Rachel, I completely agree with everything you said. Betty Makoni is a true hero, and that is why I chose her too. She was a rape victim, alone that is hard enough to overcome and grow from it. Not everyone can overcome such an horrific experience, such as she has, but she has become a role model for many other girls. She has already saved 35,00 girls in the last ten years, those numbers are ridiculous. I also loved that you mentioned that you believe it is very selfish of the men in Africa, when you said that they believe having sex with a woman will cure their aids. I completely agree with you that it is very selfish and cruel. Passing on a disease, as serious as that, is very rude, selfish, and cruel. I addressed many of the same points you did.

Amanda, I thought you did a great job on your blog. You addressed your point very well and made good references to the article, USA Today. I have to completely agree with you, when you say many are observing what are going on in their homes. Financially, many parents are doing poorly with money because we are in a major recession. Gas prices rise every other day and nothing is easier. Children, teenagers, even adults are spending their money on useless stuff, such as, fast food. I believe no one really knows how to manage money and only taking a financing course could help. I believe this course would show teenagers why not to spend money on pointless things.

Lily I completely agree with you and I made many of the same points in my blog. I believe that the disaster in Haiti is incredibly tragic, but we cannot be completely responsible for everything that has happened there. As a world power, the United States has the duty to aid those less fortunate. I believe that Americans should do all that they can to help the Haitians recover from this disaster. The focus should be on getting the country back on its feet; however, long-term aid is rarely a good idea. If the United States gets too involved in the long term there is a possibility that Haiti could become too dependent. The best option is to help Haiti deal with the immediate effects of the disaster, such as providing food, water, shelter, medical care, etc. Caring for them long-term will not help them, but could get them angry in the future. It could get them angry because if something else disastrous happens and we are not there to help out, they may get angry. I believe we both made many of the same points and I have to say I completely agree with you. Although, I have not seen the aftermath of what is happening in Haiti now, I did not follow up on it. When they were in complete poverty and had nothing, I did donate some supplies. I did not donate too much, but I did donate what I could. My uncle is very involved with Haiti, so I gave him a case of water and some supplies. He delivered a lot of supplies to Haiti and I believe all the Haitian’s appreciated it.

Casey, Your toys were the typical childhood toys. Every child usually has a stuffed animal, that their parents try and give away, but most children never will accept the new toy. I was not a very big Barbie player, but my sister was, so I definitely know how it works. Chelsea and her had a bunch of Barbie toys, cars, houses, pools, tents, etc. They set up an entire room full of Barbie accessories and played with them. As you know, I was mostly a tom boy lol, but I did play with some barbies lol.

David, I believe you make a lot of great points. You are a very intelligent young man and a student athlete yourself. I discussed a lot of the same points you did in your response, because i think it is absolutely ridiculous. I believe their is sometimes acceptable leeway for an athlete because they do not get home until 10 or 11 o'clock. When they get home they have to shower, eat, and do homework. I can see how this is very stressful for an athlete because you are bombarded by a lot at one time. I still believe that there is no acceptance for cheating. If they are working hard in a certain sport to achieve as much as they could, they can put just as much work into school. School is where one is going to get an education and eventually have a job, unless a person knows they are going pro. There are certain people who just need to remain a certain G.P.A because they know that they are going pro. This is a great feeling to have, I can imagine, because they do not have to put as much work into school because they are happy where they are. Each college athlete has certain rules to follow, taking drug tests, keeping a certain G.P.A, certain body weight for some, and many other. I am not saying that college athletes do not have a lot of stress, but they have just as much stress as a student studying law or medicine. There are people who have tried all through high school to remain a certain G.P.A and strive to get on the honor roll so they can go to a division 1 school just to study at. Getting a free ride because you are good at sports and do not have the grade requirements for the school is totally unfair.

Alex, I completely agree with everything you have said in this blog. Will Smith has been one of my favorite actors since I was young. I love that you said he is raising his children to be just like him, because it is so true. You see him and his little boy, Jaden, in Pursuit of Happiness relay a very powerful message. Also his daughter, Willow Smith, has come out with the song “Whip my hair.” Although, I dislike the Jonas Brothers music, I completely agree with what you said about Nick Jonas. I went to a diabetes camp for several years, because my sister is a diabetic. Seeing what they have to go through every day just to survive is very hard to imagine. My sister cried for the first two years saying “Why me?” A lot of younger children must say this when they are diagnosed with such a disease. I remember one night when my sister did not eat a meal she had a reaction. Her blood sugar was to low for her function and she blacked out. She had no control over her body or actions. It is very hard to witness something like this. I believe Nick is doing a very great thing for these children. I have never looked into his brothers and him, but just by reading your blog, it explained a lot. I agree with everything you said, and believe you explained it very well. You are a very good writer by the way.

Lily! This is very creative and very thoughtful. It is crazy what the soldiers out their are sacraficing. I thought you did a really good job of sending them such a strong, powerful message. Everything you stated was very powerful and realistic. I love the writing style and the way you put everything here! Great Job! :)

David Barbosa , I completely agree with everything you stated in your post. Your organization is very good! Good Job! Now into the good stuff of why I think it was good and why I liked it. I think a major factor in our society today is saving money, how to use money, and owning a bank account. Money is a major factor in today’s society because everyone these days are very cheap. Teenagers believe that money grows on trees, I bet we all heard that one before. I also agree with your curriculums of cooking and gym. I believe that was very creative and everyone should know how to cook, clean, and push themselves to never give up. Although I agree with most of your blog, I have to disagree with the politics issue. I disagree with this because I believe we learn about most of this in history class and the news. I know many students today do not watch the news but I do believe most students realize that society is messed up. This could be a good curriculum to have in the LIFE 101 course but I believe that we experience it every day. Life 101 is a very important class that I think every high school should include. I believe this course should be taken senior year as you are getting ready to move on into the real world. Living on your own at college is a huge wake up call to many, but some teenagers/ adults are ready for it. College puts a very big load on your shoulders, especially if you are studying something like law, PT, or a surgeon. Each child is working hard to get somewhere, but if they do not know how to do things like manage money, pay bills, and own a house many will not make it.

KAYLA! I completely agree with everything you are saying in this blog. You state that students do not pay attention in class because of texting and instant messaging. It is interesting that some people believe that texting can better ones vocabulary, because we all know today that many do not use correct grammer because we text so often that it gets boring. I also like that you stated that students are using slang words. Slang words are used throughout so many papers because people do not know the proper english word for them. We believe that small words are big words, but most of us look dumb using them becuase we do not know the meaning of them. I also agree that your texting and instant messaging could creatively be used as a learning tool. I believe some could use texting as a tool, but most of us take advantage of it.