Gun Control Essays (995 words) - Gun Politics In The United States

Gun Control Essays (995 words) - Gun Politics In The United States Gun Control Americans are faced with an ever-growing problem of violence. Our streets have become a battleground where the elderly are beaten for their social security checks, where terrified women are viciously attacked and raped. Each day teenage gangsters shoot it out for a patch of turf to sell their illegal drugs, and where innocent children are caught daily in the crossfire of drive-by shootings. We cannot ignore the damage that these criminals are doing to our society, and we must take actions to stop these horrors. However, the efforts by some misguided individuals to eliminate the legal ownership of firearms does not address the real problem at hand, and simply disarms the innocent law-abiding citizens who are most in need of a form of self-defense. To fully understand the reasons behind the gun control efforts, we must look at the history of our country, and the role firearms have played in it. The second amendment to the Constitution of the United States makes firearm ownership legal in this country. There were good reasons for this freedom, reasons which persist today. Firearms in the new world were used initially for hunting, and occasionally for self-defense. However, when the colonist felt that the burden of British oppression was too much for them to bear, they picked up their personal firearms and went to war. Standing against the British armies, these rebels found themselves opposed by the greatest military force in the world at that time. The founding fathers of the country understood that an armed populace aided in fighting off oppression. They made the right to keep and bear arms a constitutionally guaranteed right. Thomas Jefferson said in the draft of the Virginia Constitution No man shall ever be debarred the use of arms(n. pag.). To day Congress, claiming that they want to take guns out of the hands of criminals, have worked to pass legislation that would take the guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens instead. The question is the efforts of gun control do not address the real problem of crime. Therefore, if we pass laws restricting ownership of firearms, which category of people does it affect? The simple answer is that gun control laws affect law- abiding citizens only. Criminals will continue to violate these new laws, they will continue to carry their firearms, and they will find their efforts at crime much easier when they know that their victims will be unarmed. An unarmed man stands little chance against an armed one. In many states, including Florida and Texas, citizens have stated that they want to preserve their right to carry firearms for self- defense. Since the late 1980's, Florida has been issuing concealed weapons permits to law-abiding citizens, and these citizens have been carrying their firearms to defend themselves from rampant crime. The result is that the incidence of violent crime has actually dropped in contrast to the national average. Previously, Florida had been leading the nation in this category, and the citizens of that state have welcomed the change (Florida State Firearm Laws n. pag.). Gun control advocates tried to claim that there would be bloodshed in the streets when these citizens were given the right to carry. They tried to claim that the cities of Florida would become like Dodge City with shootouts on every street corner, and duels over simple disagreements. These gun control advocates were wrong. More than 200,000 concealed carry permits have been issued so far, with only 36 of these permits revoked for improper use of a firearm (Facts You Can Use n.pag.). This statistic is easy to understand. It is the law-abiding citizens who are going through the process of getting concealed carry permits so that they may legally carry a firearm. The people who go through this legal process do not want to break the law, and they do not intend to break the law. The people who do intend to break the law will carry their guns whether or not the law allows them to do so. Today, criminals often carry illegal weapons, including sawed-off shotguns, machine guns, and homemade zip-guns, clearly showing their disregard for the current laws which make these items illegal. When they are caught, the courts regularly dismiss

Tips for Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Dyslexia

Tips for Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Dyslexia Building reading vocabulary is a challenge for students with dyslexia, who have a hard time learning new words in print and in word recognition. They often have a discrepancy between their spoken vocabulary, which may be strong, and their reading vocabulary. Typical vocabulary lessons may include writing a word sometimes 10 times, looking it up in a dictionary and writing a sentence with the word. All of these passive approaches to vocabulary will not by themselves help students with dyslexia very much. Multisensory approaches to learning have been found effective in teaching children with dyslexia and there are many ways this can be applied to teaching. The following list provides tips and suggestions for teaching vocabulary to students with dyslexia. Assign each student one or two vocabulary words. Depending on the number of students in the class and the number of vocabulary words, there may be several children with the same word. During class or for homework, students must come up with a way of presenting the word to the class. For example, a student could write a list of synonyms, draw a picture to represent the word, write a sentence using the word or the write the word in different colors on a large paper. Each student comes up with their own way to explain and present the word to the class. All the students with one word stand up and present their word, giving the class a multi-dimensional view of the word and its meaning. Begin with multisensory information on each vocabulary word. Use pictures or demonstrations to help the students see the meaning of a word as each word is presented. Later, as the students are reading, they can recall the illustration or the demonstration to help remember what the word means. Create a word bank where vocabulary words can have a permanent home in the classroom. When words are seen often, students are more likely to remember them and use them in their writing and speech. You can also create customized flash cards for each student to practice vocabulary words. Talk about synonyms and how these words are both the same and different than the vocabulary words. For example, if your vocabulary word is terrified, a synonym might be frightened. Explain how terrified and frightened both mean you are scared of something but that being terrified is being very frightened. Have students demonstrate the varying degrees of being scared to make the lesson more interactive. Play charades. This is a great way to review vocabulary words. Write each vocabulary word on a paper and place in a hat or jar. Each student draws one paper and acts out the word. Give points when a student uses a vocabulary word while talking. You can also give points if a student notices someone, in or out of school, use a vocabulary word. If outside of the class, the student must write down where and when they heard the word and who said it in their conversation. Include vocabulary words in your classroom discussions. If you keep a word bank in the classroom, continue to review it so you can use these words when teaching to the whole class or when speaking individually with a student. Create a classroom story with the vocabulary words. Write each word on a piece of paper and have each student pick out one word. Start a story off with one sentence and have students take turns adding a sentence to the story, using their vocabulary word. Have students choose vocabulary words. When beginning a new story or book, have students glance through the story to find words they are unfamiliar with and write them down. Once you have collected the lists, you can compare to see which words turned up most frequently to create a custom vocabulary lesson for your class. Students will have more motivation to learn words if they help to pick out the words.Use multisensory activities when learning new words. Have students write the word using sand, finger paint or pudding paint. Have them trace the word with their fingers, say the word out loud, listen as you say the word, draw a picture to represent the word and use it in a sentence. The more senses you include in your teaching and the more often you include and see vocabulary words, the more the students will remember the lesson.