Given Singleton’s stance on why the educational system needs more F’s, it is evident that he believes that that all students will eventually benefit from this drastic transformation. Singleton has a very simplistic point of view, and his logic is based on his belief that everyone will all act the same way to this system. He assumes that all students will obtain a more resilient and hardworking mindset, if they receive failing grades. Subsequently, Singleton assumes that the parents of failing students will be more willing to help their children to assure they get better grades in the future. Under those circumstances, Singleton expects the students to react positively to their parents being increasingly involved in their academic lives. In addition, Singleton’s logic accounts for the teachers to raise their level of teaching to ensure that more students learn the complete material that is required. Given these previous points, Singletons fundamental argument, that our education system needs more F’s, must have all of the variables including students, parents, and teachers, react one specific way, in order for the argument to be valid.
There are many proposals to institute change in our American educational system, one proposal that stands out among the rest is “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s,” by Carl Singleton. He proposes that the educational system should simply give more F’s to students who truly deserves to fail. As a result, this distribution of the failing grades would somehow dramatically, emphatically and immediately force the major issues related to our failing educational system. However, giving more F’s to students who do not make a certain cutoff requirement should not justify if a student deserves to fail. There are many other factors that can play a role on a student’s performance, which in turn, will effect their grades. Firstly, for a student to be successful in any class, they must “fully” understand the material being taught to them. If a student does not understand the material, it is not justifiable to simply give a F and know that an F will motivate a student to receive a higher grade in the next term the course is offered. Secondly, if students are truly struggling with the course material, it is both the students’ and the teacher’s responsibility to make sure that the information is able to be understood better, or other resources can be reached out to such as tutoring or different studying styles. Lastly, if a large number of students are receiving F’s, the teacher who is giving the failing grades should be punished due to not reciprocating to learning styles of their students. All students have different learning styles that may prove to be difficult in understanding material if taught in ways that do not reciprocate those styles. Especially in pubic schools and liberal arts philosophies, students are required to take several courses outside of their chosen track or major they are interested in, which also may play a role in the grades they receive in those classes. There are many factors that account for student’s grades in their classes that do not justify the automatic failing grade that Singleton proposes.
In Carl Singleton’s essay “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s,” the argument immediately made is that going back to the basics, that is, instituting merit raises, marrying the university to industry, and others will not achieve higher academic success. Instead, the argument made is that we must go even further back to the basics and start giving students more F’s. The essay supports this cause by stating that giving students more F’s would in theory act as a wake up call to students, and force parents to understand the harsh reality of their child's failure in academics. Furthermore, this would also insure that the parents begin to take a more active role in the child’s academics and perhaps even help them more. Not to mention the school board, voters, and teachers. They too must play their part in assuring that the idea of giving more F’s will work. Teachers would have to teach the material better, voters would have to be on board with the idea, and the school board has to be willing to change. Given the arguments made in this essay, there is a compelling argument to give students more F’s, however, the argument is lacking in other variables that are out of the student’s control.
According cnn.com "The use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective means of obtaining accurate information or gaining detainee cooperation." It’s a waste of time when you could be approaching the problem from a whole different angle like the “rapport-building approach." This is when the interrogator uses humor with a comfortable setting for the interrogation it makes it more likely that people would disclose the information that you need without using force. If you use torture people will say anything to make it stop they might tell lies just to make it stop you don’t know what they will do when they are put into a situation like that. Another thing about torture is what if you have the wrong person that really doesn’t know anything about what’s going on. According to the CIA 113 were captured between 2002 and 2004. At least 26 detainees were found to be held "wrongfully." One detainee died in custody, possibly due to hypothermia. At least three detainees were waterboarded. (Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri) So you can hurt or even kill an innocent person when the real person responsible is still free.
Firstly, torture proves unproductive through the perspective of neuroscientists. In “Neuroscience: Torture Doesn’t Work and Here’s Why,” the Newsweek staff reports several key facts about the ineffectiveness of brutality. For instance, stress caused by torture releases cortisol, thus, impairing memory and cognitive function. In addition, stress releases norepinephrine, which can enlarge the amygdala. Therefore, the increase in size of the amygdala impairs memory and the ability to distinguish true memories from false or implanted memories. Such scientific findings support the belief that torture should not be condoned or accepted in any circumstances because information provided may not be accurate or helpful. Moreover, inflicting extreme torture despite a lack of beneficial results leads to the dehumanization of society. In response to Bagaric and Clarke’s argument that torture does not dehumanize society, surgeons inflict pain with prior consent of the patient, while torturers inflict pain without consent, concern, or medicine.
