Prejudices

Today the students are writing about their experience with Prejudice, if they have a prejudice, or if they have had some one be prejudice against them. I have read a few of the papers and am surprised. Not by the topics, but by the honesty.

One student (Hispanic,) wrote about riding his bike with one of his friends in a store parking lot. He told of a group of African Americans who told him to "get off their turf."

He spoke to his friend and said they shouldn't leave. The friend said they should just go somewhere else.

They left and went somewhere else and planned "how to get revenge on the group of niggers" (His words, not mine.) He said his friend told him they should just drop it, but he wanted revenge, so they went to his house and got their Air Soft guns and ammunition. (He listed the model of gun and kind of ammunition. I don't remember what they were.)

He wrote, "We rode our bikes back to the parking lot and pointed the guns at the niggers and they took off running."

I was surprised he would write this on a paper and turn it in to the teacher.

Another student wrote about his own prejudice against Hispanics. He wrote that he hated them, and felt angry every time he saw one, even if he didn't know them. He wrote about being angry when he heard them speak in Spanish because they should speak English since they are in America.

The school I work at is very diverse both in race and religion. Surprisingly, I didn't see any of the students write about prejudice concerning religion. I don't notice that as much myself at this school as I did at the last school I worked at, or in the town I live in 10 miles away.

I thought the assignment was good, making the kids think about prejudice and how it affects them. The assigment was in response to the book they just finsished reading, "To Kill A Mockingbird."

Don't Wait!

Who says it has to be New Years Eve to set a goal? With the big holiday coming up, a lot of people (ME) save their goals to start in the new year. With almost 4 weeks left until to New Year, it is silly to put your goals on hold. Why not start them today?

This is what I decided after conversing with a friend of mine over his blog. He said he loves writing. I enjoy writing also, but am not very good at it. His posts are thoughtful and well written, almost daily. I always feel like I need a big subject to discuss to post to my blog.

I guess that's it! It is my blog, and I can do whatever I want with it. I won't improve my writing skills if I don't write. I work at a Junior High School as a Writing Lab Supervisor. I help the students with their English writing assignments. At times, I find their assignments interesting and think they would be a fun topic to write about. Maybe I will use some of the assignments worked on in my lab to help me get started with my regular posts.

I sometimes have class periods with no students in my lab. What better activity for me than improving my writing skills. After all it is a writing lab! Of course I will be writing at School most of the time, so I will need to make sure my writing is Utah County school appropriate.

If you are thinking of a goal for the new year, why not start it today?