Statement: This house believes criminal justice should focus more on rehabilitation, less on punishment.
Opening: We believe that criminal justice should be predominantly focused on punishment. We believe this because if you commit a crime and receive rehabilitation, is this not a form of reward? You do something illegal, but then get the chance to receive professional help that law abiding citizens may not be able to afford? What if your sister was raped and the rapist was convicted then sent to jail? Would you care whether or not he received rehabilitative help in jail? No, of course not. This criminal has hurt someone that you love and they may be always haunted by this. So if the person you love and care about is unable to get better, why should you care if the person that inflicted this pain upon them is “better”? If you commit a crime, you have to deal with the consequences. If you’re sentenced to serve time in rehab rather than in a jail, where is the penance being paid? Is justice really being served if you’re not being punished for what you’ve done?
Closing: Receiving punishment for a crime is not an option, it is mandatory. To pay penance for what you’ve done there needs to be some sort of punishment. Rehabilitative help is not a necessity for criminals, but jail time is.
In writing and having this debate, I am demonstrating active citizenship. By taking an interest and a stand for how I feel criminals should be dealt with, I am actively attempting to help my country/community better itself.
This year I was involved in a youth council called KYAC (Kitchener Youth Action Council) that met every Thursday in the downtown community center. Basically what happens is the group of youths that show up discuss issues in the community as well as giving their input to guest speakers who attend our meetings.
Kyac was such an amazing way to get some of my community hours! I loved being involved in what happened in my community and being able to give my opinion on what should be done to improve it!
Through KYAC, there were many other opportunities for volunteering in our community such as helping with local food bank drives and assisting in bike trail clean ups. While doing these other volunteering acts I realized how much I was helping my community, even by just doing this small act.
Another thing I loved about KYAC was the people that I met there. I made so many new friends and forged new bonds with important people in the community like mayor Carl Zehr. Another great person that I met was the woman who ran our weekly meetings: Marla Pender. In a room full of twenty or more adolescents, she was always calm, cool and collected. She always made sure we tried our best, gave helpful input to our guests and pushed ourselves into other volunteering experiences.
Even though KYAC did give me a good chunk of my community service hours , I would still be attending every meeting if I didn't receive any hours.
I chose to write this post because the last meeting of KYAC was on Thursday, June 14. I also really wanted to show people that they didn't have to do something boring to get their community service hours. Students can do something they enjoy and something that really has an impact in the community. I've already seen changes in our community that I had input on in a meeting and that feeling is so rewarding!
| The future is terrifying. This is known fact.
The future is even scarier when people are throwing statistics at you about how poorly the job market is doing. Or how young people's unemployment or underemployment rates are sky rocketing.
I am scared.
I am scared of failure in university. I am scared of not finding a job in my field. I am scared of debt. I am scared.
But the thing about the future, is that it's not too far off. The future is tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. So to prepare myself for all of these nexts, I of course turn to the internet.
Whist on the internet I find many things that help to dilute my fear of the future. I found that there are universities that offer programs that will help me get to the exact place I want to be. And within these programs there are plenty of internships to apply for.
I am scared of the future but i'm also excited.
| I am excited to be on my own. I am excited to make little decisions in my life. To decide what colour I want to pant the walls. To decide where I hang that painting. To decide the furniture that goes in my home. I am excited.
But other than these seemingly insignificant things, I am excited to work.
I am excited to find a job( maybe) that I love. I don't need to love it every day but I want to love it in the long run. I am excited that I can show people that I can work hard. That I can make something of myself.
The future is scary because it is unknown. But preparing yourself will lift some of the fear and allow you to see how bright your future can be.
| This post was written after we watched a documentary that I think Mr. Kemp put on solely to scare us. He then asked us to write a response to the video, sharing our thoughts and feelings. Although my thoughts are quiet jumbled and my feelings are mixed, I would say I am ready (or as ready as I'll ever be) for the future)
| Humans have a definitive sense of right and wrong. Unfortunately this thinking is flawed because there is no absolute set of right or wrong. Our morals depend on the circumstances in which we are living in. Markus Zusak plays on this theme in his book, The Book Thief. In the book, Zusak explores the perversity of morality. He demonstrates this by introducing Death as a witty, funny, likeable entity; as well as finding an honourable aspect of thievery.
