Cyber Bullied in the LGBT Community

            For this project I decided to do something that involves more the community of the internet, more specifically cyber bullying resolving the LGTB community. I spend many of my time on the internet and as part of the LGBT community I had witness many cyber bullying occurring to my friends many times. It still hurts to know they are experiencing this while I am bisexual, but had not been bully because of my sexuality despite being open about it. My friends only received hateful words anonymously rather than any other serious matters. LGBT affects my community because it heavily hurts their self-esteem and may cause harm to the victims either doing poorly in school or committing suicide.

            According to Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), they have stated that 42 percent of the LGBT youth have experience cyber bullying, and 58 percent had negative words spoken to and about them online. That is a pretty high percentage regarding to cyber bullying and specifically the latter because when harmful words are spoken to or about them it misleading information to spread. And many who reads these harmful words, and do not know anything about the person may just believe on such fact. Which then would lead the future bullies to actually turn a blind eye for the victim in need or participate in the bullying. 

            A research by Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin they had created their own survey and discovered “…over 72% of LGBT students reported being the  target  of  a  bully  at  some point in their lifetime compared to 63% of heterosexual students.” As they had also received the results of LGBT student reporting their experience came out to be almost twice as many experience of cyber bullying compare heterosexual students, leading to a 36.1% vs. 20.1%.

            I created my own research with the help of using social media such as twitter and tumblr. I had first ask regarding if many are aware that cyber bullying occur within the LGBT youth community outside of the internet First this is the results I’ve receive from people outside of the internet, 33% of yes and 67% of no, out of the 14 participant I’ve collect, which is a shocking discovery to me. My discovery of asking people within the internet lead to be 86% of yes and 14% of no, out of the 64 voluntary participants. Then the next question I’ve asked through the community of the internet if they are being cyber bullied. About 55% of yes and they are part of the LGBT, 20% of yes and non-LGBT, 10% of no and LGBT 15% of no and non-LGBT, out of the 55 voluntary participants that said yes to the previous question. 

            Sadly, the participants do not want have their pictures released on the internet. Mostly the people I’ve collected through the internet due to the fact they fear about their friends, family, or anyone else discovering their sexuality. I had the feeling the vast majority would not participate in wanting their picture displayed, however, I would still like to know how many people are being affected by cyber bullying.

                                                                                                                                     

Marra, A.  Out Online: The Experiences of LGBT Youth on the Internet. Retrieved from

http://www.glsen.org/press/study-finds-lgbt-youth-face-greater-harassment-online

Hinduja, S. Ph.D.,  Patchin W., J. Ph.D. Cyberbullying Research Summary. Retrieved from

http://www.cyberbullying.org/cyberbullying_sexual_orientation_fact_sheet.pdf

Decreasing Gang Violence - Jeremy Pope

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Gender Roles in a Mexican-American Family - Alejandro M

Is your role in society influenced by your family’s culture? I definitely believe this to be the case within a Mexican culture. In a Mexican–American family, where there is a strong focus on family dependence and on gender specified roles, the young children may be more likely to look to their parents as models for gender maturation(Cauce and Domenech-Rodriguez 2002). More specifically, the Mexican culture influences the gender role within the family and society. The traditional gender roles of a Mexican culture are demonstrated to the children by the parents and the children are expected to follow the same. The traditional family in Mexico is led by the father. Family is the most important aspect of their culture and the father has authority over the family. The female is always treated as less important within the family by the men. The male’s role within the household is that he the leader of the family and the main breadwinner, the person who earns the most to provide for the family. The female’s only place is to stay at home. The woman should not work outside of the home in order to take care of the children and take care of the cleanliness of the home. The reason for her not allowed to work is that the wife would be less dependent of the husband in the sense of financial independence and thus would be less focused on his needs as a man (Gonzalez, 1982).

