PLN4 What Could You Do With $20,000

           In the video What Could You Do With $20,000 Blake Boles proposes how going to college is becoming less important and self directed learning is much more important because the college degree is getting more devalued. Boles shows how you could take the money you would spend on college and use it in ways to make your future better. He shows how to use $20,000 help you train in self direct learning instead of going to college where you may be over qualified or face underemployement. Can you really not go to college and still be educated for the rest of your life?
          Blake Boles idea on skipping college and using your money progressively propane yourself for the future is true. If you are not planning on becoming a lawyer, doctor, engineer or scientist you may be more ahead to rely on self directed learning. Spending $4,500 dollars is a great part of the idea because it gets you out of the bubble of safety you have at  home mentioned in "Whats Wrong With the Teenage Mind". By doing this you experience how others live their lives and how to be independent. Other ideas of the speaker like tutoring, mentors and reading books are a great way to learn about a more broad spectrum. Traveling all over the world will let you get to know people, have great self learning experiences, see friends and see how other cultures live. Start up small business' that are services not aimed to get paid but provide things for people. A portfolio is another great part of setting yourself up for getting a job later by showing people what you are doing and your process. All of these experiences have given you a vast knowledge of the world and what you may like to do later life. You can also do many things for free that will help you learn like internships, interviewing people and community projects. Through Boles plan you even end your  four years of experience with money in the bank. If you have $5,000 and invest it at four percent over four years you will end this learning experience with $27,000 dollars in your saving account nearly what college students have in debt when they graduate. You may not have a label saying you graduated from college but you have experiences that you could never get in college.

Bully by Lee Hirsh

The documentary “Bully” by Lee Hirsh identifies that bullying has become an epidemic because kids are taking their own lives. Bully follows the lives of Alex, Kelby and Jameya who are bullied constantly and shows how bad bullying has gotten for them. The video also shows the aftermath of a family who had their son take his own life. Hirsh makes it aware that schools aren't doing enough to stop bullying. The author shows how upset parents are that their kids are being hurt physically and mentally. Bullying has gone to far and we must do something about it.
            What Hirsh illustrates in "Bully" is very true and is a concern that we should focus on more in our school system. The author shows the struggle of a family whose son had taken his own life because he was bullied. His dad talks about how he grew up as a loner separate from all the other kids and no one wanted to be with him. Tyler had his head shoved a locker and was told to kill himself by bullies. His parents are outraged because the school system did nothing about it. They believed that kids should be protected at school. Next is Alex who is 12 and is called fish face and constantly threatened and called bad names. One of Alex's main problems is how he is treated on the bus by a high schooler. His parents confront the school administrator who says that many children have problems on the bus but later on says that the bus is good as gold. Alex's parents had gone to the administrator many times but they never did enough to stop him from being bullied. The film also showed Kelby who is a 16 year old girl who has also been the victim of bullying. She has attempted suicide three times because of the pressure of being bullied. On the first day of school she is hit by a car and everyone avoided sitting by her. Kelby says " anyone who is different is put down". She is scared to tell anyone that she is gay even though she was raised taught that it was wrong to be. She is constantly bullied but again the school does nothing about it. Lastly is Jameya who was also constantly bullied and called names. Her bullying was so bad that she took her mothers gun and assaulted a bus full of her peers who had been bullying her. This shows how badly of effect bullying can have on some children. Bullying can make children seriously harm themselves or each other. Jameya was sent to prison with 45 charges, later she got out of jail after two months. Bullying is a horrible thing that happens to students today that causes mental and physical pain that no one should endure but together bullying can be stopped.

PLN2: Whats Wrong With the Teenage Mind?

         In the article What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind? Alison Gopnik states that teens aren't growing up the way they use to. The author shows their concerns on how kids are hitting puberty earlier than ever. That kids are becoming adults even later in life and staying in the "safe bubble" of home for a greater time. Gopnik shows how kids have less responsibilities today than ever before. She shows that kids have many troubles growing up. She also shows that kids are more likely to make bad decisions when they are kids.
        The statements that Alison Gopnik makes in Whats Wrong With the Teenage Mind are true because kids today are growing up very differently then kids before have. Kids are hitting puberty very early now. Some theories say that it is because children today are eating more and are less active. The author states that kids are staying in the "safe bubble" even longer which is true because kids today are given more time to learn things before they have to apply them to their adult life. Today kids are given such a protected and safe childhood. Humans depends upon adults much longer than any other species. The author describes becoming an adult as leaving the world of your parents and starting your own future. This start of a new future can be hard for contemporary kids because they have little experience with tasks they will have to tackle as adults. The final point of Gopnik is that kids today especially teenagers are reckless and not smart about making decisions. She explains how a teenager who can easily explain why to never drink and drive can end up in a drunken crash. Kids find themselves in dangerous position and all the time face the reality of power, respect, the drive for sex and if these decisions are not chosen wisely they can find themselves in dangerous or unwanted positions.