Reference List

REFERENCE LIST

"Comprehensive Sex Education Might Reduce Teen Pregnancies, Study Suggests." Science Daily. N.p., 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319151225.htm>.

Kirby, Douglas. "Impacts of Sex and HIV Education Programs on Sexual Behaviors of Youth in Developing and Developed Countries." International Board Of Education. Family Health International, 2005. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/HIV_and_AIDS/publications/DougKirby.pdf>.

Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2007, April 17). Abstinance-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Retrieved from Planetwire website: http://www.planetwire.org/files.fcgi/7689_Ab_Only_Ed_Kohler_.pdf

McKay, A. (2005, ). Sexual health education in the schools: Questions & answers. Retrieved from SIECCAN website: http://www.sieccan.org/pdf/SHES_QA.pdf

McKeon, B. (2006, April). Effect sex education. Retrieved from Advocates for Youth website: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/450?task=view

Mueller, T. E., Gavin, L. E., & Kulkarni, A. (2007, August 2). The association between sex education and youth's engagement in sexual intercourse, age of first encounter, and birth control use at first sex. Retrieved from UK PubMed Central website: http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/18155035/reload=0;jsessionid=5CEEE408E5679839C33F99A008728F38

"Sex Education Linked to Delayed Teen Intercourse, New Study Says." Science Daily. N.p., 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071220231428.htm>.

"Sex Education That Works." AVERT. N.p., 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.avert.org/sex-education.htm>.

IRP: Phase Two

1) Mueller, T. E., Gavin, L. E., & Kulkarni, A. (2007, August 2). The association between sex education and youth's engagement in sexual intercourse, age of first encounter, and birth control use at first sex. Retrieved from UK PubMed Central website: http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/18155035/reload=0;jsessionid=5CEEE408E5679839C33F99A008728F38

RESEARCH POINTS

-          Sex education led to postponed sexual intercourse for both males and females

-          more likely to use birth control or contraception during first experience

-          formal sex education may effectively reduce adolescent sexual risk behaviours when provided before sexual initiation

This research shows that sexual education actually postpones the adolescent’s decision to have sex for the first time. Also, it shows that adolescents who receive sexual education before their first sexual experience are more likely to take precautions that will reduce unexpected pregnancy and the occurrence of Sexually Transmitted Infections.

2) Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2007, April 17). Abstinance-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Retrieved from Planetwire website: http://www.planetwire.org/files.fcgi/7689_Ab_Only_Ed_Kohler_.pdf

RESEARCH POINTS

-          Abstinence-only education did not reduce the likelihood of engaging in vaginal intercourse while comprehensive sexual education did reduce the likelihood of engaging in the same sexual act

-          Abstinence-only messages teach that sex should be delayed until marriage, and discussion of contraceptives typically limited to statements about ineffectiveness

-          Unfortunately, to get federal funding for a sexual education program it must be abstinence based

-          people who had a comprehensive sexual education program (versus an abstinence-only program or no sexual education at all) were significantly less likely to have teenage pregnancy

This study shows that, compared to no education or an abstinence-only education, that comprehensive led to teenagers who were less likely to have intercourse, get an STI or have an unexpected pregnancy. Abstinence-only programs just make the students more unwilling to use contraception when they do have sex because they are not fully educated on the matter. This supports my hypothesis of having a more explicit (comprehensive) sexual education program in schools because it benefits the students more.

3) McKeon, B. (2006, April). Effect sex education. Retrieved from Advocates for Youth website: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/450?task=view

RESEARCH POINTS

-          Comprehensive sex education has been identified as highly effective and affect multiple behaviours and/or achieve positive health impacts

-          Comprehensive programs delay the initiation of sex as well as reduce the frequency of sex, number of partners, and the incidence of unprotected sex and/or increasing the use of condoms and contraception among sexually active partners

-          On the other hand, 88% of people who have an abstinence-only sexual education initiate in sex prior to marriage anyways even if it is delayed for a small amount of time. The same people were also less likely to seek STI testing which would prevent the spreading of diseases and are less likely to use contraception when they did have sex

-          Also, 80% of the curricula for abstinence-only programs contain false, misleading or distorted information about reproductive health. This tends to include: false information about the effectiveness of contraceptives, false information about the risks of abortion, religious beliefs as scientific fact, stereotypes about boys and girls as scientific fact and medical and scientific errors as fact.