The foundation of the United States is based upon a set of unalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Upon the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many Americans felt that their rights were violated. As a result of those attacks, the Bush administration authorized a secret interrogation program that allowed the CIA to brutally question Afghan and al-Qaeda detainees. Many of the upset Americans believed that the CIA’s torture methods were necessary in obtaining important information. Firstly, the CIA and US government may have gained insight through these forceful, classified tactics, but they directly violated the Geneva Conventions, which protects prisoners of war from ill-treatment and torture. The administration viewed that the “War on Terror” could overstep the long-established international convention. Furthermore, torture also infringes the 1984 United Nations “Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.” The document, which was signed by 158 countries including the United States, declares,“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” In addition to those conventions, coercive methods also defies the eighth amendment of the US Constitution, which forbids “cruel and unusual punishment.’ Finally, ill-treatment of a wrongdoer also violates the United States Army Field Manual on Interrogation. This manual describes how to interrogate a person in questioning, while conforming within US and international law. If torture goes against long-established conventions, laws, and manuals, there should be no reason for this unlawful action to be legalized although it is widely exploited.
Singleton makes it very clear that giving out more F’s is beneficial overall, so it only seems right that failing grades benefit the students. Singleton assumes that giving an F to a student will motivate that student to do better. Singleton makes this assumption because he knows that grades are almost universally important to all students. Along with this universal importance of grades, although he doesn't mention it, these grades are what allows students to get into college and pass onto the next grade. Going to college and advancing grades is very important to a good majority of students, so getting F’s should motivate students to do better. The question then comes up, what if grades don’t motivate a student? In this case, a student could care less whether they get an F or an A. In this case, it becomes increasingly important to appeal to the student’s interests. If a student doesn’t care about grades, this could be a fault of the teacher, not teaching in a way that appeals to the student. By appealing to the student’s interests, this will hopefully engage the student and draw their interests back into the subject and getting better grades. Giving F’s will motivate the majority of students in schools, so it is a necessity for increasing the quality of the American education system.
It is evident that Bagaric and Clarke think that torturing will help save American lives, and it could be true. According to CNN, an ex-CIA agent used the tactic of waterboarding to save american lives and it did, in fact, work. There are many other instances where torture has led to the saving of innocent lives. Looking back on the history of this country, and even this world. Violence has been used more and more in order to solve conflicts and to “save” lives in the process. The United States has used violence time and time again in order to save lives. A perfect example of this would be the bombing on Japan to end World War II because President Truman believed that more lives would be lost in the war. There are countless examples where many other countries used torture or any other kind of violent method in order to save lives. In contrast, many people misuse torture and only use it for their enjoyment or even just to get what they want. This is a problem that might not save lives, but end lives instead. In addition, torture is seen by most as a method of hurting and punishing, and that could be true. Torture could also be seen as a way to save innocent lives and that is the way that Bagaric and Clarke want to use torture, and how everyone should use torture.
Even though there is harm, saving human lives is more important than saving an animals life. Animals are being tested and killed in order for biomedical research that is vital for the human population. According to Foundation For Biomedical Research, every major medical advance of the last 100 years has depended on research with animals. This research does not only improve the lives of humans but it also improves the lives of animals. Also, the research conducted on animals has contributed to vaccinations, such as polio, treatment for diabetes, treatment for cancer and many other treatments. The human population would not be as advanced without the help of biomedical research done on animals.
Bagaric and Clarke state that, “Torture is permissible where the evidence suggests that this is the only means, due to the immediacy of the situation, to save the life of an innocent person.” (Bagaric and Clarke, 197). The authors believe that torture should only be used if it is the absolute last solution to saving lives. In supporting this argument, Bagaric and Clarke argue that torture is an act of self-defense, “the right to self-defense, which of course extends to the defense of another.” (Bagaric and Clarke, 197). The idea behind this argument is that torture is a method of self-defense because it can save the lives of others, similar to how hostage situations are a kind of self-defense. Bagaric and Clarke explain how during a hostage situation, it is the goal to save the life of the victim or victims, but if push comes to shove, the criminal may be killed in the process. This idea is identical in situations of deciding whether or not torture should be used. The goal of torture is to extract information from a criminal using techniques that will harm them, but in return, the information received will save the life of the victim.
When claiming that torture is an effective method of saving lives, it must be assumed that actually gets that information. The truth is that using torture doesn’t get all the facts needed. In a report released by the CIA, torture did not improve the chances of getting any pertinent information from people. The records show that seven of 39 people who were “subjected to especially aggressive interrogation” had no information that was useful to helping save innocent lives. When the people being tortured couldn’t handle it and more and they didn’t have any information, they would make up information to get the torture to stop. The Same CIA report even said that most of the torture methods used were not only useless but sometimes even counterproductive. It is not useful to keep torturing people for no reason.
