Second Peer Blog Response

Katherine, you have chosen a very interesting topic to blog about! While reading the first notes you took about what seemed to be on a movie, I was extremely interested, interested about what these kids have had to go through. I had always thought there was at least homeless shelter in these kinds of communities, but I guess I was wrong. I was shocked at the amount of foster homes these kids have gone through, with either being taken away from them or just simply running away. Now although the notes were very detailed and I thought that they were very good, they were just simply too long. If there was any way to cut back and maybe condense some parts together, that would make it not as extensive and not as arduous. Another thing that may not actually help your writing but it may help the reader would be the text colors and fonts. The text color for your notes is the same color of your background just extremely light, which for me makes it hard to read, and as for the fonts, they are changing in almost every other blog post whether it's smaller or if it's a completely different font. I think that by making some of these changes to your blog it would help a little bit.
As for the responses, like Kelsey said, it seems that you're just repeating everything you say in your notes which makes it kind of pointless. If you to just discuss how you felt about the topic of the article or how you felt about a movie, it would dramatically change the way your responses are put together. I found that the sources used were wonderful, using movies, books, articles, magazines, and databases this helps with extensive knowledge and maybe the opinions and viewpoints of other people who have experienced it.
All and all I found that what you have done for this blog is great, I found the topic interesting, especially when being told from the viewpoints of kids that have had it happen to them.

Your topic was very interesting. I admired the fact that you chose this topic when most people tend to look the other way and ignore this worldwide problem. Your notes very detailed and thorough, giving the reader a good review of the facts you have aquired. My only advice would be to add more concrete facts into your notes. Of course the real life stories make this topic come across more dangerous and intense, although when you write a statistic it tends to back up your story.
The responses were very well done also. I thought it was interesting how you saw the responses as a chance to develop your notes to a more complex level. However, don't forget to write your personal thoughts and review about the source for every response.
The development of your topic is very well done and I did feel like each set of notes brought a new idea to the table. It would show that you have a deeper understanding of the topic if you were to occasionally write your own personal opinions on the matter.
I did not find any connections in this particular topic, however I could see people reading these notes and finding many connections.
Blog organization is very good, colors are fine and citations are complete and correct. Your responses and notes are titled correctly, and overall, your blog was very well done.

Second Peer Blog Responce

This is so cool that your researching this. I knew that slave trade was a big issue but the facts are eye opening! When I read about how so many of our official are unaware about this I was shocked. I would have thought that there would be more places for people to go to but there isn’t. All the facts that you have posted are really interesting. I was shocked to find out how many children are in slavery just in the United States! I think your asking really good questions and I think that this will continues to lead you in the direction that you want to go with your iSearch.

You said that “words and phrases in italics are information that needs to be looked up for further details”, I don’t understand; almost everything is in Italics.

In your responses you have a tendency to repeat almost all your notes again. If you have your notes in your notes post and your responses in you response post we would be able distinguish what you think about the issue and what the notes are.

Also maybe it’s just me but I’m getting confused between all of your different font sizes and types. Some posts are in the same font and some are different. It’s hard to distinguish what is what.

Second Peer Blog Response

The blog itself was well organized, easy to read, and all of the posts were there, as well as the citations. What I liked most about your blog though, was all the different sources of information you used. This made it more interesting to read. Your responses were also well thought out and you seemed truly interested in your topic and in finding out more. The notes you took were extensive and were easy for me to understand, even though I knew nothing about your topic. If it were possible to find an interview with someone who has been through sex-trafficking, I think that would be very interesting. Overall, great work so far.

girlhood- RESPONSE

The movie “girlhood”, although didn’t pertain directly to my topic, taught me a lot about how other people my age are living and what might, in the end, lead them to a life of sex trafficking. It also put my life in great perspective. Comparing myself to Megan, my mom seems wonderful! While her mother is constantly being put in jail and yelling at Megan, my mom is bringing me shopping and asking me about my day. Although I feel terrible for Megan’s situation, especially because it most definitely led to who she is today, it made me feel happier about where my life is now in comparison. Shanae’s story seems even more terrible than Megan’s (although they are of-course both horrific). Can you believe being twelve years old and killing your best friend!? And then to top it off being ripped away from you family for almost four years?! I personally believe at that young an age she should have gone into intensive residential therapy rather than being punished. All and all girlhood was one of the most interesting documentaries I have ever seen and would recommend it to all who have an open mind.

girlhood- NOTES

-in the US during the last decade, the number of young girls committing violent crimes has more than doubled

-this movie follows the lives of two girls living in the city Baltimore, Maryland

    >true story

-the girls’ are named Shanae and Megan

    >Shanae was 12 when she stabbed her friend three times in a fight

    >Megan is 16 now, she grew up in foster care and has been arrested on runaway and assault charges

-this film follows Megan and Shanae for three years as they come of age, both in juvenile institutions and at home on the street

1999:

-Megan and Shanae are locked up at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Maryland

