Gun Cotrol is Needed!

  One of our members wrote her thinking on gun-using in the states. She insists the government should take a action on gun controlling. What about you? Please take a look and share your thinking through comments :)

Gun Control is Needed!

 

Yunzee Kim

Dongseo University

Broadcasting and Media Studies

             “Bang! Bang! Bang!” “Help me!” “Don’t shoot me, please!”

Does that sound familiar? If you do so, you already understand what I want to talk about. Gun accidents! Compared to other countries, tragic gun accidents happen a lot in the U.S. On November 1^st in 2013, there was a shooting at the Los Angeles airport. Due to this accident, one man was killed and three men were injured. On October 22^nd in 2013, there also was a gun shooting at Sparks Middle School in Nevada. It killed one teacher and hurt two students. However, this wasn’t the end. There are more gun shooting accidents in the U.S. at the elementary school, university, and even the army base.

Have you ever wondered why these terrible accidents happen in the states?  Personally, I think this situation happens because the government allows all citizens to use guns. All citizens are not sensible. Among them, there might be some who might lack of judgment or be able to use guns as threatening and harmful devices to others. While many people say guns help protect themselves from dangerous situations, this right to own guns doesn’t always lead to good results. Guns could be possessed by criminals and mentally unstable people. In this case, many innocent people can be killed like the Virginia Tech Accident in 2007. Also, there are some cases where people get hurt by guns because they make mistakes while handling guns.

These cases show that the price people pay for having the right to own guns is not cheap. In the states, there have been debates on making laws of controlling gun possession for a long time but there hasn’t been any conclusive answer. Therefore, to lower the number of shooting accidents in the states, I think the government’s action will be needed. Since existing for protecting the life of people in the nation, the government has to start forming a social consensus on necessity of gun possession controlling as a first step. Once the consensus is formed, the government and the parliament can easily legislate the law on controlling of gun possession (especially gun possession of mentally unstable people or criminals).

What Should Teachers Focus More: Character Education or Academic Education?

  One of DSKUSSS(Democratic Society of Korean U.S. Studies Specialists) members is shwoing his interest on education. Just take a look and give your thoughts on this posting through comments. :)

 

 

<What Should Teachers Focus More: Character Education or Academic Education?>

 

Cha Sumin

Korea National University of Education

Dept. of English Education

  

As schools are not considered the place where students merely memorize tons of words anymore, teachers are suffering from balancing two aims: character education and academic education. Character education refers to teachers’ effort to enhance the way students deal with others, introspect themselves, and react to diverse unexpected events. Academic education, on the other hand, focuses more on concrete knowledge so that students get ready to have occupation and contribute to social development. Even though one cannot outweigh the other, it is hardly possible for teachers to accomplish both aims due to limitation such as school hours. Then on which aim should teachers give more attention? There cannot be a definite answer, but it is meaningful to take this question into account, especially if you are to be a teacher.

 

Martha Nussbaum, an American philosopher, lays particular stress on character education saying “Nations all over the world will soon be producing generations of useful machines, rather than complete citizens who can think for themselves, criticize tradition, and understand the significance of another person’s sufferings and achievements.” Others who put emphasis on character education insist that people are not empty piggy banks supposed to be filled by handed-down contents, but being who are able to express their ideas to communicate with others. They also point out that character education is a lot easier to accomplish since it does not require elaborately scheduled lesson plans, but can frequently be realized through subtle arrangements including communicative activities and adjusting classroom arrangements.

 

Those who place priority on academic education, by contrast, argue that teachers are the only ones who are capable of conveying academic contents. In other words, while character education could be achieved not only by teachers but also by parents or peers, academic education could only be realized by teachers. In addition, they point out that society cannot work well unless there are intelligent people with abundant academic knowledge since every field around us is based upon concrete knowledge. Students must be soaked with academic knowledge during school life because those who drive our society in a more progressive way are not good and kind people, but those who are equipped with practical knowledge, they say. They also insist impossibility to gauge character education, which is significantly important in motivating students.

 

The point is not on selecting one education but on balancing the two, hence the term “focus more.” As shown above, there is not a predominant position, and it means it is teachers’ responsibility to mix them properly. If a teacher thinks students are satisfying minimum academic achievement, then the teacher may emphasize more on character education and vice versa. That is, what is important to teachers is to keep in mind that they are not ones who are specialized in one specific area; students require both character and academic education. Again, it is never an easy task but that’s what teachers are supposed to do. Bearing in mind the importance of character and academic education, they should always be ready to adjust where to put more stress.