Learning Logs

1-19-17
Learning Log #1:
Should juveniles be treated the same way as adults if they commit the same crimes? Do you think
juveniles should be sentenced to life in prison if they commit especially bad crimes? Explain your answer
using textual evidence from the article to support your response.

Juveniles should not be treated the same way as adults. Even if they commit the same crimes,
there is a different level of understanding in a juvenile's brain. They are more likely to act impulsively and
cannot truly understand what they are doing at the time. Especially when it comes to younger children,
even though they might have been taught that hurting someone is bad, if a little five year old picks up a
gun and shoots another person, it is very unlikely that this child maliciously planned this out. If any
adolescent, or adult for this matter, intentionally murders another human being, there must have been
some problem with how they were raised and what their parents taught them was okay. By the time
someone reaches adulthood, if they dont already know what an incorrigible crime committing murder is,
then it is arduous to believe that they can still be trustworthy enough to live freely. Children are more
likely to grow out of their mindset after going through years of rehabilitation and by the time of reaching
adulthood, hopefully know the difference between right and wrong. Gail Garinger, from the New York
Times writes an article called, Juveniles don't deserve life sentences, and states, Young people are
biologically different from adults. Brain imaging studies reveal that the regions of the adolescent brain
responsible for controlling thoughts, actions and emotions are not fully developed. They cannot be held to
the same standards when they commit terrible wrongs. Now, this doesnt excuse the fact that a crime is
a crime no matter how old or young someone may be, but it should change how we go about dealing with
the matter. If a juvenile commits an especially bad crime such as a murder, a better way of handling this
would be to put this child or teenager under careful watch until they are legally an adult. Give them a
chance for rehabilitation rather than the life without parole sentence.

2-16-17
Learning Log #2:
Use the following frame to write up a review of the Socratic Seminar. Then, add 1-2 paragraphs
discussing the pros and cons of this seminar. Last, write 1 paragraph discussing what you think would
help to encourage a healthy discussion about politics.

In recent discussion of the problems in the current juvenile justice system, a controversial issue
has been whether or not Juveniles should be tried as adults. On the one hand, some argue that a crime
is a crime, and especially horrific and cataclastic crimes such as murder must not go unpunished even if
it is a child. From this perspective, we are looking more from the victim's point of view. On the other
hand, however, others argue that a life for a life is not the answer and these criminals, specifically
juveniles, should be given the chance to be rehabilitated. In the words of Gail garinger, one of this view's
main proponents, "As a former juvenile court judge, I have seen firsthand the enormous capacity of
children to change and turn themselves around. The same malleability that makes them vulnerable to
peer pressure also makes them promising candidates for rehabilitation." According to this view, juveniles
dont deserve life sentences or to be tried as adults. In sum, then, the issue is how juveniles can be
rehabilitated but are not to go unpunished, or if they instead a juvenile's age shouldnt matter because a
crime is a crime..
My own view is that juveniles should be given a chance to be rehabilitated, so that rather than having
these criminals spend the rest of their lives in prison, they can have a chance to be successful and
respected individuals in our society. Though I concede that it must be an extremely cantankerous
subject to talk about and difficult for a victim to find forgiveness to want to support the idea of giving
criminals a chance for rehabilitation, I still maintain that, even in the case of a murder, a life for a life is not
the answer. For example, in the case of Greg Ousley, he murdered both of his parents. While this is of
course so devastating and such a horrendous crime, after many years in prison with Scott Anderson
interviewing him, he was found to have changed and grown in positive ways as he has matured and
become more aware of what he did and why it was so wrong. Although he wasnt given any rehabilitation
treatments, on his own he changed so much, and if he was given the help that he needed, he might be
given a chance at a better life. Although some might object that he doesnt deserve a better life after what
he did, I would reply that yes he should not go unpunished, but he should be given help and evaluations
to determine if he is mentally stable enough to be released from prison earlier rather than when his
lifetime is practically over.. This issue is important because there is a lot of crime and punishment all over
the world, and we need to address and fix the issues that we have.

Our socratic seminar on juvenile justice was very beneficial in many ways. In general, having that
type of group discussion gives us all a better understanding and different ways of looking at the matter
that maybe we hadnt thought of before. It also prepares us for future situations past high school such as
college and even many jobs. There is not as much hand raising and waiting to be called on. Instead it is
important to learn how to speak up and make yourself heard, especially if it is for a grade or your job
depends on it. Socratic seminars also teach how to speak respectfully to others, and that it is okay to
have different opinions than others. One can try to show the other person why they think their opinion is
correct, but also must be open to listening to what the other person has to say.

During the socratic seminar it there were definitely some students who spoke plenty, and others
who tried but were more timid and werent able to speak up and voice their opinion. It would be very
helpful if the teacher or a designated student, would, when noticing that some are having trouble speaking
up, point it out and help to give them a chance to speak. My peers were very abetting and supportive of
each other.It was also a con that class time is limited and there wasnt as much time as some may have
wanted to further the discussion.

Politics are always extremely controversial, but our class proved to be able to stay calm and
respectful in the previous seminar and I believe that we can do this again. Everyone must be differential
when stating any facts, opinions, or questions to the group, and also must come into the discussion open
minded and ready to learn and listen to what others have to say. It would help if the topic that each group
is given isnt too broad so that we can focus the discussion and not get carried away in too many different
directions.

