Drug Use is a Medical Problem, Not Criminal

I can't believe a workers in the courthouse jail in Courtroom 302 are allowed to treat those convicted of a crime. I understand that the people in this jail may have done some pretty bad things, but they are human and who knows what caused them to become bad. When I read that a man died in this jail because of neglect when he needed medical help and the workers got off without any punishments I was appalled. He had a history of medical problems which probably a main reason of his drug use and instead of helping him, they tell him to shut up. What kind of country is this? In addition, as Sal stated, drug use is a medical problem, but is treated as a criminal problem. Just as alcoholics need help, so do drug users. In an in class experiment where the uses, effects...and so on were stated without the name of the drug, cigarettes and alcohol were seen as more harmful than marijuana which can land people in jail. So instead of locking up drug users with muderers we should give them the medical help they need.

Age of Maturity

One thing that stood out in the article What is the Age of Responsibility? was that many states allow women to marry before men. While I know the fact that women go through puberty and mature sooner than boys physically, who is to say that men are not ready to marry at the same age women are. In many societies I have learned about in past social studies classes men were actually the ones to gain more responsibility first. I think that separating maturity by sex is even more silly than separating maturity by age can be at times. In addition, the article said in the past, "As soon as someone’s feet could reach the pedals, he or she was free to drive." I think that the age 16 makes since for the fact that at 16 you can get a job and parents don't always have time to drive because they have jobs of their own. However, at the same time I know many of my friends weren't mature enough to drive at age 16. For example, one of my friends got her license at 16 simply because everyone else was. When she got her lisence she had never driven on a highway with her parents before to help her with advise and apparently had never driven in a construction zone. The first time she had entered a construction zone she was alone she freaked out and hit a cone and knocked off her mirror. I think that many 16 year olds just get their lisence at 16 just because everyone else is while they know they aren't ready and I think that is a very dangerous thing. Another problem with driving laws is the age at which cell phone use is okay. When I was in seventh grade my brother got hit by a car while in a crosswalk because the man driving was paying more attention to his cell phone then on driving. The worst part of it all was that since my brother didn't press the cross walk button even though it said it was okay to walk, it was "his fault". So the man driving who hit my brother go absolutly no consequences for hitting a person! Studies have shown time and time again that cell phone use majorly decreases peoples' ability to drive. In fact it is more likely to get in an accident while texting than while drunk. Because people under 18 can't vote, legislation is put against them easily. As soon as "adults" hear their rights are trying to be taken away they immediately shut it down. I think the problem with the laws does not have to do so much with the government as the voting people. Voters only want to agree with laws for more regulations on other people, not on themselves, even if it is better for the country as a whole.

"The Perfect Body"

My whole first semester pretty much I got to study print media and a lot was discussed about how media portrays women. Advertisers say that they aren't affecting body images just selling products, but who says products need to be sold by women in no clothes with their bones popping out of their skin. It is hard to find advertisements with healthy women even athletic ads have people who don't look like they have ever touched a piece of bread. As girls are surrounded by these images of what is "beautiful" they have nothing else to believe. What I found so true that I had never thought about is if you ask people who their role model is chances are they aren't going to be a super model, they will be a healthy person. It is important that girls to work harder on making sure their insides are beautiful and not worrying about the outside. However, the way media has brainwashed us it is too hard to think about giving up how we care about our looks. I know I have fallen under this trap that if I were just a little more pretty or a little more that, everything would work out. The truth is that society has become so superficial and shallow that it is hard to make friends or get a boyfriend/girlfriend without focusing on looks. Not to say everyone is that way but until more normal looking people with less editing and makeup get into magazines society on a whole will continue judging each other on looks. I feel kind of hopeless on the issue because I don't see media changing for a long time. I am happy that there are more self-esteem speakers going to schools. I think that that should continue and hopefully advirtisements will soon become heathier influences on children, teens, and adults.