This study not only showed the benefits of having comprehensive sexual education as making youth and young adults wait longer before having sex, having sex less often and with less people, and having less unprotected sex, but it also showed the disadvantages of having an abstinence-only program that focuses only on not having sex before marriage. It brought to light how people who have this type of education do not have long-term benefits and also the false information that is commonly provided in this type of program which happens even in Sacred Heart.

4) McKay, A. (2005, ). Sexual health education in the schools: Questions & answers. Retrieved from SIECCAN website: http://www.sieccan.org/pdf/SHES_QA.pdf

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

-          Providing youth with sexual health education, including information on contraception and condom use does not lead youth to become sexually active at an earlier age or to engage in more frequent sexual activity.

-          it has been consistently found that providing contraceptive/safe sex does not lead to earlier or more frequent sexual activity

-          especially programs that include discussion of condoms and contraceptive does not hasten the onset of intercourse, does not increase the frequency of sex and does not increase the number of sexual partners that that person will be with

This confirms once again that comprehensive sexual education that includes topics of condoms and contraception does not make youth want to have sex sooner or have sex more often, quite the opposite. It also decreases the amount of sexual partners that one person has.

5) Kirby, Douglas. "Impacts of Sex and HIV Education Programs on Sexual Behaviors of Youth in Developing and Developed Countries." International Board Of Education. Family Health International, 2005. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/HIV_and_AIDS/publications/DougKirby.pdf>.

RESEARCH POINTS

-          Programs that have abstinence taught as well as condoms or contraception had a 93% effectiveness compared to just abstinence which only had 7%. It also concluded that the age 14.0 years to 17.9 years are the best years to get a sexual education compared to other ages.

-          In all the studies, it found that programs which included both abstinence and condom/contraception lessons significantly delayed the initiation of sex for at least six months. The program however did not have an effect on the frequency of sex and did not increase the number of sexual partners and some even did decrease this number.

-          Almost half of the programs found a significant increase in the amount of participants using condoms. They also found that teaching about condoms is equally effective in a school and community setting. There was also an increased use of contraception.

-          A significant number of the programs found that the amount of sexual risk-taking and none found any increase. It also found positive changes in the area of STI and pregnancy rates.

This research paper will probably be the most useful to me of all the studies I found because it is the one the most in depth (it is 56 pages long). It shows that a comprehensive (including both abstinence and condoms/contraception) is significantly better than just an abstinence only program. It also shows that the best age to be teaching people about sexual education when you use these methods is 14.0 to 17.9 which is exactly the age that you are in high school, so the sex ed we get in high school matters the most. The comprehensive program had a positive effect on initiation of sex, number of sexual partners, and number of participants using condoms and contraception, and much less sexual risk-taking behaviors.

Rite of Passage

A Trip of Independence

Step by Step- Parents decide where they go, so they are uneducated on the location
- Teenagers go through this rite of passage after high school when they are finished high school, and both boys and girls go through it
- Children save their own money in a trust fund to go, but their parents can help them if they need money.
- They throw your butt on the plane.
- You arrive to your destination and find a place to stay for a month
- Find a temporary job
- Immerse yourself in the culture by eating their food and attempting to speak their language
- Fend for yourself
- The come home changed
Explanations
-They won’t know where they are going so they will fully have to adapt to the new location. And it teaches them patience. Being able to adapt to a new setting shows that you are ready for adulthood because you have to be able to adapt to a new setting so we can properly and successfully live in a new setting. We are going to be put into situations that might need us to change to have functioning processes. We will need the skills to function into a new society by ourselves and be independent.
- The child using the money that is specifically saved helps the child learn how to save and budget. This is teaching the child responsibility and skills on saving.
-They are leaving the nest and not going with their family so they have to figure out how to work thier way throgh coplicated siteuations and processes needed to get through the airport and then find a place to live.
- Finding a place to stay and where to go is giving yourself independance and a self challange.
- Immers your self by trying to speak the local language and eat there food to gain apricacion for others who are diffrent then you.
- Fend for your self by cleaning your house and paying rent theachs you the impportants of money and time.
-The expiriance will change you and will make you ready to leave your parents home and live on your succesfully.

Sex Ed

 The first of our guests here today is the Catholic school educator.

Reid Mihalko, a sex and relationship expert, calls what he does edutainment. He does everything from PG to PG-13 workshops for the younger ones (called Cuddle Parties), to R-rated presentations at colleges and universities about healthy intimacy and safe sex. His opinion on proper sex education, even from a younger age, is that it leads to more self-esteem, more self-confidence and  gives you the skills for when you do end up having sex, whenever that may be.

