English Composition Essay Example for Free

English Composition Essay The term juvenile delinquent is best defined as young defender, or a wrongdoer. A person who transgresses moral or civil law. (Audioenglish. net) There are many different theories on the causes of crime and bad behavior. Youth crime is a major issue and receives a great amount of attention from the news media and many politicians today. A juvenile delinquent is one who continuously commits crimes. Usually a juvenile will sometimes commit the same crimes that were done to them to others. An example would be bullying in school. Maybe the juvenile was bullied as well. They also sometimes have mental disorders or behavioral disorders. Students who experience excessive suspension and expulsion are more likely to become part of the school to prison pipeline (Fenning Rose, 2007). Now being examined is the issue of the school to prison pipeline and trying to understand how students who drop out (or are pushed out) of high school are more likely to enter the prison system (Fine, 1991). Students feel pushed out of school because of actions or barriers put up by their school. The student may end up feeling like they don’t belong in school, or do not fit in, or they are not smart enough to be in school. This then pushes them towards the streets and into bad behavior that leads them to becoming a juvenile delinquent. According to Brownstein, the zero tolerance is a failed approach. This policy is used to mandate predetermined consequences for rule infractions, regardless of the circumstances; its initially aimed at making schools safe. The best way to prevent serious violence at school, the theory went, was to ban any and all weapons of threats of violence, and accept no excuses. Browstein, 2010). Zero tolerance policies may be contributing to teen violence. Suspensions and expulsions in public schools have increased dramatically. Between 1974 and 2006, the rate at which U. S. students were suspended and expelled from school nearly doubled from 3. 7% of students in 1974 to . 1% of students in 2006. It is estimated that over 100,000 students were expelled and 3,300, 000 students were suspended at least once in the 2005-2006 school year which is an 8% increase in suspensions and a 15% increase in expulsions since the 2001-2001 school year. Brownstein, 2010) Today schools are getting carried away with the zero tolerance policy somewhat. Instead of helping to resolve a simple conflict in which they would call home for, they are now calling law enforcement. Too many school incidents that can be handled by the school are now being taken care of by the police and courts. ( Brownstein, 2010) An example given in the article talked about how a Columbus, GA teen student was expelled for violating school rules by talking to his mother whom he had not spoken to in thirty days, on his cell phone while at school. His mother was on deployment as a soldier in Iraq. It is common sense that the choice of disciplinary action was extremely harsh. There is no way to justify expelling this student given the circumstances of the phone call. Therefore, this example surely helps you to see exactly how this zero tolerance policy is indeed failing our children. Trying to get you to understand that yet the policy is put in place to protect the school faculty and other students from violent behavior from certain students, it is also being used in incidents that do not need to be presented to law enforcement. Expulsion and suspension disciplinary action is not making our schools safer or more academically sound. In fact, schools with high rate expulsion and suspensions usually have less satisfactory school ratings according to the American Psychological Association. This suggests to me that it also contributes to children becoming juvenile delinquents due to harsh punishment and the things that they are currently dealing with in their personal lives. I will point out how African American students are suspended at nearly three times the rate and expelled at 3. times the rate of white students, according to the U. S. Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights. Latino students are 1. 5 times as likely to be suspended when compared to white peers. It seems that the white students get referred to the office at a higher rate than students of color for offenses such as smoking, vandalism, leaving without permission, and obscene language. African-American and Latino students are referred for discipline at a higher rate than their white peers for disrespect, excessive noise, and loitering. Brownstein, 2010) These behaviors you would think would seem to rely on subjective judgment on the part of educators. Maybe this is part of the reason why most students of color are failing in school and become juvenile delinquents somewhere along the line. They are hardly allowed the chance to stay in class if they are consistently disciplined harshly over fairly minor infractions that can be handled by the parents and teacher alone. Educators need to take the time out to think about what they are disciplining a student for, and how they are disciplining them and the consequences that lie ahead if you are too harsh. It is the same way when it comes to a parent raising children. You must know when you are being too excessive when it comes to punishment. Conclusion Promote the students positive behavior more and maybe the outcome will be different. Behavior begins at home. Parents come first when it comes to making sure your child/children act accordingly in public. It is a group effort also if you are taking on the responsibility of teaching someones child. You cant just give up on the child, or take the easiest route such as harsh discipline. There has to be a system put in place in the home and in the schools to turn around bad behavior to avoid our children being introduced to the jail system turning them into juvenile delinquents. There also must be a system put in place in the home and school to look at certain incidents that happen in school not all in the same light. How we raise our children will be the result you get out of the situation. Strive to raise them the right way, and educators should stop relying on law enforcement to handle what can be handled between themselves, the student and the parents.

Should Australia Become A Republic? :: essays research papers

I believe that Australia should not become a republic. I think that there would be no point in becoming a republic, because we live without the intervention of the Queen at the moment, so becoming a republic would achieve nothing. If we were to become a republic, we would lose the support of England in times of war, famine or other disaster. I think that becoming a republic would achieve nothing, lose our links with England and waste the parliament's time when they should be concerned with more important issues.If we were to become a republic, the governor general would be replaced by a president who would have the same powers and responsibilities as our Governor General, so only the name and the person holding the position would change, wasting important parliament time and achieving absolutely nothing. At the present time, there is nothing wrong with the constitution, and if there was anything wrong with it, it could be changed by referendum, once again proving that becoming a republic is pointless. Currently, we are not tied down at all by the monarchy, and although the Queen does have the power to intervene in the running of our country, she doesn't out of tradition, and therefore, probably never will, bound by the tradition. If we become a republic, we would lose valuable ties with England and perhaps part of our heritage that goes with it. England can support us through many unfortunate events that we may face and England, being on the other side of the world may not, putting them in a position to offer us financial, military or other support. If we were to become a republic would we forget that the English were the first people to colonise our country, and instead of learning about the colonisation of our country, learn about the way in which we broke free from England and the monarchy? We owe our existence in Australia to the English and we are treated very well by them - they let us manage our own affairs and don't interrupt in the running of the country, while still offering their support if we should ever need it, and if we were to break free from this "tight rein" by the monarchy, would they still offer their support when we needed it?Becoming a republic would achieve nothing and we would lose our valuable ties with England and the monarchy.

