Week 07
1076 words by dwalker4
The problem that I presented to the class deals with drug addiction and the lack of effective awareness and educational classes, especially targeted toward the younger population. My project involves the help of young adults with enthusiasm. Often times it isn’t what you are saying but who is actually saying it. Younger children tend to want to listen and mock those close to their age. My intention for this project was to give back by means of educating. The essential part of being aware is being educated. The idea of using young adults is to gain the trust and respect from the younger generation and provide insightful information without forcefully shoving the knowledge down their throats. A lot of students state that they only wanted to try and see what happens, with the help of this drug awareness class the students can see the effects of the drug and the notion of trying the drug shouldn’t be a question. Drugs are ruining lives everyday and they have a direct effect on the lives of families. Our younger generation is becoming targeted and we must educate at younger and younger ages. Just like drugs are tried and become popular by word of mouth, we need to inform people of the effects so that they can be passed by word of mouth. Most people are only aware of the short term affects and never know about the long term affects. Some of the children who have taken up the class didn’t know have of the things that were being taught to them. The idea that it’s okay to just say no had not even been provided to them. The idea of educating should be a means of squaring all the ends to this problem. It seems as though we forgot the most important thing, which was to take the responsibility to inform our children of the dangers and consequences of drugs. I really like the idea that not only do we have the opportunity to choose a problem but also the opportunity to implement a project. Sometimes we get caught up stating the obvious problems with no suggestions to help improve the state of the problem. It is sometimes shocking to state a problem and then research the statistics. This is especially, when the statistics prove to be worse than you thought. This may be the purpose of this blog exercise. The statistics mentioned in this blog will be from a nationwide survey. From this survey a reported 11.3% of students had at least tried marijuana before the age of 13 years old; an alarming 47.2% of students had used marijuana during their lifetime. These statistics alone suggest that drugs are resource of problems that may have an effect on the high school drop out rates. 32.2% of students had their first drink before the age 13. Another 30.2% of students had been offered, sold or given an illegal drug on school grounds within a 12 month period before the survey was given. 14.6% of the students surveyed had sniffed glue or paint, breathed the contents of an aerosol can to get high in their lifetime. Many students engage in these behaviors as a method to deal with peer pressure. Parents need to inform their children of the dangers of taking drugs and offer solutions to deal with peer pressure which will definitely come along with the territory. These statistics alone shows that there is a need for educating the younger population on the effect of drugs. Yahweh requests that Moses build him a tent. The Book of Exodus 35-36, God told Moses to have the people “whose heart was willing” to bring for a sacrifice that would be material to build the Tabernacle. The people actually started donating more than was needed for the construction that Moses had to send out a proclamation telling them not to offer anymore. Yahweh had specific instruction on the height and the width of this structure. The Tabernacle was a very sacred place.Yahweh’s accommodations for the tent are written in the Book of Exodus. God’s house was a tent. God’s house tells us that God moved around a lot from place to place. His intentions were not to sit in one place idol but instead to go out to the people and minister. This was especially easier for his followers. David offered Yahweh to move from tent to temple, but Yahweh declines. Yahweh was content with his portable accommodations. The Tabernacle was a traveling headquarters of Yahweh. There was nothing really fancy about the Tabernacle, it was a respectable place used for sacrificing and worship. The Tabernacle only consisted of two rooms: the outer room (where the lamp stand, incense altar and bread table stood) and the inner chamber (where the Ark of Covenant and a golden cherubim, which is Yahweh’s footstool and throne). The Tabernacle was also surrounded by a rectangular courtyard.
The land was the land that Yahweh promised Abraham and his descendants. It was the covenant between Yahweh and Abraham which can be found in Genesis 17. Yahweh promised the people of Israel Canaan, this is definitely problematic because Yahweh promised the Israelites land that was already occupied and owned by the Canaanites. This brought about a war and the Israelites conquered Canaan. Bible scholars would argue that the Canaanites weren’t completely driven from the land but they indeed made up a large extent of the new nation of Israel. The Book of Exodus has been used as a fundamental model for liberation. The story in Exodus has inspired people to struggle against injustice. The story tells about how an oppressed and powerless people, the Israelites, are taken up by Yahweh and delivered from their despair. This is the beacon of hope for many people that are in despair. However, once delivered the new dream that Israel seeks is Canaan. We have found it difficult to decide if we want to accept the model of leadership and social change presented by the entire Exodus story. Do we deem the story as appropriate to the needs of indigenous people seeking justice and deliverance? Native Americans can identify with the Canaanites, which are the people that already lived in the promise land. Native Americans would have been like the Canaanites being driven out.
Works Cited
www.adolescent –substance-abuse.com/rave-club-drugs.html