Get up and Move!

Silva, Martha

Professor Martin

English 114 B

23 April 2012

Get Up and Move

            Over the years, childhood obesity has been skyrocketing, causing a large amount of  life threatening diseases, which then lead to deaths in the United States.  Obesity has been one of the easiest medical conditions to recognize, however, it has been one of the most difficult ones to treat. Although, one might see physical education as a joke, a class to get an easy “A” in, and a class that where no one does any physical exercise at all, I believe that making physical education mandatory from elementary school all throughout high school, would play a big part in solving the increasing childhood obesity rate that we see in the United States.  If nothing else has been working all these years, then it is time for something drastic, for our next generations’ sake.

            According to The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese, meaning they weigh more than 10 percent of what they are supposed to weigh for their age and height.  One of the most important causes of obesity, is lack of exercise.  Most schools do not even have gyms, so the place where kids spent about 40 hours a week, they just sit, eat, and go home, with no exercise what so ever.  In the article, “Critical mass crisis: child obesity”, writer Mark Fainaru-Wada, explains that with the increased interest in video games and receding area of physical education in schools, childhood obesity has become a nation-wide problem with no end in sight unless something is done in the schools.  Across the country, only 3.8 percent of elementary school, 7.9 percent of middle schools, and 2.1 percent of high schools provide daily physical education.  Forty-six percent of high school kids that were surveyed for a CDC survey were not attending any physical education classes. 

            I have seen, as a current college student, that my elementary school and high school were not trying hard enough to keep students active and moving.  In my elementary school, we were not forced to do any physical activity, we had recess and lunch, and our own play areas to play, but we could just sit down on the benches if we did not want to play.  In high school, only two years of physical education is required to graduate, and my teachers did not care about whether we had real physical exercise or not.  We could run around the track, or we could walk around the track, and a lot of people just sat down on the benches, because they knew that as long as they came to class, they would pass.  However, I believe that my middle school did a pretty good job in making us do physical activities, while in physical education.  We would run seven laps every day we were on the track, without walking, and then we would have to play a different sport every day, such as flag football, softball, volleyball, etc.  When it was our days to be in the gym we would do sets of sit ups, push ups, curl ups, jumping jacks, and other stuff.  After that we would play indoor sports, such as basketball, badminton, and hockey.  My middle school years are when I lost a lot of weight, because I was considered obese in elementary school.  I did not gain that much weight during high school because I joined a dance team after not being required to have physical education.  However, I have noticed that since I have started college, I have been gaining weight and rapidly.  I would want to see at least one class of physical education required in our general education classes.  My sister is in elementary school right now, and in her school, they have to run laps every morning as a class in a small track, which I think is great.  What the principal does is the class that has ran the most laps for the semester, gets a trophy and get to be the winners for that semester.  I believe that this is a great idea for elementary school students because children love competition and they would do anything to be number one.  The principal has also banned junk food to be entered in the school and banned vendors to sell junk food outside of the school.

            Although many people are against reinforcing physical education, I believe that physical education should be the starting point where students could develop healthy lifestyles.  One might say that an individual has rights to their own body, but with elementary school kids and middle school kids, having rights to their own body means eating junk food in the morning, day, and night.  If children are not forced to be involved in physical education, then they would not practice healthy exercise throughout their adulthood.  Also, one might also say that physical education programs are rarely appropriate to keep students healthy, I believe that, from my personal experience, that there are a lot of programs out there, and we can do more to have quality physical education programs.  If physical education would be voluntary, of course most students would not choose it.  P.E. teachers should motivate students to be active and to not look at it as a passing grade in the class, but as a class that would be taken with them into adulthood.  Just as there are tests that make sure academic teachers are doing their job, the same should be done with physical education teachers.  Just because it is physical education and not an academic class, it is not treated as an important part of education.  They should follow a curriculum with what students have to accomplish throughout the year, and be tested every year as well, to make sure they are exercising and getting the most they can out of physical education.