How Does One Achieve the American Dream?

How does one achieve the American Dream? The answer undoubtedly depends upon one’s definition of the Dream, and there are many from which to choose. John Winthrop envisioned a religious paradise in a â€Å"City upon a Hill. † Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of racial equality. Both men yearned for what they perceived as perfection. But, the definition of the American Dream is an idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all people have the potential to live happy, successful lives. It matters not who you are and what ethnic group you’re from, you can achieve the American dream. Lets look at Martin Luther King Jr. He turned the world up-side-down by going against the odds, (during the time of the Civil Rights Movement) proclaiming ‘that all men are created equal’. He was a well known civil rights leader who stood up for his beliefs in a non-violent way. Through perseverance and determination, he was able to maintain his focus of letting America know that he deserved to be treated with dignity and respect. Although, his untimely death of assassination, it was though his actions and dedications that can be pronounced Martin Luther King to be an excellent example of one who achieved the American dream. His struggles paved the way for others, to become a part of the great â€Å"melting pot† regardless of nationality or background. These include Oprah Winfrey and our newly elected 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Obama creating a new day and time this country, America. Oprah Winfrey is a prime example of someone who achieved the American Dream. As a child her life was not a fairy tale at all. At a young age Winfrey's parents separated and sent her to live with grandparents in very poor surroundings. Later, at the age of six she moved to live with her mother. She was consequently sexually molested by male relatives at a young age and endured the hardship up until she was 14. She moved to live with her father in Nashville Tennessee. Living with her father did not eliminate her problems even though he was loving (yet strict) towards her. She struggled with drugs and rebellious behavior and even the loss of a baby after giving birth to it prematurely. Wild behavior conflicted with her father's strict rules and high standards. After being awarded a University Scholarship she eventually began to settle down. Winfrey studied at the Tennessee State University and received a BA in Speech and Performing Arts. It was her father's high standards that inspired her to aim for and achieve more from life. Winfrey became involved in several groups and pursued her interests in media and journalism while at University. Even though her early years in life where filled with hardship, she was always gifted with intelligence and she graduated as an honors student. Winfrey's career really began to take off after moving to Chicago in 1984 to host â€Å"AM Chicago†, an early morning talk show at WLS-TV's. It went on to become the number one ranked talk show shortly after she started and it was renamed â€Å"The Oprah Winfrey Show† after one year. The Oprah Winfrey Show went on to become one of the most successful and highest ranked television talk show programs in history. Oprah Winfrey continues to follow her dreams through her many business and media interests. She is one of the wealthiest women in the United States of America and is regularly placed high up on the Forbes magazine Rich List each year. Winfrey continues to influence and inspire people worldwide with her example of overcoming great odds to achieve great success financially, spiritually and socially. Barack Obama is such an exceptionally, smart, African American man. On January 20, 2009 Obama became the first African American president of the USA. He accomplished the American dream without a doubt. He proved to the black society as well as the white, that what was sought out to be the â€Å"impossible† could be possible. He achieved it because he has what everyone wants. For instance he has a nice house, car, beautiful family and he’s just such a beautiful person altogether. Obama has proved to all that the American Dream is not just an â€Å"Alice in Wonderland† type of fairy tale. Indeed the American Dream is a reality with its own symbol and that symbol is Barrack Obama, the 44th and fist black president of the United States of America. In conclusion, it just goes to show that the â€Å"American Dream† is possible and nothing is out of your limits when it comes to dreams. For instance look at Oprah—a multi-billionaire, African American woman, who wasn’t raised with the finer things in life. She had to work hard for success. Also President Obama got to where he is now because of hard work, discipline and determination. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. †-Martin Luther King Jr.

Great Gatsby in Comparison to Catcher in the Rye Essay

Great Gatsby vs. Holden Caulfield The Great Gatsby written By F.Scott Fitzgerald is a novel about people, mainly Gatsby’s idea of the ‘American dream’ which can be compared easily to The Catcher in the Rye By J.D Salinger. Nick and Jay Gatsby are similar to Holden Caulfield. Nick is like Holden in the fact that they both share ideas of having expectations of people and hope, even though society constantly lets them down with multiple examples showing how people act in their natural state. Gatsby and Holden are much alike because they both have these fond ideas of women and their illusion of their American dreams, with Holden its Jane and with Gatsby its Daisy but they are both disappointed when they realize their ideas are just ideas†¦show more content†¦It was one of Those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it †¦it understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood , believe in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisel y the impression of you that, at your best, you hope to convey. (Fitzgerald 48)† Even though Gatsby bootlegged liquor and ran over a lot of people to get where he was, he was viewed as in overall good person because he had a heart and had passion to do all those unjust activities just to get to daisy. A good example of this is although Holden had ‘bad’ self image , he was careless ,switched schools often and had little self respect they liked to view him as a good person overall because he wanted to save the innocence of children. â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye is a genuine initiation tale, even though it is only the candidate undergoing the ordeal who is conscious of what his final decision means; the real evidence of the decadence of his world is that the initiators who impose the ordeals upon him are too much wrapped up in themselves even to understand the meaning of their actions. (French)†. In the book, there are many people that have affected Holden’s life so deeply and they are unaware of this fact, like Allie. 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