IHSS Blog 2018-2019

Cidette Rice Mr.Roddy IHSS April 23rd, 2019 Supreme Court to Rule Whether or Not LGBTQ Workers are Protected Under Title VII     On April 22nd, 2019, the Supreme Court gathered to determine whether or not gay and transgender worker rights are protected by the anti-discrimination laws that protect employees from unjustified actions. These laws prevent employees from being fired, held back from promotions, and other work-related issues on account of their race, sex, color, religion or national origin. There have been cases of sexual orientation discrimination, which have voted in the employee’s favor, seeing as sexual orientation can be seen as a factor of sex, but activists say that that is not enough. Having a law that directly states no worker bias against LGBTQ workers would further prevent cases like Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman who worked at Garden City funeral home , who was fired after she she told them of her transition. The Supreme Court took her...

This year for my challenge project I will be focusing on our overuse and dependence on single-use plastics. Many cities have already begun to ban plastics because research has proved how these single-use products could contribute to our environments decline. Catherine and I have teamed up to create solutions for this issue together. Our plan is to contact local businesses and support them in creating plastic-free solutions. One idea is limiting the number of bags they hand out, and when a bag is needed to swap it for a recycled paper one. We will begin this by contacting organizations that have already begun to promote the plastic-free lifestyle. We hope to take advice on how we can spread the word as well as how we can get businesses involved. We have an ongoing list of professionals who have inspired our projects solution, a Rice University professor who teaches environmental studies, and some local Houston businesses who we would love to gain knowledge from. Catherine and I both h...

Blake Peterson Mr. Roddy IHSS 3 April 2019 Officers Assault on Black Men     Police brutality is a big issue in America. In Massachusetts a grand jury has recently charged 12 police officers assault and battery, after they attacked a group of four black men. The confrontation started in a local bar. It started when one of the men whistled to get the bartender's attention. The police officer thought he was whistling at his girlfriend. As the black men were walking out of the bar they were attacked by six of the officers. The victims were beaten and severely injured. The owners of the bar also tried to cover up the incident. The police were fired from their jobs. Since the incident the men have been paid 885,000 dollars to settle their lawsuit. It is terrible that police would do something like this. I think that the police should have received harsher punishment than just getting fired. People should be able to trust the police. They shouldn’t have to wonder if...

After thorough research and investigation on the topic of my challenge project, overpopulation, I    have been able to realize how I    intend to make a difference. First of all, I     plan to reach out to overpopulation awareness programs in an attempt to discuss with them the facts and threats of overpopulation, and how we can raise more awareness of the issue. Then, I    will attempt to contact schools or education programs or perhaps some organization even more well known, like the U.S. Congress, trying to talk about how we could incorporate education of overpopulation into sex education in schools, for lack of knowledge on safe sex and lack of knowledge about/access to contraceptives leads to many unwanted, accidental children, therefore greatly increasing our population when that really doesn't need to be happening. Ideally, I    would propose the idea to Congress in hopes of the proposal turning into ...

Izabella Curtis Mr. Roddy IHSS 15 April 2019 Problematic Pennies         My thoughts for engagement for my issue is to have an experiment and spread awareness about the problem with pennies. For my experiment I am going to get a group of 8 to 10 people who will log the amount of cash vs card they spend in 1-2 weeks. I am going to set up a google sheet and then compare the results through card vs. cash. I also am going to see who pays with change. I also want to make a poster to spread awareness. It is a small impact but it will be worth it.  

As of now, I'm not really quite sure of what I want to do for my engagement part of the project. I considered trying to find local group or activist organizations around autism,.but all I've really been able to find close to that are support groups or organizations whose goals don’t have enough in common with what i’d like to focus on in my project. From what I notice also, is that a lot of the autistic community is online.  So far, I believe my best bet is doing something revolving more around media. As of now, i think i want to make a website/blog.The pros to a website would be that I’d be able to incorporate different digital mediums such as video, writing, design, and such all in one thing. It will also be easier to advertise ,since all I’ll have to do is advertise the link. As far as accessibility goes, anyone can make and access a website. Since I’m not very tech savvy, I’ll certainly need help to make it, and figure out the ends and outs of operating a website. I’m thi...