As for the average teenager, the answer is pretty basic. They do want to understand what it is that goes on when you have sex, the consequences of that and how all of that stuff down there works. And since they can't get that knowledge in school and definitely NOT from their parents, they have to turn to other places for info (magazines like Cosmo, the internet, porn even). Places where information may not be right and is definitely hyped up. Places that don't give them everything they need to know, including how all the Bible feels about this stuff. But, hey, they'll take what they can get.

Ethical Article

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2016417983_stemcells06.html

What are the major ethical dilemmas involved with this research?

What exactly is wrong with that problem? (Abortion/Cloning)

What if this research leads to saving thousands or even millions of peoples' lives?

Do the costs outweigh the benefits or is this research justified?

PERMUTATION PROBLEM SOLVING ASSIGNMENT

 

Time stamped at the bottom!

JOHN Q.

For John Q. Archibald, morality really encompasses the health and well-being of his son. Not only is he willing to risk his freedom and go against the law, but his ultimate back up plan is to kill himself to provide his only child, Mikey, with a new heart in order to save his life. Accepting that his son is going to die isn't possible in his eyes even though his option are very limited. To him, not only is it moral to do this, but it is the only choice he has. He believes that "when people are sick, they deserve help". But his son isn't the only one he feels he has moral obligations to help. It's true that he holds a number of people in the emergency room hostage, but they all get treated. He even takes in a gunshot victim when he hears that he could die if he doesn't get treatment and into surgery. He also gives a woman patient directions to another hospital to who calls in hysterically on the phone. John believes that you should try to help someone no matter who they are and how much money they have.

Based on viewing John Q.'s decisions in a time of desperation, I believe that his ideas of morality would be most congruent with the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant.Kant taught the idea of categorical imperative. This means that morality is derived from rationality and that either something is good or not good and it has to be good for anyone, anywhere and under any circumstance. There is no grey area in categorical imperative, it is either black or white. Right or wrong.


This might seem a bit ridiculous in the case of our protagonist because of the fact that he took a number of people hostage, caused chaos for the entire law enforcement faculty, and severely beat up a police sniper (only after the sniper tried to kill him of course) but you have to keep in mind that he never intended on hurting anyone. For the majority of the film, the gun that John used to orchestrate the entire situation wasn't even ever loaded, thus he couldn't have really hurt anyone. It only gets loaded when he goes to shoot himself so he was the only one who was ever going to get hurt in the plan. Really when you come down to it he got a handful of people free emergency care and he inconvenienced a number of people to save a life. His son's life. Is there really anything wrong with that? I think not. Those decisions could be allowed in every situation if you include the motive.


And all things considered, there is no grey area of morality in John Archibald's mind. As was mentioned before, "if someone is sick, they deserve help". That statement is true for everyone, everywhere, and in every circumstance. For any father really, he would do anything he could to save the life of his child if he could. To a parent, it is black and white - there is no option of whether or not to act.


Parents understand unconditional love. While have no idea what it is like to have a child or have felt that unlimited care for another human being that you can only have with someone that is your flesh and blood. But from what I am told, have read, can imagine and have seen in the film 'John Q.', when you have a child, a life that so greatly depends on you, a parent still has morals but they can be twisted and bent to protect and provide for your child. This is magnified even more when there is a life at stake. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Quote Responce #1

“Everyday people are straying away from the church and back to God.”

Lenny Bruce

Now more than ever, people aren’t using the church to be their connection with God. The amount of people that attend regular church services have reduced drastically but a lot of these people aren’t becoming any less spiritual. This can be because a multitude of reasons.

Religion, as a whole, isn’t really meant to be structured. Just because someone doesn’t go to church or doesn’t say what they’re told to say during prayer doesn’t mean that they aren’t spiritual or connecting with God. In a way, “straying away from the church” could even be more spiritual than if your practises were confined to the rules of the church. Connecting with God is supposed to be a very intimate and personal experience, so how are people as individuals supposed to connect personally if they have to do it exactly the same as everyone else?

Also, the world is very different now then when religion was the main life line for people. It’s clear in history that at one point in time the world needed structured religion because in all that disease, devastation and cruelty people needed hope to keep going. But the fact is that times have changed now and people don’t need that anymore. The world has gotten to a point where it isn’t necessary to rely on people telling them what to do and say when it comes to speaking our beliefs and showing our love and gratitude for God.

