It’s my personal opinion…..

I know this is not a “assignment”, but I decided to write a post to all the upcoming seniors. I wish you guys the best of luck as you have one more year of school, then you are free!

To Mrs. Seale: Thank you for all you have shown me about the internet and its uses. You are a wonderful and caring teacher. Keep doing what you are doing because one day, your teaching will make a difference in this world. I will miss you! Much love <3

Being a senior is the greatest thing to accomplish in your childhood. Always remember to be yourself and don’t let anyone tell you different. Realize this is a stepping stone for many years to come.

Love you guys!!!!! I will miss you!!!

<3 always, Christa

I learned a lot about Cambodia while doing this third world country series in Read The Net. I never knew about the 1975-1979 killings from the Khmer Rouge, and how no body really helped these innocent people to a better life!!! That really shocked me because UN troops and many others were sent in for the Rwandan genocide, but not for the Khmer Rouge killings, when twice as many people were killed then?! I also learned how Cambodia is probably in the top 5 of poorest countries of the world! I hope one day Cambodians can get everything on track and go on to a better, more peaceful life.

In my opinion, people need to start caring what goes on in other countries. I know most of us do not care what happens to others, but I guarantee other countries would help us out if we were in a crisis. We are so lucky to live in America, and most of us take this freedom for granted.

Now comes the question should America be responsible to help out?

I think America should not be responsible for all help, but we need to help out because that creates peace and harmony between us and the rest of the world. No one is responsible, per say, of helping anyone out. We could have let Iraq burn to the ground by the actions of Saddam Hussein, but we decided to step in and try to create a working civil democracy for them.

I really appreciate what I have here in America. I hope Cambodians can find closure from all the disasters from the past. I loved researching this country because it opened my eyes to other things going on in the world today.

Bryant High Read The Net students completed a blog post about a third world country of your choice. My country was Cambodia, a country in South East Asia. I decided to write up 10 questions to really see how many students know about the world today.

I feel like these students will not really know what or where Cambodia is, or even any answers to these questions. I’m not saying the people I will ask are stupid, but only a few of us will have heard of something about Cambodia in the news.

To take this survey, click here.

Imagine living your life in danger. Everywhere you turn there are guns shooting off, children, men, and women being shot for their race, dead bodies all down the road…….

For many years, the Tutsi’s have had control over the Hutu’s in Rwanda due to the fact when the “white men”(a.k.a the Belgians)  left all these people with no government, no control, the “white men” left the high paid, white collar Tutsi’s in control, which of course upset the blue-collar, hardworking, lowest paid Hutu’s. Time took its toll when the Hutu’s decided to rebel against the Tutsi’s and plan a genocide. Genocide is the mass killing of a race or culture for no purpose at all. Hotel Rwanda gives us the perfect picture of what it was like to be in that situation.

Don Cheadle stars in this movie as Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu hotel manager who watches over a thousand refugees, mostly Tutsi’s, in his hotel. Hotel Rwanda shows his family’s fight to keep themselves and the refugees alive. I believe this movie has a big impact on all of us who watches it. There are scenes in this movie that just really make us open our eyes and see what was going on in Rwanda, but yet no one wants to really help. The actors in this movie played their parts better than I expected. It seemed like they took it seriously and tried to imagine the fear and danger of living through gunshots and innocent people getting beat to death every day.

Director Terry George uses specific scenes to point out certain themes or stories in the movie. My favorite scene was when Paul was standing out in the rain with no umbrella while the UN leaves them with nothing. To me, this scene was important because the only help they had was leaving thousands of refugees, and all anyone could do was stand there and watch as they left. These refugees knew that making it on their own was the main focus.

Overall, I LOVED this movie, I always have. This movie really opened my eyes to see what goes in a country. I hope one day we can all live in peace without killing each other or trying to wipe out a race. Rating for Hotel Rwanda is PG-13 and is 121 minutes.

