Physics Project Reflection #1-Cyrus

YouTube Video

Day 5 Sent to NATO

Day 4 Final Draft

Dear NATO,

 My name is Cyrus Bajwa, and in Language Arts I have been learning about the difficult paths these child soldiers face post-war. I would like to represent a entirely new idea which can reshape many thoughts you may have. There are many reasons why it would be unfair or even dangerous to give child soldiers amnesty. These child soldiers like it or not have pulled the trigger, and have killed many innocent people. They also have raped and have executed many people based on their belief. But, we still give empathy to these barbaric sociopaths forgiving them of their past when the victims need the revenge. However, we let in these children not knowing their backgrounds, because of slight to no restrictions on child soldier laws. How do we even know that the persons not a terrorist? This is why we need prosecution to determine who these people are, and if they need to be put on trial for what they have done. Additionally, if given amnesty, where can child soldiers be relocated to? Without any consequences for their actions. In this letter, I will explain to you my plan for how to treat child soldiers after a conflict has ended. And hopefully by the end your organization can realize some of the flaws in the system, and solutions to solve these problems.

  Why I care? Are some strong words. The reason why I chose this side of the spectrum is because I want what's best for my country and yours. I want us to have a safer place, and one of the issues which can potentially backfire is the large masses of child soldiers coming into our countries for safe heaven. I am concerned that child soldiers may pose a threat to a new host country, if they're allowed to emigrate after a conflict has ended. Therefore, I strongly urge potential host countries to give identification and background checks, as well as potential juvenile detention, until it can be determined that a former child soldier won't be a threat.

Imagine, you as a 7-year-old boy living in Sierra Leone living with one family member. Suddenly, you're only guardian killed by a child soldier. Why? Because he was at the wrong place, at the wrong time. This is unfortunately the reality in many countries in the world such as, Uganda. In rural places, where innocent villages get shot and killed every day. These cruel phenomenon’s  also happens in rural Nigerian towns, where child soldiers (15 years old) rape and brutally murder young girls. In Syria, child soldiers often execute others because of their race and religion or even sect in religion. Many would point the figure on the group which forced them. But just think for a second, the child soldier pulled the trigger which killed the someone, the child soldier decided to rape and then kill the young girl and the child soldier was the one who sliced the throat of the victim. I’m just saying that we are the ones who give empathy to the child soldier. Just think of the boy who lost its only parent, and how devastated he must feel. Just think of the injustice done to the child who lost its parent. We instead nurture the gunman when he was the one who pulled the trigger, and may have cost more deaths along the way. My plan to stop this is by giving the justice to the victim, and depending on the scenario give out a trial with due process.

"Some might say that the justice should be sought from those in charge the recruited child soldiers in the first place, because the child soldiers were the ones who pulled the trigger. But, these children had no family, had been drugged, sold by their parents, have some to no education or are forced into doing this like Ishmael Baeh. In the Hour interview, Ishmael talks about justice and the cycle of revenge and how the trust of adult helped him succeed. Instead of locking them up for crimes which never would have happened.

One of the issues, which I can present to you is. That if a 15-year-old right now went on a killing spree. He would be arrested, and put in jail for manslaughter. But, because of a child soldiers like  Ishmael Baeh we say “oh, it’s alright he was brainwashed.” No, whoever pulled the trigger needs to go to jail or anyone associated with the crime. If we don’t implement this system we are breaking society, and by society standards he should be put in jail. If we implement this rule we could see a hopeful decrease in child soldiers, since we are arresting any associates in the crime as well. This will most definitely frighten the commander who make children fight wars. Even Though these are children they have done serious crimes, but by them serving time it’s the best policy.

However, by punishing kids we will get nothing out of it. They have lived a tough life, and because of where they're from they will have to pay the price. For something they never even wanted to do, but most of all they are just kids. Who have been mistreated there whole life. All they want is love and comfort not a box to sit in all day.

