Some Things Just Really Make Me Angry :: Education Educational Essays

Some Things Just Really Make Me Angry I was reading Chapter 2, "It's all in the sign!", of Danesi's Messages and Meanings when I ran into a passage that, to put it politely, just really made me angry. Angry because my interpretation of this passage brought back a lot of memories of events that I have had to deal with in my educational "career". There were two sentences, in particular, that really ticked me off. The first was: If a drawing instrument is put in the child's hand, that child will almost instinctively use it to draw--a "skill" that no one has imparted or transmitted to the child. The second was: The child must be exposed to language in order for him or her to acquire it; that same child does not, however, need to be exposed to visual art in order for him or her to draw. These two seemingly innocent statements (that can be found on page 27 and which I have taken out of context) undermine everything that I hold dear. There is a huge assumption in the first sentence that drawing, as a "skill", is innately obtained, especially when "no one has imparted or transmitted to the child". Your naturally talented! Your daughter has so much talent! I wish I had your talent! Your so creative! Well, creative people are like that. I wish I could be as creative as you are! You're the artist of the group/class/school/etc...! Think of something creative/original/new! As I see it, these comments are not compliments of my ability to create visual images but at my "gift", my "talent". Hard work, practice, trial and error, learning the rules, processes, techniques or simple tricks..none of these are examined. The artistic process, to many, remains this mystical and quite godly transformation of something out of nothing and those with this gift of transformation are artistic. What it tells me as a teacher of the arts is this, that I am wasting my time trying to teach everyone, for there are only a talented few (please read the last sentence sarcastically). There is another point of contention that I have with the first statement. What I have taken out of context is the comparison that Danesi makes between language acquisition and drawing skill development. O.K. Danesi states that a child picks up a crayon (drawing instrument) and uses it to scribble naturally and spontaneously, without anyone imparting this knowledge to the child.

Disability Response

According to Mairs, the only thing â€Å"normal† about seeing disabled people on TV was their daily appearance on a medical drama. As the time went by since 1987, Anaya wrote on how disabilities have become more normal in our everyday lives, however now mental illness is negatively portrayed in the media. Media has a misrepresentation of disability as a whole. Disability is portrayed as something to fear rather than something to embrace and except. In â€Å"Disability†, Mairs explained that people were never depicted by the media as being disabled and making the best of their situation.Instead media depicted these people as living lives that were overrun by their disability and as if disability determined if they should live. Because of this there is a fear of disability, a misrepresentation that does not portray disability as something that people can deal with or survive through. Currently the fear of disabled comes directly from what the media is displaying. Since 19 87 disability has become more common to see on TV, even if it has nothing to do with the plot of a show.In Anaya's essay on disability, she wrote that programs on TV imply that the proper response to mentally disabled is fear. The TV also shows mentally disabled as a threat to themselves and a threat to others. Anaya gave examples from the news one which a mentally disable had killed a person and after took his own life. This misrepresentation of the disabled is what is causing people fear. If the media didn't just portray mentally disabled as a threat but showed something positive, such as the â€Å"Special Olympics†, disability would no longer be a fear. Disability could be shown as something to embrace.

The Fight Over Assisted Suicide - 1746 Words

Over the last thirty years the fight over assisted suicide has earned a spot in the national spotlight, for both positive and negative reasons depending on your stance on the issue. There have been challenges made based off the constitution, the right to privacy and moral reasons for both sides. While there have been many notable persons of interest during this time some have helped the cause as others have hindered progress. There have been attempts to challenge physician assisted suicide based off the Fourteenth amendment of the constitution and the Due Process Clause. Those in favor have argued that in not allowing people access to physician assisted suicide is a violation of the Due Process Clause which was heard during the case of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health in which the Supreme Court ruled it was the patients right to refuse medical treatment, even if refusal would lead to death (Cruzan v. Director, MHD). The Supreme Court also heard the case of Washington v. Glucksberg in 1997 during which time there were four physicians arguing that Washington’s assisted suicide ban was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendments Due Process Clause by placing undue burden of the liberty. The case was being arguing on behalf of four terminally ill patients. It was ruled by the Supreme Court at that time that assisted suicide is not a â€Å"right† under the fund amental liberties of the amendment (Washington v. Glucksberg). The Supreme Court alsoShow MoreRelatedEssay on Physician Assisted Suicide903 Words   |  4 PagesPhysician assisted suicide/dying (PAD) is it good or bad? 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