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Lesson 15, Task 4: What do I believe in?

The policy that I believe is best for schools would be the dress code. Making students all look alike consequently decreases the chances of students being picked on for not having the nicest clothes and another benefit is also uniforms are cost effective. Uniforms in school are a good idea because it saves students time when waking up, forces students to focus on their education and not fashion, and lastly decreases the chances of bullying. These are just the few of many reasons why school uniforms are a good idea which will be later elaborated on. The first point that will be mentioned on why school uniforms are a good idea is because it saves students valuable time in the morning when waking up. Students don’t have to stress about what to wear the next day because they already wore that outfit that week. That time in the morning that students save by throwing on a uniform can be spent on important things such as looking over school notes, eating a breakfast, because surprisingly a lot of students don’t eat breakfast for many reasons and one is that they are running out of time and don’t want to be late. The second point on why school uniforms are an amazing thing would be because students would go to school for their education and not to show off their new clothes, also if all the students are wearing the same thing, it makes sense for students to pay less attention on what people are wearing and pay more attention to their studies. The third reason why school uniforms are a good idea is because it decreases the chances of bullying. This is because students who don’t wear the most expensive clothes and have the flashy shoes tend to be easy targets for bullies, but if everyone’s wearing the same thing it certainly decrease the rate of bullying. Bullying in schools are a major problem and with all the seminars and talks students get, although it has decreased it, it still hasn’t stopped it, and that’s why if all the students dress the same, bullies can’t pick out the less fortunate ones to pick on which consequently decreases the rate of bullying. To conclude, school uniforms are a good idea because they unit the school as one. Making every student look the same can surprisingly make students focus more on studies and not on what everyone else is wearing and leading them astray from their studies. The second point on why school uniforms are a good idea is because it saves students valuable time in the morning to read over notes, eat breakfast, and have a little time to sit down and read a book or so. Not rushing to school in the morning may help you have a better day. Lastly, school uniforms can decrease the rate of bullying because if everyone dresses the same bullies can pick on the less fortunate students for not having the nicest clothes. This is why school uniforms are an amazing idea because it units the school as one.

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Lesson 15, Task 2: What has influenced me?

There are many cultural influences in society today that shape the way we eat, dress, in entertainment, in architecture, and in leisure entertainment. For example, I am Somalia and a very popular dish for us is pasta which came from Italians. The next cultural influence would be the way I dress. The third cultural influence in my life would be in entertainment. There are many forms of entertainment and one form that my family and I use very often would be watching T.V on our spare time. The fourth cultural influence in my life would be in architecture. Surprisingly, architecture influences not only culture, but society as well because the homes we live in got their architectural design from somewhere. The final cultural influence in society would be leisure activities, and this influenced my culture because we love to play basketball. The first cultural influence in my life would be in food, particularly pasta and lasagne. These traditional foods merged into the Somali cook book around 1940 when Italy invaded Somaliland. Today, many people including Somalis eat pasta on a regular daily bases. Another cultural influence that strongly impacted the Somali culture would be the Chinese because they founded rice, and rice is a very popular dish for Somalis and many other cultures. The second cultural influence would be the way I dress. I would say the way I dress would fit into modern day teens; skinny jeans, t-shirts and sometimes dress shirts. The type of shoes I like to wear would be Jordan’s, Vans, and Converse. The Canadian society did influence the way I dress a lot because everybody tries to fit into the norm and fashion would be what’s trending so people wear what majority wear or what’s trending. Somali traditional clothing would be something called a macwis and here’s a picture of it.       The third cultural influence would be from America and specifically a man named Philip Farnsworth. He had major contributions to the development of the first TV and consequently because of that not only has it influenced Somali culture but other cultures as well. Many people including Somalis such as myself love to watch TV during our spare time. Watching the news is a very common thing for most adults in different cultures around the world. The fourth cultural influence in my life would be in architecture, and this has influenced my culture because the house my family and I currently live in would be a modern day Canadian home, which means that this type of architecture would be inspired by Canadian society. Another type of cultural influences in my life would be the renaissance centre in downtown Detroit which can be seen at the riverfront, this type of architectural design is very pleasing to look at and also inspiring as well. The final cultural influence in my culture would be leisure activities, and this influences my culture because the Somali youth in Windsor love to play basketball, so in the Somali community, they have annual basketball competitions and even in our mosque there is a basketball court. Basketball was originally invented by James Naismith in 1891 in the University of Kansas. I love to play basketball myself because it’s a very fun game, and you forget about all your problems and get to have fun for a while. To conclude, many different cultures can influence your cultures if you take into perspective how different cultures helped shape mine. For instance, how the Chinese and Italians brought into light major dishes for Somali people such as pasta and rice. Secondly, the way I dress was influenced by Canadian society. Also T.V is a major cultural influence in society and is a great form of relaxation. Architectural also has cultural influences, for example, in Somalia, turkey build a hospital for the Somali people and it’s a whole gated neighbourhood. Lastly, leisure activities influenced my culture because the youth love to play basketball which consequently brought us together.