One of the main reasons why child soldiers deserve no amnesty is because of the threat. These children are coming into our country without checks, and may still be under the influence of their previous life, still cold blooded. An example of this is Omar Khandr a boy who was a child soldier, but was rescued and brought to the U.S. But he instead was very delighted, and was filled with pride about his killing spree. Saying that he planted mines and blew up armed forces. This behavior led him to Guantanamo, which could have turned out worse if he was not as extrovert of his accomplishments. Imagine a boy who was rescued, but because of him being a child soldier people would show empathy, but inside he is planning destruction. How do we know if he is not still faithful to his group? All these questions lead to prosecution of these soldiers to make sure they do not commit harm. As it may cause a national security threat if we do not prosecute the children. Because we have to know that for every Ishmael Baeh, there are  300,000 child soldiers who may continue on their path of terror when brought back into society.

In conclusion, I hope your organization rethinks Its policy of child soldiers. I also would like to thank you for reading this plea. Because overall, I think there can be many more benefits in the long run using this type of plan. I sincerely hope you think of the victim's family and how they are suffering due to the child soldier.

Sincerely,

Cyrus

(Student at TAISM)

Day 3 L.A Draft 1

Please type your letter below.  Make sure you address it to whomever you plan on sending it to, and make sure you put your “Sincerely” at the bottom.  Please then copy and paste the text and post it in your blog to be added to the record of how your thinking has changed.

Dear NATO,

My name is Cyrus, and in Language Arts I have been learning about the difficult paths these child soldiers face post-war. I would like to represent a entirely new idea which can reshape many thoughts you may have. These child soldiers like it or not have pulled the trigger, and killed many innocent victims. They also have raped and have executed many people based on their belief. But, we still give empathy to these barbaric sociopaths forgiving them of their past, when victims need the revenge. And so, instead we are letting these individuals not knowing their backgrounds or hatred into our countries. How do we even know that the persons not a terrorist? This is why we need prosecution, to determine who are these people and if they need to be put on trial for what they have done. And it’s is not right to to easily say “ let's have all the child soldiers come into our countries.” Without any restrictions so in this letter I will explain to you my plan and introspection on what’s going on. And hopefully by the end, your organization can realize some of the flaws in the system and solutions to solve this problem.

Why I care? Are some strong words. The reason why I chose this side of the spectrum is because I want what's best for my country and yours. I want us to have a safer place, and one of the issues which can potentially backfire is the large masses of child soldiers coming into our countries for safe heaven. Without the identification and the necessary requirements to make sure these aliens are innocent; even if it means juvenile

Imagine, you as a 7 year old boy living in Sierra Leone living with one family member. Suddenly, you're only guardian killed by a child soldier. Why? Because he was at the wrong place, at the wrong time. This is unfortunately the reality in many countries in the world such as, Uganda. In rural places, where innocent villages get shot and killed every day. These cruel phenomenons also happens in rural Nigerian towns, where child soldiers (15 years old) rape and brutally murder young girls. In Syria, child soldiers often execute others because of their race and religion or even sect in religion. Many would start and point the figure on the group which forced them. But just think for a second, the child soldier pulled the trigger which killed the victim, the child soldier decided to rape and soon after kill the young girl and the child soldier was the one who sliced the throat of the victim. I’m just saying that we are the ones who give empathy to the child soldier. Just think of the boy who lost it’s only parent and how devastated he must feel. Instead of just think about the child soldier let’s think of the little boy who must feel injustice. Instead of this we can reinforce the system, because the child soldier pulled the trigger and we instead of prosecuting him. We instead nurture the gunman, when he was the one who pulled the trigger and may have cost more deaths along the way. My plan to stop this, is by giving the justice to the victim and depending on the scenario if he was indeed influenced, give out a trial with due process. But, the victims at the end of the day deserve some type of justice of what has been done.

Some of the reasons why you may disagree is there thought process. They have no family, drugged, sold by their parents, have no to some education or are forced into doing this like Ishmael Baeh. On top of this the environment and surroundings pay a big toll on what side you're on. You maybe fighting for Al Qaeda, and be thinking that it is the right side while the others are infidels.  So we should not jail tem because they did not know any better or have been brainwashed or beaten into doing this.

One of the issues, which I can present to you is. That if a 15 year old, right now went on a killing spree. He would be arrested and put in jail for manslaughter. But because of a child soldier like  Ishmael Baeh we say “oh, it’s alright he was brainwashed.” No, who ever pulled the trigger needs to go to jail or elsewise and any associates in the crime. If we don’t implement this system we are breaking society and by society standards he should be put in jail. If we implement this rule we could see a hopeful decrease in child soldiers, since we are arresting any associates in the crime as well. This will most definitely frighten the commander who make children fight wars. But we will have a trial which has due process meaning if the child was forced he would spend less time.

