week 7
887 words by sshelby
The problem that I have been addressing is actually two in one: lack of education among american youths, and the spread of sexually transmitted dieases due to the lack of education. After extensive research, I have found what I believe to be alarming and solid statistics on this “problem”. This can give you an idea of how our nation presently stands on these issues and depicts how massive this problem really is.
The following statistics come from the national center for education website. These statistics show the dropout rates for American youth:
Table A. Percentage of 15- through 24-year-olds who dropped out of grades 10–12 in the past year (event dropout rate), percentage of 16- through 24-year-olds who were dropouts (status dropout rate), and percentage of 18- through 24-year-olds who completed high school (status completion rate), by race/ethnicity: October 2001
Dropout and completion measures Total1 White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander
Event dropout rate 5.0 4.1 6.3 8.8 2.3
Status dropout rate 10.7 7.3 10.9 27.0 3.6
Status completion rate2 86.5 91.0 85.6 65.7 96.1
1Due to small sample sizes, American Indians/Alaska Natives are included in the total but are not shown separately.
2Excludes those still enrolled in high school.
The following statistics come from the National Center for Health Statistics website:
Vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse place young people at risk for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Vaginal intercourse carries the additional risk of pregnancy. In the United States
In 2005, 47% of high school students had ever had sexual intercourse, and 14% of high school students had had four or more sex partners during their life.
In 2005, 34% of currently sexually active high school students did not use a condom during their last sexual encounter.
In 2004, an estimated 4,883 young people aged 13-24 in the 33 states reporting to CDC were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, representing about 13% of the persons diagnosed that year.
Each year, there are approximately 19 million new STD infections, and almost half of them are among youth aged 15 to 24.4
In 2000, 13% of all pregnancies, or 831,000, occurred among adolescents aged 15-19.5
In addition, young people in the United States use alcohol and other drugs at high rates. Adolescents are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex, ouwhen they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In 2005, 23% of high school students who had sexual intercourse during the past three months drank alcohol or used drugs before last sexual intercourse.
As you can see this is not very pleasent to read and take in. This problem is growing larger and larger every day, month, year. If we allow this to continue being ignored we might as well flush the future of this nation down the drain. Therefore it is vital that we make change and re-route the future of America’s youth. Afterall the children are the future aren’t they?
My project is a small step to conquering this massive problem. However every little bit of help counts. I may not be able to conquer and change the entire nation, but I am sure I can change a few attitudes and possibly- lives. If I am sucessful in changing just one attitude toward these issues, I will feel acomplished. Which ever way the ball rolls I am happy. I can at least say for the sake of my own concious “I didn’t let this problem go ignored, I attempted to make a change, I tried.” Let’s hope for the sake of everyone this problem can be solved.
Back in biblical time God’s house was called the tabernacle. The tabernacle was set up as a transportable tent [since the jewish people were nomads at the time] which faced the east. Inside the tabernacle the floors were covered in gold and the walls were decorated with oranments[that was the only fancy thing about it, other than that the tabernacle was very modest]; it also housed the ark of the covenant which was in the most divine section of the tabernacle that was called holy of holies were God himself dwelled. No one was permitted to enter God’s house because they would perish in his direct presence. The only people that were allowed to enter the tabernacle was priest and they were only permitted to enter once during a set time of the year.
The idea of the promised land was very problematic because the jewish people were nomads for forty years before they became “worthy” enough to enter the promised land. Then when they finally decided to settle, their promised land was already inhabitted. They could not just move in comfortably; they had to fight to gain entrance to their “promised land”. The first battle they fought against AI they lost…because one member of their group, Achon, broke a commandment and stole something from their enemy. As a result they killed him and his family and returned to battle. The second time they fought, they won. To really keep a long story short, the problem with the promised land was, that after so many years, once they found their promised land they could not just move in they had to fight and conquer land that already belonged to someone else. It was an akward situation.