Dear Ms. Berner:

“Books take these fearful things and make them approachable to young adults,” said David Levithan. Books can take heavy issues and make them easier for teens to understand. Banning books stops that from happening. M.S. 51 should not ban books.

Banning books has been a practice in the U.S. since the 1920’s, when the Boston Public Library kept controversial books in a locked room. Many other times in history books have been banned, in most cases in an effort to limit knowledge. Many parents think that reading about difficult issues will have a negative effect on their teenagers. I think that young adults should have the right to decide themselves what is appropriate to read.

            The teenage years are some of the most difficult of a person’s life. Many teenagers feel lonely and isolated and a lot of times the only people they can relate to are characters in books. “Librarians and book sellers say that even pitch black books have value,” said the author of “Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker.” Teenagers find comfort and can be consoled by fictional characters. If a character is experiencing the same thing you are experiencing it makes you feel less lonely and scared. I think banning books in schools is wrong because teenagers and their parents should be the ones deciding what is appropriate. Teens can explore dark and gruesome themes and use them to explore their own issues,” wrote David Leviathan. If Middle School 51 were to ban books, access to a lot of very valuable information would be cut off. Banning books only has negative impacts.

            Banning books is also wrong because it limits the amount of information accessible to teenagers. Books teach valuable lessons and if books were banned some teens might never be able to learn lessons that could help them later on in life. “Books taught me lessons that I never could have learned elsewhere,” said Suzanne Collins, author of the frequently banned trilogy The Hunger Games. Most teens are not at the level of maturity where listening to their parents is a priority very high on their list. When teens read books about other teens, they’re more likely to learn valuable lessons than if their parents try to teach them. Reading about someone’s experiences can be more impactful and teens are more likely to learn through reading. “Millions of teens read because they are sad, lonely, and enraged…the especially dark and dangerous books will save them,” said Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of An American Indian and fighter of his own demons. Books help kids learn to cope with heavy issues and learn how to help themselves.

            Some parents, religious groups, and school officials say that young adult fiction is “too harsh” for young minds to process. “The thing that kept hitting me was these kids dealing with their own mortality, and how difficult that might be for some eleven or twelve year olds reading this book [The Fault In Our Stars],” said Betsy Schmechel the principal of a middle school in Riverside California that has banned The Fault In Our Stars. But teenagers live extremely complex lives, and having guidance from books can be the best thing that happens to some. I disagree with Ms. Schmechel’s statement because teenagers understand what mortality means, and facing your own mortality is something that is a part of life. Having read The Fault In Our Stars myself, I know that it teaches teens important lessons how to deal with mortality and the death of a loved one. “Most of the controversy is centered around witchcraft and occult themes,” said Tania deLuzuriaga, regarding banning books. Reading a book probably doesn’t make a teen believe in magic or want to change their religion. But reading books can help teens explore themselves and who they are and what they want to be.

            In conclusion, MS 51 shouldn’t ban books. Books can help teenagers through the hardest year of their lives. Teenagers and their parents should be allowed to decipher what is appropriate for them. In the real world, there are harsh realities, and banning books can’t protect teenagers from these realities. But reading can help to prepare them.

Social Justice

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/world/middleeast/womens-rights-activist-executed-by-islamic-state-in

GENEVA — An Iraqi lawyer known for her work promoting women’s rights has been killed by Islamic State fighters, the head of the United Nations human rights office said on Thursday, continuing a pattern of attacks on professional women.

The lawyer, Sameera Salih Ali al-Nuaimy, was seized from her home by Islamic State fighters last week and tortured for several days before a masked firing squad executed her in public on Monday, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations human rights commissioner, said in a statement.

Ms. Nuaimy had posted comments on her Facebook page condemning the “barbaric” bombing and destroying of mosques and shrines in Mosul, a northern Iraqi city, by the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS or ISIL. She was convicted of apostasy by a “so-called court,” Mr. Zeid said, adding that her family had been barred from giving her a funeral.

The killing follows the execution of a number of Iraqi women in areas under Islamic State control documented by United Nations monitors, including two candidates contesting Iraq’s general election in Nineveh Province, who were killed in July. A third female candidate was abducted by gunmen in eastern Mosul and has not been heard from since.