Many people will say that, by punishing kids we will get nothing out of it. They have lived a tough life and because of where they're from they will have to pay a price. For something they never even wanted to do, but most of all they are just kids. Who have been mistreated there whole life. All they want is love and comfort not  a box to sit in all day.

One of the main reasons why child soldiers deserve no amnesty is because of the threat. These children are coming into our country without checks. And may still be under the influence of their previous life still cold blooded. A example of this is Omar Khandr a boy who was a child soldier, but was rescued and brought to the U.S. But he instead was very happy and filled with pride about his killing spree. Saying that he planted mines and blew up armed forces. This behaviour led him to Guantanamo, which could have turned out worse if he was not as extrovert of his accomplishments. Imagine a boy who was rescued, but because of him being a child soldier people would show empathy, but inside he is planning destruction. How do we know if he is still with his old group? All these questions lead to prosecution of these soldiers to make sure they do not commit harm. Because we want to do things for the greater good there is 300,000 child soldier, each one of them are not going to be like  Ishmael Baeh.

Still you may say that, these kids are not like this. Because the estimate of child soldiers will come up with a plot like this is very skeptical and doubtful. We are dealing with teens and children not a mastermind criminal. Because of this the threat to National security is very low; also the kids need trust in their life to succeed not hatred.

But if we never send them to jail, they will never learn. This experience is a learning process for them and should be used. If we don’t use this t we are missing out on a opportunity because ultimately we want these minors to be safe and to not choice or consider these choices again. By sending them to jail for some time will make them reflect on their actions and will make them a better person. Because these kids have been living with a ideology to kill, so by us giving an opportunity for them to learn. Will most likely make them think again, before choosing a bad decision. Bceuase without this they may never learn, and  think it’s acceptable to do this type of behavior.

But still many people may not like the idea of jail. Instead of jail we can put them in rehab, so that we are teaching and comforting the kid. Instead of locking him up in jail, which may be cruel to some people.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope your organization rethinks Its policy of Child soldiers. I also would like to thank you for reading this plea. Because, overall I think there can be many benefits in the long run using this type of plan. I sincerely hope you think of the victim's family and how they are suffering due to the child soldier.

Sincerely,

Cyrus

(Student at TAISM)

Day 2 I may change my views

Does this confirm what I know?

Does this add something new to what I know?

Does this interrupt my thinking?

 During the next article about child soldiers we read about a boy Khadr, who is serving a  jail sentence in Guantanamo bay. After reading this article I began to feel uneasy about my previous idea of why child soldiers should not be prosecuted. One of the quotes,  "The men in Guantanamo are dangerous, and they are dangerous because they are in Guantanamo." Really jumped out at me, questioning my state of mind and I my have. I am beginning to think more on the other side of the spectrum. This article did put heavy opinions on why they should be in jail for the crimes they have done and I think I do believe in this cause. But still this statement is still a toss up for me. 

Even though this article had many facts, I feel as if I knew this, but the way they presented the argument really got me thinking. So it in-fact confirm some of the thinking I had going into this essay.

But one of the facts which shocked me was that  500 to 600 hours working on Khadr's case for that conclusion, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars to U.S. taxpayers. Which I think is absurd I possibly use in my essay.

Article of the Memo= Debate Wise 

•    I began to realize that the introduction for the con side is very strong

• The next point was that they volunteered which I knew but I still agreed with the Pro side

• I actually believed in both sides the next go round. As they both slightly agreed it depends on the scenario is he a victim of this or a fanatic

• But once it started to mention "Revenge for the Victims" and not making a law gives commander a right made it impossible to not agree 

• These were the main points which I thought I could use in my essay. So I went head did more research and changed my decision thanks to this article.

