Brave & Free

"In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a high school cheerleader could not be punished in school for using curse words on social media when commenting about not making the cheer team while she was off school grounds. Do you think students should be held to the same standard when exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech whether they’re on or off school property?"  My answer to this prompt: Public school speech restrictions are in place to protect innocent ears and inhibit conflict. They benefit schoolchildren. However, the favorable result of a policy is not the only factor to take into account when considering its expansion. Before all else, we ought to ask if the entity has the right to take this action.  In this case, the question pertains to the federal government and public school speech restrictions. Since 1979, when the U.S. Department of Education came into being, public schools have been government institutions. The government does not have the...

Hello readers! It's been awhile, since I've been busy with school. Yesterday, when I was deep in the writing process of an essay on international relations between China and the U.S., I realized there was no good reason for school to keep me from running the blog because I could work some of my assignments into it! I'm taking an Intro International Relations (IR) online college course this semester that requires two papers every week. They are bound to be occasionally controversial, inflammatory, and strange.  I'll simply publish those.  In order to look at these essays the right way, I need to give you some context. All of the papers come from an online discussion board that students are required to participate in twice weekly.  The subject matter stems from our textbook, which contains debate sections at the end of each chapter. We are told to pick one of two sides, write at least three paragraphs in support of it, and submit it to the discussion board for the whole c...

"Memorial Day is Monday, " my teacher said gravely. "I don't suppose I need to tell you what Memorial Day is about, right?" "No, sir, " the class answered. "Good," he said,"it's good to thank veterans for their service."  There is a stark difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day that some Americans are not aware of. They think that both holidays are about appreciating the sacrifice given by thousands of men and women for our country. In a way, that's true, but each day is meant to be more specific than that. Memorial Day is the day we honor those who have died in active service. Veteran's Day is the day we honor those who have served in the military and survived.  My father is a veteran. Whenever anyone spots his U.S. Marine Corps hat and thanks him for his service, he warmly thanks them and shakes their hand. H e doesn't like it on Memorial Day, though, because Memorial Day is not about him.  This Memor...

The SAT. Medical forms. College applications. These papers, and many more, ask you to "select your race" from a list similar to this: African American, Latino, Pacific Islander, Asian, and White. I always skip this portion of paperwork for one reason: I'm not white, I'm American. I was born as an American citizen. Both my parents are citizens, and so are their parents. There are two other ways to have American citizenship: naturalization and by marrying a citizen. All citizens are equal, no matter how they joined our nation. Moreover, American citizens are American.  Well, yeah, duh, of course they are. But think about it. If we're American, then why are we labeled based on this imaginary categorizer called "race"? We are not the nationality of our ancestors - we are the nationality of our citizenship, no matter our skin color.  Americans are losing pride in their country. This is understandable, owing to the degradation of the presidential office and hy...