This issue is one that I feel very strongly about. The reason being that I was brought up in a Mexican household and I encountered these influences of gender roles. Since I was very young, although I was taught these traditional roles, I never agreed with them. Possibly because of the fact that I grew up as an only child by a single mother. I would notice the roles from extended family or my friend’s family, in which the women would attend to the man. Although I did not agree with this traditional role of the woman, I perceived it as a normal situation in society. Not only until I began to encounter families of other ethnicities, I realized that it was not a normal situation within all of society. There were a few similarities within the gender roles throughout other ethnicities, but the particular roles that I was encountering within my family were based only from our culture. I promised myself that when I would marry someone, I would never impose these outdated gender roles within my marriage. If my wife wanted to have successful career that involved much of her time, I would be accepting of it and I would support her unconditionally. 

Fortunately, I have practiced my promise to myself. I am currently married and have been for 4 years now. My wife, also Mexican-American, never took liking to the gender roles imposed to her by her family either. We both always share responsibilities within our family, household, and we share our efforts to earn money to provide for the former. I believe a woman and man are equal and parents should model that equality to their children.

Supporters of the community:

Brianna Pacheco

References:

Cauce, A. M., & Domenech-Rodr ́ıguez, M. (2002). Latino families: Myths and realities. In J. M. Contreras, K. A. Kerns, & A. M. Neal-Barnett (Eds.), Latino children and families in the United States (pp. 5–25). Westport, CT: Praeger Press.

Gonzalez, A. (1982). Sex roles of the traditional Mexican family: A comparison of Chicano and Anglo students' attitudes. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 13, 330-339. 

#BlueLivesMatter?

What's the largest gang in America? The police. Why do police have military weapons then use them on unarmed. Why isn't there anyone policing police? They have full reign to terrorize their community with minimum risks. You can't defend yourself against a cop or they'll kill you. So basically, even if you're undeserving of their cruel treatment there's literally nothing there can be done about it. Body cams are virtually ignored. There has to be a way to put police in their place because we the people are tired of their antics and deserve better. People of all races and not just blacks are victims to their unjustified treatment of their communities. Enough is enough. We need to come together as one to overcome adversity. We're so divided among cultures but all have one big problem in common. Police. They aren't there to protect and serve but to kill and neglect, drunk with power and have itchy trigger fingers. Eagerly awaiting to take a life no matter how petty the situation. Paramedics answer to the call, fire fighters answer to the call, but police, they activity seek.


To protect and serve. Or to control and conquer? The police should be sued for false advertising their actually purpose. Now more than ever, more and more of the minorities are being shot down in cold blood, not doing a thing to warrant such a fate. But it continues, it continues unchecked. This has always been an issue but the attention has really became mainstream since the unruly murder of Trayvon Martin. Which resulted in the #blacklivesmatters movement created by Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi. George Zimmerman got off with no charges so they created it to bring attention to how easily a cop can kill a black person and get away from it. However, I think the problem surpasses just the black community to all minorities. Specifically, Hispanics and black people. Hispanics, for example, make up 17.6 percent of the U.S. population but represent 23 percent of all searches and nearly 30 percent of arrests as stated by Kenya Downs from “PBS The Rundown.”  she also says “Among minorities, the rate of police killings for Latinos is second to those of African-Americans. As of today, an estimated 94 Latinos have been killed by police in 2016 alone, making up 16 percent of the 585 police-involved killings this year.  In contrast, people who are black or African-American are only 13.3 percent of the U.S. population, but 144 black Americans have been killed by police in 2016. At 25 percent, those deaths represent a disproportionate number of officer-involved fatalities compared to the population.” This is an outrage. Those are 585 lives that could still be with their families spending the holidays together but had their lives tragically cut short. There has to be a change. The police should operate with rules of engagement as the military does. They shouldn't be allowed to fire unless they are fired at first and anything done otherwise is an automatic dishonorable discharge from the police. Furthermore, there is no need for them to have military weapons because they hardly ever deal with such major threats and even if they do that's what S.W.A.T is for. Their power continues to rise as civilians have no power against them. The law is set up to even when wrong, police are always in the right. Proven by David Packman from “POLICE MISCONDUCT” he states “Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP) which tracked over 8,300 credible reports involving allegations of police misconduct in the US from April of 2009 through December 2010 which involved nearly 11,000 law enforcement officers within those 21 months. Of those reported allegations, only 3,238 resulted in criminal charges against law enforcement officers. Of those 3,238 criminal cases against law enforcement officers in the US, only 1,063 officers were ultimately convicted of those charges or reduced charges associated with the original allegations. Of the law enforcement officers who were ultimately convicted, 36% were ultimately sentenced to spend any time incarcerated and the average length of incarceration for those sentenced to prison or jail was approximately 34.6 months.” These statistics are from 2010 so just imagine how high that number is now. Police’s false duty needs to be address or one day I feel civil war will rise again. There is only so much we can take before matters are taken in our own hands. We can get petitions, have rallies, and protest. Our voices will never be heard. Leaving us with only dire options with dire consequences.

