Antigone Greek Drama Moral Dilemmas

1) You have the opportunity to cheat on a test and not get caught. Do you?

I would eventually cheat if the opportunity is given to me. But with a very bad conscience. 

Cheating can lead to success in school, but it will not help you in your future. For example if you get into a good college with grades that you only got by cheating, you will have difficulties keeping up with the other students who earned their good grades by "actually" learning their stuff.

2)

If a best friend is dating someone who I can not stand, I would make her clear that I don't like him, and that I think that he is not good for her. I would tell her that I think she deserves someone better. 

3) 

Since it is allowed to drink alcohol in my country at the age of 16 (only beer, and wine, all liquors... with 18) Its something I am used to see. I am not sure what I would do. But here in America I would probably report them because its the law.

4)

If my parents refuse to let me go with my friends on a weekend trip, I would probably sneak out and go anyway. Since I'm 18 I feel that I can decide for myself what's best for me. My parents would let me go anyway, because they know that I can be responsible for myself and make the right decisions. 

5)

I guess I would cut them a break first and give them a chance to pay the rent by installments. If they would not pay the following month I would probably kick them out. 

6)

If this friend has been a really good friend, I would stick to him/her.

7)

If I wouldn't find a fraternity that seems a perfect fit for me, I would probably remain independent. Because why should hang with people I don't really like.

8)Yes, I would definately invite him to the Thanksgiving get- together, since he is part of the family. What my parents and I might do is to not serve alcohol at all, so that he can't get embarrassing. We would speak to him and suggest him to go to rehab, and that we are all going to support him.

9) If the school rule would be that we are not allowed to wear skirts or dresses at all in school during summer, I would probably break the rules on purpose in order to publicly protest to get the rule changed.

10) No I would not give this student good grades, just so that he doesn't fail, because in his future he will think that other teachers are going to do this too, and he would continue to not study.

The end of the book "1984"

In the final chapter we meet Winston at the Chestnut Tree pub where he now spent most of his time. He had been released, he even had  a better paid job- in fact nobody paid any attention to him any longer. He had accidentally run into Julia one day and they had walked together for a while. This was the last time they had seen each other and they had no desire to meet again.

Winston spent his days drinking gin in the pub and listening eagerly to the announcements from the telescreens. He had been taught to love "Big Brother" and he did love Big Brother now.

Response to the article "From Self-Censorship to Official Censorship"

Throughout the Iraq War, media have rarely shown images of U.S. battlefield casualties, almost never with visible pain or blood. Over 4, 200 U.S. Army soldiers died in the Iraq War but the loss of lives is probably higher than the medias reveal. Such restraint provides tacit support for the war. But why is it okay to show dying and wounded Iraqis in the newspapers and not American soldiers? I personally think that the American news should reveal the true numbers of the U.S. casualties. I think the media should show American people how cruel the war is and how many loss of American lives there are every day.

Freedom

"We buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom." (Kanye West).

This quote is true in most cases. People can buy their way out of jail by hiring the best lawyers. However true freedom is priceless.

Freedom is something we earned and fought for back in the day. Like when women were given the right to vote. Freedom is our given right, not something you can buy at a store. Whether we take advantage of it or not, it is instilled for every person to use.

Teen Pregnancy Statistics

Statistics indicate that a handful of the Portland schools sixth- to eighth grade students admitted to being sexually active in the 2006-2007 school year. It shows that at least 17 Portland girls in the targeted age group of 13 to 14 years old gave birth in a four year period.

That shows that parents need to do these conversations at an earlier age. Because the real issue is to motivate kids not to want to get pregnant in the first place, and to talk to their children about their hopes and dreams for them.

Teen pregnancy

Teen Pregnancy

The National Center for Health Statistics reveal that the birthrate among U.S. teenagers in 1990 had increased for the fourth consecutive year. In that year alone, 533, 484 American girls under age 20 gave birth. Japan and Western Europe have much lower teenage birthrates. For example France's teenage childbearing rate is 6 1/2 times lower than that of the U.S. 

Mothers who receive high school diplomas are less likely to attend college than are women who delay childbearing, and college graduates on average earn 40 % more in wages over the course of their lifetimes than those with only a high school education. 

surveillance either helping or hindering a community

I think surveillance can be both hindering and helping a community. It depends how you look at it. For example, today's government officials and big corporations often want to watch us, but they don't want to be watched in return. Shopping malls are full of security cameras, but many have signs at the entrance telling customers that no photography or video recording is allowed.

The widespread installation of recording devices is not all bad: ATM cameras can help to uncover crimes. And I think we all sympathize with the goals of preventing terrorism and crime, though it is not proven that security cameras accomplish this.

I think surveillance doesn't hinder a community at all. It helps to detect crimes. 

my initial feelings of 1984

In the society Orwell describes, that everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities. People are constantly reminded by the cautioning phrase "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU".

I think that the novel draws parallels between today's society and the world depicted in the novel, saying that we are starting to live in what has become known as an Orwellian society.