Texas Legislature

My classmate, Rebekah Tharp, shared her thoughts on the Texas Legislature. She believes that the legislature should meet annually instead of biannually as they have been for over 20 years. She pointed out that 140 days is not enough time to address all of the issues Texas faces.

I completely agree with her thoughts. As things are today, if an issue needs to be fixed or voted on after the session is over, we have to wait up to two years before it can be fixed. The only way to override that is if the governor calls a special session, which he or she may or may not be inclined to do. Other states have full time legislators. It is there only job and they are well compensated for it. Our representatives are only part time and have other jobs to get back to. If a special session is called, they may not be able to come from all over the state to attend. If that happens, our issues in our state cannot be fully addressed. Not every district is being represented on issues that affect everyone! A full time legislature is imperative to function as a well run state. Until we change how things work, it cannot be fully effective. We are using standards set up decades ago. Texas has changed and our government here should change as well.

Childhood Hunger

In October, Texas launched a No Kid Hungry Campaign. It is part the nation’s hunger program called Share OurStrength. In Share Our Strength’s mission statement they claim, “Share Our Strength’s goal is to end childhood hunger in America. Working with others, we believe we can do this by 2015.” No Kid Hungry (NKH) has three levels to end childhood hunger: Live, Learn, and Play. They provide healthy foods in the Live program through food stamps and WIC to poor families who would otherwise not be able to afford it. In the Learn element of the program, they provide breakfast and lunches at schools and teach kids about nutrition. In the Play section, snacks are provided after school, and during the summer low income kids have meals brought to them.

                Texas has an extremely high “food insecurity” rate. Food security is defined as the availability of food and one’s access to it. By providing meals, at school and at home, kid’s food security levels rise. They know when the next meal will be there, and that one is coming. The program offers kids from all incomes levels free breakfast so that kids won’t feel singled out at school for eating there.

                I think this is an amazing program Texas is joining. We tend to be on the low ends of all bad statistics in the nation. It’s time we do something to help raise our standing in something as important as child hunger. Kids all over the country don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Giving them a meal helps them focus in school. Doing better in school means more high school graduates. This may be a jump, but making sure our kids aren’t hungry could equal a higher college enrollment rate. I say bravo Texas on jumping on a wonderful program.

Sometimes, Texas is Crazy

On October 26, a classmate of mine talked about putting the confederate flag on license plates. Alecca spoke about how it is an extremely controversial issue for all Texans. She gave both sides of the story by saying, “Governor Rick Perry gave his opinion on the subject saying, "We don't need to be scraping old wounds". While, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson disagrees saying that the confederate flag is a historical symbol.” She ended the article by saying that Texans should be the ones to decide whether the flag makes it onto the license plate or not.

I completely agree with Governor Perry. The thought of putting something so controversial on a license plate is absurd. It may be part of Texas’ history, but probably not a part most people want to remember. The confederate flag is a symbol of the South and slavery. We already fought about it as a country. And guess what? We lost. There is absolutely no need to flaunt it in everyone’s face…on every car. What good would it do? Just cause more drama in the state. Unnecessary. And ridiculous. I know many people who find the flag offensive. People can put whatever they want to on their vehicle. It someone chooses to put a confederate flag in their window or bumper, feel free. But let’s now make it mandatory for everyone. Some people are still deeply hurt and there’s no need to stir up the past.

What Needs to Happen?

A few posts ago I wrote about schools and their sex education programs. Ninety four percent of Texas school districts use an “abstinence only” program in their schools. According to our numbers, it’s clearly not working. Texas has the highest number of repeat teenage mothers in the country. Some schools have decided to change to an “abstinence-plus” program, which would teach kids about contraceptives and sexually transmitted diseases as well.

I went to a very small, very religious, private high school. Therefore, I was extremely sheltered in most aspects of the world. In my sophomore year, my school decided to provide a mandatory sex education class. Being short of teachers, the principal taught this very informative class. Well, we didn’t learn much. I still had no idea what sex was, but if you show me a STD, there is no doubt in my mind that I can name it. Great party trick, huh? We were not taught about our bodies, or our options, but only that with sex came deadly diseases that we were sure to get. Needless to say, by the time I graduated, almost one-third of the girls at my school had been kicked out. (That’s right, we didn’t teach them how to be safe, and when they “messed up” we just got rid of the evidence.) This clearly was the wrong way to go about teaching kids about sex.

