Pull 'em Up!

After doing a little bit of research I got informed of the origin of the "sagging" pants. It came from the prisioners in jail and how they weren't allowed to wear belts because the guards feared that they could use the belts a weapon. This action was also used in jail to make everyone else know how available they are. The lower the pants the more available you are.

So this was my initial opinion of the Sagging issue before I was enlightened:

The whole "sagging" issue is absurd. Personally, the fashion trend seems ridiculous, having to wear your pants below your waist doesn't seem cool to me,it saids poor. What does it cost to buy a belt and pull them up? You thought fashion was bad back in the day when they wore leg warmers, tie-dyed shirts, and mismatched socks, but this fahion trend has gone over-broad. It is disgusting when you go out in public and someone just so happens to bend over right as you walk by. And what do you see? Butt-crack, g-string, dirty boxers! My first thought: Eww!

I still stand with my original opinion: Pull 'em up! Bt now I understand that African American were using this action as a protest against white folks for freedom. However, I am against those who aren't aware of this and wear their pants below their waist as a fashion trend. Knowing the origin of the "sagging" pants only makes my arguement stronger. It's funny how some "white-boys" wear there pants below there waist, believing they are hot sh*t. But I wonder if they know they are protesting against themselves, and that they are calling out to those horny prisioners telling them they are available.

I'm glad the Senate is coming up with the law to get rid of this wardrobe malfunction. People might argue: "But it goes against the first amendment! What about self-expression? What about our civil rights?" I believe in the "ability to express oneself" through art, writing, music, or speech. But what does this trend say? Easy access? I'm showing mine, show me yours? Too lazy to care about how I look? Enough is enough. Actions speak more than words, and this harmless trend can inlfuence young teens and kids by creating this idea of "the more I show the 'cooler' I look". Who I am I to say what you should or shouldn't wear, but there are limits. Once your a**, undergarments, or intimate parts show, it has gone too far. At that point might as well take off all your clothes and go naked. What would you think then? If it's okay to show more than called for then is it okay to walk out naked? Isn't that "self expression?"

As far as taking away your "civil rights" and "identity" that is bogus! Back in the day in most public schools people had to wear a tie and belt, and they didn't have there identity taken away. They were still allowed to chose what color tie and belt they wanted. So, since when can pulling up your pants strip you from your identity? The "Baggy Pants Bill" states :

“It shall be unlawful for any person to appear in public wearing his pants below
his waist and thereby exposing his skin or intimate clothing.”

This isn't telling you exactly WHAT to wear. It's not saying "No you can't wear jeans it's agaisnt the law, only slacks or khakis with a blue-collar down shirt and a tie can be worn". The government is trying to refresh everyone's mind of HOW your clothes are suppose to be worn. Just like the buttons on a shirt serve to keep the shirt from closing, there is a reason for the belt supporters around the waist of jeans. Any guesses? Correct! To wear a belt. I guess the wanna be "saggers" have overlooked that.

Althought I'd like to stop seeing people's underwear and butt-cracks I still think the law is a little ridiculous too. The name itself sounds questionable, the "Baggy Pants Bill." Who comes up a name like that? It's hard for me to take that bill seriously. This bills call for the "fashion police," literally! And that's when you know something is wrong in our government. It goes to show how the government doesn't know what else to come up with. Come folks there are more important issues than fashion trends! If we would all dress decent, then the goverment would focus on issues worth arguing about like the economy, health care, etc.

As far as the goverment implementing a law telling us how to wear our pants in order for us to "respect" ourselves, I'm against it. I'm not against the law itself ,but against the fact that the goverment is creating this law to make sure we "respect" ourselves. I don't think it's up to the government to decide if we are or are not respecting ourselves. Living in such a diverse country, who is to say what respect is now a days?

I do agree with uniforms for Pre-K through High School. I believe if a child is taught how to dress and present him/herself at a young age it will help them out in the future. For instance, knowing how to dress can be useful in a business meeting, presentations, social gathering, or family events. One quote I always use is "You never know who you might run into" and that is why it is always good to be well put together whenever you go out. First impressions are imporntant, and sagging pants is not a the best first impression a person can give.

The "Baggy Pants Bill" sounds ridiculous, but I agree with its content. In order to prevent future wardrobe malfunctions, I completely agree with uniforms.

To all those "saggers" out there, ignorant of the origin of the sagging pants: Pull 'em up! You are not making a point, you are just making a distrubing first impression. No one wants to look at your stinky butt. It'll make the world a nicer place to look at. :)

No Child Left Behind

"Welcome back to the darkside." This starting quote, said by the women in the beginning of the video, immediately sets the mood for what is to come. The setting is dark and it provides a serious tone to the women's speech. The viewer can tell she strongly supports her opinion by the emotion behind her facial expressions and through her tone of voice. The women is clearly against the "No Child Left Behind" act, and that makes two of us. The idea of having an eduactional program, like "No Child Left Behind", seems wonderful at first, but once the women broke it down in sections, I realized the damage it can do the educational system and students.

Problem numbero uno : It's comparing "apples and oraanges" like the women said. It is clearly seen that there is a problem here, because immigrants or lower level students are being to compared to the previous score of other students that may or may ot be in the same level. I believe the test should focus on the student as an individual, as oposed to a whole. This way you can see the exact change of improvement each student has achieved from one year to the next.

Another flaw was that the students from 3rd to 8th grade were tested once a year every year in March. My plan: Have the teachers give the test in late May or 1-2 weeks before the school year ends. That way the students have enough time to learn what they need to learn, and the teachers don't have to stress about teaching rushing their lesson plans and setting time apart to prepare them for the test. If the students are tested at the end of he school year, they would have alreadylearned all the material ,and the test should be a summary of everything they learned that year. (Like a final).

In addition, the worst part of this act is the reward on punishment section. Rewarding schools for yearly progress is not bad. However, punishing schools for not improving is horrible. If a school is suffering, it needs all the help it could get, and taking away money to help out the staff and students isn't going to help. The ones who get more affected by this, is not the teachers whos salaries have declined, but the students. If the teachers do not have that willngness to teach, then the students won't have the willingness to learn, and vice-versa if teachers show eagerness to teach, then students will want to learn.

As far as private and home-schooled kids, I don't care. Their parents have enough money to hire a tutor if their child is suffering academicaly in the future. I just don't believe kids in Title 1 pubic schools have to be punished if there school doesn't meet the act's standards, because it's not their fault. What does child know about administrative funds? They are just there to learn and we should provide them the education they need.

I agree with this quote from Gov. Bill Richardson ,"I would scrap it, it doesn't work."
I'll start over and start a new plan. Tip for those is government: Analyze the method of teaching in other countries with a higher education level, apply it to this education system, and maybe just maybe it can work in this country too. (Tip of countries: Germany, Finland, or Canada)

Here is a quote that I taught was clever, sad but true.
"It has been said that we have not had the three R's in America, we had the six R's; remedial readin', remedial 'ritin' and remedial 'rithmetic."-Robert M. Hutchins