Bagarick and Clarke make their case and point very clear when it comes to torture. Throughout their essay, they provide time and time again examples and metaphors of how torture can be a justifiable course of action; notably when attempting to save an innocent person’s life. However, one very important underlying question that both authors leave unanswered is weather or not torture is an effective ay of extracting life saving information. In other words, we must ask ourselves the question: does torture actually work? F.B.I. special agent Ali Soufan who worked from 1997 to 2005 and supervised “enhanced interrogation methods” claims otherwise. He recalls interrogation a high ranking terrorist known as Abu Zubaydah in may of 2002, stating that “under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence.” It wasn’t until august of that same year that unconventional means of interrogation, such as water boarding, were used on captured terrorists, including Abu Zubaydah. Interestingly enough, no additional useful information was extracted from him while using said methods. IN addition to being ineffective in extracting information, these means of integration caused a re-introduction of the so called “Chinese wall between the C.I.A. and the F.B.I.” the later of which refused to use torture oriented methods. Ali Soufan elaborated on this topic claiming: “Because the bureau would not employ these problematic techniques, our agents who knew the most about the terrorists could have no part in the investigation. An F.B.I. colleague of mine who knew more about Khalid Shaikh Mohammed than anyone in the government was not allowed to speak to him.” It has become a well known fact that the sharing of information between anti-terrorist organizations, such as the F.B.I and the C.I.A., has helped decrease the terrorist threat on a global scale. based on these findings, it is safe to say that torture is nit an effective way of extracting “life saving information.” If anything, it is counterproductive, and increases the threat of both Americas national security, as well as sovereign nations around the world.
Fist of all, I believe that Singletons statement that giving more F’s will make students study harder, is only true for a certain amount of students. The students who have parents that have the money and the will to help their children may benefit from this change. What Singleton does not keep in mind is that not all parents are like that. There are many parents who would advise their children to drop out of school if they get F’s and start working so that they can help financially. Meanwhile, F’s may cause many students to give up. They may feel like school is not something for them and eventually give up instead of trying harder.
In Bagaric and Clarke's essay,"The Case For Torture", the authors immediately make the point that torture should not be universally deplored. They believe that the argument of torture is "misguided". My counterargument is that torture is not misguided. It is a cruel action and should not be reconsidered. The authors feel as if it can save lives but there are many other ways that the government can save lives. The argument that it does save lives does not hold weight. Instead, there are many reasons as to why it can in fact harm innocent civilians.
In Steven M. Wise "why animals deserve legal rights"he clearly is in favor of animals having the luxuries and rights that humans have. According to a new York times article that was written in 20013, iti is considered blasphemy if you were to eat cow, chicken, or pig also in parts of the southern hemisphere pigs and chickens aren't ment to be food in any way, shape, or form those animals are meant to be kept as companions for us. Think about this before there were humans, there was a species of prehistoric beings called cavemen they had no idea what. Clothes were to an extent all they knew how to do was hunt. Now, some one-hundred million years later, we have developed into what we call the modern day "humans" we have liberties and luxuries that many animals do not have. In fact animals are treated like slaves to a point because take for example chickens: they are forced into small living units sometimes kept in unkempt conditions and forced to lay eggs. With as much work as those chickens do for us, you would think they have the right to free range but no on the contrary.
Steven M. Wise point out great points when talking about the animals being miss treated in zoos but giving animals rights is taking it a little too far. I feel if we try an give animals rights, we won't know where to start. I don't see human beings changing the way we act towards animals. Don't get me wrong I'm a big animal lover treating animals that are labeled as a pet wrong is completely wrong no matter what, because when a animal becomes your pet it's now part of the family. Big companies on the other hand need to be on a close watch, I say that because we are talking about big numbers of animals are in these factories being raised an process for us human being to eat. Like I said I do feel bad when pets are being mistreated,but giving animals rights will be taking it to far we eat animals but nobody feel sorry for them because we are being satisfied.
Families who might not be involved in a child’s education right now, will be drawn into more active roles once the shock from seeing their kids ends (But he makes it clear that even then, effort and success is the student’s responsibility.) And this problem will carry on to the larger society where, a backlog of failed students will be created in the system that would demand immediate attention from everyone involved. In this sense, what Singleton is suggesting less a solution and more a catalyst to magnify issues – much like how an inflammation of the skin to Bee stings is a start of the procedure to fixing the problem.