Rizzy Session 

Age: 16 

What I think about police is that the white ones can be racist for an example when I had got into that fight last week the police had stop me and my cousin and we was the most black since our skin darker out of my boyfriend and my friend but refuse to believe what me and my cousin was saying when it was us but when my friend spoke and told him everything is fine he said ok and he let us go when he could've just let us go when me and my cousin told him everything was fine to began with why when my biracial friend step up and say something then he automatically said ok and she half white if she wasn't there I feel that he wouldn't had let us goI hate police and wish they fall in a f****** trap and die simple 💀They think they can get away with sh*t ,sexually abuse women , kill people for no reason , be f****** racist and still walk around like they don't do shit ? F*ck them. What happen to them protecting us from the prevention detection of crime?  How are we being protected from this when they doing this  ? When they the ones out here doing the crime ? When they the ones going against the law ? They want to be responsible for our district so why can't they be responsible and man up to the sh*t they do ?"

Belinda Vinson

Age: 37

"Police brutality goes against everything that they stand for "to protect and serve" and i believe they should be retrained on how to handle certain situations '

Victoria Morales

Age: 18 

"I lost all respect for people after the day my best friend's uncle was beat and tazed for no reason in front of public right in the middle of the street. He was killed and all for nothing. Recently, I watched a man get beat while being bite by a K9 just because he stole a car. So what do I think of police? F*ck em." 

The people have spoken.
Yet the government reminds ever silent.
 If change doesn't happen now the repercussions will be violent.

CSU Homelessness (Diana Maldonado)

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/csucauldron.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/1c/31c47d14-76d4-11e5-99cd-1fc4cb562248/5625ab70014b8.image.jpg?resize=728%2C305w


Intro:
Homelessness is a huge issue in our daily society, from the unfortunate homeless people at Skid Row to the ones right next to where you live. We see it almost everyday, but who would have thought in seeing it at Universities, where everyone looks ok while seeking for their education, to obtain a career in the long run. We at times stereo type the homeless, as individuals who do not like to work or who have an addiction to alcohol or some sort of drug. We never imagine finding hard working people struggle with this issue. The sad part is, the individual sitting next to me in class at Cal State LA can be homeless and nobody knows. This is a very important issue because being a Cal State student I feel we all struggle for our education, and being homeless does not help.
Action:  As a college student, I know and understand that college is tough in many ways, such as tuition, which is very high. I stand in creating awareness for this issue, the same way as colleges ask from us a lot, they should provide programs to help their own students.
Research:
  Homeless students in the CSU system was not known until February of last year (2015) when a study commissioned  by Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White, brought in results and awareness on this issue. The study informed that it was difficult to obtain an accurate report of students who are homeless. You may ask yourself why? Well, on a News article "Study Says that 1in 10 Cal State Students are Homeless" by Tim Loc, it is because many students do not consider they are homeless, especially those who are "couch-surfing or living in their cars" according to Rashida Crutchfield, who is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Cal State Long Beach. There are others who are embarrassed to say they are homeless. Therefore, making it difficult to see who is in need. Not only are many of this students in need of a shelter, but most of the time they are in need of food.

  On an article "1 in 10 Cal State students is homeless, study finds" by Rosanna Xia, the study by Rashida is broken up furthermore, making it easy to understand the severity of the problem. Xia states, that out of 460,000 California State University students about "one in 10 are homeless".  Moreover, one in five doesn't have steady access to enough food. The homeless and shelter problem is an several issue that needs to be fixed. Chancellor White, said in a conference back in June 2016 "We're going to find solutions that we can take to scale". The problem was hidden, but now that it is know, many individuals including other students and administrators see it as their task to fix this problem, and fix it right.

