As of yesterday, our group did our presentation. But when this blog post was due, we were pretty much still editing and making our final script. Our final script was different from our final presentation because we had to make some final changes between the time the final script was due and the time the presentations were. For the most part we were behind on this project the whole time because we had trouble from the beginning as far as who was going to do what and who was responsible for what. We all were complaining about what other people weren’t doing and bragging about we were doing but in the end we all figured that we were all responsible for the way our final project turned out. Some people contributed more to the project than others but doing a lot of work and the work not being completely right or even helpful to the project just defeats the purpose of doing it. Some days we were focused and some days we weren’t. I am not going to blame anyone for the way the grade is probably going to be because it can’t change. I would have preferred different people in my group but the people we did get taught me a lesson. And that was not to try and envision the perfect group and dismiss the people I did get. Also I learned that the same problem I had with my current group could just as well have happened with those “perfect group members”. Our final presentation was a reading of the script we created.
The expectation of the group members heightened as the project deadline was coming closer and closer because of lateness our group already was facing. It was especially difficult to get things in at the last minute because this was the type of project where we couldn’t really move on unless we had the first assignments done. I found ourselves behind at the point where we were supposed to have the lines on Google docs and everyone wasn’t getting their lines up when they were due. This made it harder to move on to getting the first rough draft of the script done because we needed all the lines to do it. And since we didn’t really have the rough script, we couldn’t move on to getting the final script done when that deadline was coming up. And since the final script wasn’t how we wanted it to be when we needed it, we had a very hard time getting the presentation together.
The choices we made about editing the script were that we went through the book and found the description before every scene, which was an outline of the important things that were going on in that scene. We used that description to get all the plot points. We found out which scenes highlighted our scene and used the lines of the plot points and the lines about jealousy to create our script.

Kiara Thomas

June 02, 2008

Othello Blog #1

My team- Me, Cassy, Julian, Zach

Our theme-Jealousy

So far my team and I have come up with the theme that we are going to highlight in our “mini-play”. We split up the acts in such a way that each person has a certain amount of scenes to look through and find lines. After we found lines, we started putting them up on Google Docs and now all we have to do is rearrange the lines so that the order they are in follows a storyline that makes sense. We were able to get most of the lines done in class but we still have a ways to go in terms of putting them all in order to get the initial script done. We also determined that we were going to do a video for the final presentation.

The difficulties of working in a group as always is the dependency you are forced to have on other people. If your group works as a group and everyone has equal jobs, you have to depend on other people to get the work in on time especially when the work is not separate and it all has to eventually go together. For example, the part of the project where we have to put lines up on Google docs is hard to get past when everyone doesn’t put their stuff up. It makes it hard when the other people in the group need their work to move on. So far everyone in the group isn’t really working as expected so there is a lot of dead weight for others to pick up when other people don’t do what they’re supposed to do. I don’t think that part is fair.

The choices we make in editing the text are going to be to take out all the unnecessary lines about jealousy and keep the main points that really go along with the plot of the play. So we keep the stuff that highlights the theme but also adds crucial information about the text.

My understanding of the plot of the play is getting better since we were assigned the project. When we were reading the play, we only read each part once or twice and had discussions about it, but since now we are going back and taking everything apart this would be our third or fourth time reading everything so I got a better understanding of it since this is not the first time I am reading this. It seems like I am finding out things and getting a better understanding of things that I did not have the first, or even the second time around.

Horas de Sueño por Noche:
Anoche, dormí 10 horas.

El Desayuno:
Comí cereal y galletas

El Almuerzo:
Comí un pizza. Tomé juga de frutas.

La Cena:
Comí pollo, arroz y brocolli. Tomé Moutain Dew.

Las Meriendas:
Comí pastel

Ejercicio:
Caminí por 30 minutos.

Now that the project is almost over, I feel relieved that we won't have to work on this that much anymore. I will still be working on it after the 3rd quarter is up though, because my change agent appointment is not until 3 days after grades are due. So I will still be working on this project well after the project is over or almost over. I could have done a little better with getting the blogs in on time. That was tha hardest part because sometimes you don't always have enough information to construct a successful blog post and I would rather work hard and have a late post, then get "crap" in on time. I wasn't always happy with my blog posts and that is why they were days late becuase I was working harder in them.  Overall, I think I worked hard on this project but if I could say the part of the project that i worked the hardest on it would be my e-pitch.

According to research conducted by The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, of all the cases of long-term child abduction in which the child was found alive, 85% of the children did not consider the kidnapper a stranger. Also of at least 65% cases in which the child was found dead, it was evident that the child would not have considered the kidnapper a stranger. That was either because the parent’s identified the kidnapper as someone they knew, or the kidnapper admitted to having some sort of relationship with the child. Those statistics prove that parents need to use a different approach than “Don’t talk to strangers” because that method is scary and not beneficial.

So to try and fix this, our country is trying to get systems such as the Amber Alert system active in all 50 states. So far such systems are active in 47 states. Some experiences with the systems are as follows; a statewide program in California, titled, Child Abduction Regional Emergency Alert, has been activated twice in the past month. This would be a good thing if we were just talking about the fact that the systems are active. But it is not so good since the system being activated twice in the past month, means that two children in California were abducted in the past month. An Amber Alert was issued August 15^th 2007 in Virginia when a 9 year old girl was kidnapped after her parents were found shot to death in their home. The girl had not yet been found. Nevada’s alert system was activated just last Tuesday when 10-year-old was Nichole Timmons was abducted. The alert helped Nichole get reunited with her family just 5 hours after she was reported missing.