            There are so many diseases that are linked to obesity, and these diseases are starting to appear in younger and younger children.  Childhood obesity has tripled during the past 30 years and it is not decreasing at all.  Childhood obesity has both long term effects and immediate affects that should not be taken lightly.  Children who are obese are likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol.  They are also more likely to have pre-diabetes, which is a condition in which blood glucose levels indicate high risk for developing diabetes.  They could also have a hard time breathing and sleeping, and also have low self-esteem.  Some long term effects are heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, osteoarthritis, and countless more.  Physical education teachers, in addition to getting kids to do exercise, is getting them to be aware of the consequences of not eating healthy and not exercising, what healthy living is, and what are easy ways to actually live healthy. 

            Childhood obesity has been increasing for a long time now, and we have seem to be doing minimal things about it.  What I believe we need is mandatory physical education from elementary school, all the way through high school.  This solution would have physical activity in students’ daily routines and will help them practice exercising further in their lives.

Structurin a Proposal Argument

Introduction: Over the years, childhood obesity has been increasing.  One solution is to have physical education mandatory from elementary school all the way through out high school.

Explanation of the problem: This needs to be solved because a lot of children are obese and are more at risk to life threatening diseases.

Explanation of the solution: Making children take physical education from early on will get them to have exercise as a daily routine.

Benefits of the solution: They would get used to daily exercise and would probably eat healthier or exercise when they become adults.

Refutation of opposing arguments: One might say that it wouldn't make a difference or they would give children an excuse to be more unhealthy since they're exercising.

Conclusion:  It might seem that there is no way to stop childhood obesity, but there is a solution.  It should start where kids spend the most time, which is the school.
 

Generate a Topic for Your Proposal Argument

A problem facing my country is unemployment.  Unemployment has been on the rise for years which brings more problems, since it can increase poverty and homelessness.

A problem I frequently encounter on campus is school budget cuts, which is then cutting classes and teachers.  These enrollment caps are slowing down the graduation path for students.

A problem I hear my classmates discussing quite a bit is enrollment caps and gas prices.

A problem people have been trying to solve for years is terrorism, we've been in Afghanistan and Iraq for more than a decade.

A problem that I heard about in the news is healthcare.  People blame Obama for not being able to fix the problem with healthcare still.

A law that I object to is the law in Arizona called Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.  It is not fair for police officials to ask people for legal papers and then deport them.

A public policy that makes my life or other people's lives more difficult is jaywalking.

A public policy or law that could be improved is the drug policy of California.

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Silva, Martha

Professor Martin

English 114 B

20 February 2012

Bad Parents or Unfit Parents?

            Anyone who has read The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls would say that Rose Mary and Rex Walls were unfit parents for Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen.  They would even say that the children would have been better in foster care.  Although people say foster care would be better for Jeannette and her siblings, they actually would have not been better in foster care, because it has been proven that foster care can have a deep effect on children as they grow up, and sometimes there are worse living conditions in foster care than in the actual home with biological parents.  Rex Walls and Rose Mary might not be fit parents according to Robert Epstein’s article, “What Makes a Good Parent?”, but the Walls’ siblings, especially Jeannette, would not be who they are today without their parents.