United Nations monitors in Iraq have received numerous reports of executions of women by Islamic State gunmen, some after perfunctory trials, the organization said. “Educated, professional women seem to be particularly at risk,” it added.

These killings, together with abductions and the enslavement of women and children, illustrate the “utterly poisonous nature” of the extremist group, Mr. Zeid said, drawing attention to the plight of hundreds of women and girls of the Yazidi religious minority and other ethnic and religious groups sold into slavery, raped or forced into marriage after the group overran large areas of northern Iraq.

“The fact that such groups try to attract more people to their cause by asserting their acts are supported by Islam is a further gross perversion,” he said.

The high commissioner’s statement came as his deputy, Flavia Pansieri, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the situation in Iraq had continued to deteriorate even since the start of the month.

At least 8,493 civilians are believed to have died in the Iraqi conflict this year, half of them between the start of June and the end of August, she reported, but the United Nations has warned that the real number of casualties could be much higher.

Information gathered by United Nations monitors on the situation in areas under Islamic State control “reveals acts of inhumanity on an unimaginable scale,” she said.

Why do you consider this an example of an injustice? What does it make you think about in your own life?

            This is an example of injustice because the ISIS is bye executing professional women, is saying that women shouldn’t be changing the world and shouldn’t have any rights. This is a huge social issue because if such strong hatred towards professional women still exists in the world, many women who could benefit society will be limited and unable to make the world a better place. Being young women in the world is a scary thing. So many people still in this day and age think of women as lesser beings or people who should cook and clean and not be given an education or any rights. This issue goes straight to the heart for me personally because as a young girl, even in a place as liberal as New York City, I face challenges and obstacles purely because of my gender.

What do you come across in your daily life that is unfair to human rights?

  Something that I commonly come across is something know as “cat calling.” Cat calling is something mostly men do. They whistle or make comments at women walking down the street. I think although it is something small, I see it happen frequently and I think it’s unfair that women can’t walk down the street without a man making a rude comment. I think its degrading and make women feel smaller than men. Part of the problem is that many kids are never learn that women shouldn’t be called at.

Interview someone and ask them what they think is good about our world and what is unfair

Katherine Anderson

What is good about our world?

People each other in emergencies. Relief organizations help people in need and who are less fortunate than us. There are organization such as doctors without borders, nature conservancy, and aid foundations.

What is bad?

Excess wealth, corporations more concerned with profit then with the health and safety of their workers. Minorities are taken advantage of and people are so concerned with how they are benefiting they forget to help others. Also many are under educated so they aren’t given the same opportunities that people of higher education are given, and don’t know any better.

How could we improve our word?

Live simply so that others may simply live.

How do you want to change the world?

I want there to be liberty and justice for all.

Watch the news. Respond to something you see in the news by outing yourself in the shoes of a news reporter.

            On the news I saw a reporter reporting from Ferguson, Missouri where a young man named Michael Brown was shot and killed. The Supreme Court ruled that Darren Wilson, the man who shot Brown, not guilty. Once the ruling was made, protesters across the country were outraged. The reporter was reporting about the 120 mile march that protesters are starting from Ferguson to Missouri’s capital. I think that being a protester in Ferguson would feel very empowering. The protesters are changing history and really making America, as well as the rest of the world, aware of the racism that still exists in the country. It gives me hope seeing people care so much about human rights and coming together to get their voices heard.

Write about someone who inspires you

   Someone who inspires me is my great grandma. When my grandma was around nine years old she was sent with her sister to spend the summer on Cape Cod while my great grandma got her teachers degree.  My great grandma got her certificate and worked hard as a teacher to keep her family afloat during the great depression and when her husband died at an early age. She is inspiring because she was one of the first women to attend Cornell University and never gave up, even when times got tough. She is also inspiring because although she never had much, she always gave to charity and never complained. I think she is very amicable and I hope that I am someday as good of a person as she was.

Collect a poem or lyric that expresses a significant issue about social issues

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

            The song Imagine by John Lennon was written in 1971. During this time the Vietnam War was in full swing. Many people would protest the war and many were against the war. I think this song was written as homage to peace and that John Lennon was against the Vietnam War. Song lyrics are a way for the artist message to be heard and interpreted in many ways.