Fabricio Guerra Mr. Roddy IHSS 15 April 2019 Challenge Project For my Challenge Project, I chose air pollution and water pollution for topics. Specifically, I focused on excess ozone at low altitudes and plastic in waterways. To start off, the reason I chose these topics was because of the ways I could engage in them, especially water pollution. My idea for resolution of waterway pollution was to go out and do some handwork with pollution there, and my main inspiration for this was in Middle School when we did just that. We mainly just walked around with garbage bags picking up plastic, but there ended up being a lot more plastic than I had anticipated so that made things not boring and it actually felt like I was doing something. My second proposal for engagement was for ozone pollution. Now, this was a hard one to come up with, since there isn't really much a 15-year-old high school student can do about pollution caused by the gas & oil industry and a couple million...

After detailed research, I realized that there weren't many impactful ways that I could impact or help the Kashmir conflict. One of the ideas I am considering is contacting the multiple out of state organizations, as there aren't any local ones, and helped them with their programs and events that are trying to help bring awareness and shed light on the Kashmir conflict. One of the ways I was thinking of working with them was to actively try to engage with them and become involved with their organization and eventually, participate with them in bringing awareness. I think this would be a good and feasible idea because there aren't many organizations that are actively trying to bring awareness to this Kashmir conflict, so I think it would be beneficial to contact and engage with them somehow. Another idea I had was to post my actual paper onto one of the blogs and news sites that are dedicated to this conflict, as it is a site where people post their own writings and articles...

I really like the idea of using a video to communicate my ideas with representatives. I feel like this gives the students and teachers a face to their name, and can move people more than just an essay or proposal could. I also like the idea of going abroad with the people I’m interviewing, as the way the education system is run differs so vastly between states. My mom had a student when she was a high school counselor, who is a family friend of ours, and who now teaches at a school in New York. New York has one of the best funded education programs in the United States, and I’d be interested to find out why from a first hand perspective. On an NPR map, New York spent much more per student than that of the national average. I think because of that I thought that their school system was somehow different than the rest of the states. But through more research I’ve found that it’s not the case; in fact, New York has one of the most segregated school systems in the country, leading me to w...

Thoughts on Engagement Not much consideration or thought has been given to the lack of enforcement towards service dog laws. Many people don’t know what a service dog is, what work they can provide or their importance to the people who rely on them. People are also unaware of how service dogs should behave when in public and the dangers that out of control pets can pose to working dog teams. Because of this, I think the biggest change I could make for the cause is by raising awareness. I have already created an Instagram page (@love.affinity) to document my process as I work to train my own service dog. This includes all the good and the bad. I have first hand experience when it comes to raising and training a prospective puppy and now that she has started some public access, I’m learning more and more what I’ll have to deal with as a service dog handler. This includes access issues, constant questioning (usually well intentioned) and loose pets. ...

     A lot of the problems that contribute to air pollution in Houston are pretty complicated and time consuming in regards to solving the problem. One of the biggest contributors to air pollution in Houston is motor vehicles and their output which is especially large in our city because it's a very car-dependent one. Another problematic contributor to air pollution are the many refineries and chemical plants that line the outside of the city. Just last month (during A-Term), chemical explosions have caused large amounts of carcinogens such as benzene to be released all at once and temporarily cause Air Quality Index (AQI) levels to be anywhere around 100 to 200 which is considered to be very unhealthy, to put into perspective, AQI levels usually range from 20 to 50 which is considered to be healthy and moderate.      Most of the people on my contact list were put there in hopes of being able to talk about the chemical explosions and how they affected Hou...

Charlie McGill IHSS Mr. Roddy 4.15.19 Thoughts On Engagement - Pet Overpopulation For all the contacts I picked out, I made sure that they were actively working on, or I could persuade them to work on, the issue of spay/neuter treatments. I believe that the best way to stop the issue of pet overpopulation is through spay/neuter treatments, specifically mandating these operations, and/or making them easier for lower income communities to have access to. That is how I’ll make a difference; I want to use my government contact to try and get laws passed that would force pet owners to neuter their pet, and I also want to work with organizations that are already making it easier for poorer people to get spay/neuter treatments, as they do great work. Now, I am aware that getting laws passed is a much harder process than writing an email, and to stay realistic I’m not expecting to mandate spay/neuter treatments. I want Sylvester Turner to think about the issue, if just that happens it’s a win...

