Teacher Kills Student During Class

     In 2002, a young boy named Cedric was killed by his special education teacher. Cedric had refused to do his work so his teacher with held his lunch and proceeded to restrain Cedric and sit on him. Cedric was then suffocated in front of him classmates. Although the teacher was eventually charged with murder, there are no federal laws that prevent teachers from putting their students into physical restraints. Individual states may have laws against it, but in states like Texas there are not. Along with Cedric, there have been other reports of abuse in schools. This article highlights Cedric and such cases.

    In Illinois corporal punishment in illegal, but physical restraint is permitted. But, physical restraint is only permitted in schools that specifically allow it and teachers must notify parents after it has been used. I know at New Trier, and high schools in general, aren't going to be restraining students any time soon and none of the students in Illinois are at risk for corporal punishments.

     When I went school in Paducah, Kentucky, it was legal for my elementary school to enforce corporal punishment. Although I was never paddled and I can't remember hearing about anyone who was actually paddled. But I can remember being at friends houses and seeing "the paddle" sitting on the living room table and hearing my friends younger siblings being paddled in the next room. Now, looking back, it seems extremely hostile and disgusting to paddle a child. But, at the time, when I was in second grade,  it was not surprising or strange to me at all to see this happening, that's just how it was.

     Now, in the article I linked above, it blames the federal government for not making a national law against corporal punishment and physical restraint in schools. That the teachers are not to blame. I have to disagree with their opinion. Although I do agree that a federal law should be in place to prevent cases like Cedric to occur, I also think the teachers should be held responsible. My older sister is a former teacher and she taught in a school district where corporal punishment was perfectly legal and teachers in her school used "the paddle" all the time. She had the choice to use it or not and she chose not to. It is completely up to the teacher as the whether or not they abuse their students.

¿Habla Español?

     Everyday after school I take the PACE bus home, I have been taking the PACE bus home since freshman year and have always noticed that there are just as many advertisements in Spanish and in English. I always love to try and figure out what the advertisements are for and what they say. I also started to wonder when Spanish became such a predominant language in America. According to the CIA World Factbook, 82% of the population speaks English as their first language, while 10% of the population speaks Spanish as their first language. Not only was I seeing Spanish on the PACE bus, when I traveled to Texas in the airport Spanish was everywhere. It was everywhere from the bathroom asking people to wash their hands, or "llava los manos", to the safety manual on the plane.
      I also thought about the fact that we live in near a large city so of course there is going to be a more diverse population where we live. I have tried to find a specific date of when an influx of Spanish in advertising occurred but have been unsuccessful in finding one. So, I was wondering if it was only me who has begun to notice more Spanish or has it always been this way? Are there any places that you have seen Spanish that has surprised you?