Response to 11-4-10 by Vic Xuan

Social networking has been common throughout my period of life. When I first knew about the internet, Myspace was the first social network that I had personally knew of. It was sort of boring so I didn't access my file often. Then society had created Facebook. I joined last year and I grew fond of it and it is a great way to keep in touch with friends. I looked at Vic Xuan's response post to Ivan Arreola's post and found a quote that I agree on:

"I agree that Facebook can get addicting sometimes, but there isn't much to do on Facebook besides the childish games. Facebook can't intervene in life for a long period of time because it is simply searching and reading. People wouldn't know every movement a person is taking if they don't publicize it. Possibly, the people who do publicize it, don't mind other people knowing about their life and privacy. People know when they are giving out too much information."

Personally I agree with Vic on what he says on his response post. Ivan said that Facebook was a bad place to go to because it is addicting and many consequences could happen such as bullying. Like what Vic had said, Facebook is not addicting because a person spends only a small amount of time on it because he or she is only reading and replying. Why would a person sit there waiting for just some reply or someone to talk to because they think that they have nothing else to do? They have so many other options such as homework, reading, hanging out with friends, or something active. Well, you could even be playing video games.

My other agreement with Vic is about bullying. Bullying usually only happens when a commenter can be anonymous. In Facebook, everyone has a name. If they carry a false name, you should have never accepted them as a friend in the first place. It is so obvious. If it is someone that you know is bullying you, you can report them to anyone that you feel comfortable telling them. That could be a parent, friend, or even a teacher if you are fine with it.

My final agreement with Vic is about keeping in touch with their friends. Sometimes, school isn't enough to communicate with friends enough because of the limited time. When at home and you want to talk to your friends, you can keep in touch with them by calling them but it costs the phone bill. So, you go to an alternative in which it is a social network where you can chat and keep in touch that way. It is so accessible as long as there is internet.

Speech: Bullying in Alameda and how it can be stopped

Alameda has been a home to me for almost four years and I have enjoyed living here ever since then. There are many reasons for that. Alameda is a safe neighborhood and a great school district with very little dangerous incidents or gang fights. Another reason is that the city has many great activities to participate in. For example, there are swimming lessons during the summer, boy and girl scouts, and fairs and parades.

Unfortunately, there are some problems in Alameda that should be solved immediately. My major concern is the common bullying of misfits at school and outside of school. As a young adult living through my educational career, I have experienced bullying first hand. I was teased but had not entered the stage of physical abuse. Although bullying is generally thought as physical, it can also be cyber bullying, mental bullying, and verbal bullying. Cyber bullying includes texting or posting mean messages about a person. Mental bullying can be ignoring a person or giving them dirty looks. Verbal bullying is the most common. This type of bullying includes calling a person names or talking about them behind their backs. Bullying never ends up as a good thing and no one ever wins. Bullying usually starts with jealousy or anger at another student. The jealous or angry student begins teasing other peers and it later becomes a chain reaction.

Bullying can happen in many ways. At school, students can be judged by their personality or their looks. They could also be teased by what they do or how they act. The internet is another place where bullying happens constantly. During these past few years, the internet has been becoming a rather a popular place to chat and email each other. Forums such as Myspace and Facebook can hide the user’s name or be created with a fictitious name. Bullies can use this system to tease or post hurtful comments to make the victims feel depressed.

An example of bullying happened on Monday, March 31 where nine bullies led a month long campaign of bullying in Massachusetts which later led to the suicide of a 15 year old girl. She was physically abused and verbally harassed because a small group of students were displeasured by her minor dating relationship from about six weeks ago. She was later found hanged in her apartment.

    As once said by Martin Luther King Jr., “the ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and the cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” What Martin Luther King means is the fact that no one speaks up when someone is in trouble. During the Jim Crow Era, Negroes were afraid to speak up because they feared that mobs would come after them and lynch them. At school, students who are victims of bullying are afraid that if they speak up to the teachers or the principle, they will be physically abused and teased afterwards by the bully. This is the main problem of bullying. It continues on and on because no one has the courage to speak up for themselves and for the other students in risk of the dangers of being bullied.

Everyone should speak up when someone is in trouble. Students shouldn’t be afraid of the bully at all. I also suggest that teachers and the principle should pay more attention to each student. When using the internet, I suggest staying away from signing up for websites where random people can comment anonymously. When using Facebook or Myspace, make sure that the friends that you approve aren’t strangers.

Building a comfortable education where young adults are happy is important to their educational career. If bullying cannot be stopped, kids will live through their educational career in fear and depression similar to those in the civil rights movement and the girl that committed suicide. I understand that stopping bullying takes a large amount of time and effort. But, as long as everyone puts in some effort, it can be stopped permanently.

Quote that i found from another person and how it relates with the ASTI constitution

I found this quote from Vincent Liu's blog and I thought about how much it relates to one of the major rules of the ASTI constitution:

A time when I have been made harassed by a larger group was the time when I got a bad grade on a test while most of the people in my class got a good grade. The people that got a good grade went to me and start laughing at me because I got a bad grade while they did well.
                                                                                                            -Vincent Liu

This action of teasing a fellow classmate violates the rule of accepting others for who they are. Just because a person received one single bad grade on a test doesn't mean that the next test that he or she would fail again. Think about this: If the group of people that laughed at Vincent received terrible grades, would they would have wanted someone to laugh that them? Almost everyone would say no because it makes them feel bad. It is impolite to do such a thing. I said almost because some people don't care that they received it and let it fly bye. Instead I would sometimes say that someone laughing at someone else can inspire others and the victim to become better so that they are able to avoid the teasing next time. Accepting others for who they are is one of the rules in the ASTI Constitution as mentioned above but I think that accepting people for who they are should be followed everywhere. No one is ever the same in personality because everyone's culture is different. Especially in America, many immigrants come from all over the world. They have different religion, social class and even different manners. Just because people are different, doesn't mean that you are above the law so that you can tease them. Respect others and they will respect you.

‘Just kidding’ and ‘Ganging Up’ from Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons

I was more of a victim rather than a part of an alliance that made someone feel bad. When I get teased or bullied, I sometimes feel insecure about myself. I feel depressed and lonely because no one is willing to help me to fight against other people. I usually end up sitting in a corner where no one pays attention to and then hide my feelings. Also, I feel that I need to push myself to become better and soon outsmart them. I don't get bullied often so it is weird for me when I do. When someone tries to hurt me in the first place, I just ignore them and most likely walk away. I usually don’t care about them because they are wasting a part of their lives to try and yell at me. I do have the option of yelling back at them but I believe that it will only make the situation worse than before. I did try that before but I ended up ignoring them before it was too late to turn back. I think people bully others because they have a certain characteristic that others find annoying, for money (like lunch money), or because they have a grudge on him or her. All these three are the ones that I have experienced before. I think the biggest of all is the fight for power but I never experience that before in my life. I think arguments makes them want to hurt their peers. This falls under the grudge category of bullying probably.