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THROW AWAY GUNS....THROW AWAY GUNS....THROW AWAY GUNS!!
(with subtle personal comments added by QKShooter)
Our society is increasingly surrounded by acts, images, and messages of violence. For instance, videogames and the media glorify violence. Violence does not discriminate between ethnicity and class. Yet despite that (excluding the war), most media focus and highlight the violence in the inner cities and on people of color. Movies and mass media perpetuate the notion that violence only occurs in places like Watts and amongst Blacks and Latinos. Further adding to this cycle of violence are the producers of such things as toy guns and violent video games. Students are bombarded with the notions that violence is not only cool, but also a part of their everyday life. At 99th Street Elementary School, 2nd grade students from Kimberly Min's class and 5th grade students from Laurence Tan's class finally decided enough was enough. In an attempt to create a safe school community, the 2nd and 5th graders organized themselves and took matters into their own hands.
(Yeah...sure they did...you brainwashing liars
)With the recent events of global and community violence, the students voiced their opinions and created actions toward change. At 99th Street School, numerous ice cream trucks would prey on students for their business after school. (WHAT??? Rogue Attack Ice Cream Truck Drivers In ATTACK Ice Cream Trucks PREYING on students after school...FORCING THEM TO SPEND ALL OF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY ON ICE CREAM
) Droves of students would crowd around after school at these trucks throwing away whatever spare change and dollar bills they had. (OMG NO! Say It Isn't TRUE ) Among the candy and ice cream on the shelves were plastic toy guns. (GET THOSE TOY GUNS AWAY FROM OUR ICE CREAM!!! ) In a couple of instances, students purchased the guns and brought them on to the campus. Being that 99th Street School is a zero tolerance campus, the students were reprimanded. (If they only woulda bought Ice Cream insteada them there deadly toy guns they would not have needed ) That instance brought to life the greater problem surrounding the community at large.As the issues were discussed among both classes, the students started to make many connections to larger contexts. Students wrestled with the problems of buying toy guns and its eventual message of violence.(Forum Members PLEASE DO NOT BUY TOY GUNS...PLEASE BUY REAL ONES! :biggrin: ) Some students argued that if a person started to play with guns when they were little, then they might start to play with real guns later in life. (IS THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF US??? WHY O WHY DID MY MOMMY BUY ME THAT CAP GUN WHEN IS A WITTLE BOY???!!! I Hate my Mommy For Buyin' me that NEAT SIX SHOOTER COMPLETE WITH HOLSTER!
) Our community is already exposed to so much violence that the students were able to make the connections of how these toy guns contributed to the perpetual cycle of violence. Most recently, a former student and employee of our school was shot and killed near the school. (I THINK THE ICE CREAM TRUCK DRIVER DID IT! WHAT SAY YOU? ) His death, coupled with the recent war, heightened student awareness about the problems surrounding violence and safety at our school and in our community. Realizing this, the students felt they had to do something about the issue.(Right On Kids!)
Students wrestled with the problems of buying toy guns and its eventual message of violence. Some students argued that if a person started to play with guns when they were little, then they might start to play with real guns later in life. (Oh My God I Hope Not! Say It Isn't True!?!)
Many different ideas were discussed by both Ms. Min's and Mr. Tan's classes. The students decided to work together to try and make changes. The students organized and planned a rally in front of the school. They created signs that had messages of "no more guns," “no mas pistolas,” “stop selling guns," and other messages promoting nonviolence and safe schools. They chanted in both English and Spanish and as they marched up and down the street.
(“No Mas Pistolas!” “No Mas Pistolas!” “No Mas Pistolas”!
(NO MORE ICE CREAM! NO MORE ICE CREAM! NO MORE ICE CREAM!)
(KILL THE ICE CREAM TRUCK DRIVER!... KILL THE ICE CREAM TRUCK DRIVER!)
The first day of the protest, the ice cream truck left and more students became intrigued by the two classes' efforts. As other students joined the struggle, they became more aware of the issue. (Oh...The STRUGGLE of it all!) The students considered the first rally successful because the ice cream truck left and they were able to get their message out to other students who joined the effort and decided not to buy from the ice cream trucks. The students continued the pressure by hosting other rallies on the following Fridays in an attempt to let others know that they were serious and would not go away. Students urged other students not to buy from the ice cream trucks. (Im not buyin' any more Ice Cream EVER...Those SOBs MIXING FIREARMS with Ice Cream in order to TAINT little innocent kids and RUIN their Little Lives!) As successful as the demonstrations were, many students were keen to the issue of violence at large. (YOU SELL TOY GUNS WE WILL NOT BUY YOUR DAMN ICE CREAM! I'm sure those kids thought that one up all by themselves! :biggrin: )
...some 5th grade students questioned why they never saw ice cream trucks in areas like Beverly Hills. (
) They recognized that the more affluent neighborhoods could keep the ice cream trucks away because of their political clout. (We will sue you you & go right to the Gov Arnold if these trucks show up near our posh homes!)Students realized that the ice cream trucks were only a small part of the problem. (NEXT WE'RE GOING AFTER THE NRA! First the toy ones THEN The Real Ones! We're Comin' For You Gun Lovers...When We Grow Up!)
Many students realized that they could easily get toy guns almost anywhere: liquor stores, grocery stores, malls, and other nearby vendors. (THOSE DAMN TOY GUNS ARE EVERYWHERE...THEY WILL MAKE US KILL PEOPLE LATER ON IF WE BUY ONE NOW WHEN WE ARE LITTLE CHILDREN! PLEASE GET RID OF THEM...PLEASE!) While some 5th grade students questioned why they never saw ice cream trucks in areas, such as, Beverly Hills. They recognized that the more affluent neighborhoods could keep the ice cream trucks away because of their political clout. While the issue of social economic status related to a lot of other topics discussed in class, the focus was still on the immediate concern, the ice cream trucks.
While some students started to question the effectiveness of their tactics,(THE SMART ONES) others decided to take their movement to the next level. Ms. Min's class wrote letters to Mayor Hahn about this problem. Mr. Tan's class continued to work on a plan to address the toy manufacturers and increase the awareness of others to boycott the purchase and manufacture of toy guns. The driving force for the students' ambitions were based upon their idea of what a safe school should be like. (huh?)
The students have not been strangers to acts of violence around their community. The results of an informal poll showed that most students felt the safest at either their school or home (with school having a slight edge over homes). The students realized that the sale of toy guns at the school hindered school safety and went to great lengths to do something about it.
(Well, I'm just SUPER IMPRESSED with these little tykes and this whole organized plan to rid their school property of toy guns & rogue, predatory Ice Cream Truck Drivers!) What Say You?
