Am i Racist

I'm glad to say I'm not racist!... said by the Implicit Association Test. After a series of questions and tests my result was, "you have no automatic prefference between African Americans and White Americans." The test is very confusing, but i can see how it works and how its affective. The test matches good and bad with different ethnicities, and you must put the right word or picture in the right spot. The test records how many you get right and when you get it wrong, it looks at why you might have gotten in wrong. Lets say you match up bad words with African Americans when its supposed to be bad words in a different category, the test would take that information and would say that this person identifies African Americans with these bad words.  During the test i was getting frustrated because it was making me feel like i was supposed to be racist, for example when bad words and African Americans were on one side, i was affiliating the two with each other because i had to.
I think that my results from the test are because of how i was raised in my family and in Deerfield. The website, tolerance.org, said that, "Social scientists believe children begin to acquire prejudices and stereotypes as toddlers. Many studies have shown that as early as age 3, children pick up terms of racial prejudice without really understanding their significance." If this is true, then it would be almost impossible to stop prejudice and racism in this nation alone. If we as a nation want to seriously try to put a stop the racism then we need to make many small steps, such as working together in communities to fix the problem.

Issue #4 Can your parents discipline you however they see fit?

Sadly, the law does not protect children from their own parents. "The U.S Constitution doesn't require states to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens from the acts by private individuals." The judge in the case of state v. Arnold said that, "parents right to discipline his or her child 'clearly has his limits.' When they're exceeded, the parent may be criminally liable." The question that we now have to answer is: what is the 'limit" on disciplining a child?

Issue #3 Can you dye your hair or wear a nose-ring to school?

A 15 year old boy Robert Olff was told that he could not go to class until he cut his hair. In the school rule book, their were hair rules for males but not females. The Olff's sued the school for not letting him have freedom of expression. The court ruled in favor of Robert Olff because the U.S. Constitution protects the freedom to determine your own hairstyle and personal appearance. This is also the same with religious expressions because the right to have religious expressions is also covered by the U.S. Constitution. Now here's a quick thought: Should private schools be able to take away more freedoms than a public school?

Issue #2 school drug testing

Students and parents today are getting offended and angry with school districts wanting to randomly drug test athletes. In protest Jimmy Acton sued his school district for wanted to drug test him, the Acton's said that the drug test was an unreasonable search and seizure. The court ruled in favor of the school district because their was probably cause for starting the random drug testing. The goal of the testing was to lower drug use in athletes. something that the book said that i found interesting was, "... the U.S. Supreme Court considereed a student's expectation of privacy. You surrender some privacy when you go to school. Your parents turn over temporary custody to the school, for education and disciplinary purposes when necessary." By trying out for a school team and participating, you are surrendering even more privacy rights because you must give forth insurance information, a physical exam, and change in front of others in the locker room.
Many students believe that drug testing for extracurricular activities is too much as well. The court believes that because these activities are voluntary, it justifies the rule. In my own opinion, just like the students here i would also be angry and frustrated. But, because your volunteering to do the sport(s) for your school, you are  surrendering your privacy and also volunteering to follow the rules.