            There is a difference between being “unfit” parents and “bad” parents, and Jeannette’s parents may have seemed like bad parents, but in reality, they were not “unfit” because most of their children grew up to be successful and great adults.  Furthermore, they also had moments where it looked like they cared for their kids.  In the memoir, “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, many sweet and caring moments are shared between Jeanette and her father Rex Walls.  His nickname for her was “Mountain Goat” and he always hung out with her and preferred her over his other children.  He shows that he really cares about Jeannette numerous times.  For example, when Jeanette talks about dropping out of college, he says, “The hell you are…There’s nine hundred and fifty bucks…It’s yours, since when is it wrong for a father to take care of his little girl”(Walls 264-265). This shows how much Rex Walls cares for Jeanette to give her all the money he has so she can pay for college and not end up dropping out.  There is also a moment where Rex talks with Jeannette and gives her a star for Christmas and talks about building a glass castle where they can live in.   Rex Walls also shows that he loves Jeannette a lot and they have a unique relationship.  He says, “But you’ve always loved your old man didn’t you?” and Jeanette says, “I did Dad, and you loved me, then Rex replies, “Now that’s the God’s honest truth…” (Walls 279).   Throughout the memoir, we see that Rex Walls was an alcoholic and had many problems, but what we also see is how much love he has for his children, especially Jeannette, and that love was one of the things that molded her into the person she is today.  When Jeannette was old enough to realize that her father abused alcohol and was addicted to it, she asked him if for her birthday, he could stop drinking.  He loved his daughter so much, that he actually did not drink alcohol for a while, but eventually went back to it, since one may know that quitting an addiction cold turkey is very difficult.  This situation still showed that Rex Walls did care about his daughter enough to quit drinking.  Besides Jeannette, her other siblings turned out to be successful as well, Brian got married and bought a house in Long Island where his wife and child lived with him, and Lori had gone her own way as well, still keeping in touch with her parents.

            Although one might put out many situations where Rex Walls and Rose Mary were completely careless and neglected their children, foster care would not have been better than Jeanette’s biological parents taking care of them.  There definitely are conditions in foster care as bad as Jeanette’s living conditions with Rex and Rose Mary.  There have been many cases where adoptive parents or foster parents have abused and tortured children. I read in a blog about adoption about an eight year old running away from home and a neighbor found her.  The eight year old girl appeared bleeding, bruised, and beaten.  Police went to the foster mother’s house, where she admitted to beating her daughter with a high heeled shoe, and when police investigated the home, they found two bodies of the eight year old’s biological sisters.  Rex and Rose Mary were sometimes careless, but never beat their kids and never to the point where they killed them like in this example.  Foster care includes kids who are abused by their parents, Jeannette and her siblings were never abused or hit by Rex and Rose Mary.  There are more and more kids going into foster care and social workers might not be able to cope with it.  In the article, “With a record number of children in care, can social workers cope?” written by Europe Intelligence Wire, talks about a specific case of child Peter Connelly, who died in 2007 after undergoing more than 50 injuries over eight months, and after numerous times of being put in the hospital with bruises, scratches, and swelling on his head.  Notts County Council’s Children’s Services were criticized for basically letting a child die under their watch.  Furthermore, in Epstein’s article on what makes a good parent,  Rex and Rose Mary are not completely bad parents because they possess some of the qualities that are on the list for being a “good” parent, such as love and affection in some instances, relationship skills in that Rose Mary never left Rex’s side, autonomy and independence  of course because the kids were always on their own, and life skills without counting on anyone to support them financially. 

            Besides the lack of care and conditions in foster care, there are also problems that develop from being in foster care when a child grows up to be an adolescent and an adult.  Many children can have identity problems, social problems, and many other various problems.  A study was made by Susan M. Kools, writer of “Family Relations”, of adolescent foster kids who have been in foster care for five years or more.  She observed that the institutional structure, diminished status of the foster child, and the view of the foster child being stereotyped brought many consequences and negative effects of the child.  Throughout being in foster care, adolescents experienced depersonalization and stigmatization.  The long term consequences of these conditions were stigmatized self-identity, low self-esteem, social isolation, lack of family connection, low self-confidence, and lack of future orientation.  Also, they are more likely to alienate themselves and experience depression and many other disorders, asking themselves what did they do wrong for their biological parents to leave them, or why doesn’t anyone want them.  If Jeannette and the other siblings would have been sent to foster care, Lori, Jeannette, and Brian would not have been motivated to move out on their own and follow what they wanted to pursue.  If they would have been sent to foster care they also would not have each other, and one can see that the Walls children were close and loyal to each other.    