References:

Xia, R. (2016, June 20). 1 in 10 Cal State students is homeless, study finds.
Retrieved from
 http://www.latimes.cm/local/lanow/la-me-cal-state-homelessness-20160620-snap-story.html
Loc, T. (2016, June 20). Study Says that 1 in 10 Cal State Students Are Homeless.
Retrieved from
h
http://laist.com/2016/06/20/homeless_cal_state.php


Personal:
It is very important for me to bring awareness about this issue because it is something unheard of. When my counselor professor mention that 1 in every 10 CSU students are homeless, I was in shock. It is unbelievable, that a lot of students are going through something that should not exist. They are trying to overcome all obstacles and become successful, but unfortunately along the way it just becomes harder. We hear quiet often the importance of eating well and sleeping well for our health, this students sometimes do not get any of it.

Approximately last year, I found an old friend from High School at Cal State LA, I was already leaving to class and she said she was just waiting for her gap to pass, to go to class. It was a cold day, I had gone to get myself  a hot chocolate and a snack. While talking to her she told me she had not eaten all day, it was about 4 p.m. when we started talking. She had a terrible head-ache, I offer her the snack I had, she was very thankful. She started opening up to me, saying that most days she would maybe eat only once. I asked her if she was soon to graduate, she said no for the past three years at Cal State LA she had become stuck in the general ed classes. She could not find a job, she mentioned she was trying to join the Marines, because she just wanted money to continue her education and to be able to have for her food.

Months later I come to know that she no longer attended Cal State LA. Her bad grades had caused CSULA to kick her out. That touched me because I know she is a smart individual, because of life circumstances her grades went down. I believe that in situations like this, administrators should see why students grades are low, not assume that it is because of lack of study. I find it very important to support my friend and anyone else I may find a long the way. We are all struggling for our education, and the students who are homeless needs more of our help and support. I can only come yo think that like her there are other students with children, I have personally struggle a lot with school and my two year old. I have a place to call home and food, while there are others with children who are the ones that become more affected. It is very important to see ways to help this college students.

Community Members:

                                                                   Selvin Ralda,
  "I stand in finding ways to help CSU Homeless students, as well as homeless all around me."

Alexis Luis

Maria Sanchez

"No student should have to stress out about being homeless. Their focus should be on educating themselves."

Professor Rose Gaw

"This is an issue that we all should be more aware of. We should try and be of help to end homelessness"

Diana Maldonado

 Below are pictures of what an organization at Cal State LA are doing to help the homeless students in our campus. Many of the students came in on a Saturday morning to make blankets for the homeless students on campus.

Gang Violence

Gang Violence

By: Jorge Herrera

Research:

Gang violence affects many people not necessarily those involved with a gang but their families, friends and those in various communities. I grew up in Logan Heights, a neighborhood known for its gang violence it is located in San Diego, California. On November 1994 the gang of Logan Heights was asked to travel to Mexico by the Tijuana Cartel to takeout their competition "El Chapo" Guzman. Apparently the hit was called off but while at the airport another group made a hit on a Catholic Cardinal and the gang was blamed for it,  therefore making the gang more infamous.

According to John M. Hagedorn in his article "The Global Impact of Gangs" it is important to do research on gangs and their activities but it must be global. John mentions other infamous gangs such as MS-13 from Salvador, 18th Street from Honduras and many others from various countries. He mentions how such gangs move from violence in the street to getting involved deeper in the community such as running prisons, music industries and social organizations like politics.

Sources:

Hagedorn, J. M. "The Global Impact of Gangs." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 21.2 (2005): 153-69. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.

Rotella, Sebastian. "Caught on the Borderline : San Diego Men Say They Were Framed for Cardinal's Murder, but Extradition to Mexico Is Imminent." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 1994. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.

