Education

Education has not always been easy of access like it is today and many people fought to be able to have access to an education. 


Education is very important in our society, then again, a lot of youngsters seem to drop out of school for so many reasons and put aside their education, to find a minimum wage job. Most of these students who drop out say that school is boring, that they are not motivated or that their personal situation is the cause but the major reason is that the classes are uninteresting. Influence by peers is also a factor that brings students to drop out of school. It was proven that boys tend to drop out more than girls do. As a matter of fact our education is quite discriminatory towards boys because they seem to be more kinaesthetic than girls, which means that they need to touch things and manipulate things in favour to be able to understand.  As a matter of fact, a majority of men have manual careers, such as construction workers, electricians, plumbers etc. These methods are very rarely used in schools; on the contrary, traditional methods are used and made for students who are more visual or auditory learners.

Why do some kids become bullies?

Bullying among children in schools, school buses and parks is a growing phenomenon that has pretty much always existed. Many factors explain why certain individuals tend to become bullies and others the victims, while some are neither bullies nor bullied.

First of all, the personality and temperament will have a lot of impact on whether or not the child will bully others. Bullies are known to be very confident, violent, impulsive and are not very empathic towards other’s feelings. Another factor that influences children to become bullies is the environment at home. This implies the way they were raised by their parents which is usually based on violence. Usually, parents of bullies tend to be more aggressive when time comes for discipline. Sometimes these children even witness domestic violence between other members of their family and somehow neglected.  In school, in some cases, only very children who perform well in a discipline are rewarded, which can bring the others who have difficulties to be revolted and some might become aggressive. Peer groups also have an effect on the children’s behaviors and might even reinforce them. All these factors may explain, in some cases, why some children become bullies.

Usually, children start bullying at early ages, which implies that it is easier to correct the bad pattern that they have started. First off all, they should always be supervised by an adult who will restructure his or her aggressive comportments and should not have any contact with his victims unless they want to apologize sincerely and under supervision once again.

Youth crime

 According to the Harper government, “out-of-control young people”[1]should all be classified in the same category. This means that sex offenders and drug dealers may be punished equally, while the drug dealer has not endangered someone’s life and in my opinion, is not considered dangerous for our society. This does not mean that they should not be punished, on the contrary, they should be punished, but in other ways than being sent to prison, such as fines. Sending youngsters to prison, for every single illegal act committed implies building more prisons because a lot more people will be imprisoned. It will also cost more money to keep the prisons running and provide food for the prisoners.


This new law might not be the solution for youth crime. Instead it will only be more expensive and it won’t even educate the criminals, on the opposite, they will probably be even more likely to, once out of jail, start again. It would be preferable if those young criminals were sent in institutions that prevent and treat youth crime to solve the problem as fast as possible, before they become too dangerous for our society and incurable.


Sending young criminals to jail costs a lot of money and that money comes from us, the society. It was proven that the annual cost of detaining a youngster is of about $100 000 compared to $50 375 for an adult. This means that we pay for these people to be locked and taken care of because they have a lot of services at their disposition.

[1] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/weighty-tory-crime-bill-targets-drugs-refugees-parolees-and-terror/article2172621/

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Genereation Y

Generation Y, which includes people born between 1982 and 2002, is known to be less involved in community and more sell-centered. As a matter of fact, in 2008, it was shown on a renowned TV show that people of that generation was described as ¨cynical, unaccustomed to hard work and having fragile egos because their childhoods filled with trophies and adulation didn't prepare them for the cold realities of work.¨ This generation prefers to concentrate on their studies, relationships and well-being, so that they can be successful in life. As a matter of fact, it was proven, by a study lead by the  University of Michigan, that college students from generation Y are 40% less empathic than students from 1970. There are certainly a lot of youngsters who seem to be self-centered and non-caring about anything else but themselves, but there isn't just that type of person.

Personally, I think both volunteering and service learning are good and should be valued. Community service is beneficial for both, the person who helps and for the person who is helped. First of all, the person who gets involved will acquire experience in their work field and at the same time, it is a feel good accomplishment to help people who are in need.

