Jean was very stubborn which gave the whole story an edge. Lara Jean has a very creative way of expressing her emotions though. She writes letters to the boys that she's loved. This includes her sister's ex boyfriend who she's loved for a long time. One summer when her little sister Kitty by accident sends out all the letters to each boy she's loved, everything gets tricky.
   
    Kitty sends out all the letters so when Margot's ex gets his, he realizes that he has feelings for Lara Jean also. No one knows what to do because Margot is not home but at college. When everything starts to get complicated Lara Jean takes what she thinks is the easy way out by getting a "fake boyfriend" but then Josh gets jealous and Lara Jean realizes she has actual feelings for her "fake boyfriend". Then Margot comes back and a whole fight errupts and everything seems to go downhill for everyone involved in the situation.  In the end everything works out of course and Lara Jean gets to stay with Peter. I recommend this book if you're into dramatic books with a lot happening.

   All in all I really enjoyed reading "To all The Boys I've loved before" it was a great book that kept you interested throughout the whole thing. I think Jenny Han is an amazing author who writes amazing books. This book was great even though the ending was a bit of a cliche. Everything kept you on the edge of your seat.