I understand where Singleton is coming from in wanting to improve the educational system by cracking down on slacking, on both the students’ side, as well as the teachers; this is a good cause. Singleton brings up the fact that by receiving an F, students will automatically work harder and therefore gain higher grades; however, the reality is, not all students work like that. Some students when they get an F, do work harder and push themselves to achieve a higher grade. Other students however will become discouraged and give up. Their ability to turn their grades around will require something more than just receiving a bad grade. What does Singleton expect will happen to those students? What if parents of these F students do not get involved in their child’s education? Some parents just do not care about their children’s lives, and that includes their education. If a parent is not interested in their child's education, why would their child receiving an F change that? If a parent does not care about their child’s life, then their child receiving an F is the least of the concerns. Children under these family circumstances have a lot going against them. Getting bad grades is often the least of their problems. Giving them an F is also not the solution to their problems. Our society already has a large number of students who drop out of school. Would Singleton’s solution of giving out Fs cause more students to dropout? I think so. If we’re going to start giving out a lot of Fs, then we need to also provide support especially to those students that don’t have the support at home.
It is not that animals may be treated in an inhumane way because they are mere inferior beings to humans. It is, however, that if the reason why animals should be given legal rights is to protect them from being raised under bad conditions and mistreated, there is another way to make that happen. The way is to get them protected within legal system, instead of giving them rights of which they will neither be aware nor be capable of making use by themselves.
When thinking about the American educational system many flaws and possible solutions come to mind. One such example of a possible solution to America’s issues in education is brought up in Carl Singleton's, “What Our Educational System Needs Is More F’s.” He introduces the idea that in order for students and families to be more motivated and successful in their academic endeavors, educators must give out more failing grades and grade students stricter. Singleton assumes that all students have the same learning styles and intelligence to benefit from the negative reinforcement that comes with giving out more failing grades. He neglects to acknowledge that people have different types of personalities and in accordance benefit academically from different styles of teaching. He also doesn’t consider that students grow up in families that put varying emphasis and value on education and might have parents that don’t value the grading scale the way Singleton does. Singleton's essay, though sometimes vague, brings up many valid points that if the variables involved were considered would bring up a strong argument to the table in how to improve America’s educational system.
Singletons ideas to give more F’s is one that should be forgotten in our society. When students receive a failing grade what does that actually accomplish in the long run. When students receive a failing grade harm will be the only thing that comes from that grade. Students will just become more and more distraught and will begin to give up on themselves. Once students begin to give up on themselves it leads to many different paths in life, none being good paths. Looking at statistics online it wrote that students with low grades after grade nine are three times more likely to commit suicide than students who received the best or better grades in grade nine. This statistic is just one problem that is associated with low grades being given out. As students grow older and school becomes more and more hard, the students that receive the lower grades will be more prone to just giving up. As stated before, the path for dropouts is one no parent, teacher, or school wants to see happen to their children/ students.
When it comes to coddling children, no generation does it better then the current one. With acts like No Child Left Behind in place, the education system does everything in its power to pass students through high school. However, this is not always accomplished by employing better teachers or improving academics. Some schools pass children by giving them a D when they really deserved the F. Singleton makes it very clear in his essay that giving a failing student a D does a disservice to everyone involved. The teacher suffers because they’ve lost an opportunity to improve their teaching with a challenging student. Rather then improve their own teaching skill they just move the student along, as opposed to taking the time to help the student and become a better teacher in the process. Giving a failing student a D also hurts the entire class. The members of the class who put effort into their passing grades are discounted when a student who didn’t put in that effort still gets to pass. It’s an extreme example, but some students may see that and decided that they too can coast. Both teachers and other class members are examples of the indirect distress of passing failing students, but there is one group that suffers directly.
Given Singleton’s stance on why the educational system needs more F’s, it is evident that he believes that that all students will eventually benefit from this drastic transformation. Singleton has a very simplistic point of view, and his logic is based on his belief that everyone will all act the same way to this system. He assumes that all students will obtain a more resilient and hardworking mindset, if they receive failing grades. Subsequently, Singleton assumes that the parents of failing students will be more willing to help their children to assure they get better grades in the future. Under those circumstances, Singleton expects the students to react positively to their parents being increasingly involved in their academic lives. In addition, Singleton’s logic accounts for the teachers to raise their level of teaching to ensure that more students learn the complete material that is required. Given these previous points, Singletons fundamental argument, that our education system needs more F’s, must have all of the variables including students, parents, and teachers, react one specific way, in order for the argument to be valid.
