Blog 2

 Yelitza Altamirano 

 

Second Reflection  

When giving an influential presentation, creating an impact on your audience is the main goal to keep in mind, it requires powerful information, such as the information provided in our class presentations. An array of topics was touched upon: gun laws around the world, immigration reform, COVID- 19 effects on health and learning. These topics were distributed to several groups to research and create PowerPoints on. Within these groups of 12, each person independently researched different areas of their assigned main topic.  

The first topic touched on was by Group 3, which I am a part of, and when introducing the topic of Gun Laws Around the World, a rundown of each country’s culture was, usually, first given. Considering their cultural diversity, many countries were introduced with the topic of the level of education and quality of life of their people and how that goes on to influence the crime rate.

A good beginning point, for example, is how gunpowder originated in China; it was, ironically, created by monks in search of a life-extending elixir. Another prime example is Switzerland, where people have equal rights and where higher education is enforced, yet it has not seen a mass shooting in over 20 years.

Different countries such as Japan and the Philippines were brought up, and where the two stand on gun laws are on extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. It was interesting to learn that even though Japan is a country of more than 127 million people, it rarely sees more than 10 gun deaths a year. In the Philippines, considering that, although one must be 21 and over to legally own a gun, the national police report over 6,000 murders and homicides yearly; a substantial portion of these are guns for hire, thus deeming it one of the most dangerous countries in Asia. Another country used as a powerful example is one, we call home: The United States. The United States is firmly liberal on its gun laws, and even The Constitution states

“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”

Being involved in a part of this group presentation on gun laws around the world has taught me a lot, it has informed me about how there can be varied factors that can influence and eventually lead up to the formation of a major law.  

Major laws start off as bills that are passed by congress, which are then reviewed and signed off by the president. The president, who signs laws into existence, must then get approval from the federal courts stating whether the newly introduced law(s) is/are constitutional. The basis upon which some major laws are granted brings me to the next topic: families at the border, immigration, and what the legal process entails.

This presentation was the second in the order and it consisted of the struggles and issues civilians face on a day-to-day basis while migrating into the U.S. and the struggles they face when building a life here, starting from nothing. This presentation went on to explain the reasons why foreigners choose to leave their home country to come to the U.S.: economic security, freedom of speech, access to healthcare, and job opportunities were some of the powerful motivators. It touched base on the legalities of the immigration process, explaining how, legally, most cases require a sponsor or a petitioner for anyone who wishes to move to the U.S. On the contrary, it also spoke on the illegal side of things and how the number of people immigrating has significantly spiked. It stated that according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more than 2,300 children were separated from their families; this separation trauma has shown to, in many cases, lead to detrimental developmental effects in children.

Both controversial and sentimental, I was distraught to see the videos of children crossing the border through the Rio Grande alone; the lengths the families would go to, to reach a chance for better opportunities, was utterly heartbreaking.  

Now that we have established change can sometimes be hard and even deleterious, it leads us to our final topic: the recent, now dissipated, prevalence of COVID-19 and the changes the world had to hastily undergo. One of the most significant issues raised by COVID-19 is how to modify an educational system based on conventional schools. According to this presentation, more than 188 nations, equivalent to about 91% of the world’s enrolled students, stopped their schools in an effort to stop the virus’s spread.

This forced the world to switch to remote education, which has a precarious balance of advantages and disadvantages. Flexibility, self-pace, and development of technology skills were some of the given pros; lack of human connections, unstructured learning, and technological meltdown were the disadvantages presented. The forced separation of students from society provoked lasting detrimental effects, mostly, in children age range 5-7 years old. In kids, these symptoms have manifested as disruptiveness, separation anxiety, self-centeredness, and lack of communication with others; this applies mainly to those kids who were, at the time, entering kindergarten and first grade.

Sure, there were recommended ways of counterattacking these manifestations; these simple and instinctual (at least to me), things such as: skill development, support, parent-child interaction, and playing games were some of the recommended actions. Of course, children were not the only ones affected by this drastic social change, but it was the main topic. Conversely, in adults, a rise in drug abuse, increased violence, and suicide rose; this in turn exacerbated any familial abuse that may have been present pre-covid thus exposing and putting, any children involved, in arm’s reach of increased violence. The lockdown was apparently, more harmful than helpful and this was over and over demonstrated by the testimony of children in the videos shown throughout the presentation.  

I found this class project very informative of the topics presented, I really enjoyed the topic of gun laws around the world, not only did I learn about different cultures but I also got a refresher on geography. The topic of immigration was a sensitive one, but it affects us as a nation and it is something that should not be ignored. This affects countries at a global scale, and the examples given were great eye openers for that. Lastly, the topic of COVID-19 gave me flashbacks to when I experienced the lockdown as well; ironically, there have been people diagnosed with PTSD due to the pandemic. That just proves the magnitude of this traumatic experience, for some more than others.