-they both have open-ended sentences. this means that they will be released based on their behavior and family circumstances

-about a dozen girls sit in a community discussion dressed in an obvious uniform of light gray sweatshirts and sweatpants

-there are a few women leading discussion (dressed in colorful attire)

-Shanae is 14 and wants to leave the facility for she believes she is missing out on life

    >she has been their for two years already and hates that people see her for her     sentence and not who she truly is

    >she says she wants her mother (like a puppy)

    >she has been at Waxter longer than any other girl

    

    >on Shanae’s birthday she has a birthday party

        ~she cries because she is so happy

        ~the girls start a dance party- they look like any other teenagers

    >on her birthday Shanae has reached enough points to live with her mother on     the weekends

        ~Shanae tells her parents that the girl she killed has the easiest part of all

        ~her parents tell her their goal isn’t to get her home, it’s to make sure she         wont hurt anyone and no one will hurt her, they are reticent thats ever         going to happen and don’t want her home

        ~when she returns on Monday she must be stripped searched

    

-Megan is 16

    >she tells the camera she misses her little sisters the most and that her mother is     locked up, like her, in a jail

        ~she says in a joking yet serious manner that her mom will get out of jail         soon, but in the matter of a few weeks be back in jail again

        ~her mother gets locked up for “gettin’ high and prostitution”

    >when asked where she will go when she gets released she says that she has     no where to go

        ~she has lived in eleven foster homes, run away from ten of them and was         taken from the eleventh

        ~she says every time she runs away she looks for her mother on the         streets she says “i love my mother, i would die for her”

        ~she was five when her mother was first arrested so she and her little         sisters went to live with their grandma, but they were soon brought into         foster care

        ~on visiting day she wants her grandmother to come- she doesn’t (even         though she says she would

            + “i swear nobody loves me”

    >she has a tattoo on her right arm

    >megan is clearly depressed

    >megan doesn’t go one day without getting in trouble

2000:

-Shanae is still in rehab although she is now being reviewed to possibly be released

    >she tells a board of people she “had to stab her” [her friend] although she is     guilty of her death, she does not regret it though

    >shanae’s therapist says although her mother is quite loving she is “not ready for     Shanae to come right home

        ~Shanae looks sad about this-nobody wants her

    >when asked what Shanae thinks should “happen to her now” she smiles and     says “I wanna go home” but “she knows thats not possible”

    >is it decided that she will go to a less intense treatment program in a few     months, before returning home

        ~Shanae gets an interview at one of these facilities

            +she has mixed feelings

            +at the interview it gets uncovered that she was raped at 11 by five             different people and became pregnant

            +she gets accepted into the facility and is overjoyed to be leaving             but she is clearly hurt to be leaving so many of her friends and a             part of her, despite this she is ready

-Megan receives a card from her mother and has to ask an adult to read it to her

    >after hearing the card she says she didn’t expect to hear from her mom ever again because she hasn’t heard from her in two years

-Megan says “there is no reason for me to be here, all I do is take up a bed”

    >Megan is in Juvi for attempt at murder with a murderous weapon, a box cutter

-Megan continues to get in trouble everyday-she doesn’t seem to understand

-people tell her she’s going to end up just like her mother- she rebuts saying “i already have

-Megan tries to escape

    >she gets caught

    >Megan wanted to leave to see her mother, she says shed “do anything for her”

-Megan gets evaluated and says that if she stays her any longer she will “loose her mind”

    >she gets released (I DONT UNDERSTAND) to foster care

    >their reasons is that they believed she was “spinning her wheels here” {Waxter}     and the only way they could get you to live act properly is to take a risk and     release her

    >she says is will register when she sees her mother

    >one week later her foster mother is concerned about her

        ~Megan has been hanging out with men who sell drugs

        ~she is floating on thin ice as she is not following her foster mother’s rules

-Megan goes to visit her mother- it is clear she loves her mother and is quite worried about her

-Megan and Miss Harrison (her foster mother) don’t get along so Miss H agrees to let Megan with with an adult friend of hers if she checks in with her periodically

2001:

-Megan’s mother is off drugs and has been working since she was released from jail

-Her mother wants Megan to go into counseling

    >she is taking drugs (prescription) and doing drugs (weed)

-She is now living at her aunts house (her 8th house since she has been released)

-When asked is she had three wishes what would they be, she hesitates for awhile but in the end replies “i don’t know what i would wish for, i don’t know, their aint so sense in wishin or nothin’ ”

-three months later Megan and her friend get their own apartment

    >her mother does NOT approve

-Megan says that she has started school

-Megan sees her mother and it is clear that her mother is back on “dope”

    >Megan says she never wants her mother to see her again and she is “no longer     her mother”

    >Megan says she “aint nothin’ liker her mother cuz she wants somethin out of her     life and her mom don’t”

-Megan says that her father said he wishes she was never home

-Shanae gets released to go home!