3-10-17
Learning Log #3:
If you had to rank the four texts in this module (Brooks, Tannen, Young, and Lorde) from easiest to
hardest, how would you rank them and why? How did the ease or difficulty of each reading affect your
willingness to consider the authors arguments? What did you do during your reading to make sure you
understood the difficult texts? Be sure to include your evaluation of all four texts.

I would say that the easiest text to read was the most organized and well written article. This
was, in my opinion, His Politeness is Her Powerlessness by Deborah Tannen. It was nice and to the
point, had plenty of evidence, and the main argument was clear, which was; whether a man or a woman
has a direct or indirect style, the womans way is constantly seen negatively, because society dictates that
they are at a lower status than men. I would say that the second easiest article to read was Prelude: The
Barbershop, by Vershawn Ashanti Young. I really enjoyed the way that he included so many different
examples of someone being alienated from the group for being different, but then connected them all
back to himself. It was written to be very relatable, even for someone who is not African-American, like
the author, and this made me, the reader, able to better see his point. The third easiest article for me to
read was The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action, by Audre Lorde. It was still a
wonderful article, but the format in which it was written was harder for me to understand. In the beginning
the poem had plenty of important meaning, but for someone such as me who is not too good at
understanding the hidden meaning in poems, it didnt make sense to me. Also, the way the article was
written as an introduction, and a long conclusion, with no middle, was different and confusing. It was one
of the longer articles, seemed to side track here and there, and had more meaning than met the eye.
This made it harder to follow and therefore made it one of the more difficult reads. Honor Code by
David Brooks was the hardest read, not because it was super long or used confusing jargon, but instead it
wasnt long enough. I say this because it was short and didnt have a lot of different points, it focused on
one. It was almost too simple because there wasnt enough evidence or addressing of
counterarguments. The whole article talked about boys falling behind in the school system and why this
is unfair, except at the end when he tries to tie in the idea of schools needing to be more accepting of all
types of students. The main idea was nebulous, and the brevity and lack of evidence in this article made
me skeptical and confused by the end.

Learning Log #4
Learning Log #5
5-10-17
Learning Log #6:
Reflect upon the process of this socratic seminar. What worked better this time? What could be
improved? Remember to just reflect on the process, not your performance.
In preparation for the 1984 socratic seminar, I prepared plenty of notes and arguments for both
subjects so that I could be prepared for many different ways that the conversation could go. The last time
we had a socratic seminar, I focused on one subject and wrote my thoughts about it, and ended up a little
bit lost from the group and had to somewhat extemporize when I spoke, because the conversation
veered a way that I had not prepared for. This time I prepared with very thorough notes and thought
about as many of the arguments and counterarguments that were possible for the subject as I could. I
was also sure to include plenty of evidence from the book as well as some statistics from online. It was
much more beneficial to have more arguments and reasoning to back it up with. In the future I could
improve upon having better evidence. Although I provided some, but I could have found even more.
Overall, this socratic seminar was a much better process for me because I knew what to expect and how
to prepare.

5-16-17
Learning Log #7
Please write an objective summary about the article you read for your group's research. Be sure to
include all vital information(author, title, main idea, etc.).1.
Objective Summary-- 2 paragraphs minimum summarizing a text of your choice(movie, book, short
story, etc.). Your summary should include details about the who, what, where, when, and how of the text
without directly stating your opinion.
The article, Understanding Bullying, was written by Tara L. Kuther for Our Children, National
PTA in 2004. The article begins by describing the two types of bullying, the faciley identifiable bullying
such as physical and verbal harassment, and relational bullying which is more along the lines of socially
isolating and intentionally excluding victims of bullying. There is a good definition at the end of the
introduction which states, Bullying, then, refers to physical or psychological intimidation that occurs
repeatedly, is intended to inflict injury or discomfort on the victim, and creates an ongoing pattern of
harassment and abuse. The article then goes on to describe what bullying is caused by which is usually
an imbalance of power. Usually the bully is bigger, stronger, older, or more popular than the victim. A
bully most likely signals that a child needs to learn how to manage his or her emotions and learn how to
cope with anger and frustration in healthy ways. Parents and teachers need take on this role to help
children when this situation occurs.
When the article talks about the victims, it construes that there are two types of victims, passive
and reactive victims. A passive victim is what people will usually think of child that is being bullied. They
are shy, physically slight, quiet, and do not defend themselves. They turn inward when bullied and
withdraw rather than fighting back. The reactive victim is almost the opposite and they are much less
common. A reactive victim when bullied will retaliate and be aggressive when bullied. Often times by
doing so the victim may in a way turn into a billy him or herself, and it may be difficult for an adult to
identify who is the bully in that situation. The victim may then also become a bully and find new victims
after the incident.
Bullying is sometimes justified as something that all kids have to go through and must learn how
to defend themselves, but the article states, Bullying is not a normal part of growing up, as well as,
Victims of bullying suffer psychological and sometimes physical scars that last a lifetime. The writer
believes that bullying needs to be put to an end and explains what will work to do so. Finally, the article
includes many examples of what teachers and staff can do to help with the issue of bullying at school.