Zusak challenges our ideas of right and wrong throughout this book. If you were to conjure up an image of death, it would most likely be something cold, dark and scary. Death for us is most often feared. Zusak however portrays the personification of death as a caring, likeable and even funny entity, “I do not carry a sickle or scythe. I only wear a hooded black robe when it is cold. And I don’t have those scull-like features you seem to enjoy pinning on me from a distance” (Zusak, 307). While living in Nazi Germany, death is so prevalent in everyone’s life that if you were always afraid of this big scary thing you would never be able to function. Viewing Death as a compassionate and funny guy would make it easier to cope in your day to day life. Zusak
In the prologue Death makes a reassuring announcement: “I am all bluster- I am not violent. I am not malicious. I am a result” (6). This proves again that Death is not a bad “person” , he does not feed off of the act of dying and that death is simply a result of the actions of humans. Both of these examples show us how our morality is not a matter of black and white. Zusak is forcing the reader to see the fluidity of our morals.
| This proves again that Death is not a bad “person” , he does not feed off of the act of dying and that death is simply a result of the actions of humans. Both of these examples show us how our morality is not a matter of black and white. Zusak is forcing the reader to see the fluidity of our morals.
Zusak challenges our morals once again by painting Liesel’s thievery in an honourable light. In reality the act of thieving usually results in some sort of punishment. Zusak however, tells Liesel’s story of thieving as one of triumph. She is portrayed as heroic for stealing words and knowledge in a time when both of these things were so scarce, “The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words....She was renowned as the best word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be without words” (445). Liesel’s thieving of books is an active way she is regaining power and acquiring knowledge.
Throughout the book Zusak has demonstrated that our morals are not set in stone, they are dependent upon the circumstances we are living in. Zusak shows us this by creating the character/ narrator of Death to be a friendly and funny entity. Thievery being portrayed as honourable is another way Zusak has shown the perversity of morality in his book, The Book Thief.
| I wrote this essay because I had to, but I did not have to read the book I did and I am glad for that. I feel that this essay demonstrates my ability to analyze text and to make connections within the text.
| On Sunday, two teenage boys were convicted in a rape case in Steubenville, Ohio. This case stood out to me for many reasons, one of which is the way social media, pictures and videos were used to publicly humiliate the victim, secondly the media made many undeserved vindications for the convicted and lastly she was raped, and that is appalling.
First off, these kids and their friends had the audacity to take videos, pictures and put out tweets about this crime. This is disgusting in itself. There were tweets sent out making fun of this crime such as, "song of the night is definitely rape me by nirvana". There were pictures sent out of the sentenced and some other teens holding the victim naked. There were videos of them raping this girl in a car in between parties. This is vile and these are not little boys. They are teenagers. They know what they have done and know that it is wrong. In my opinion, the convicted should have been tried as adults. My reasoning behind this is rape is not a child's crime. Petty theft, breaking and entering- understandable how you would try the convicted as juveniles, but rape? If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that you’re only 16. If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that you cry like a child in court, only after being convicted. If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that you had a promising future. If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that your life is destroyed. If you rape someone, it should haunt you for the rest of your life. You raped someone and you deserve every ounce of justice we can place upon you in court of law. These sick criminals deserve to be put in front of a jury, with the option of being incarcerated for more than two years. | The media and townspeople were no help in this case, justifying and sympathizing with the criminals' actions saying: "They had such promising futures," and "They
were town heroes," when all they were, were football players. These people were actually attempting to get a lesser sentence for the condemned. This is all because this town is so football centered, that they couldn't bear to lose
anyone off their team! Sounds to me like these people value football more than justice in this case and how horrific is that?