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Lesson 15, Task 1: Where do I live?

My community is located in South Windsor, and tends to be a very safe community. There’s a grade school called Northwood Public School right around the corner, and an high school called Holy Names Catholic High School and which I attended both. Majority of the children and teens in my neighborhood go to this grade school and high school because it’s in walking distance which is a really good advantage. Also, majority of the neighborhood comes from a Middle East background, because, Windsor’s main mosque is also right down the street in walking distance (right next to Holy Names). From what I’ve seen over the past 5 years living here from talking leisurely strolls is that majority of the houses have both parents; a mother and a father which is an amazing thing, I haven’t seen a single parent so far, and each house on average consisting of 3 children (knowing this because my little brothers friends with them and from barely seeing them play outside). Majority One thing I’ve come to appreciate about my neighbourhood is that how close I was to both my grade school and high school. I remember leaving class during grade school and passing by the buses and seeing my friends in them, and they would tell me how lucky I was because I lived close to school but I sure didn’t see it that way. I felt like I was missing all the fun because during school field trips, the bus rides were the best part because everyone would be laughing and joking and having a good time. The second advantage is when I attended Holy names I could go home for lunch, eat food, and make it back in no time. Majority of the neighbourhood comes from a Middle East background, and I know this because I seen many of them at the local mosque on dominion street and outside in their garages hanging out with family. I also know this because I would walk with my two Arab friends Ahmad and Moe who lived in my neighbourhood when the school day was over during grade school. From being inside there house I know Ahmad is the youngest in his family and he has one older sister and one older brother, and Moe is also the youngest in his family and has 2 older sisters. My community never really faces any real challenges such as un-employment and what not.   What I’ve noticed from seeing my little brother barely playing with his friends outside is that he would go to his friend Jake’s house with a couple neighbours and they would play outside. They would consist of about 4 kids, my brother being one, Jake being the other, and there were two brothers whose names I don’t remember. The odd thing to me is that the older they got the less they would play outside. My brother meet his friends when he went to Northwood in grade 4 and he’s now in grade 8. My brother no longer even plays outside he stays home on his IPad, but I remember when I was in grade school I would be outside all day, I distinctly remember during grade 8 I would grab my bike around 6 pm or so and go to my friend Arbios’s house were we would all meet and hang out. To conclude, my neighbourhood majority consist of Muslims because the main mosque in Windsor is down the street, and people who came from the Middle East. I remember out community having a food drive and my family did donate food but nobody came to our door and let us know that they were running this, they just kind of sat there and waited for people to drop food in the boxes. My neighbours and I are somewhat close, when we see them we say hello but just small talk, nobody in the neighbourhood is really that close with anybody to be honest that’s the one thing I hate, everyone here is so secluded. Unlike my old neighbourhood in Labour crescent where everybody knew everybody and all the mothers would be sitting outside on their porches and everyone just having a good time.