Safety in public schools

I agree with my classmate, safety in public schools is a joke. I have fell victim to situations where my safety could have been compromised. In junior high school a classmate showed me a gun in the restroom. The officers at public schools are very relaxed and not very qualified to handle serious situations, they are what we call “flashlight cops.” I also agree with my classmate on the aspect of parents being very influential in their children’s lives. If parents step up to the plate and become proactive in their children’s lives, it would help decrease the rate of violence in public schools. Kids that come from disciplined homes are less likely to act out in a social setting. Furthermore, if parents show love and attention to every child in that household, we as a society would stop the violence at its root. My classmate made another valid point about promoting parenting classes for everyone, because there is always room for improvement. If we can stop the neglected youth from looking for love and a sense of belonging in the wrong places, maybe we can stop blaming entertainers and movies for our corrupted youth. I disagree with my classmate about the metal detectors being a bit extreme. Television is raising our children today, and they learning form what they see everyday; therefore, the violence that they see on television will make them be more prone to violence. I also believe that in some schools that every child should be patted down and checked for knives and other weapons. My classmate said he was reminded of a joke about being stabbed instead of shot, but it is not at all funny when you are stabbed and bleeding, and there is no one to help you.

Subdivision bans sex offenders

An Amarillo subdivision has decided to ban sex offenders. The ban will be imposed on future developments, and will not have an effect on previously existing homes. The ban restricts sex offenders from owning or inhabiting any property in the new development of the subdivision, the Woodlands. Developers have added these restrictions to keep the neighborhood safer, and a more comfortable place to live. They want to give the community a peace of mind, not having to wonder if their neighbor may sneak into their homes in the middle of the night and violate them. Sex offenders are likely to be repeat offenders, and they want to lessen the chances of anyone being harmed in their community. Adverse effects of this ban have also been considered in implementing this plan of action. Nay Sayers think that this ban will group convicted sex offenders together, causing a violent community. Not all sex offenders are on the same level, some have committed much harsher crimes than others have. The ban has been written in the bi laws of the homeowner association‘s rules and regulations, and any violators of this rule will be forced to sale their homes and move out of the neighborhood. It is ingenious of the neighborhood developers to enact such a ban as a crime retardant. If you do the crime you do the time, and you should not be accessible to the same rights and freedoms of model citizens. A sign in your yard is not enough; it is about time that they take full consequences for their actions. It sometimes takes a lifetime to have a lesson learned.

ERs aren't the place for MHMR patients

In response to “mental health patients being sent to Austin emergency rooms,” I agree that there is a problem. The Austin State Hospital is over crowded, but the solution is not to send the patients to regular hospitals. Hospitals like the Dell Children’s Center, have lots of space but like the man power and expertise to deal with these kinds of patients. Wait times in Dell’s emergency room are twice that of what they should be. The solution to their problem would be to expand on their site or build an alternate facility to accommodate their needs. The physicians at these regular emergency rooms are not properly trained to deal with MHMR patients. The money that they would be spending on workshops and training for teaching the emergency room attendees to deal with MHMR patients could be spent on building another facility. Despite those concerns, it could also potentially be a dangerous situation. MHMR patients have special needs. Their reasoning skills are on a different level from the people who would normally visit a Brackenridge or St. David’s emergency room, and because of this their safety could be compromised by one another. Different people have a different understanding of things, and it just would not be feasible to intertwine these to groups of people. The easiest and most lasting answer to their problem is not to transfer patients to alternate facilities that does not have the proper equipment and specialist to treat them, but it is simply to just expand on what they already have.

Roots or politics?

Which has better standing, who you are or what you stand for? In Forth Worth, Texas two gentlemen are vying for House District 97. One is a well know gentlemen throughout Forth Worth and has laid roots. Bob Leonard Jr. is a former lawmaker and a one time department store owner. The other is a newcomer to the block, Craig Goldman. Goldman is young and fresh, although he lacks lawmaking experience he has been around behind the shadows. He was an aide for former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm. Although Leonard has identification associated with himself, Goldman has raised the most amount of money and an ample amount of supporters. Goldman is laying down platforms and picking sides to support based on current issues. Leonard on the other hand is standing by idle, waiting to see what moves that his constituents are going to make so he can then in turn make his. I think that you’re political platform is most important to voters when they go to the polling booth to make their decisions. Unfortunately our United States citizens tend to side with the most popular candidate. We identify ourselves with faces instead of the meaning behind the face. Leonard will most likely come out on top because he has created a name for himself in the city of Fort Worth. People are going to remember him for Leonard’s Department Store, instead of Goldman as the man that stood behind Phil Gramm. As the old saying goes, “It’s who you know, not what you know” that counts. Although Goldman may have the knowledge of the campaign, Leonard is the most popular.
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/region/legislature/stories/10/27/1027txrace.html