This quote really speaks to me personally. I was born and baptized Lutheran but that isn’t the faith that I choose to practise. And this quote basically sums up how I felt when I switched from Christianity to a less structured faith. Being Wiccan is all about feeling the natural, spiritual energy of the world. It’s about finding your own way to celebrate life and the Creators so that it is meaningful to you. I have experienced going to both Lutheran and Catholic churches regularly and the concepts behind the religions are great but the rules and confines are limiting and therefore hard to connect with much less, appreciate.

CIRCULATION LAB

CIRCULATION FOLLOW UP QUESTIONSHEART ACTIVITIES
1.
B) Breath Holding: When you hold your breath, your heart rate slows down because there is less oxygen in your lungs to transport.
C) Exercise: When you exercise, your breathing will become significantly faster because your tissues need more oxygen to support the extra activity.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.
BLOOD TYPING
8.
9. Since I am A+, I have A antigens on the surface of my blood cells and so I would have anti-B in my plasma. This means that I could give blood to other people The part of the blood that is responsible for the type of blood is the antigens on the blood cells. These may be proteins, glycoproteins, carbohydrates, or glycolipids, depending on the group of blood.When you are upright, your heart rate and blood pressure tends to be higher than if you are sitting or laying down. Both my systolic and diastolic pressure changed, but neither really changed significantly when I changed positions. I think this happens because when you are standing, you are using more muscles to keep upright therefore more effort on the part of your heart, for example in your legs, back and neck. When you are sitting you are using less muscles, back and neck, so you need less oxygen than if you standing but more than if you were laying down. Laying down you are using no muscles to keep upright, therefore your heart has to work less to provide the necessary tissues with oxygen.Recovery rate is the amount of time it takes for your heart to return to normal bpm after ceasing intense exercise. A slow reduction in the number of beats per minute after exercising is healthy, but if it reduces by less than 12 bpm in one minute that may mean you have a higher risk for heart attack.The target heart rate is the desired number of beats per minute during an exercise session that enables one to get the most benefits for their body (eg. heart and lungs) and determining this number has to take into account age, gender, height, weight and previous training. It is important because when exercising you don’t want to strain your heart but you still want to get the benefits of exercising. Since an infant’s or child’s heart is much smaller than an adult heart, it has to work harder to get the same amount of blood around a body. On top of that, since children are constantly growing, their metabolism is much faster, which requires more oxygen.As I said in question 1. A, someone who exercises on a regular, intense basis will have a much slower resting heart rate than a normal, average adult. This happens because the heart, as it exercises as well, becomes more efficient with each beat so it has to beat less times to get the same amount of blood around the body. On the other hand, someone who exercises less than average will have a higher resting heart rate because the muscles of the heart aren’t as strong and efficient. The sounds your heart makes (lub-dub) when you listen to your heart beats with a stethoscope are caused by the snapping shut of the mitral and tricuspid valves. One closes a fraction of a second before the other which is why there are two sounds and not just one. When you are holding your breath, these sounds will be slower and farther apart because your heart is beating slower, when you are exercising the sounds will be faster and closer together.A) At Rest: The heartbeat at a resting rate would be slower than if the person was up and about, doing activities. The typical healthy bpm of an adult is between 60 and 80 beats, but if you do regular exercise, it is normal to be significantly lower. For example Lance Armstrong was known to have a resting heart rate around 32 bpm.