Finally, this girl was raped. Yes, she had too much to drink and yes, she was wearing revealing clothes, but no, it was not OK for her to be raped. It is never OK to rape. She was used for the sole purpose of sex. One of the convicted sent a text that said, "Yeah dude, she's like a dead body. I just
needed some sexual attention." That is revolting. The fact that she wasn't even coherent enough to seem alive, that she seemed like a dead body; yet they still thought it was perfectly OK for them to sexually assault her. This girl
deserved so much more respect than that, and now her life will forever be affected by this. The prosecutor said, "This case is about a 16-year-old girl who was taken advantage of, toyed with and humiliated. And it's time people who did this to her are held responsible." I agree with her wholeheartedly, and am glad that they were punished. But in my opinion, the punishment should have been more severe to compensate for what this girl has been through and for the convicted to pay proper dues for what they've done. | I wrote this article because when I read the news reports, I was so mystified and appauled by what had happened, I could not let it go without writing about it. This piece is by far my favourite piece of writing I have done all year. I think that it really demonstrated my ability to write, not only about my opinion, but also about real world happenings. I
| Today I signed up for the, questionably named S-trip!
I think that this is an amazing opportunity that everyone should take part in if they have the chance. I am paying for this trip by myself because I just could not pass up a chance like this.
First off, this trip is entirely based around what the students want to do. This trip aims to be a last hoorahbefore students graduate (you can go on the trip in any year of high school, although it is mainly for seniors). This means that they have tons of fun things to do, that you actually want to do. They have surfing lessons, zip lining, tours, tournaments, theme days, theme nights and tons more. Personally I find these activities way more fun than crafts or childish games that they usually have at trips booked through the school.
| Secondly, it is a trip with you and your friends! Why isn't that something you want to do? This trip is barely affiliated with CHCI. All the staff come from the resort you're staying at and the S-trip! team. They aren't constantly hovering over you, they let you do what you want under certain guidelines. Last, IT'S THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN MARCH! It's a gorgeous place to be and the city we're staying near has tons of things to buy and see. The resort we're staying on is gorgeous and full of readily available staff. Although I will be working my butt off for the next year to pay for this trip, I have a feeling it will be worth every penny! Here's S-trip! promo video!My day was never dull! I was able to learn how to surf, jump onto an ATV and even relaxed on a catamaran!
| I originally wrote this post because I had just signed up to go to the dominican with a company called S-Trip and I could not contain my excitement. But I chose this post to go under the Exploration of Opportunities Heading because after posting this, opportunities arose for me. Derek Champoux, S-Trips communication coordinator, contacted me after I wrote this about being in a feature on the official S-Trip site. The feature is yet to be posted but I have been chatting with Derek for over a month now, answering and asking many questions, and I can not wait to see what the feature will look like!
Your Voice, Your Choice In class we are creating an imaginary country using a website called civic mirror; to give us a taste of what life will be like outside of these windowless walls of Cameron Heights.
Right now we have started the election and campaigning process, and that got me thinking about why some people don't exercise their right to vote. We live in a democracy, and one of the marvelous perks of living here in Canada, a democratic country, is that you get to have a say in who runs your country.
There are so many people out there in under developed, third world countries that would kill for a say in their countries leadership.
| North Korea, Uganda, basically the entire continent of Africa has no stable government; those people would give an arm and a leg to be able to voice their opinions freely.
It may not seem like a big deal to you, because the only thing you're paying is higher taxes, but these people are paying with their lives!
To them, you taking this right for granted, is a crime; how could you take such a privilege for granted?
I know everyone has their reasons, but honestly if you're not voting, you're not being heard, and who are you without your voice?
| I chose to write about this topic because I think that it is a big issue. I know many people who do not vote in elections, including my father because they think it's not important. I thought it was important to breifly inform people that they should utilize their right to vote since so many countries around the world don't have that privilidge and it is
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