SO you are crying because Trump is your new president?

2016 election is the most interesting topic to talk about this year. It surely is a unique election that the people of United States have ever experienced. However, the result is finally announced on Nov 8. It has been one week since then, and people should begin to accept the outcome whether they like it or not. The post “Blog 5” written by Jordan Call addresses the issues on the riots which are sparked by people, especially college students, who refuse to accept the result.

Jordan Call mentions, “Our country, especially 16-25 year olds, are thin skinned, sniveling kids who cry and start shit over the littlest stuff”. There are surprisingly riots, protests in some universities after the election night. For instance, hundreds of students from UT Austin marched for hours in Downtown Austin under the rain against Donald Trump’s victory. They claimed that he is a racist, and his victory will lead to violence and segregation. How do they, who are educated college students, believe that they can solve violence with more violence and protest?  They hurt themselves by walking for hours under the rain, they hurt the traffic because they march on the streets which are for cars, and they waste the policemen’s time trying to get the traffic flow again after the protest. The college students need to learn that this is not the end of the world, and they do not need to cry about this or skip class to go to protests.

Jordan Call writes, “You think life is hard? You don’t know the meaning of the word”. There are countries that do not have the right to vote, or even know their candidates’ background before they go vote. When they get a new president, they accept it and keep living their lives. Meanwhile, in the United States, people, who cannot get the president they want, start to cry and fuss like a teenager.

“But look at you now. Acting like spoiled kids. Throwing fits in the street, getting arrested and picking up criminal records that guarantee you’ll never get a good job”, John Call declares.

There is no wrong in wanting to protest against a bad government. After all, that what make America a land of freedom. However, people need to consider better reasons and peaceful protests. The college students need to focus on their studies than skipping classes to protest. If they are disappointed about this year result, they should study hard, run for office one day and be a better president. 

What the ninth graders should be taught in driver ed?

John Whitmire, who is the Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman, proposed a bill last month which will require the Texas Education Agency to develop a new curriculum for nine graders on how to act during traffic stops. His intention is to decrease the tragedy which has happened during police encounters in years. He wants to protect the children and to inform them about their limited rights when they interact with police officers when they get pulled over.

He states that “If you feel an officer does you wrong, you don’t take it up with them out on the street, you take it up with an administrator. That’s one of the things I think we’ll teach.”

Students need to be taught what their rights are and the best way to express it. The students need to be informed with the truth, data and real life situations. In addition, the new curriculum should contain information in the handbook for the students emphasize negative reactions that can happen sometimes come from interacting with polices. Kevin Lawrence, who is the director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, says, “On the side of the street is not the place to litigate what you believe the officer is doing is wrong or what the officer believes you are doing wrong”. In addition, he suggests that the police officer should hand out to individuals a form which shows the process to file a complaint against that officer if the person feels he has been treated wrongly.  

Furthermore, the new curriculum should raise students’ awareness of racism in some police officers. The white and black students need to know that the regardless of their actions, the situations can be different because of their races. In July 2016, a lot of police officers were shot and injured by a black man in Dallas. The event created fear for the police. Thus, students must realize that police officers have a dangerous job and they must learn how to react in such a way as to show that they are no danger to the policeman. For instance, they can ask the police officers when they need to move or get something out of their pocket since it can be anything, even a gun.

We must teach the students to act respectfully to police officers regardless of the situations. They need to know if they rebel against the law enforcement officers, they run the risk of being shot. Students need to be taught that there are ways to protect their rights, but it is not by being disrespectful to the police officers. Whitmire says, “Increased training and education for both peace officers and our students will help foster positive relations and interactions”. The bill should emphasize better police recruit and training. Police officers should not have aggressive behavior toward a certain races. It is true that we cannot tell ones to stop being racist if they has been that way their whole life. However, they should have been told that they must react properly for their job regardless how they feel about certain races. The police also need to be trained to respect the teenagers. A person does not respect police officers if he feels disrespect by them. Both officers and students should be trained in a way that they will not act toward each other with fear.

I believe that the bill can make an important impact for law enforcement officers and the ninth graders if the education is extended to both. However, trust between the community and law enforcement should begin much earlier than ninth grade. Police officers should be given time to come into elementary schools and participate in activities that will build trust.