Think about how people your age are portrayed by Hollywood

 In Hollywood puts teenagers in a very negative light. If you turn on Disney channel you will see a teenager girl either trying to win the affection of a boy, texting, or hanging out in the mall. You will see the teenage boy scheming, playing a sport or trying to win the affection of a girl “Normal” teenagers are skinny, acne free, Caucasian, straight teeth and pretty hair. All the characters live in sprawling houses that seem to have come straight from a Pottery Barn magazine. The families are all well off and seem to not have a care in the world. Perfect looking teens make me feel bad about myself, as if I’m doing something wrong. I think that teenagers have more depth than Disney and Nickelodeon give them credit for. Teens have more complex ideas and more complex lives then what is portrayed on TV. I think when teens see characters on TV who are dumb or immature; it pressures teens into acting that way even if it is subconscious. When I watch Gossip Girl I see the skinny, rich, popular girls getting everything they want and it makes me feel like I’m not good enough and that unless I’m stick thin, rich and get invited to the most exclusive parties, I’m not worth it. Teenagers are stereotypically very moody and immature. I think that Hollywood has a misinterpretation of what it’s like being a teenager and how romance, clothes, and friends are not all that we think about. I think stereotyping teens also affects the way adults view teenagers. Adults don’t take teenagers seriously because all they see are teenagers who are shallow and immature. I think that teenagers shouldn’t be portrayed in such a negative light. I watched a show called

 

Rowan Groom                                                                                                       808

 Many teenagers in the world face challenges with morality. In Susan Beth Pfeffer’s short story “Ashes,” the reader is introduced to a family facing complications of divorce and morality.  “Ashes” is a short story about a young adult who is faced with challenges and discovering what her morals are and how far she will go for the people she loves.  Ashes’  experiences  with  her  family help the reader consider how and why they make decisions  that  shape their   lives.

            Ashes’ father’s manipulation makes Ashes consider making choices that she wouldn’t have made. Her father makes her feel special and like he really cares for her. In the text he says, “You could be a model…you’re too smart for that kind of work anyway. Be a photographer instead, or a dress designer. You have that flair, Ashes. Style, you do something like that, you’re sure to make your mark on the world.” Her father wants to make Ashes feel special so that she feels loved and will do more of what he asks her to. Her father was trying to manipulate her into making decisions that she wouldn’t have made on her own. Ashes father knows that she is vulnerable and takes advantage of her.  “‘You’re the special one, Ashes. You’re the one in-a-million girl’… But no matter how often he told me, I still loved hearing him say it.” Ashes’ dad’s technique of making Ashes feel special is beginning to work. Ashes is skeptical of her father but still has the naïve part of her that wants to think that her father isn’t flawed. “Last week he’d told me to be an astronaut. The week before that, a CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation. And the week before that, he had been stunned by my spirituality.” Ashes has trouble believing that her father really thinks what he is saying is true. If Ashes didn’t crave her father’s approval as much, perhaps she wouldn’t have thought to steal her mother's money. Ashes’ father’s manipulation affects the decisions that Ashes makes in the story. People in our own lives affect the decisions we make, just like Ashes father did to her.

            Ashes’ lack of trust also affects her decisions in the story. In the story Ashes begins to accept her father’s broken promises and has trouble trusting him because he has let her down so many times before. Ashes has a lack of trust for her father, so she doesn’t believe that her dad will pay back the money that he wants her to take from her mother. “When I was little, Dad used to promise me the stars for a necklace, but like most of his promises, that one never quite happened.” Ashes’ father promises her things that he cannot give her. Even though Ashes knows that these things are impossible, she is hurt by his broken promises. Another promise was that Ashes’ father said they would try the rice pudding for dessert, which never happened either. Although rice pudding isn’t a big promise it shows that her father doesn’t keep his word. If her dad was more trustworthy, perhaps Ashes would have been more willing to take the money from her mother. Another example of her father’s untrustworthiness is, “But you know how those guys are. They get itchy when you owe them money. And it's not always comfortable to be where they can scratch you.” Her father is irresponsible and Ashes knows this. She is uncomfortable stealing the money because she knows her father’s track record and it's not good. Ashes’ father is flawed and it is hard for her to accept that, but I think that in this story Ashes starts to grow up and realize that her dad isn’t perfect.