CIRCULATION LAB

CIRCULATION FOLLOW UP QUESTIONSHEART ACTIVITIES
1.
B) Breath Holding: When you hold your breath, your heart rate slows down because there is less oxygen in your lungs to transport.
C) Exercise: When you exercise, your breathing will become significantly faster because your tissues need more oxygen to support the extra activity.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.
BLOOD TYPING
8.
9. Since I am A+, I have A antigens on the surface of my blood cells and so I would have anti-B in my plasma. This means that I could give blood to other people The part of the blood that is responsible for the type of blood is the antigens on the blood cells. These may be proteins, glycoproteins, carbohydrates, or glycolipids, depending on the group of blood.When you are upright, your heart rate and blood pressure tends to be higher than if you are sitting or laying down. Both my systolic and diastolic pressure changed, but neither really changed significantly when I changed positions. I think this happens because when you are standing, you are using more muscles to keep upright therefore more effort on the part of your heart, for example in your legs, back and neck. When you are sitting you are using less muscles, back and neck, so you need less oxygen than if you standing but more than if you were laying down. Laying down you are using no muscles to keep upright, therefore your heart has to work less to provide the necessary tissues with oxygen.Recovery rate is the amount of time it takes for your heart to return to normal bpm after ceasing intense exercise. A slow reduction in the number of beats per minute after exercising is healthy, but if it reduces by less than 12 bpm in one minute that may mean you have a higher risk for heart attack.The target heart rate is the desired number of beats per minute during an exercise session that enables one to get the most benefits for their body (eg. heart and lungs) and determining this number has to take into account age, gender, height, weight and previous training. It is important because when exercising you don’t want to strain your heart but you still want to get the benefits of exercising. Since an infant’s or child’s heart is much smaller than an adult heart, it has to work harder to get the same amount of blood around a body. On top of that, since children are constantly growing, their metabolism is much faster, which requires more oxygen.As I said in question 1. A, someone who exercises on a regular, intense basis will have a much slower resting heart rate than a normal, average adult. This happens because the heart, as it exercises as well, becomes more efficient with each beat so it has to beat less times to get the same amount of blood around the body. On the other hand, someone who exercises less than average will have a higher resting heart rate because the muscles of the heart aren’t as strong and efficient. The sounds your heart makes (lub-dub) when you listen to your heart beats with a stethoscope are caused by the snapping shut of the mitral and tricuspid valves. One closes a fraction of a second before the other which is why there are two sounds and not just one. When you are holding your breath, these sounds will be slower and farther apart because your heart is beating slower, when you are exercising the sounds will be faster and closer together.A) At Rest: The heartbeat at a resting rate would be slower than if the person was up and about, doing activities. The typical healthy bpm of an adult is between 60 and 80 beats, but if you do regular exercise, it is normal to be significantly lower. For example Lance Armstrong was known to have a resting heart rate around 32 bpm.

Religion Reflection Assignment

There is nothing like that moment when your feet sink into the cool, wet sand and the smell of sea salt hits your nose. The warm , humid air rustles your hair and the frigid water sloshes around your ankles and drops seashells between your toes. The home to bottle nose dolphins, Atlantic pelicans, Loggerhead sea turtles, and Moon Jellyfish that frequently wash up on shore, this place is dream-like even in March when I am there every year. The stars are bright, the sand is white and seashells are abundant. The only thing that you can hear is the crashing of waves and, in early morning, the singing of the dolphins that play in the white caps. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is the most beautiful place on earth.
But while this beauty of the beaches brings thousands of tourists to Horry County every year, because of Western society this oceanic ecosystem is under siege. Back in the time of the Waccamaw natives, the people and the wildlife lived in harmony with each other, because they understood that one does not control the other. But now, pollution, over fishing and bycatching is destroying the habitat of 230, 000 species of marine life.
Every year the United States of America produces 15 billion pounds of plastic and only about 1 billion is recycled. The other 14 billion has to go somewhere. While a lot of it goes into landfill sites around the country, a significant proportion is dumped into waterways and eventually the ocean with rain water because someone left it laying on the ground. Thrown down carelessly and forgotten. Many animals mistake this toxic, plastic garbage for a light snack and it eventually kills the animals by accumulating in the digestive tract of the creature. Also, garbage like the plastic rings off of pop cans and plastic bags get caught or tangled up in the fins or around the mouths and necks of dolphins, porpoises and sea turtles. Strangling them, drowning them, or starving them. All this because of someone too lazy to put something in a trash can. What a cruel way to die.
Over fishing on the other hand, is completely intentional. Most companies that you can find in the frozen section at your local grocery store over fish. Over fishing happens when more fish than needed is caught. They target one species of fish and harvest them until numbers are so low, so they move on to another species. Imagine factory trawlers with fishnets as large as four football fields and how many fish that can wipe out in one go. Not only does this method of fishing kill of giant schools of fish and cause a collapse in the oceanic ecosystem, decimating an entire ocean food chain, but it also causes people to lose their jobs and businesses such as small fisheries to close.
But not only the targeted fish that these trawlers seek out are in danger. These giant fish nets and longline fishing techniques are a death sentence to whales, sharks, dolphins, seals, birds, and sea turtles. Bycatching is when unintended marine life is caught and killed with the targeted group of fish and every year upwards of 300 000 cetaceans and a staggering 100 million sharks of all sizes are killed from these greedy companies. Whenever a marine animal that was not supposed to be there is caught in a net it is discarded overboard, already dead or severely injured. Not only is this travesty cruel to the animals that are killed, but it is completely possible to reduce the amount of bycatching. Specialized and selective nets can be substituted to reduce the amount of unwanted animals that are dragged up and pingers can be used to deter dolphins from hanging around fish trawlers.