            One might mention that the youngest member of the Walls family, Maureen, had problems and did not end up successful like the other Walls children.  It is true that Maureen did not live up to the success that the other Walls children had, since she assaulted her mother and was admitted to a mental institution, and after that, she left to California, never to be heard from again.  However, no family is perfect and as we can obviously see, the Walls family is no exception.  Perhaps Maureen’s problems were genetic and came from her parents, but it does not mean that Rose Mary and Rex Walls were bad parents, because they did have three successful children.  One bad seed can happen to any family, and it does not mean that those parents were bad or unfit.

            All in all, many people may be judgmental on the way Rex and Rose Mary raised their children, but as anyone can see, they raised successful adults.   The Walls children also had each other to be loyal too and talk to when they were at odds with their parents.  If they would have gone to foster care, they would not have had each other, which would have been devastating for them.  Foster care should be no home for any child, especially with the living conditions and treatment most foster kids get, even after they get adopted.  Rex Walls and Rose Mary were not “unfit” parents, nor where they entirely “bad”.  If they were as bad as some people would make it out to be, Jeanette, Lori, Brian, and Maureen would have been dead, in jail, or homeless, and none of them are in those situations.

Works Cited

Kools, Susan. "Adolescent Identity Development in Foster Care." Family Relations, 46.3 (1997):             263-271

"With a Record Number of Children in Care, Can Social Workers Cope?." Europe Intelligence Wire,        (2012): NA

Walls, Jeanette. The Glass Castle. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print.

Blog Post 2/27/12

After watching the first half of Pay It Forward today, I can say that I really liked the concept that was being put into action throughout the movie, it is a very optimistic way to see the world and also an optimistic way to live.  I would like to think that a concept like this could actually work, but I’m afraid to say that I doubt it would work in real life.  One of the character’s talked about that this plan would work if people have faith on other people’s kindness and good hearted soul, and this world has more selfish people than generous people I believe.  There are the people that would follow this idea and actually “pay it forward”, but then there would be people that are selfish or unappreciative that they would not follow the concept; it also does not have to be for a selfish reason  that some people won’t help someone else, maybe it is because they do not have time to think hard about it, or they forget about it, since it is easy to forget.  I do not know if this counts as “paying it forward”, but I helped my boyfriend out with paying for college because if he did not pay they would drop him from his classes and would not be able to attend school that semester.  It felt really good doing something for him that could change his life.  Other than that situation, I do not believe I have done anything to change someone’s life.

Blog Post 2/16/12

I believe that anyone who reads "The Glass Castle", by Jeanette Walls, would come to the conclusion that Jeanette's parents were far from the perfect parents, or even good parents. The article, "What Makes A Good Parent?" lists ten important things that contribute to being a good parent, called "The Parents' Ten".  In my opinion, some of the things that I would think would be at the top of the list, were at the bottom.  However, according to this article, one can say that maybe Jeanette's parents were not so bad after all.

When talking about Rose Mary, I would think that her two strongest points according to the list would be relationship skills, and autonomy and independence.  I would say that Rose Mary taught her children relationship skills when talking about certain times she had with Rex Walls.  Rose Mary stood by Rex' side the whole time and coped with his problems with alcohol.  The biggest thing that Rose Mary taught her children were independence, since all she did was care for herself basically.  She taught them independence by just letting them be on their own and fend for themselves.  Her two weakest points would definitely be safety and love and affection.  I remember a point when Rose Mary did not do anything and did not say anything about a man possibly molesting her daughter.  I really did not see Rose Mary show any love or affection for her children, she just cared about herself and her paintings.

When it comes to Rex Walls, his two strongest points were love and affection and autonomy and independence.  I remember reading times where he would bond with his children, especially Jeanette.  They talked about the Glass Castle and he gave them stars as a gift.  Independence of course, since they left their children to wander on their own and take care of themselves.  His two weakest points are safety and stress management.  I remember when he put the children in the back of a UHAUL truck with no seat belts or protection, they could have died.  The other one would be stress management because he abused alcohol and took it out on his family, like burning the Christmas tree down.