My challenge project is on the topic of gun control. What I would like to do, is within our school, organize a walkout during the school day. This for us will raise awareness. But, while we are walking out, I will have flyers. These flyers will be from Nori Leder, who works for Lizzie Fletcher. The flyers will be a "fill in the blank" for our councilmen stating we want to change the gun laws, and we want it done now (or as soon as possible). I won't just hand out the flyers to those at our school, but to the people we pass on our route. We will ask them if they are interested in changing the gun laws, get their signature and fill in the blank, and then collect their response and keep going. If I can figure out a way to do it in electronic form that would probably be much easier.

Thoughts on Engagement Recently, antibiotic resistant bacteria has been emerging in numerous cities in the US, and multiple different countries. These super bugs have created a threat that could cause a death toll at about ~130 million deaths per year by 2050. Luckily, we have weapon of our own, which could completely prevent this from happening.  Bacteriophages, or “Phages” for short, are the deadliest organism in the world, and are specialized killers of bacteria. There are 10 to the 31st power (10^31) of them in the world, and there are about 2 billion of them on you right now There are also thousands of different types of phage. A phage is a very simple organism, the head or top of it is an icosahedron, which holds phage DNA. The tail hold a hypodermic needle which is used to inject its DNA into its preferred bacterial prey. The leg fibers are used for navigating its local environment, and latching on to its chosen victim.  The process of a phage killing a cell of bac...

After extensively researching my topic, robots in the workforce, I have determined that robots themselves are not entirely the problem. Robots working on monotonous jobs, possibly such as jobs in factories, will most likely replace humans. But this can be combated by more education and possibly different education. With the rise of technology, many more STEM jobs could be created, maybe to even help with robot development. At least in this period of time, autonomous systems do not have the ability to think creatively yet, so as long as we put more of a focus on jobs that require more thinking, development could rise, with the help of robots. Yes, there is the short term job loss, but we need to be forward thinking. By alerting people about possibly losing their jobs in 5 years, they have time to decide how to learn skills that will become more sought after in the future. I could take part is some of this, maybe by starting an Instagram page or some other social media plat...

For my Challenge Project I did Obesity, with a focus on Houston. We as a city have struggled with this problem for decades but recently we have had some success. The implementation of Go Healthy Houston has proven succesful but there are still a number of problems with our city. Walking and biking to work is extremely difficult in most areas and our metro system is poor to say the least. Making the metro more accessible and operate in other areas would be great but that’s an unrealistic solution for me as an individual. I want to make an impact by encouraging people to bike and walk around Houston. Bike Lanes are still being made but there are still numerous bike routes around Houston and there are plenty of sidewalks you can walk on. If your workplace isn’t in walking or biking distance, you can still go for a walk or bike in the afternoon. I believe that the best way to get people into biking and walking is to inform them about it. Biking as well as walking burns hundreds of calories...

Prison reform has been an important issue in the United States and in Texas for many years. Prison reform is also a very broad issue which involves many different things such as the justice system, laws, how prisons are run, and conditions of prisons. For my challenge project, I mainly focused on the issue of prison overcrowding, which has been an escalating issue across the U.S. We currently have more prisoners than any other country in the world. This has been causing serious issues with spacing in prisons and the conditions of these overcrowded prisons. This is why many people want to focus on decarceration in prisons and changing punishments for certain crimes. Unfortunately, there is not an easy one-fix solution for overcrowding. Many people believed that decriminalizing drug-related crimes would fix this issue. Although it would decrease the number of incarcerated people in the U.S., it would not make enough of a difference. To make a significant difference, you would have to cha...