Have you ever wondered what living in another country was like? How would you like to live in Italy, Sweden, Russia, India, China, etc.? Well, in Cambodia, it is a completely different culture than the United States. For example, Cambodians speak a language called Khmer. Khmer has 26 vowels and 33 constants! That’s insane compared to us Americans who have 5 vowels and 26 constants! Another part of Cambodian culture is religion. About 95% of Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists. Only a limited amount of books and memories are what is left after the Khmer Rouge destroyed most of everything and anything due to the worship of this religion. Cambodians are very optimistic and want to have peace and harmony in their lives, but don’t we all?! After all this country has been through, they have tried their best to make it work. Clothes have a Western style to them, simple, but not always modern. One thing that stood out to me was Cambodians are not commonly known to shake hands. It embarrasses women if attempted to shake their hand! I wonder what they would do if I tried to shake their hand?……………… Anyways, Most commonly they put hands, like in a prayer position, to the chest without touching the body. Higher the hands equals more respect. Like most countries, family is the significant part of life. Visits are even sometimes unannounced and quite frequent. A drink or some refreshment is served, and if staying for dinner, guests get the best seat in the house along with the best part of the food! Can you say Southern hospitality x 2! Cambodians enjoy various sports, such as soccer, volleyball, badmitton, and table tennis. Some villages have small “movie theatres”, but most of it was ruined in the 1980′s decay. Education is miminal because of the slow progression towards some type of system. Becoming a monk is about the only way a young man can get a decent education. Cambodians have 2 sources of food: soup and rice. Usually, seafood and fish dishes are prepared more than any type of beef or pork. Cambodia was called at one time “the cradle of rice” due to all the different varieties grown there. Maybe one day they can get it back together.

I probably wouldn’t mind visiting Cambodia for a week or so, just to see what it is like. It seems like Cambodians are very hospitable and all about peace and harmony, which I need more of!

Cambodia is a small country in Southeast Asia, located near Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. One good thing about Cambodia though is how much more arable land there is for crop growing, etc. 20.44% is farming land, compared to 18.01% for the USA and 10.57% for the world! But, with good comes bad. For example, only 73.6% of the population can read and write, unlike 99% for the United States and 82% for the world. Women do not have much education. Only 64.1% of women are literate, which 99% of women in the US can read and write, and 77% are literate on Earth today. Cambodia is more suspectible to diseases, such as malaria, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, bacterial and protozoal problems due to being close to water that is not pure. Cambodia’s government is a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy, meaning they do not have most of the freedoms we have here in the United States, since we are a constitutional-based federal republic. Also, this country is not technologically advanced such as some of the rest of the world or even the US!

These are some of the reasons why Cambodia is a third world country.

I feel like Twitter will not be that important to me because I never get on it. I have a facebook, myspace, and myyearbook, which I use on a daily basis to contact friends or find out what is going on in their lives. I do not believe I will use Twitter outside of this class because it’s too much work to have 4 of the same types of websites. I could see someone who didn’t want to type much or get more involved with blogging using Twitter, but for me, not of importance. Teachers have a great advantage when using this website because it’s maybe easier for them to use and can be used for educational purposes only without having all these weirdos messaging them about something completely irrevelant to the topic posted. Even with facebook, myspace, myyearbook, etc., I’m still careful on what I post because future co-workers and bosses could look at my profiles and say how I party too much so there is no future at their workplace or how I curse every second I speak, and that is definitely not professional when starting out in the real world. For others, Twitter could be a fantastic thing. For me, not so much.

http://mashable.com/2009/02/05/personal-branding-101/

I believe branding is important to me because of how I want people to perceive me as a hardworker and someone they can consider for a position later in life. When I get older, I hope to become a radiologist, so I feel like “branding” will be a good thing for me so medical professionals can say that I carry myself in a professional way. In my opinion, branding can be important for anyone who has high goals for themselves and wants to succeed in life.

” I’m just going to a friend’s house Mom. I won’t be long, I promise. I Love you”

You could be sitting here thinking everything would be ok when you let your 8 year old go down the street. In reality, they might never come back.

According to CNN, 8- year old Sandra Cantu walked into her California home, kissed her mother, and walked down to her friend’s house, which is where she was last seen. The search still continues for this little girl, 3 days later. What really caught my attention about this article is how there are less than 100 units in their mobile home park, and about 80, yes, 80 sex offenders within a 5- mile radius! Scary, right? I believe it’s more like…. terrifying, to know that this family never knew about the danger they were in when they moved to the park.

If i was a mother and letting my 8-year-old girl walk down the street, I would have at least walked down with her, and have the adult present call me when there was a plan change. Yes, I might not be the “coolest mom” ever for constantly following my kid around, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I hope moms and even families around this country realize what is happening to our kids almost every day. Child abductions, kidnappings, rape, assault, killings, the list could go on…. I hope we can be more careful about our surroundings and who we are near, because in Sandra’s case, we might never be back.

Now, I’m not saying a sex offender got a hold of her and killed her, but the possibility is very high. I mean, 80 sex offenders within a 5-mile radius? Come on, let’s think outside the box here. That was my first gut instinct without even finishing the bottom of this article! In order for us to be safe with our kids, I think a better inspection of our surroundings would be in play here. Also, walk with your kids, make sure they get to the destination ok, and have the friend’s parents call when there is a plan change.

” This is too much work to keep up with my kid(s)”, one mom or dad might say. Which would you rather have? Your child safe and you always aware, or, like Sandra, never come back from down the street? It’s your call.