Blog Post #5 -- Social Justice Issues

Recently, we have been discussing social justice issues. Social justice issues range from getting cut in front on in a line, all the way to civil rights issues. These issues are also everywhere in our daily lives. One inquiry that connects to social justice issues is: How does society push teens into having a one track mind?
When I say society, I'm talking about our overall community as a whole - from babies to elders and everything in between. We are constantly being pressured and influenced by society, even if we may not recognize it. This influence almost always has an effect or consequence. If a little boy wears a pink shirt, and a few boys in his class make fun of him, that is society's pressure. If that boy doesn't wear the shirt again, that would be society's impact or influence.
Sometimes, society creates a negative impact and affects people's mindset. For example, in many classes I have, teachers push us to accept that there is only one right way to do things. They are a very important part of society, because they teach children and teens what they need to know. So when they insist that there is only one right way to do things, they are creating an impact on teens and making them have a one-track mind.
 Another way that society pushes teens into having a one-track mind is through social acceptance and a standard of beauty. For example, our society (human-beings as a whole) has become infatuated with this standard of beauty that is exceedingly hard to reach. Teens boy or girl have become one-track-minded in the sense that anything that is not up to society's standard of beautiful is "ugly" or unpleasantly different.
In conlusion, society influences how we think of things daily. Even if we don't notice it,  society changes the way you view something. Whether it's a little boy in a pink shirt, or a girl not feeling beautiful, the affects of society are apparent in our world and in our community's. Try thinking about how society has changed you, think about how it's changed everyone else.

Blog Post #4 -- Social Justice

            In our daily lives, there are many examples of social justice as well as social injustice. Justice is something that creates fairness and equality. Social justice is the matter of justice occurring among social classes and/or communities, which is something that is not the government can completely control. This means that its up to people to make their community a more just place. The recent reading inquiry we had was to take note of the world around us, including social justice/injustice. This inquiry made notice how much social justice and injustice goes on around us everyday.

            One example of social justice I saw is when I was on the train and I saw a woman with many children give a homeless man $2. This to me was social justice. I think this was social justice because the woman had many children to look after, she found money to give to someone less fortunate than she. If everyone in our community did what this woman did and found just a little money to give to the needy, we would have less hunger and   our community would be a better place.

            Another thing that I noticed was when I was walking my little sister to her friends house, we passed a man on his phone who was yelling and cussing at the person on the other end. In my eyes, this was a social injustice. I think this is an injustice because you need to be aware of the people and things around you. This man did not notice the 9-year-old in his midst, and said words that I believe to be inappropriate for her to hear. My little sister actually repeated one of the milder words that this man said later that night, quickly apologizing and taking it back. This shows how great an affect surroundings have on people.

            In conclusion, social justice is really a responsibility that everyone in a community needs to fulfill in order to create a community that everyone is happy to be a part of. If we all create one social justice a day in our lives, I community would be greatly improved. Everyone should be aware of what they are doing and saying, and should also be aware of what they can do to make their community (and society)  a better place to be.