            Ashes knows as well that her mom is stable and is someone who has always been there for her while her father is unstable and unreliable. Her mom works hard for everything she has and Ashes would feel very guilty for stealing from her.  “Mom was the most practical person I know, always putting aside for a rainy day.” Ashes’ mother has always been there for her so she would feel very guilty if she took advantage of her mom’s carefulness. Ashes has a lot of loyalty toward her mom, but she also craves her dad's approval. “ She’s not a dreamer, Ashes. She’s the most levelheaded woman I know. As straight as a yardstick.” Ashes’ mom is like a rock for her, and if Ashes steals the money she will be betraying her mom, who sacrifices everything for her. “With Mom, there are a lot of rainy days and she takes a grim sort of pleasure in being ready for them… her pocketbook overflows with tissues and tampons for anyone who might need them.” Ashes’ Mom is reliable while her father is unreliable and untrustworthy. Ashes is torn between two parents, and the different things her parents provide her with affect the decisions that she makes. While her father gives her dreams, Ashes’ mom provides for her and loves her unconditionally.

            In conclusion, Ashes’ mom provides her with stability and reliability, while her father gives her dreams. I predict that Ashes makes the right decision and does not take the money from her mom.  I believe that Ashes realizes that her father is manipulating her and comes to the hard truth that her dad isn’t a good father. Many teenagers struggle with believing the same things that their parents believe, and as they grow up, learn to think for themselves. The experiences that she has with both parents affect the decisions she makes in her life, both big and small.

Over the summer I read a lot of books, but my favorite would have to be Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Life As We Knew It is a book about a 15-year-old named Miranda. She lives with her two brothers, Matt and Jon, and with her mom. She lives a relatively normal life until one day an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth. After that nothing is the same, there is flooding and volcanic eruptions, drought and loss of sunlight. Famine strikes and there are shortages of everything. Miranda and her family have to learn to survive on their own. They endure a lot of hardships and struggle to do things that we do so easily in our daily lives. The book Life As We Knew It made me think of the things we have that we take for granted.

One way that it made me recognize the things we take for granted is how her family struggles to do things that we can easily do in our daily lives. For example, her brothers have to go on three day fishing trips just to provide enough food for only a week or two. We can easily go to the store and buy food and don't think twice about it. We take food for granted because there is so much of it around us and, it is so accessible to us. Her family has to go through a lot just to get food that barely filled their stomach's. Another  example is, her mom and her had to cut off all their hair because they were unable to care for it. Although this is a small sacrifice it is something that we definitely take for granted, its just another thing to do in your routine but, to Miranda and her mom it was impossible. Another example was that there was no way for her and her brothers to learn. They learned a lot of living skills but they couldn't learn the things you would normally learn at school. For most people my age it is a chore to go to school and not something that we look forward to. School is something we are so lucky to have but take for granted.

 Secondly, it made me realize what we take for granted because we have a lot of access to natural resources, and her family had to survive with a very limited amount of them. For example, her family had to collect rain water and then boil it to drink, but at times there was drought so they had to drink little to no water a day. For me, having lived in New York my whole life, I definitely don't appreciate how I have a near infinite amount of water accessible to me at all times. Another example is that her and her family couldn't do laundry and they had to wear dirty clothes. My family and I definitely don't even think twice about throwing a load of laundry into the washer, and its hard to imagine not having access to such a simple luxury.  Another example is that nothing could grow because the sky was covered in ash from volcanic eruptions. No food was being produced and there was no eco-system which threw off the whole world, literally.

Lastly, this book relates to teens across the globe because although we are fortunate enough to live in a place where there is a lot less famine, drought and lack of resources, there are still places in the world where that is not the case. We need to remember this and try to help to the best of our abilities. We also need to protect our environment. For Example, on Sunday there is a march in Columbus Circle, if a lot of people show up we could really make a change and show how global warming is a big problem and needs to be dealt with immediately. In conclusion, Life As We Knew It is a book that I really enjoyed reading and really makes you count your blessing and think of ways that we could help the less fortunate.