Thoughts on Engagement There are multiple things I would like to do to make an impact in suicide prevention. One of the things I am considering doing is making flyers that give facts about suicide and that have the suicide hotline number as well as local places people can go to get help. Another idea I have is to make bracelets or keychains to bring awareness to suicide, and I would donate the money I make from them to a nonprofit in Houston that helps with suicide prevention.  Something I could do that I think would make a big impact in suicide prevention would be to educate people about suicide, prevention of it, and how to help people dealing with suicidal thoughts. I could do this by making a presentation or an social media post. Something else that I think would make an impact would be interviewing people who have had suicidal thoughts or have lost someone to suicide and see what they say helped them. I think this would be a good way to tell people how to help if someone th...

Brooks Farish Action Plan - Prison Reform I feel I confidently understand the topic of prison reform and the many issues and solutions it has. The reformation of prisons is a task that is not new to the United States or the greater part of the world. My challenge project covers a good sum of that history as well as the failers in our modern society to adapt and apply new idea’s. For the solution part of this topic, there are many approaches. Low-risk/minor offense criminals is a large focus of my project and my solution. Somewhere I want to start is with alternative punishment for minor offense criminals which consist of probation, restitution, community service, and/or rehabilitative service. Just these few methods statistically prove more effective and would greatly benefit prisons and the U.S. Sadly these changes refer more towards sentencing reform in which my group members and I alone would have a very hard time impacting. I believe a large part of the solution is educating the...

In my paper, I wrote a lot about how one of the reasons the budget is wanted to be cut is because people believe the parks are not as well utilized, especially by the younger generations. Because of this, I think I want to base my solutions around getting our generation more aware and more involved in the national parks. The parks are trying to do this already with their Junior Ranger program, but this is more specifically geared towards very young children, the teenagers are the ones who are disinterested in the parks. One idea I plan on doing is simply making pamphlets or brochures to print out, hand out, and email to people that show a list of top national parks, most popular and the ones closest to Houston and Texas in general. It would show different parks that are easily accessible and recommended ones by people. This would include pictures and little notes about each of the parks and would probably also talk a little about what the National parks are and why they are important. ...

For the challenge project, my issue is mass shootings and gun control in America. The United States has the highest number of mass shootings out of any other country, which is mainly because of our lax gun control laws. While doing my research, I learned many of the different statistics about gun control, and how out gun control is compared to the rest of the world. For the issue, I think that the main thing that I can do is raise awareness. Of course I can't do anything major to impact the state of gun control America right now, but I can certainly try to raise awareness about mass shootings and advocate for gun control. The main message that I would want to let everybody know is that mass shootings are preventable, and that gun control isn't necessarily a bad thing. Once I am done asking my contacts about what steps should be taken to prevent mass shootings, I was planning on putting up posters, as well as setting up a website with some statistics and other such information ...

Adrian Perez IHSS Mr. Roddy 14 March 19 Thoughts of Engagement The topic I chose was Illegal Immigration and Immigration in general. I chose this because I feel that as an expanding country, and with our current president Donald Trump, we need to help those in need, and with many threats of a wall being built, we need to address this as soon as possible to help those people. I can only imagine the struggles that immigrants have to face every day so I would love to be able to be the voice for those people. Especially the struggles for the people who had to come here in the most dangerous ways. My action plan to be able to help people, would be to contact many different organization that is helping with Immigration, and give them a survey asking questions like, “What the organization as a whole do?” and “How have yall really benefited?”. With these questions, we will share it to the class. As well, we will ask what we can do to be able to help, other than compiling data. With...

My challenge project is about our use of single-use plastics. Plastics are non-degradable, mostly used only once, and found almost everywhere from grocery store bags to restaurant straws. Every plastic item ever made will eventually just accumulate in a landfill since it cannot deteriorate. This poses environmental issues as landfills overflow and toxins released from the plastic waste drain out into the groundwater then flow into rivers, and oceans affecting both humans and animals. My thoughts on engagement would be to raise awareness about this issue, offer alternatives, and get people to reduce the amount of plastic they consume. Many cities in the U.S have passed bans on items such as plastic bottles or plastic bags. Although banning all types of plastic in Houston would be an amazing solution, we have to be realistic about the amount of change we can actually make. I have paired up with Emily, who is also working with this issue and together we hope to address the plastic solutio...

