What Should Canada Do WIth Its Young Offenders?

How are we as a society supposed to act when a child or a teenager commits a criminal offence? Do we treat them as if they were adults? But, when exactly is the line crossed from being deviant, to being a criminal? Is it in the child's DNA which makes them a criminal, or is it the environment in which they are raised that determines their outcome.

How does an innocent child learn to be deviant? Think of a child as a blank chalkboard, as the child begins to grow, and different events begin to occur, the chalkboard begins to fill up with specific learnt characteristics which makes the child who they are. Whether these characteristics are bad or good, they have been learnt somewhere along the line. As soon as a child begins to witness deviant or criminal behaviour, it is automatically assumed that this behaviour is normal. In my opinion, criminal behaviour has to have been learnt somewhere or by someone. However, there is the other question whether this kind of behaviour is genetic. Researchers agree on the point that genes influence personality traits and disorders. There is no doubt that disorders that could potentially cause this type of behaviour is genetic (Personality disorders, or anti-social issues). Researchers also agree that there is an environmental component to this issue. The family environment is definitely crucial to the upbringing of a child and if serious problems exist (Such as, sexual abuse or violence) then the child will be more likely to act out when they become adults.

"When children are in preschool and show aggressive tendencies towards their peers, they will likely be deemed as an outcast. This creates poor peer relationships and relegates those children to be with others who share similar behaviours."

This quote shows how children, even from a very early age quickly learn their "place" in the world. If they feel like an outcast even from a very early age, this feeling will continue to grasp this child all the way through adulthood which could very likely lead to rebellion.

What should we as a society do in the face of this very important social issue? In todays law, if children are caught doing a crime, they would be sent to Juvenile Court. Is this the right way our society should handle this issue? Should we try and rehabilitate the children who have committed these crimes? Or should we treat them as if it were an adult who committed the crime, because a "crime is a crime". I believe that very young children should not be charged with their first offence, instead they should be sent to a mandatory rehabilitation center which will use therapy and other techniques to make sure this child would not become a repeat offender. However, it is very important if a child or a teen commits a murder or any other type of extreme offence, then there is no question that this child should be sentenced to jail time. We would never want murders or any other type of severe criminals to be roaming our streets.

In conclusion, I believe that children simply learn criminal behaviour. If they are not taught, then they will never know. We are brought up to understand that lying, cheating and stealing are all unacceptable behaviours, however there are some who are never taught these valuable lessons, therefore they don't necessarily know what is right from wrong. Circumstance may push an individual to break the law but in order to be an habitual criminal it would seem that a person's genetic make-up, and upbringing has a lot to do with it.

Our Future Classrooms: Classrooms 2.0

In the modern world we live in, technology is completely at our fingertips. In less than one second, we are able to obtain millions of resources of information. The internet is a very powerful tool. We did not have this sort of luxury in the past, in order to take full advantage of the power of the internet today, it is crucial that we give this power to the adults of tomorrow; Our children.

Teachers and adults tend to push away technology. It is now time to surrender, older generations must embrace technology. In their eyes, it is seen as a negative and complicated tool. But yet, they hardly give themselves a chance to learn from it. Don Tapscott believes that the older generations should listen to young people by embracing their culture and adopting their tools, the tools being technology in this case. I believe that computers give children and adults new tools to learn, and I believe that the classroom of tomorrow needs to have these essential tools.

Nicolas Negroponte, is the founder of the foundation "One Laptop, One Child". This foundation is meant to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. Nicolas has said that these laptops have completely transformed the lives of children and their families in a remote Cambodian village. Why is that? Why are these simple laptops changing lives? The answer to this is simple. When children have access to this type of powerful tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future. In other words, they are indirectly and directly building their own education.

A Computer isn't just a box of wires and aluminum, it is pretty much the ideal image of an education. A computer contains so much information it is almost ridiculous. Classrooms of the future should definitely be equipped with laptops. Children will be able to access millions of gigabytes of information, that would simply not be possible without the use of a computer. Class notes would be distributed by using an online "Wiki", which will be available at any given time. These notes will be accessible even when the child misses a class. Recordings of the class will be available online as well. Missing school will not have as many consequences, because the child will be able to catch up quickly and efficiently using the recordings.