I think the only logical option we have to lower our teen pregnancy rate is to give kids the facts. The real ones. No parent wants their teenage kids having sex, but I think most would rather not have grandkids when their in their late thirties. Kids shouldn’t grow up with parents that didn’t want them either. I think all schools should implement the “abstinence plus” program. Regardless of what we want, kids are going to have sex. The more we don’t talk to them about it, the more interested they are. All schools should be required to teach kids about safe sex. There shouldn’t be a choice in the matter. If we want to be better than 48^th on the scale of teen pregnancies, something has to change…now.

Occupy Austin

Robbie Cooper writes for a blog called “Urban Grounds.” On October 7^th, he wrote a post entitled, “Occupy Austin-Idiots and Morons Converge to Demand Free Stuff to Subsidize Their SlackerLifestyle.” In the post he talks about how the people who chose to occupy Austin are, in a word, lazy. There is a picture of a young, tattooed, pierced, bearded man holding a sign saying, “Will work for an education (thousands of dollars in student loans (debt)).”  Cooper writes,

“Son, you’re unemployed because You. Are. Unemployable. No one made you take out thousands of dollars of loans to pursue a worthless BA degree in a social science, all without a thought of how you planned to pay back that loan. And just look at you? Would you hire yourself for any job other than as a stocker at Whole Foods or a cashier at Waterloo Records? “

                      

Mr. Cooper rants that the world doesn’t owe anyone anything. Everyone works to get where they are and those that don’t work for it, don’t deserve it anyways.

The thought that going to college and getting a degree ensures that you will have your dream job instantly is laughable. A degree promises nothing but a piece of paper. But isn’t that what we are all after? A promise of a job or a career we love? One that pays all our bills and entertainment? There are PhD’s working at McDonalds right now. This economy promises nothing. Those that are protesting want free healthcare and a free education. Nothing is ever free. I work 45+ hours a week, while taking 16 hours in classes. Those 45 hours pay for the other 16. I pay out of district tuition and don’t use student loans. When I graduate, I hope for a dream job, but I also know that it is not a guarantee. That’s a risk every student takes.

Teenage Pregnacy...What's the Plan?

Texas has the 3rd highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country, and is #1 among repeat mothers still in their teens. Our state has given Texas school districts the right to decide how we taught out teenagers about sexual education. According to the article, 94% of districts chose the abstinence only program. Apparently our school boards think that "what they don't know can't hurt them." So far, they've been wrong.

Recently the state has started to see that abstinence doesn't always work. School districts in the Houston area have started to change over to what they call an "abstinence-plus" curriculum. This program teaches about sexually transmitted diseases as well and contraceptives. The article argues that if a teenager knows more about their body, they can make better choices for themselves. Susan Tortolero, director of the UT Prevention Research Center makes the argument, "The more you know about your body, how to make better decisions and choices, the better decisions adolescents make." The article points out that parents believe educating the kids on different forms of contraception will only make teen pregnancy numbers rise. School districts have begun to change their thinking a bit. Many schools are changing their curriculum as soon as this spring to try to lower the state's reputation among the country to teenage pregnancy.

This unknown writer makes some good points. What kids know about their body can only help them make better choices. Instead of making sex "taboo", educating kids on smart choices will likely drop down the pregnancy rate among kids. I don't know a 13 year old that dream of being a mom next year. With better options made available to them, maybe the rates will drop lower. It would be nice to be at the bottom of that ranking among the states.

I found this article at: http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Let-s-reconsider-abstinence-only-sex-ed-2184304.php

Oh yes I did it...Let's talk about the death penalty!

Some onlookers were surprised the other night at the GOP primary debate at the amount of attendees who were in favor of Governor Rick Perry's record for executions. A huge round of applause was given when Brian William's told the crowd about the 243 executions that Perry has overseen. The article goes into detail about the percentage of registered voters in Texas that support the death penalty. At 75% in support of the death penalty, these numbers are a good amount higher than the national numbers. Most people disagree with the stereotypes Texas carries, but with statistics like these, no one can deny some truth behind them. But the showing of support at the debate proves that it's not just Texas who thinks crime should pay. Surveys show that not only are the Republicans supporting Perry's record, a large portion of Democrats are in favor of the death penalty as well. I heard "fun fact" the other day that says a person is more likely to die under Perry's reign by the death penatly than to die in a plane crash. But apparently, people like those odds.
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/death-penalty/guest-column-behind-death-penalty-cheers/