School is mandatory for kids in order for them to learn and prepare them for the work place. Yet the main problem every school deals with is bullying. As a matter of+

fact it occurs even in the work place. A lot of students don’t feel safe going to school because of all the violence that occurs yet a lot of parents are unaware of the situation. In the US, 1 in 5 students have been bullied during a school year. Approximately 160,000 teens have skipped school because of bullying. When it comes to school violence it can be defined as bullying, cyber bullying, school shooting or even fist fights. Violence for boys is generally considered bullying and for girls it is sexual harassment.

Most male teenagers try to prove their masculinity by fighting. In order to prove themselves they put on act to intimidate others around them. Some do it because of jealousy and other do it because they are peer pressured into it. Jayden Trudell shared his story. He was rushed to hospital last September after he was attacked from behind. Because of the incident, Jayden took fighting lessons in order to protect himself because he is scared and uncomfortable at school. In my opinion this is something that should never happen to a 15 year old boy. What most people don’t realize is how that situation changed Jayden’s mindset and his character. In the text “Masculinity” by Kimmel he describes what a typical male american stereotype looks like. “A young, married, white, urban, heterosexual, protestant, father, of college education, fully employed, and a recent record in sports… Any male who fails to qualify in any one of these ways is likely to view himself unworthy.” (Kimmel, 2) Therefore most young teenagers have this image implanted in their head throughout their life causing them to try and act the way others act, “Peer Pressured”.

After watching the CBC documentary on violence in school I was surprised on how many parents were not aware of the situation in their kids schools when it comes to violence. In the documentary i noticed that the majority of parents that were interviewed were mothers. The fact that schools are keeping secrets when it comes to incidents in or on school property is where the problem starts. They don’t disclose information to the parents of the school because they care about reputation risks and they use privacy as a means to ignore certain problems that the school should deal with. Another reason parents aren’t informed is because the kids keep it to themselves. Some figure if the school won’t do anything about a situation why would they.

Another disturbing topic that occurs in schools is sexual harassment. More that 1 out of 7 girls is sexually abused. How come that isn’t brought up as violence in schools but boys fighting is mentioned more? Does the school take into account sexual harassment as violence or do they just cover it up?

School are not prepared to handle these types of incidents. Some schools don’t even acknowledge what occurs inside of school let alone on school property. One way schools should implement is more staff to better control the students and make sure things are handled before someone gets inured or even death. In the documentary the boy witnessed his cousin randomly get attacked by another student for no reason. The boy was punched in the back of his head and then was body slammed and left unconscious. Yet in the video all you can see is people recording the incident and no one intervening, there was not even a teacher in sight. Issues like bullying and school shootings start with what goes on at home. In the text “Fathers and Fathering” by Kimlmartin “Many males have complained about fathers who may although physically present, are psychologically absent because of their emotional unresponsiveness.” (Kilmartin,191). In recent school shooting the parents were not aware of the struggles their kids were going through. A lot of people blame the parents for not paying attention to their kids, the majority of shooting being males. The ethnography “From the Red Pill to White Genocide” by Jay Marquis-Manicom was presented on march 3, 2020. The study of these men is very dangerous as the only believe in fascist ideas, a hierarchy and male supremacy. After the presentation in the auditorium i got a better understanding on how these men think and most of them act this way because of a rejection from a female.

To conclude, schools should better handle situations. From my experience I have seen my fair share of fist fights between students and it something that should be dealt with. either within the school or within parents. Schools should not worry about their reputations instead they should worry about the safety of the students. A student should always feel safe in a learning environment. The fact is Sexual harassment and bullying need to be taken more seriously. Most schools and school boards do but not every school does.

Works Cited

CBC News, CBC/Radio Canada, gem.cbc.ca/media/marketplace/season-47/episode-4/38e815a-011d8f47088

Christopher Kilmartin and Andrew P. Smiler. “Fathers and Fathering”. Masculine self, Cornwall

        On Hudson, NY, Sloan Publishing, 2019, pp. 170-195.

Kimmel, Michael. “Masculinity”. International Encyclopedia of social sciences. Ed. William A.

        Darity, Jr 2^nd ed. Vol.5. Detroit: Macmillian Reference USA, 2008. 1-5. Gal Virtual

        Reference Library. Web. 9. June 20. 1-5. Print.

The ethnography “From the Red Pill to White Genocide” by Jay Marquis-Manicom was presented on march 3, 2020. Jay is an anthropologist, who did his field work on a group called the red pill. The study of these men is very dangerous as the only believe in fascist ideas, a hierarchy and male supremacy. This study was challenging as a lot of participants use publishers to help spread their views and ideas but this was not the point of the study. The point of the study was to educate others on White Male Supremacy but not have a biased opinion. This study was conducted to understand how these men viewed society and how these men wanted political control

One thing that stood out to me is when he went over how these men are not the stereotypical weirdos/drug addicts but instead are people who are all around us. In the text Masculinity by kimmel he states ” Gender is thus not only a property of individuals, some “thing” one has, but a specific set of behaviors that are produced in specific social situations. Thus gender changes as the situation changes.” This quote explains how a group of men influence one another. In this case the red pill are a group of men who believe in far right ideas and believe in male supremacy and believe in dominance.

The red pill is a online organization that was created for men who value Masculinity and believe that women are less superior. A lot of the topics Jay Mentioned were covered/talked about in our humanities course. Example the men in this organization believed that they were far more superior in society because they were “men”. Because men don’t show their emotions. A male’s name was brought up during the presentation and it someone who we are all familiar with. Donald Trump, The president of the united states. Jay said Trump is the perfect example of what male supremacy looks like and how trump believes in men running politics.

