Blog 6

Blog 6

            The places I go on a regular basis is walking around the North Georgia campus, the gym, and driving a car to get groceries or grab something to eat. I never really stop to think how hard it would be on a daily basis for people in wheelchairs to get around campus, and to even get in and out of doors. I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to be blind or hearing impaired. Each day they would have to have either someone help them go about their day or plan out their day in order to get to place to place in a timely manner because having those handicaps would slow someone down a bit. My grandmother always told her children and all of us grandchildren to count our blessings and appreciate all that you have. People with disabilities have less access to simply walk down steps or to go play sports that everyone else is playing. I play basketball here at North Georgia and someone with a disability would probably not be able to play some sports depending on how severe their disability is.

            I am in a lecture room with stairs and small seats for my Astronomy class. Someone that is in a wheelchair or blind would not be able to get up the stairs, so they would have to make sure to get to class early in order to get a front row seat if they don’t want to bring attention to their disability, which most people don’t. A lot of these small things are aspects of life that many of us take for granted on a daily basis. You don’t realize the importance of something until it is gone or taken away from you.

            Being in the mountains of North Georgia, it is probably difficult for handicap people to get around on a regular basis. Another important aspect is to have the proper medical care available. According to the Centers for Disease for Control and Prevention, “People with disabilities can be at higher risk for injuries and abuse. It is important for parents and other family members to teach their loved one how to stay safe and what to do if they feel threatened or have been hurt in any way” (2013).

Works Cited

"People with Disabilities." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/people.html>.

Gender Identity

Blog 5

My thoughts on gender identity are pretty straight- forward and some may take them as too blunt or harsh. Gender identity is whether you are male or female and it is quite obvious which one you are when you are born. I personally don’t understand how people can claim they are the opposite sex from how they are genetically born. I don’t have a problem with people being gay or lesbian, but I my religious background and my personal belief is that marriage is between a man and woman. Providing me with statistics and facts is not going to change my opinion on that. This is not to say that I shun people who are that way. People can do whatever they want to do and I am completely fine with that, but I don’t shove my beliefs and how me being a girl is interested in guys in people’s faces, so I would prefer people to not shove their attraction to the same sex as themselves in my face.

When I was younger I was such a tomboy and loved to do whatever the guys did. Still to this day I am a tomboy, but I know myself to be a girl and carry on feminine characteristics. There are certain things I have grown out of in being a tomboy that I did when I was younger. Men suffer the most when it comes to behaving like a woman because that is not how society sees men at all. Men are the ones who are strong and stable, along with showing no emotion. At least that is how society portrays them.

My family and the friends I have grown up with have influenced my gender identity. My parents have been happily married for over 20 years and we have a strong faith that has shaped who I am today. The friends I have grown up with have been more like me and I have never been exposed to gays, lesbians, or trans genders until I reached college. It has been a good experience for me experiencing different people and their different preferences. It has helped put things into perspective for me and also helped me to branch out. I have many friends who are lesbian and we all get along just great! Even through meeting and experiencing this, my opinion remains the same in that I don’t think its right, but that it is not something that is in my control to judge.

Raising a baby in a Genderless Environment

Blog 4

I read the article from the Huffington Post, which talks about bringing up a baby without a gender and if that is a risky social experiment. I personally believe it is a risky social experiment because it is not helping the child identify with anything. If the child is a girl and doesn’t want to play with dolls or Barbie’s, she will let you know, as parents, as she grows up. It goes for boys as well.

My mom has always told me stories that when I was younger, she would put a dress on me for church and once church ended I would immediately take it off because I was ready to go play in the yard. I have always been close to my older brother and wanted to do everything he was doing, so if he was playing a sport, I was going to play that sport. I was also close in age with all of my guy cousins so I would be the only girl playing football with them on Thanksgiving gatherings. My mom would always try to put a bow in my air and I would also rip it out within three seconds of it being on. I just wasn’t as interested in girlie toys or things. I think it depends on whom you grow up with. Eventually I have grown out of doing everything boys do since I have become older cause lets be honest that would be quite weird if I was still caught up in that. When I was younger though, it wasn’t an issue. My mom let me do what I was interested in playing with and I enjoyed hanging out with boys because they were always playing sports and that’s what I wanted to do.

Personally, parents shouldn’t force their child one way or another, but they also should encourage their child to identify somehow. “What parents can do is guide their children towards peers they think will do a good job helping their kids craft their own identity” (Koplewicz, 2011). Initially when the child is a baby, dress them up and give them toys that go with them being a girl or boy. Once they grow and can start to distinguish what they want to play with and how they want to dress, they will be certainly noticed and established.

Privilege

Blog 3

Privilege in my own words is the benefit having something extra, which is not exactly a necessity. When I think of privilege, I always think of my dad telling me how when teenagers turn a certain age to drive, they expect that they will get a new car. He explained to me at a young age that having a car is a privilege at that age, not something you have to have. My grandmother always did her best to remind myself along with the other grandchildren that we should count our blessings and appreciate what we have. This falls right into the definition of privilege.

I have had many privileges in my life. God gave me the ability to play sports mainly basketball, but I also found a talent in soccer in high school. I have been playing basketball since I was young and I had the privilege of having a basketball goal in my backyard to play. Also, I had the privilege of attending a high school that included my faith, along with receiving a good education. My senior year in high school, I was provided the opportunity to travel abroad to Spain with some girls from my Spanish class. Not many people can say they had the opportunity to travel abroad and I am very thankful that my parents allowed me to make that trip, as well as pay for it. I was about to travel to Peru last May to build houses for the poor. We were in a very poor area and when I say poor, I mean the people there were excited to have a roof over a small area of dirt as their house. It was an eye opening experience that showed me that us as Americans think we can’t survive without a soda, while people there are scraping by to just receive a glass of water.

In my classroom, I hope to make it clear to students that there are truly people out in the world that do not even get the chance to receive an education. That is truly a privilege, that we as citizens of America have, but most people take it for granted. I will make sure to treat every student fairly and reward him or her with privileges for hard work and good behavior.