The best way to  encourage people to get involved in their community is, to, in my opinion, pass over the value of helping without expecting anything in return. In school, I think there should be more emphasis put on this value. Children should be initiated to volunteering at early ages ansd should be strongly encouraged at school. 

Tuition hikes

This year, our provincial government has decided to increase tuition fees for students at Cégep and university. These fees may affect the choices that many students will make towards their career choice, so they will be limited my the money factor, even though, they would have the capacity to go further. Then again, our government offers loans and bursaries so more people, will be asking for that help and bigger quantities of money.


As mentioned earlier, many  new Cégep or university students or even adults who want to return to school, may be restricted because of their financial situation. This means that a lot of students who would have the capacity to follow studies in law or whatever domain, would have to stop studying and find a job at the minimun wage and hope that someday they will have enough money to afford to go back to school. Going back to school, after many years can be quite hard because people get used to their lifestyle quite easily and it is hard to start over again. 


Also, even though the government offers loans and bursaries, all it will create is a vicious circle that never ends, people won't be able to afford school so more people will make requests for bursaries and loans in bigger amounts. It was also proven by Statistics Canada that people who came from a family with a low income, would tend not to attend higher education levels. This statement though is not only influenced by the economical situation but the social situation also because they don't necessarily have the same values as people with a higher income.


Personally, I think that increasing the tuition fees has no advantages on anyone, government or students, because it will only push some students to drop out of school, and discourage most of them. On the government's side, why would he want to discourage students to study and get a stable job?

Career choice

Finding the perfect career that you will enjoy for many years, as an adolescent can be quite an important step in life, it will follow you for a while, until your retirement. But how do they make up their minds? A lot of factors influence their career choice, such as parental influence, skills and ability, economic situation etc.

First of all, it isn’t rare to see teenagers follow their parent’s accomplished or unaccomplished dreams. For instance, some parents put a lot of pressure on their children, and in some sort, they force them to follow a certain path, which is not necessarily the one that their children wanted to go through. Usually, they are very pushy, and not easily satisfied, which diminishes their self-esteem. Also, some parents who come from a family where their descendents had a high status job will have a tendency to deny the idea of their children becoming a plumber, for example. Moreover, parents know their children very well and can give them advice according to their abilities and tell them what they would see them doing as a career. Sometimes, these teenagers only listen to their parent’s without using their judgement on what they really like.

Secondly, when making a career choice, teenagers must to a lot of research and then inner reflection. The research implies taking tests on what your abilities are, from there, it is easier to do research in a specific domain. Once the domain is found, it is a lot more simple to find careers that are based on your abilities and skills, so it is less complicated to find a job that is realistic according to your grades and what passions you most. Someone who has learning difficulties and who has a hard time in school, even if that person wants to become a doctor, there are a lot of chances that this person won’t be able to reach his/her goal.

Money is one of the most important factors for human survival, in our society. Without money, there is no food, no home, no electricity, pretty much nothing, and without these essential things, one’s life can be endangered. As a matter of fact, when teenagers make their career choice, one of the most important things about the career is often money, some choose jobs that don’t even interest them but because of the salary, they do it anyway. 

In a nutshell, it is important for teens to be careful when taking this big decision. They have to base their judgement on what they really like and not what others want for them and also on what is realistic for their own situation. Money is a big part of our lives today, but it isn't everything, love and passion is primordial.

Immigration

I think that there are many lessons that we can learn from Sofia's story, I found her message quite inspiring. Learning a new language can be quite a big stunt for many, but in her case , not only did she have the courage to learn French,but she also moved in a Province, far away from her family, where French is the main language. I think it is quite admirable for a person who does not know a word of this complex language. This proved to me that in life pretty much anything is possible, but perseverance, patience and courage is needed. As caring human beings, I think we should accept immigrants and refugees, who don't happen to be as fortunate as us, in North America. Most of them come from countries where poverty, famine and war are present, they try to get out of that misery by coming to more stable places. Only small actions are needed to help integrate these people, for example, inviting them over for dinner or helping them with the new language or even helping them to have a social life, every action counts, big or small. Personally, I think we need both, the local community and the professionals to help integrate the immigrants. For instance, the professionals should have the responsibility of giving them French courses and helping them settle down, but the residents of the community should also get involved and help the immigrants integrate in their new community.