As parents continue choosing not to vaccinate their child, they are putting not only their child at risk but are also putting entire communities in danger of being exposed to fatal diseases. As this uneducated decision is becoming more and more prevalent,  I believe that the first step in making a change is through education on how immunizations work and what makes them successful. Vaccinations  are small amounts of dead (or weakened) proteins of particular diseases or infections. When injected with this small amount, your body uses white blood cells called antibodies to trace the antigens and mirror their characteristics, hence disarming the antigen as they surround it. Now that the vaccine has enabled the body to form antibodies, the chance of acquiring that disease in a real-life scenario is lessened. Despite parents' beliefs, vaccinations have a low chance of causing reactions or unexpected symptoms and will not harm the child - they keep a child from being harme...

Andreas Cantu Mr. Roddy IHSS April 11 2019 Action Plan  For my challenge project I decide to look into gang violence in Houston. My reason for this was because I new nothing about but after looking into I learned that it is actually a much bigger problem then I realized, and that where my challenge project will take its course. While I was researching I learned that I was not the only person who did not know how prominent and dangerous gangs are in Houston and with that information I started wondering how I could help inform the people of Houston that these areas contain gang violence and if they choose to go to the area they should just be aware of the issue. I think that the awareness of this issue really needs to be spread because, many people have died due gang violence by just being in the wrong place at wrong time. So My partner Tyler and I have decided that something that could really help fix problem like this and spread awareness would be maps, so we will be mass p...

Henry Quillin Dr. Ott Science 12 April 19 Initial Action Plan Reflection Homelessness is a huge problem in the United States and in our community, and the homeless population is something that we should strive to bring down. The effects of homelessness consist of not getting enough food and water, sleeping in cold/unsafe weather, bad hygiene, bad mental health, and many more problems that they have to face every day.  Living on the streets is very detrimental to one’s appearance, and that in turn makes it very hard to find employment. The more that someone sleeps without a home, the harder it is to find a job. This is why so many people are suffering from chronic homelessness that they cannot get out of. I think that the best way for me to make a difference is to volunteer at an organization that is geared towards helping homelessness. Working with an organization like the Beacon or Loaves and Fishes would be more effective than me trying to do some sort of independent pr...

Perjhing Mardani April 12, 2019 IHSS Mr. Roddy Global warming is a serious issue, and I strive to make a difference in our community and attempt to reduce it. I have done a lot of research, and have found several ways people can reduce their impacts on climate change. These simple tasks are not difficult to achieve. If everyone would put a little work into reducing their impact, our world would be a much better place. For my project I would like to first off educate my peers and family members on the specifics of how global warming is affecting us and why it is important that we take action soon. If we do not, in 200 years we may not have an earth to live on. Some ways to reduce climate change is using less water. These tasks are simple and can be done in your home everyday. Turning off your sink when you brush your teeth, take shorter showers, and many more ways. Reducing energy as well, turning off the lights when you are not in the room. Using clean energy, a way to take ...

Justin Patera Mr. Roddy IHSS 11 April 2018 For my project (public transportation in Houston) I am not quite sure how I can directly affect the issue especially as a high school student. My current plan is to contact the mayor and some of his employees to see what Houston is currently doing to help support the issue. I want to look into the issues future by seeing what the city is planning to do to minimize the problem. I also however want to do a study of my own. You had mentioned this to me in class about how I could compare the different modes of transportation that Houston offers. For example, I pick a starting point, (A) and an ending point (B) and I use Houston’s public transportation, a car and walk to see which method gets me there the fastest. This is really not only to see which is most practical in terms of mode of transportation but also to see how effective and efficient Houston’s own public transportation. If possible, I would like to show this small study to the...

Tyler Holland My challenge project originally started out as gang violence and how it is different in rural versus urban areas, and after a lot of collaborating with Andreas, who was also doing a gang related topic, we are focusing on gang violence in Houston in different communities. We did a lot of research on gang violence in Houston and how it is affecting the environment. We also found a lot of articles, and while we used the information in them, we also found a lot of author's phone numbers and put those on our separate contact lists. We have decided to create a map for our final project, we have already called a couple of people on our lists and we are starting to collect data about the whereabouts of gangs and where violence usually takes place to find out what areas are highly "gang populated". we are going to use this information to create a map of the local Houston area and find out about how aware people are of what kind of gang activity takes place in their...