-Shanae says her mother is the only person she could not live without

-Later in the summer Shanae’s mother is rushed to the hospital with heart problems

and one week after that she dies

2002:

-Shanae is fourth in her class

-She is going to her prom (in a limo)

-Shanae will be attending community college

    >she plans to major in psychology and the law

-Megan is back living with her aunt and going to counseling through Social Services

-Her mother is back in prison

When No One is Looking (Part One)- RESPONSE

    Over the past few weeks the New York Time has been doing a series on children sex trafficking around the world. Just a few weeks ago they came out with a short two part documentary online about the numbers of runaway children increasing and the likeliness of them being trapped in or willingly going into child prostitution. This short film is called “When No One is Looking” and is an eye opener to what is going on in our back yards.

    One of the most surprising facts found in the video was the fact that the children who have grown up on the streets are actually much better off than the runaways. Since it was always their life, they know nothing better. They have developed strategies for survival and no how to get along on their own. These basic lifestyles must be learned by the increasing number of runaways, and rather quickly.

    A girl named Nikki who is now seventeen can relate to this quite well. Although her story is different than most, one can still learn a lot from her triumphs. After her parents lost their house she grew up in due to a pile up of medical bills they moved to a trailer park a few towns over. Wanting to finish high school, Nikki got a job and slowly paid off her parent’s debt why attending school. Her overall goal was to attend college as none of her family members had ever done. Unfortunately, this objective slipped away from her quickly as she lost her job. Her water and gas were shut off. She was forced to have to search trashes for food. Despite all the difficulties, Nikki strived to stick it out and learn how to survive no matter what. Although she was street savvy and knew how to get by, she left her parents at far too young an age and is thus still a child. Nikki has found that the simple things in life are what she misses the most.

    Nikki recalls knowing many children her age, and younger, who live in Hawthorn Park near her house. Unfortunately, compared to these kids, Nikki is quite well off. Hawthorn Park is much like a homeless hangout. Here teens look out for each other, like a small community. The most astonishing of these children names is Clinton, who is now eighteen. Clinton has grown up on the streets, particularly in Hawthorn park, since he was twelve. He acts as a father figure for both the new and experienced runaways. He teaches these friends how to get along, such as how to hide their belongings, make a tent, what berries, plants, and mushrooms are OK to eat, how to hide from the police, etc. as all these things must become second nature to the runaways.

    One of these runaways nicknames is Bug. When Bug first arrived at Hawthorn Park, Clinton talked her into returning home for about a week. It was short lived though for her mom soon kicked her out of the house and she returned to the park. Bug told the New York Times how her mother used to hit her repeatedly after promising she would no longer. It’s scary to hear her say this, as she says it like it is no big deal and just the way life is. When truly life should be like this for no one.

   

    These three young adult’s lives develop along with other stories into “When No One is Looking- Part Two”. I am so pleased that the New York Times is having these stories and increasing people’s awareness to this growing epidemic. I look forward to reading and watching more and I encourage you to follow them a well.

When No One is Looking (Part One)- NOTES

-some kids grow up on the street so they know how to survive

-others runaway from home and have to fight to live

-over the past two years government officials have seen an increasing number of runaways

-a girl Nikki is now seventeen and her story is different than most

    >after her parents lost the house she grew up in due to a pile up of medical bills

    >wanting to finish high school (rather than move with her parents) she got a job and continued living in the house

    >soon Nikki lost her job

        +her water and gas were shut off

        +she was unable to find food and living was difficult

        +despite this Nikki strived to stick it out and learn how to survive on her own no matter what

        +her over all goal was to better herself and eventually go to college as no one else in her family had done before her

        +although she was street savvy she left her home far too early and is still a child

        +Nikki has found that the simple things in life are what she misses the most

-as the economy worsens the number of children have been seen living on the streets or on their own (like Nikki) has grown

-Nikki recalls knowing many children her age, and younger, who live in Hawthorn park near her house

    +compared to these teens, Nikki is quite well off

-Hawthorn park is like a homeless hang out

    >here teens look out for each other like a small community, sticking out for each other and giving new comers a roof over their head for a few nights

    >a boy named Clinton is 18

        +Clinton has grown up on the streets and in Hawthorn park since he was 12

        +he acts as a father figure for the new and experienced runaways

        +Clinton teaches other kids how to hide their things, to make a tent, what berries, plants, and mushrooms are OK to eat, how to hide from the police, etc

        +he agrees with statistics and says that he has seen many more runaways lately

            ~the sad thing is many of these runaways are never reported, they don’t have to hide because they are already invisible to society once they leave their town

            ~one of these runaways names is Bug

                *when Bug first arrived Clinton talked her into returning home for about a week before her mother kicked her out and she returned to Hawthorn park

                *she recalls how her mother hits her repeatedly after promising she will no longer

        +Clinton recalls going a week without eating a thing

            ~to make sure this wont happen again he keeps a jar of peanut butter in his bag and has a spoonful every couple of hours

    >almost every child has admitted to selling themselves for money to live