Videos Show Fights at Texas School

Earlier, I wrote a blog about the fights that took place between students at a Texas school. The unusual thing was that the fights were organized by the teachers. When the students were mad at each other, the faculty made them fight in steel cages to work out their issues. Recently, videos taken on cell phones revealed mentally disabled children fighting at another Texas school, Corpus Christi State School. The videos were taken by employees. They were the ones that organized it. In the videos, you can hear the emplyees egging the students on as they fight each other. Six employees now face criminal charges. Many others were fired.

I think this is horrible. Teachers are there to help and teach us, and here they are condoning fighting between students. Also, these students are mentally disabled. It is horrible how these disabled children are treated. They are told to fight with one another and don't know not to do otherwise. Now videos are out there for the whole world to see these children and this is going to greatly affect their families. I believe more consequences should be taken towards these employees. They deserve far more than what the got.

A Tragedy That Won't Fade Away

California;

On Halloween in 2006, an eighteen year old girl was involved in a car accident that resulted in her death. This story is the family's battle to get all pictures of the accident off the internet. The picture of Nikki Catsouras is so gruesome that Newsweek refused to print it. There are nine pictures circulating on the internet. In one, her nearly decapitated head is drooping out the shattered window of her father's Porsche. Days after the accident, her father received an e-mail that contained a picture of her daughter's bloodied face, captioned with the words "Woohoo Daddy! Hey daddy, I'm still alive." Nikki's three sisters have not yet seen the pictures, but are fearful they one day might. The Catsourases are spending thousands in legal fees in an attempt to stop strangers from displaying the gruesome pictures. Nothing worked though. The family has no legal basis to compel Web sites to remove the photos, and no amount of programming magic could keep them from spreading to new sites. Two sisters became homeschooled to avoid the rumors at school. They are not allowed to have My Spaces, exc. The whole family is now in therapy and they've taken out a second mortgage to cover the costs of their legal battle.

I am disgusted at the thought that people would want the pictures going around. I have seen the picture of Nikki because of the story's popularity, and it made me sick. It is horribily graphic and I can't imagine the family having to know people everywhere are looking at it. I am completly on their side. There is no reason why the family shouldn't get their wish of having the pictures taken off the internet. The person who sent the dad the email is a monster. No grieving family deserves something that horrible.

Swine Flu

Recently, there has been a new pandemic, the Swine flu. The first dearh was a 39-year old woman in Mexico. Her name was Maria Adela Gutierrez. There are now over 100 cases in the United States and in 16 states, but these cases are still less mild than the cases in Mexico. 160 people have reportedly died in Mexico, but in Washington, 300 schools have closed down and 140 in Texas. The flu even hit the White House, infecting an aide to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Many precautions are being taking. Scientists are trying to make a vaccine for this flu, but it will take months.

Personally, I think the media is exaggerating this. They are making it seem like everyone is freaking out and needs to stay home. All the information above I heard from the media and it's all the same; extreme. It takes a lot of research to find the facts that many doctors are treating this like a flu season and just telling people to make sure they wash their hands a lot and cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough. In my opinion, the media is in love with this story and working everyone all up for nothing.

Teacher Has Sex with Student (Week 12)

In Lexington, Nebraska, a former teacher who fled to Mexico with a 13-year old student was sentenced to 8-10 years in prison. Kelsey Peterson is 27 years old and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor. She also must register as a sex offender. Kelsey was the boy's teacher since he was in fifth grade and they began having sex in 2006 when he was 12. After authorites approached Peterson obout allegations for having an inappropriate relationship with the boy, she fled with the boy to Mexico. She was arrested a week later when the boy called his mother. Because he is a minor involved in a sex crime, the boy will not be named.

I think the sentence isn't enough. Peterson was his teacher and was supposed to give him a sense of security. She took her authority and abused it. She used her power to manipulate the young boy. He obviously didn't want to go with her because he called his mother a week after they got to Mexico. Eight to ten years isn't a fair punishment for what Peterson did. She tainted a 13 year old boy for life and he will never be the same. More severe consequences should have been given.

What Would You Do? (Week 11)

In one episode of "What Would You Do?" there was a scenario about two gay men in a local bar They had them men act out two different situations. In one they acted very low key and kept to themselves. The show had an actor hassel the gay couple to see how the rest of the bar would react. They people weree quick to come to the couple's defense and disagree with the badgering actor. Eventually. the people demanded the actor leave. In the second situation, the gay couple had alot of PDA and were very open about the relationship. Once again, the show had the actor start yelling things at the couple. This time, the producers expected people to be disgusted by the obvious PDA and agree with the actor, but the people's opinion didn't change. Again, they came to the couple's defense and became very angered by the actor. A person was actually brought to tears by the actor's bullying. No matter how the gay couple acted, no one was offended or disgusted.

This episode really pleased me. I cannot stand homophobic people. You can't help who you love and people that are disgusted by gay couple really upset me. I think this scenario was a really good idea and I'm glad they had it. It shows that not everyone is against gay couples which is the stereotype. I also think it will help more people accept homosexuality.

Kid's Cage Fight (Week 10)

A high school in Dallas, Texas was accused of allegedly making students settle their differences by fighting bare-knuckle brawls inside a steel cage. The principal and other employees of South Oak Cliff High knew about the cage fights and they allowed them to continue. The first report describes two instances of fighting in an equipment cage in a boys' locker room between 2003 and 2005. No criminal charges were ever filed, and there was no mention in the report of whether anyone required medical attention or whether any employees were disciplined. The allegations came to light during a grade-fixing investigation that eventually ost the high school its 2005 and 2006 state basketball titles.

A student told his mother that the students would stand around clapping and screaming while watching a fight he participated in. Another report said a hall monitor, Gary King, told investigators he witnessed the head of campus security and an assistant basketball coach place two students in the cage to fight. Another hall monitor, Reno Savala, told investigators he came upon two students fighting in the cage "bare-fisted with no head or eye protection." "It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff," employees said. The allegations came about 10 days after law enforcement authorities reported that workers at a Corpus Christi institution forced mentally disabled residents to fight each other and recorded the brawls for their entertainment. No charges have been filed yet on the case.