Learning about my topic, childhood trauma was extremely informing and eye-opening. After learning about it, I was so inspired to do something about it and that is why one of my goals in taking action is to inspire others to want to make a difference. While researching my topic, childhood trauma, I came in contact with Shawn Nemith who is the founder and CEO of the Chester Street Foundation- an organization that brings awareness to childhood trauma so that children can receive the treatment they deserve. Shawn is also a survivor of childhood trauma and has a lot of insight into the long term effects of childhood trauma. The first step I took in taking action was to attend TraumaTALKs given by Shawn and some experts on childhood trauma. These gave me more information on the subject for my next step, hosting one of these TraumaTALKs. I will be hosting this TraumaTALK on May 9, 2019, and Shawn will come and speak about a mix of his personal story of childhood trauma and the facts of it su...

Asher Forman Mr. Roddy IHSS 11 April 2019 Thoughts of Engagement      The problem that I chose to focus on is homelessness/poverty in the Houston area. This a big problem in Houston as there are so many people that are suffering from homelessness and have no idea of how to get out it. Everywhere people are sitting on the streets, going from shelter to shelter, and scrounging up any food they can get their hands on. Now, this is where my plan of action comes into play for helping the homeless. My idea was to help educate the homeless on necessary things depending on their level of education and how much they already know. Once this is done, the next step would be trying to find a job interview for that person so they could have a stable income. Although an important part about going to a job interview is to make sure that the person is properly dressed. This means having tidy clothes and to overall be cleaned up. People suffering from homelessness might not have the...

Participation in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is mandatory in Israel for both men and women. Men are required to serve for three years and women are required to serve for twenty one months. They are drafted into the military after they finish high school, it is often viewed as a "rite of passage" and an influential part of their lives. They form a unique sense of responsibility and create a sense of security for the rest of the country. It becomes a part of an Israel person's identity and gives them all something to relate to. Even it the didn't enjoy the experience, they still feel a sense of unity and connection with all the others who served. There are exemptions for people with contradicting religious values such as the ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews, which has resulted in a lot of conflict. Those who are living overseas, young people who are already committed to a career, and people with a criminal record may also decide not to participate, but with the increase o...

There is currently a major civil rights issue around the imprisonment and abuse of Uighur, Kazakh, and other types of Muslim minorities in China. China has always been a homogenous and xenophobic country, and their treatment of their perceived outsiders isn’t know for being particularly good, however, the government’s systematic imprisonment of Muslim minorities reaches an all new level. China has been attempting to purge cultural and religious identity that they see as a threat to the Chinese Communist party, since their values might prevent them from giving the unchallenged loyalty to the party that the government demands. Just some rules put in place in attempt to stifle Islamic identity and practice is the banning of headscarves, beards, religious teaching to children,and even Muslim sounding names. The passports of Muslim-Chinese citizens have also been revoked, preventing them from being able to escape the country. As of 2014, the Chinese government has been imprisoning Chinese ...

Venezuela has so much oil that it should be one of the richest countries but unfortunately, due to communism, there are many people starving, revolting, and dying. This is all thanks to the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro. He is said to be widely condemned for overseeing one of the worst human rights crises in the country’s history. Venezuelan citizens are trying their best to cope with major food shortages, as well as hyperinflation. Studies show that almost seventy five percent of venezuelans are suffering from weight loss and unemployment. These statistics are supposed to go up by thirty two percent by the year 2022. If Maduro isn’t stopped and the economic policies of the country not changed, many people are expected to starve, be without jobs, and unfortunately die.  Amnesty International said the crisis in the South American nation had reached it’s breaking point. Venezuela is a perfect example of why communism does not work. There is another person that the United Stat...

A civil rights issue that nobody brings up is the online and real life censorship, among other civil rights issues, occurring in China right now. Since President Xi Jinping took office around 5 years ago, human rights offenses have been on the rising and show no sign of stopping. President Jinping is supposed to stay in power until 2022, but outside countries aren’t doing much to help out Chinese citizens. Recently, the government increased its online censorship to strengthen its control over mass media, and what can be taught in schools. Schools and state media constantly praise the president and his party, the Chinese Communist Party. The government doesn’t only hold control over the media through censorship, they also are able to broadcast whatever they want. Throughout 2017, China broadcast the trials of human rights defenders, including foreigners, and of course showed them to be guilty of terrible crimes. However, the government forced confessions out of plaintiff witnesses thr...

Chinese 'Boarding Schools' against Muslim Minority      China's westernmost province, Xinjiang, has a large population of a Muslim minority called the Uighurs. Ever since China's claim to this western land in 1949 when Mao Zedong won the civil war against the Nationalist party for control of the government, the Uighur population has been discriminated against and have certainly been given a lesser place in society. Recently, something very interesting was discovered and that were re-education camps located in Xinjiang for Muslim minorities. These camps soon became an internationally recognized problem and China was shamed for its violation of human rights. The United States has threatened the Communist Party with sanctions if these aren't removed soon, and some countries have even called these camps concentration camps. Surprisingly China has admitted to having these reeducation camps, however completely denies the fact of labeling them as 'concentration'...

I am unsure whether this is more human rights than civil rights or if they are the same thing but either way this is a “rights” issue so I went ahead and blogged about it. The civil rights of women in Saudi Arabia are almost to completely neglected under their oppressive male guardianship system. Saudi women’s lives are controlled by a man from their birth to their death, allowing them no rights to individual opinions or decisions. Their civil rights are slighted in multiple aspects such as healthcare, education, voting, free speech, and safety. As Saudi Arabia is a male dominant society, the woman have little say in their own lives and much less on political affairs. They have no freedom of speech and their vote is considered insignificant. Furthermore, women’s education is compromised in the sense that, unlike the men, the women require guardian approval to study abroad and in many cases must then be accompanied by a male guardian throughout their studies abroad. The women often can...

A current and ongoing civil rights issue is the equality of women and women's rights in Saudi Arabia, because they are not being respected as being equal human beings to men, and as there are now more activists campaigning for equality rights for women, they are instead being imprisoned. One specific story is of 3 Saudi Arabian women who were jailed last year for campaigning  to lift the driving ban and to dismantle the restrictive guardianship laws. As of March 2019, these 3 women,  Rokaya Mohareb, Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Nafjan, have been released and their trials are now moving through criminal court, but the conditions of their release are unknown. The 11 women, including Rokaya, Aziza, and Eman, appeared before a three-judge panel, where in the second session, they alleged that they were sexually abused tortured throughout their imprisonment, which lead one woman to attempt suicide, due to the mistreatment They also testified that they had been subjected to caning, el...

Ren Shimada IHSS Mr. Roddy 3 April 2019 Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar The acts of discrimination towards the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has been an ongoing issue for many years and one that I have been following for a little over a year. This situation Myanmar: located next to China, Laos, Thailand, and the Bay of Bengal; has been one of the largest issues around the world when it comes to indigenous rights and discrimination and the issue has escalated to the point where the UN considers the situation an act of ethnic cleansing and have to monitor the conditions in the previous year. The Rohingya people, who are an indigenous group in Myanmar, have been fleeing Myanmar because the government and people of Myanmar have been killing, raping, torturing them, and burning down their villages. One of the reasons that the Rohingya people are facing discrimination is because Myanmar does not recognize them as native peoples or really as people at all. In the past few years, over one millio...

John Mazziotti April 3rd, 2019 IHSS Mr. Roddy Civil Rights Blog Human Trafficking Human trafficking is the second largest illicit industry in the whole world, the average yearly revenue from all of its multiple different assets is 150 Billion dollars. The popular categories that are defined as “Human Trafficking” are: Forced labor, Slavery, Organ Donation, Sex Trafficking, etc. The number of people affected is at an unimaginable number today. Every year, 600,000-800,000 people are captured and are put into this trade, 80% being female, 20% being children. The most popular trafficking method that is used by numerous cartels are for construction. In Florida, the 3rd most popular state for human trafficking, 1 in 7 teenagers who runaway from home, will be captured and placed into some form of human trafficking system. Since 2005 a Florida non-profit organization by the name of “The Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking”, have been assisting these victims with housing, househ...