North Carolina has a unique alert system titled North Carolina Child Alert Notification, which is similar to the system in California. It was implemented in four countries and has spread to 14 different countries. It is unique in a negative way though. I say it is unique because it is only activated if the child is thought to be in danger of physical injury or death, but the system will not be used in the case of a parental abduction or if the child is a runaway. This idea worries me because when a child is reported missing by the parents, the police do not know who took the child right away so, they cannot determine if the child is in physical danger. So what sense does it make to wait until you know for sure that the child is in danger to activate an alert system? The last time this system was used was 2 years ago when an 18-month-old child was taken by his baby-sitter, and the alert was only issued because the babysitter was a reported crack user. Some questions I have about that are; When did the police find out that the baby-sitter took the child, when and how did they find out that the baby-sitter was a crack user, why would the parents leave their child in the care of a baby-sitter who was a crack user? Whatever amount of time if took the police and the parents to figure out that the baby-sitter was a suspect, they could have issued the alert during that time. It does not make sense to wait until you have details about the case, they know for sure that the child is missing and I think that is enough to issue an alert.

Kiara Thomas

April 1, 2008

Blog Post #7

A previous study taken by Carolyn Zogg of Child Find Of America found that the number of parental abductions is 6 times more than previous estimated had said they were. Parental abductions actually occur more than stranger abductions. A lot of attention has been given on how to prevent stranger abduction; prevention programs for parental abductions have been non-existent. A study by a national hotline program found 86 consecutive phone calls from parents contemplating the abduction of their children. The MAYOCLINIC made this statement “‘Stranger danger’ lessons alone don’t protect children” I think this is true because as I said in my elevator pitch and as Child Find Of America said also, more abductions are done by someone who actually knows the child.

Daniel Broughton, M.D, is a pediatrician and also the former director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children seems to agree. “Rather than teaching children to fear strangers, which is at best, woefully inadequate, we need to se positive messages,” says Dr. Broughton. “Children need to learn skills and confidence, not fear and avoidance.” I think Dr Broughton said it better than all of us. Dr. Broughton is one of the authors of the newly published book “The Pediatrician’s Role in the Prevention of Missing Children.” This book offers prevention strategies for pediatricians to share with families.

Dr. Broughton says, too often, the emphasis is placed on stranger danger. But, most of the children that were reported missing were taken not by a stranger, but in fact, by a non-custodial parent. Only an acute amount of children are victims of classic kidnappings, though many are abducted for shorter periods and then released. More importantly, most people who are responsible for these crimes are not a criminal in the eye and mind of the child. “It could be a neighbor, a familiar face in the child’s daily routine, or someone the child’s parents know well enough to greet,” says Dr. Broughton.

It's funny because now that the project is almost over, I am finally understanding the project and how it was intended to come out. I am having less and less trouble finding like, information and stuff like that. I also didn't have any trouble making my elevator pitch and I actually...like the project. I guess it's a little too late for that and it doesn't really matter whether I like it or not, but I just wanted to say I liked the project. Also, I guess we have two blog posts due during spring break, so I am going to get those in ON TIME. I am having a better attitude about this project and even though my process grade is probably trash, I will feel like I changed the world or at least part of it when this is over. =)

"The most crucial component in child safety is effective communication with your child. It makes it easier for your child to talk to you about sensitive issues when you make that atmosphere for them. Unfortunately, the rapidly rising awareness of crimes against children has left children and their parents afraid. Everyone needs to be careful but you and your child do not need to be scared. If you do discuss the safety guidelines with your child make sure you talk to them in a calm way and make sure not to scare them."

This was taken from an article from ReaLife Solutions which is a resource that "helps to make your family healithier and fun". This is an example of a place people can look if they have a missing child or need advice on how to prevent a missing child. They also offer advice for you to tell your children such as...

 "It is expected that children are raised to be polite but they can also be raised to be suspicious of any adult asking for assistance. Children should know that there is no need for them to be helping an adult. Another thing is to tell your children that they should not be asked to keep “special secrets” from their parents. Children should know at a young age that definitely should not be asked to touch the “bathing suit areas” of another person’s body and should not let anyone touch them in such areas."

Statistics

• More than 350,000 family abductions occur in the U.S each year, that is nearly 1,000 per day.
• 163,000 of these cases involve the concealment of a child, transporting out of state, or intent to keep the child permanently.

Masses of research are being done about all the different types of childhood victimization. Most of the studies being taken about child abuse, abduction, and neglect suffer from being overlooked by a great deal of people. When we watch the news, we see all the drastic things happening to a lot of children and we feel bad for a few minutes and we get over it. I’m not saying we should dwell on other peoples’ losses but we need to get involved because it could happen to anyone we love at anytime. Though there are various studies being taken about child abuse and neglect, research on child abduction and homicide remains inadequate. Compared to the amount of child abduction cases each year, the child abuse cases are nearly double that. It’s not like child abduction is simply a smaller problem but I personally think that people seem to care more when it’s the actual parents inflicting pain on the child than if its someone else. To fix this problem I think people need to understand how big of a problem child abduction is and put themselves in the shoes of either the victim (the child) or the parents. I also think we need more information about where sex offenders are so that we can create some sort of neighborhood criminal profiling. This would give parents and children the clues as to the places they should stay away from.

According to a current study taken from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have 550 cases of child abduction from 1985-1995. This kind of sampling just gives an idea of how many kids were victims of this but it doesn’t go deep enough where we actually know how many kids were actually murdered or harmed. This is important because these studies tell you how many cases of “abduction” there were but lots of other things happen when kids are abducted. I have a feeling that child abduction is going to become less of a problem in the years to come because as of 2007, there are child abduction prevention programs in 47 states. These organizations such as the Megan’s Law Foundation (A organization that has a list of every sex offender and where they live in the country), and Global Missing (A resource for parents of missing children) are doing all they can to ensure the safety of America’s kids.