Invisible Children

I love being part of a school with such generosity and big hearts. Every single year Deerfield High School has the opportunity to fundraise for the charity of our choice, for three full weeks. We have endless traditions and strategies for raising large amounts of money. There are many food sales and fun events such as Mr.DHS, a male pageant. School chest creates a community within our school instantly. Everyone is supportive and working to make each year the best. This year our school chest beneficiary is Invisible Children.  Our school had many choices that were narrowed down to two, and invisible children was our final decision. This foundation is dedicated to bringing awareness to the world about the current status in northern Uganda, eliminating rebel leader Joseph Kony from the battle field, helping former child soldiers, and preventing new child soldiers. Joseph Kony is the leader of the LRA, this is the lords army resistance. They are a rebel group against the government of Uganda. Kony’s army is made up of child soldiers. Children are abducted from their homes, immediately desensitized to violence, brainwashed to believe there is nowhere for them to go, and taught how to murder without remorse. The ideal children for them to abduct are children from 6-11 years old because they are big enough to carry a gun, but young enough to mold their minds.  It is absolutely tragic what is happening to the children of Uganda. What is even more tragic is that no one knows about it. If this was happening in any other country it would be big news, but people shut their hearts and eyes to Africa. I strongly believe in the efforts of invisible children.  They are advocating that all people are equal, and they are working to stop an awful terrorist.  This foundation has made great progress due to its immense youth support. I believe this is part of what attracted the students of Deerfield to this foundation.
Although I believe in the cause and the intentions of the foundation, I do not trust that it is our best option for school chest. I fear that all of our money and hard work could be ended in an instant. My biggest issue is that we are not directly helping these child soldiers, we are potentially helping them. We are also potentially endangering them. The money that our school raises is going to be put towards a large radio tower in the Congo.  This radio will send out an FM signal. We have been told that the child soldiers have small radios with them to catch frequencies. If they get in contact with someone they will encourage them to leave, instruct them where to go, and convince them they will be accepted and wanted. We have no way of knowing if this works, and if it does to what measure. If we reached a child solider through the radio and encouraged them to leave we could also be endangering them. They could be killed or maimed for attempting to leave. Also what is to stop the rebels from bombing or shooting the tower? I have been involved with a charity called Free Wheelchair mission. We fundraise money to create wheelchairs and bring them to third world countries where they are not accessible. The wheelchairs dramatically improve the quality of their lives. These are people who have lived in constant pain. They are also people who have been crawling on the floor their entire lives. The help is not potential it is direct, and we have the ability to deliver the chairs and see our impact. I think that being involved in a charity that is so direct with its mission makes me uneasy about supporting a charity that is based on potential and there is a large disconnect between us and the people wish to help. Although this year’s school chest has not been my favorite, I have supported it the exact same amount that I have every year. I hope for the best that our school and the students who work so hard for school chest will be able to see their impact and the people they help.

Final thoughts on the Death Penalty

All of my blogs regarding the death penalty have the same opinion. I am 100% against the death penalty. I think the intentions of ridding the world of murderers, deterring criminals from murder, and enforcing punishments are valid. But as of now I do not think we have an accurate way to execute these intentions. Too many innocent people are put to death. Too many guilty people aren’t put to death. The ways in which we execute is cruel and unusual. Until we can successfully fix all of the potential spots for error I do not believe the death penalty should be used. It is extremely difficult and time consuming to eliminate all potential spots for error. The moratorium on the death penalty is just because it is preventing the death of innocent people and allowing the country to try and improve our death penalty so that is it accurate and humane.  Illinois’ governor Ryan, in 2003, declared the moratorium on the death penalty. His view on the death penalty is similar to mine. We both believe in punishment in a humane manner. “I believed that the ultimate penalty for the taking of a life was administrated in a just and fair manner.” Ryan does believe in punishment but it was brought to his attention how flawed Illinois system of convicting criminals was. The lives of 17 wrongly convicted inmates were spared by the research of college students at Northwestern University. “Together they spared the lives and secured the freedom of 17 men - men who were wrongfully convicted and rotting in the condemned units of our state prisons.” It was obviously a big wake up call to the state that college students were able to poke holes right through there system and spare innocent lives. When my class watched a video about this in class I was shocked they are not lawyers, they were not trying to find a flaw in the system, it was simply a class project! They were average looking young adults. It is amazing to look at people my sisters age and realize what a big impact they made.  If that didn’t scream out that there was a huge problem I don’t know what would. I agree with Ryan’s decision because he acknowledged a problem, supported by facts, and acted on it in a mature manner. He took his time and did not rush into a decision and he listened to both sides of the argument. What is most assuring is that he was confident in his decision. “I know that my decision will be just that - my decision - based on all the facts I could gather over the past three years. I may never be comfortable with my final decision, but I will know in my heart, that I did my very best to do the right thing.” I agree that it is just to end a system that is not working properly. Life or death is no joke; we need to ensure accuracy to be able to enforce such a final punishment.  After reading the article from the New York Times, I felt like others agreed with my opinion. The writer of the article, Steve Mills, said “Then, with Porter's case still in the spotlight, plus a series of stories in the Chicago Tribune later that year that illuminated deep frailties in the state's system of capital punishment, the debate over the death penalty was transformed. Suddenly, it was about accuracy. No longer were the mistakes anecdotal. The problems were systemic.” Mills is saying something synonymous with what I am saying. The problem was so obvious and prevalent that something had to be done.  Overall I agree with the decision to put the moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois. Governor Ryan made the right choice to acknowledge and act on a problem.  