Personal:

I chose to blog about gang violence because it affects my life and many people around me. My best friend who I met in elementary school grew up and join the neighborhood gang, he was stabbed to death multiple times while he was going to visit his girlfriend. The people's destiny involved in gangs end up either being killed or in jail, there are lots of cases where people realize their mistakes and try to have a better life style but it is usually as an adult. Gangs recruit young men and women mostly from poor neighborhoods and make them believe they are like family and they would die for each other and kill for each other. They target kids because they know they will be charged as minors and won't do much jail time as an adult would, depending on the crime of course. The affiliation with gangs tare families apart, not just because of deaths or jail time but also by addictions to drugs or alcohol. I am hoping that with this blog people will realize how dangerous gangs can become and how we should study them like John M. Hagedorn mentions in his article to find a way to prevent gang violence not only in our country but around the world as well.

People Affected by Issue:

Personal Statement:

My community and my safety has been affected by gang related activity, we have had shootings and drug selling in our community" - Desiree 

Alcohol Abuse

By: Martin Morales

What inspired me to talk about alcohol abuse is because I have seen families suffer from this drug and the worse part is that we don’t think is a real problem because this drug is legal.

Research

Research shows that alcohol abuse can lead to what is called Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol Use Disorder is a very serious problem and based on the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “Approximately 7.2 percent or 17 million adults in the United States ages 18 and older had an AUD in 2012.” In order to verify if a person has AUD professional’s asses the individuals by asking them this questions.

•    “Had times when you ended up drinking more, or longer than you intended? 

•    More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, or tried to, but couldn’t?

•    Spent a lot of time drinking? Or being sick or getting over the aftereffects? 

•    Experienced craving — a strong need, or urge, to drink? 

•    Found that drinking — or being sick from drinking — often interfered with taking care of your home or family? Or caused job troubles? Or school problems?

•    Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends? 

•    Given up or cut back on activities that were important or interesting to you, or gave you pleasure, in order to drink? 

•    More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt (such as driving, swimming, using machinery, walking in a dangerous area, or having unsafe sex)? 

•    Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious or adding to another health problem? Or after having had a memory blackout?

•    Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want? Or found that your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?

•    Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, irritability, anxiety, depression, restlessness, nausea, or sweating? Or sensed things that were not there?”

 If anyone you know had answer many of this questions with “yes” then they are suffering from alcohol abuse and might also suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder which can lead to serious effects.

Reference:

Information above was retrieved from: "Alcohol Use Disorder | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2016.

According to The Alcohol Addiction and Abuse Addiction Center, “Alcohol is a legal, controlled substance that lowers anxiety and inhibitions. It also has a broad range of side effects, from loss of coordination to slurred speech. Not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic, but anyone whose life is negatively affected by alcohol on a consistent basis is considered to have an alcohol use disorder. Alcohol is commonly consumed as a drink in various forms, including beer, wine and hard liquor.”

Reference:

@AddictionCentr. "Alcohol Addiction and Abuse - Learn More About Alcoholism." Addiction Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2016.

Personal:

Alcohol abuse relates to me at a very personal level my entire childhood I grew up surrounded by people who suffered from AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder) and I have seen how this addiction can change a person drastically. My uncle for example was a very smart and well respected person before he started suffering from Alcohol Use Disorder. He was smart because even though he came to the United States when he was twenty years old he was able to learn English under a year and he quickly began his higher education at Dominguez hills. He was well respected because everyone knew who he was because he would always start a conversation with others, always would take out his family to eat on Sundays, would go to different events to socialize and would take part in the community. All this change after he started drinking first it started with a few beers at a party. Then it wasn’t beer anymore it was tequila. He soon would hang out with other people who would usually drink every weekend. We notice a sudden change in his personality he was becoming more aggressive and very short temper. He soon stopped going to Dominguez Hills and started working. He wouldn’t go out on weekends anymore he would rather stay home watch a soccer game with his friends and get drunk. He was becoming more and more violent to the point where he would hit his wife for telling him to quit drinking. Now he drinks everyday sometimes he doesn’t go to work because he is drunk. He is starting to forget a lot of his responsibilities and most of the time he spends it drunk with his other alcoholic friends. Every body is worried about him his addiction to alcohol is destroying his family there has been multiple fights where he could have gone killed because he is under the influence. As a family we have come together to try to get him some help but he refuses our help every time. I encourage those people who suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder to seek for help because you are effecting your self’s and the people that you love the most.  

People in the community Against Alcohol Abuse: