Sex Education in Public Schools

Sex education has long been a debated topic in schools. Many people have different opinions about how it should be done. In a news article by The Guardian, "How Obama's healthcare reform boosted abstinence-only sex education," the reporter points out that conservatives are managing to gain funding for and implement abstinence-only sex education programs in schools. The three states mentioned in the article, Texas, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, have already launched "aggressive legislative efforts to promote abstinence-only education."

Reflection 3: Ashley Smith and What Are Prisons For?

Ashley Smith was a happy little girl born in New Brunswick on January 29, 1988. She was adopted by Coralee Smith when Ashley was five-days-old. She had a normal childhood. Coralee Smith later became the partner of Herbert Gober when Ashley was three-years-old. Then in 2001, when Ashley was thirteen or fourteen, Herbert and Coralee saw changes in Ashley’s behaviour. She became “disruptive and disobedient.” By the time Ashley was fifteen she was in and out of youth court fourteen times for various minor offenses, changed schools twice, seen by a psychologist, who found no evidence of mental illness, and attended to by a youth care worker among other things. From April to October of 2003, she is sent to the New Brunswick Youth Centre various times. On October 21, 2003, Ashley and a group of other youth throw crab apples at a postal worker while on probation from her last visit to youth centre. She is sent to a Miramichi juvenile detention centre.

Race and Racialization

In today's class, we looked at the history of race and how it was a dominant force in history. The Irish were constantly discriminated against in the United State because of their race. They were called non-whites, anarchists, and animals. Media portrayed them as beasts and animals. Whereas whites were praised and lifted up as privileged and special. Does this discrimination still exist in society today? Does race play a role in our society? Does being white give those people greater privilege? If this is true, what can we do about it?

Reflection 2: Critical Pedagogy

Typical education systems have taught us how to read, how to write, and how to solve equations. The typical classrooms where we are taught is setup for maximum learning potential: seats facing front, white walls with little or no posters, few distractions which could cause us, as students, to lose focus on the lessons being taught. The teacher stands at the front and lectures about the lesson for the day, whether Mathematics, Science, English, or any other course. Almost every education system works similarly in concept and practice. What does every teacher try to teach their students? It is the ability to become critical thinkers in the wider world. We, as students, accept this notion of becoming critical thinkers and assimilate with the education system.

Behind the Walls of Our Federal Prisons

Violence is rampant in Canada's federal prisons. Guards have an obligation to watch over and take care of their prisoners, especially when their prisoners are harming themselves or others: "And we are. But it will never be at my expense." (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2010). Instead, when prisoners need to be disciplined, guards use excessive force; and many times it includes unnecessary violence.

Reflection 1: University Education Systems

The term “ideology” has many different meanings in today’s society. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ideology as: “A systematic scheme of ideas, usually relating to politics, economics, or society and forming the basis of action or policy; a set of beliefs governing conduct. Also: the forming or holding of such a scheme of ideas” (Oxford University Press, 2012). In modern society, ideology can be used to mean false theorizing or speculation or an ideal that is held by a certain group. Sociologists look at ideology and see a term which is abused by sciences, the general public, and now has a flawed meaning. Within this, we will discover the sociological definition of ideology and later on, analyze the changes in post-secondary funding with the notion of ideology in mind.

Welcome!

Hey Everyone!
Welcome to my blog for SOCI 2010 1A - Principles of Social Theory at Saint Mary's University. The course is being taught by Professor Darryl Leroux. I am a student in the course and as a part of this course, I am writing this blog. Within this blog, I will be discussing various topics related to the course, my feelings on them, and some of my reports which I wrote for the course. I hope that you enjoy my blog and find it interesting, informative, and relevant.
Josh