                                                          Draft

Introduction introduce the topic and my side

Why I care:

Main argument They have done very harsh things and the victims need revenge

Main rebuttal But they did not know that ( education)

Supporting argument #1 We should have a system of punishment put in place. Because, if we don’t the commanders may be encouraged and may think they can get away with it. Since they know they will be no war crimes against them or the child soldiers. Because of this they may think it is totally fine using children to fight wars; they also can sneak away from the cruel crimes they’ve committed. Since the international services can not fight these wars against them. Such examples include the .Convention on the Rights of the Child which protects the children from prosecution recognized by the United Nations(Wikipedia). By us prosecuting the children we will set an clear example that anyone in the act will face prosecution, and maybe we could see a decrease in child soldiers because of this. And because of this we may not even need to debate if the child soldiers should or should be prosecuted.

Supporting argument #1 rebuttal  Persecutions happen post war not pre war

Supporting argument #2  We do not know about them and the organization they were part of in order to protect society

Supporting argument #2 rebuttal But the punishments will be cruel to the kids who want to seek help

Supporting argument #3 If we never teach these kids it’s wrong they will never learn

Supporting argument #3 rebuttal But we can do so in a much easier way

Conclusion conclude the and give benefits from the cause

Day 1 Explanation of Why This is Bad

I my personal opinion, these adolescents are not responsible for there actions. Why? Because the brain does not develop until the age of 24-27 this is why most kids should not hold accountable for there actions. They are being brainwashed and being pressured by the scenario around them or by adults. Because of this we shall not accuse these innocent kids of much violent actions. Kids are not suppose to be evil, but because of the environment which they are in. Along with the fact the family maybe poor and maybe willing to give their kids up for the some amount of money. And let's look at what minimum education they have received they have no understanding from right or wrong. 

Locking them up just makes the situation even worse instead we can teach and educate them from the harms. So no, we should not lock up these innocent kids up, 

Response to Article 2:

After the second article I feel even stronger about my belief. Even if the rebuttal says so, the side of arguing against child soldiers is stronger since the fact of their environment comes into play. As well as the examples I have provided in the previous paragraph. But it's surprising that a informational based paper is making the con side stronger. Even though I talked about this before reading the article.

Ted Talk Preparation

 This week in Media Literacy we made a very hard decision. You may be asking what this maybe, but this is one of the ISTE standards.(If you don’t understand what I’m talking about  here is a  link to my past Blog) The ISTE standard section is called the Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making. Underneath these is 4 bullet points explaining the Title; the 4 points each with it’s own purpose. The first point talks about identifying a problem and investigating it, the second point talks about creating a plan to find a solution to the problem, the third point talks about collecting data or feedback to solve the problem; lastly the 4th step talks about exploring different solution and alternative ways to fix the problem. So when put together is ISTE standard 4, Critical thinking.

Throughout our project we have had many occasions of critical thinking. An example is when our videos were

• Made too long videos

• Confusing videos
• The voiceover and music did not sych

So what we did after that was to construct a plan with all of the errors and each one of us pitched in ideas on improving it.( You can take a look yourself on our How To Shoot), “Major Improvement” said Mr.Monagardi. Looking at this compared to our past two videos from the previous weeks; this was one of the ways we critically thought, since we needed a change, so we changed the way we format our videos. Resulting in a short but understandable video which expresses our points.

Another way we used ISTE standard 4 was by collecting feedback. Just recently we have used this standard. Ayham, Ram and I all had different ideas of how many videos we should post before the Ted Talk presentation. This led up to a debate, and we came to a compromise where we record one more video before the presentations, You may be asking WHAT HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH ISTE STANDARD 4. Well the compromise we did came from feedback from peers and others who we asked. And at the end we put together the feedback so we can find a solution to the question. How Many more videos?

Author's name: Vidswap

 

In my opinion I think we have hit the goal of ISTE standard 4. We came up with solutions to our problems and I think it’s utterly impressive. Because we did solve a problem, we did collect feedback and we did make a plan. But I think we could’ve done more on other departments especially Research which we haven’t done. But along with Media comes the pressure the pressure of Blog post grades, Ted talk presentations, videos published on time and many more. But the one thing I feel confident about is the  ISTE  standards, which I think we have annihilated.

Author’s Name: Michael Bentley

In conclusion, I think we have a set goal which we can reach for the Ted Talk. As well as many examples for the ISTE standards. So I believe that we are going to be ready for the Ted Talk as we have many examples to pick from and can use during the Ted Talk.