Technology clearly isn't the only aspect of our education. Teachers play a huge role in enforcing an education on students. If a professor isn't motivating, a student would tend to mirror this lack of motivation. I believe that a teacher needs to have the perfect balance of many different ingredients. When a teacher is excited to be in that classroom at 8am, it really takes a positive toll on the students, and it really does make them excited about learning. This is definitely what I would like to see in a classroom 2.0. In my experience, I've had many teachers through out the years, and I find that the most motivational teachers were the ones who took the time to make their classes a little bit more different, and a little less conventional. Those were the teachers who I wanted to learn from and listen to, and these are the type of teachers we need in a classroom 2.0.

The future holds quite an interesting change in our classrooms. At the rate that technology is advancing, there is no doubt about it that computers and other technological devices will definitely be a huge part of our children's education. Instead of a teacher saying: "Kids, take out your textbook to page 85", they will be saying "Kids, take out your laptop and go to this website". Technology will change our classrooms, and only for the better.

Is The Web Helping Or Hurting?

This is a very difficult question. The answer to this can go both ways. It is a debate that could go on forever.

The World Wide Web is a wonderful and powerful tool. However, it could be used for good and bad. The current generation, also known as Generation Y, has quickly evolved to being the most technologically advanced generation yet. Always and obsessively online, living life on the Internet, always connected with millions of others at any given time. Older generations seem to have a harder time adapting to our high tech world of today. The real question is, was the world better twenty years ago, without the hassle of the internet?

In my opinion, the World Wide Web, also commonly known as the 'Internet', can bring lots of advantages to our lives. Information on the web is quite easily accessible. All you need to do is type in a few simple keywords into a search engine, and "tada" you have 10 million results. Twenty years ago, the only way we were able to access information was through a library. Only if you were lucky, you had about five to ten resources. There is no doubt about it, that it was much more difficult to access information back in the day.

However, the internet can be quite evil. Websites such as Facebook, give off way too much information. Teenagers give out their personal information, such as their home addresses, phone number's and even the name of their school without even thinking of the potentially harmful consequences. This can lead to identity theft and other situations where your privacy may be exposed without your consent. Once you put something on the internet, it never comes off, even once its deleted. People tend to forget this. A potential boss can search you up on Facebook, and they will immediately get a first impression of you, before you ever get a chance to meet them in person. Wether the impression is a good or bad one, it should never come from a Facebook page.

Twenty years ago, life was much more simple, without all these worries about identity theft and leaking too much personal information on the internet, because internet didn't even exist. There is really no concrete answer to this question. The internet could definitely help, but in some cases it does more harm then good.

What Am I?

What am I? Am I an existentialist? A nihilist? A theist? An agostic? An atheist? Or a deist? I believe that I am a existentialist. An existentialist is someone who believes that they as a human are responsible for the choices and the events that occur in their own life, and no higher power would have anything to do with it. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. I believe that I did not change my point of view from the beginning of this year. i have always believed this way. I believe that as i begin to evolve as a human been, I may start to view things very differently. I may start to believe in fate, and the idea of karma. Because, as life changes, different things may occur, and karma and fate may sound like a reasonable answer. But as of now, I stand very strong on my point of view. When I am 80 years of age, I believe that I will be an even stronger existentialist, because when you are that old, you have experienced many things in your life, and it would make more sense to blame all of these events on yourself, and not a higher power of any sort. Especially if I would have to live through a tough life, there would be no one to blame but myself, and the other people in my life. Not any sort of higher power.

Why am i an existentialist? I am an existentialist, because I believe that no matter what happens in your life, you and only you are to blame for these events. Weather it is good or bad, no one else should take the blame. I don't necessarily believe in a "God", however I do believe in some sort of higher energy, but not a higher "power". I believe that it is ridiculous when people blame many of the bad things in their life on "God", even though we have no concrete proof that this person named God exists. I am the type of person who needs hard evidence to believe in something, and until i find this evidence, my point of view will continue to stay as an existentialist.