1) Why are you close to your Friend? Be specific

“The reason i am close to my friend is because we are similar. We have been friends since we were 3 years old. We first met in kindergarten and have been friends ever since. i feel like the reason we get along together so well is because we naturally click. For example this friendship is never forced and most importantly he is someone who i can say anything to and not be judge. Now that we are are older we don’t see each other as often as we used to but it doesn’t affect our relationship as we still talk on social media and we play sports together.”

2) What kinds of things do you like to do together

“The things we like to do together are playing sports and playing online. The sports we like to play together are basketball, soccer and hockey. Although i am not very good at hockey it is still a sport i enjoy playing because its a sport my friend enjoys playing. When playing online we play ps4 together almost everyday and it keeps us in contact together as well as having fun together. The games we play together are fortnite, nba 2k20 and ufc sports.”

3) Have you ever told your friend how much he means to you? If so, what did you say and how did he react? If you have never told him how much he means to you, why not?

” No I haven’t told him how much he means to me because i guess it never crossed my head. I guess its because he knows how important he is to me because we have been friends for a long long long time.”

Question 1:

The text masculinity by kimmel talks about how society views both genders, Male and Female. when he mentions “Institutions accomplish the creation of gender order through several gendered processes.” what i think he means by this is that institutions being our families, daycare’s, elementary school all the way to university and work place. These institutions are what teach us from a very young age how women and men are suppose to act. An example is how the social construction of reality is that the color pink is represented for girls and the color blue is represented for boys. It can also be related to the documentary man enough because in the documentary the men all agree that at a young age they are taught how to be a man. They are taught about power dominance and how men must not show emotion instead they must show aggression and violence because that is how men fit in. Therefore it starts at from when we are born and is passed on from father to son generation after generation. Even at a very young age we see it on television, how both genders are treated differently.

Question 2:

Kimmel states “understanding how we do masculinities… opens up the unimaginable possibilities of social change.” He refers to masculinities and not masculinity because there is not one so called definition of masculinity. Masculinity is defined as qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of men. But kimmel doesn’t use this term because he sees it as a more complex and diverse term. A term that a lot of men can be described as. Example emotional and caring not violent and aggressive. During the documentary a lot of the guys described how they sort of had to put a “fake act on” and not be “Feminine” because they had qualities such as caring and were emotional. But as society grows we start to grow out of the idea of what makes a man a man and we start to accept people for who they are and not who they are supposed to be.

In the mask you live in, there were a lot of interesting points that were covered. The documentary was about how boys are influenced and judged to become men. The documentary was very interesting as it brought forward the norm of society of men.

One thing that really stood out to me is when Cody was describing how his father was not around when he was small, therefore his mother had to take care of him all by herself. Because of the absence of his father, Cody never had a father figure to teach him how to be a man. He got bullied because he was considered “Feminine.” This aspect really stood out to me because Cody was made fun of because he was different than most boys when growing up but it wasn’t his fault. His mom was the one to raised him and in society a Momma’s boy is considered to be soft, he was socialized into this. Throughout his life Cody was searching for a father figure and he found it in his coach and professor. This part of the documentary made me realize that there are a lot of families that are fatherless and a lot of young boys are affected by it. Sports also play a big role in how men act because of the aggression as it builds character.

The fact that one in four boys live without a father is very heartbreaking. After watching the documentary i noticed that many parents now are affected by their fathers presence either negatively or positively. Example Luis became aggressive and joined a gang which influenced him to start taking drugs. This occurred because his father was deported when Luis was at a young age. This resulted in him becoming depressed and suicidal. A lot of boys “wear a mask” to not be judged because they suffer with pain from loneliness. They try to show their Masculinity by being loud and aggressive and not show their emotions because in society it is socially constructed.

In the Gomez story the part that stood out the most was when his mom said he and his sister were perfect. But then he thought about what if he was gay, how would his mom react? He talks about if he would be accepted by his mom if he didn’t do all the masculine activities? The documentary helps me get a better understanding of what Carlos meant. It made me realize how many men struggled with how they are supposed to be a man. What makes them men and what doesn’t After watching the documentary, I got a better understanding of Carlos perspective and realize that he isn’t alone. Many young men struggle with problems such as depression and are afraid to show their emotions because “Men aren’t allowed to show emotion.”

Lebron James is considered to be one of the greatest Basketball players of all time. He was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio. There are many reasons why Lebron James is one of the most successful NBA Players of all time with a net worth of $480 Million. The reason I consider him to be an inspiration is because he had a difficult childhood. His father was an ex-con who wasn’t there when he grew up. His family was poor and had a tough time. Fortunately, his basketball coach, Frankie Walker, took LeBron under his wing and let him stay with his family where he could get away from the projects and focus on school and basketball.

Lebron is regarded as one of the best players in basketball today. He has an incredible combination of skills, strength, leaping ability, and height that makes him one of the best athletes in the world. He didn’t let his family status decide he’s future. With hard work and determination he had one dream and accomplished it. Therefore for me he is an inspiration because he he proved that anything is possible when you put your mind to it.

LeBron James opened a public school in Akron for at-risk kids. The I Promise school. It provides a safe place where at risk students will be able to get an education regardless of their family status. LeBron James often credits his bicycle as a huge factor in his childhood that gave him an escape from dangerous parts of his neighborhood and the freedom to explore — every student will receive a bicycle when they arrive. He opened this school for his community, not for the fame. Therefore Lebron James is a hero not because he is a basketball star but because he is a role model for the younger generation he donates money to charity and promotes equality. Imagine going from almost homeless to one of the best basketball players of all time.

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