On Skid Row

The movie "On Skid Row" was an eye-opener for me. Sure I've always been aware of homelessness in this country but to see it for myself was much different. It's a shocking truth that homelessness is pretty much a cyclic thing. When you're born into a homeless lifestyle, there isn't much you can do about it, but just to deal with it. But I also think that theres a lot of stereotypes that comes along with poverty-stricken families. Some people have given to the poor before, but later found those people spending their money on drugs. That discourages people from donating money to the homeless. Then, there is also the argument that if the homeless should clean up their act and go find a job. However, that isn't always possible for some. I just think these are a couple reasons why people look down on the homeless so much and are resistant to help.

The video's purpose was to raise awareness on the homelessness that is going on in our nation and let people know what's really going on. The audience would have to be those living in Los Angelas, probably not even that far from Skid Row itself. The video uses great appeals to pathos, especially since it captures the tragedy and suffering that these people go through. Whenever someone uses pictures of suffering, especially when children are involved, there is no doubt people will be moved. The narrator of the video made a good argument as well since he mentioned other solutions people have come up with before and how it did not work. This video is successful at raising awareness concerning the homelessness going on in this so called "rich" nation.

No child left behind

The teacher in the video posed a really good argument...yes it started off pretty weird and kind of raised an eyebrow, but then she got a bit more normal. lol. Anyways, she stuck to the topic, which was the "no child left behind" and did not go off attacking Bush and what not, like most people tend to that. She obviously knew what she was talking about and clearly explained the details of the whole act. I think the whole act is a great idea sounds lovely, but the way is plays out isn't so great. I am guessing that the FCAT is because of "NCLB". thats probably what the teacher was talking about with the tests every March. Seriously, teachers spend so much time teaching and preparing their students for the FCAT...rather than focusing on other curriculum. The act also has a "reward and punishment" detail to it which honestly made no sense to me. It doesn't make sense to reduce funds for schools that are doing poorly...wouldn't that just make things worse??? I don't think the basis for funds and money for schools should be based on how well the students are doing. If schools are not succeeding, then someone needs to oversee what the problem is and how to possibly help students do better...not say "oh hey their doing poorly, I guess we should punish them by lessening their funds". That makes no sense.