'He-y Come on Ou-t" Journal (#5)

The environmental issue that affects me the most is environmental deterioration and degradation. As a Wiccan, nature itself is sacred like a church and every day there is less and less real nature. Natural habitats are destroyed, creatures are becoing extinct, the environment is strained and biodiversity is slowly becoming none existant.

Every 20 minutes, a distinct species of plant or animal becomes extinct and close to 75% of wetland and forest habitats have been lost because of human invasion on wild areas. This does not include deforestation. People take no regard for the fact that the land they "own" was once the homes of plants and animals.

Like in the short story "He-y Come on Ou-t", people have tried to make a difference but only ended up doing more harm then what they started with. Many wildlife reserves cause more damage than if people had left them well alone. A wildlife reserve in Japan to protect the rare Great Pandas ended up being more harme than benifit compared to the surounding areas.

"Mirror Image" Journal (#1)

"She’s our daughter!" shrilled Mrs. Jarred.

"No, that girl is not my little Gail. That isn’t her in there." Mr. Jarred said calmly. He had to make his wife understand.

Mrs. Jarred had been devastated when the doctors had told them that Gail was never coming back. While her heart was still beating, and her lungs were still taking in air, her brain was dead.
Gail had been out partying with her friends when she had fallen down a flight of stairs and hit her head. Nothing had been broken, and with the dulling affect of the alcohol, she hadn’t even felt the pulsating pain in her head. When she had returned home and went to sleep that night, she went into a coma, and eventually became brain dead. Mrs Jarred, not being able to revive her daughter, called 911 immediately. But by that time, it was too late.

Mrs. Jarred, at the time, had supported her husbands decision to donate Gail’s body to the hospital. He knew that was what Gail would have wanted, even though she had never filled out her Organ Donation card.

Knowing his wife was on the verge of tears, Mr. Jarred didn’t want to push the matter but when he had met Alice, he could tell that she, as well as them, was having her own hardships. Alice deserved to be stood up for too.

"I am sure that the poor girl is having enough difficulties without our inability to get a grip on this new reality. We need to let her live her life, dear." Mr. Jarred said with finality as his wife gave him a scorching glare.

While this particular conversation was over, he was sure that they would have this argument again.

‘Your doing the right thing.’ he assured himself silently as he watched his wife stalk off tearfully. And remembering Alice, he actually believed it this time.

"Saturday Climbing" Journal (#2)

While my parent-teenager issue is still about stuff like curfew, music being too loud, and why I have to eat a vegetable AND salad with dinner, it is a bit more complicated then just that. I have a step-dad.

When I was six years old, my mom married Donald McLaren. In the months between when they met and when they got married, he went out of his way to buy my sister and I gifts, ice cream, and take my mom, my sister and myself on excursions such as camping up north. Soon after they got married I started to notice that a lot of things were changing in my life. On the up side, we were putting a large addition on our house, but on the other hand many new rules were put in place. As a young adult I realize that my opinion on rules is highly biased, but life in my house became more difficult.


Most self-help sources and professionals will tell you that life with a step-parent gets easier with time, as you get to know them and get used to them. It has been eleven years and this is not true in my family. The gifts, treats and family field trips came to a halt about a year after they were married. And while I know he has good intentions, I try to stay out of Don's way as much as possible. As do most of my friends when they are here, which is rarely.


The story "Saturday Climbing" can be related to my problems at home by how Barry, as a father, is trying to deal with his negative relationship with his daughter. More specifically the fact that he tries to find an activity that they can do together to get to know each other again. Don has tried to do this, he was the one who insisted to teach me how to drive. This was a great idea, in theory. I say this because I found that I just ended up getting more and more frustrated every time I was driving with him because of his lack of patience and short temper. I started just putting off our driving sessions as long as possible or sneaking in lessons with my mom.


I know that I am part of the problem. I understand that I can be hard to deal with and I mirror emotions when they are aimed towards me. For example when someone is being passive aggressive, I tend to throw it right back even though that is not the most mature thing to do. I need to put more effort into forming a relationship with this stand-in parent and possibly stop hiding in my bedroom every day after 5:43 pm.


Some people will understand my problem perfectly. Some people will think that I am being selfish and not respective of Don. But no one can really understand my situation unless they are me.