Pro-life or Pro-choice and everything inbetween

After reading both of the articles I have side with the NARAL. The main reason that I side with them is that they have more concern for each individual woman. Their concerns lie with women turning to hazardous methods to terminate the pregnancy, women who have low income and will not be able to support a baby, and women who are ill-informed about a medically safe abortion. I do not believe abortions are always the right answer, but my opinion doesn’t really matter. That is why I am prochoice. The choice to have an abortion or not will only affects the life of that woman, so it should be her choice. The other website, National right to Life, seemed to clump all women and babies into the same category. They speak about the health risks for the woman and baby, and that is pretty much it. Yes abortions can be dangerous, but the woman should be able to decide if she is willing to take that risk. Why are these people who are strangers to the woman concerned with her health?  Why do they care about the unborn child? They will never know this child. I wonder if they would be willing to take the child. If they care so much about every baby being born they should open up and adoption agency. To me it seems as if they are just preaching their opinion, they have no legitimate argument. The NARAL has valid arguments. They want to get rid of the bans on safe abortion. These bans are making women chose unsafe methods of terminating the pregnancy. They want to help the women who are already in poverty prevent bringing a child into poverty and setting the women further back. I think that The NARAL is the “winning” side because they are not preaching an opinion, they are leaving the choice to the individual women.

I am an 18 year old girl. I am prochoice. I believe that girls under the age of 18 need their parents’ consent to get an abortion. I believe that girls 18 and older do not need their parents’ consent but their parents do have to be informed of what procedure the woman is going to have. I think that the parents should be involved in the process of getting an abortion because it will affect their lives to. When you are under 18 years old you need moral support. I can’t imagine how it would feel to be in a situation where I was considering getting an abortion, but I can assume it is very difficult. Our parents know us well and want what is best for us. They will always want to protect us. They also have lots of life experience that can help in making the decision or recovering after decision has been made. Getting an abortion is serious business; young women need their parents looking out for them. For women 18 and older they can legally make their own choices, but I think their parents have to be informed about what there daughter is about to do so that they can help her heal mentally and physically. Everyone needs support. Even if the parents do not support the decision they will be informed on an important  procedure that their daughter is taking.

                Although the father is incapable of understanding what it is like to be pregnant, they want what is best for their daughter and should be informed. Having your father informed about having an abortion can be extremely awkward, but they have the right to know because they are your parents.  I think that the father should be informed but if the daughter is 18 or older they do not need his consent.

                When reading the Illinois state laws on abortion it is clear who is writing it. Every fact that is presented is shown in a negative light. The pro-choice movement is the host of the site. They do not agree with the state’s laws surrounding abortion.  Although I do not like some of the laws regarding abortion in Illinois  I understand why they are in place, such as “Illinois law restricts young women's access to abortion services by mandating parental notice.” Like I said earlier, I believe that parental consent should only be necessary for women under the age of 18. But I understand why this law is in place. They are trying to protect women who are seeking a medical procedure. There are risks in any medical procedure along with mental grief. I believe this law is attempting to help women. I do not think that the law requiring spousal consent to get an abortion is trying to help the woman. This law to me is just another way for the state to keep abortion unobtainable. The spouse could have ill intentions for wanting to have a baby. I think that it is outdated to need a man’s approval.  Women are strong and independent. We do not need a man to make our decisions for us.