ReplyDeleteThere are many proposals to institute change in our American educational system, one proposal that stands out among the rest is “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s,” by Carl Singleton. He proposes that the educational system should simply give more F’s to students who truly deserves to fail. As a result, this distribution of the failing grades would somehow dramatically, emphatically and immediately force the major issues related to our failing educational system. However, giving more F’s to students who do not make a certain cutoff requirement should not justify if a student deserves to fail. There are many other factors that can play a role on a student’s performance, which in turn, will effect their grades. Firstly, for a student to be successful in any class, they must “fully” understand the material being taught to them. If a student does not understand the material, it is not justifiable to simply give a F and know that an F will motivate a student to receive a higher grade in the next term the course is offered. Secondly, if students are truly struggling with the course material, it is both the students’ and the teacher’s responsibility to make sure that the information is able to be understood better, or other resources can be reached out to such as tutoring or different studying styles. Lastly, if a large number of students are receiving F’s, the teacher who is giving the failing grades should be punished due to not reciprocating to learning styles of their students. All students have different learning styles that may prove to be difficult in understanding material if taught in ways that do not reciprocate those styles. Especially in pubic schools and liberal arts philosophies, students are required to take several courses outside of their chosen track or major they are interested in, which also may play a role in the grades they receive in those classes. There are many factors that account for student’s grades in their classes that do not justify the automatic failing grade that Singleton proposes.
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ReplyDeleteIn Carl Singleton’s essay “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s,” the argument immediately made is that going back to the basics, that is, instituting merit raises, marrying the university to industry, and others will not achieve higher academic success. Instead, the argument made is that we must go even further back to the basics and start giving students more F’s. The essay supports this cause by stating that giving students more F’s would in theory act as a wake up call to students, and force parents to understand the harsh reality of their child's failure in academics. Furthermore, this would also insure that the parents begin to take a more active role in the child’s academics and perhaps even help them more. Not to mention the school board, voters, and teachers. They too must play their part in assuring that the idea of giving more F’s will work. Teachers would have to teach the material better, voters would have to be on board with the idea, and the school board has to be willing to change. Given the arguments made in this essay, there is a compelling argument to give students more F’s, however, the argument is lacking in other variables that are out of the student’s control.
ReplyDeleteAccording cnn.com "The use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective means of obtaining accurate information or gaining detainee cooperation." It’s a waste of time when you could be approaching the problem from a whole different angle like the “rapport-building approach." This is when the interrogator uses humor with a comfortable setting for the interrogation it makes it more likely that people would disclose the information that you need without using force. If you use torture people will say anything to make it stop they might tell lies just to make it stop you don’t know what they will do when they are put into a situation like that. Another thing about torture is what if you have the wrong person that really doesn’t know anything about what’s going on. According to the CIA 113 were captured between 2002 and 2004. At least 26 detainees were found to be held "wrongfully." One detainee died in custody, possibly due to hypothermia. At least three detainees were waterboarded. (Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri) So you can hurt or even kill an innocent person when the real person responsible is still free.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, torture proves unproductive through the perspective of neuroscientists. In “Neuroscience: Torture Doesn’t Work and Here’s Why,” the Newsweek staff reports several key facts about the ineffectiveness of brutality. For instance, stress caused by torture releases cortisol, thus, impairing memory and cognitive function. In addition, stress releases norepinephrine, which can enlarge the amygdala. Therefore, the increase in size of the amygdala impairs memory and the ability to distinguish true memories from false or implanted memories. Such scientific findings support the belief that torture should not be condoned or accepted in any circumstances because information provided may not be accurate or helpful. Moreover, inflicting extreme torture despite a lack of beneficial results leads to the dehumanization of society. In response to Bagaric and Clarke’s argument that torture does not dehumanize society, surgeons inflict pain with prior consent of the patient, while torturers inflict pain without consent, concern, or medicine.
ReplyDeleteThe foundation of the United States is based upon a set of unalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Upon the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many Americans felt that their rights were violated. As a result of those attacks, the Bush administration authorized a secret interrogation program that allowed the CIA to brutally question Afghan and al-Qaeda detainees. Many of the upset Americans believed that the CIA’s torture methods were necessary in obtaining important information. Firstly, the CIA and US government may have gained insight through these forceful, classified tactics, but they directly violated the Geneva Conventions, which protects prisoners of war from ill-treatment and torture. The administration viewed that the “War on Terror” could overstep the long-established international convention. Furthermore, torture also infringes the 1984 United Nations “Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.” The document, which was signed by 158 countries including the United States, declares,“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” In addition to those conventions, coercive methods also defies the eighth amendment of the US Constitution, which forbids “cruel and unusual punishment.’ Finally, ill-treatment of a wrongdoer also violates the United States Army Field Manual on Interrogation. This manual describes how to interrogate a person in questioning, while conforming within US and international law. If torture goes against long-established conventions, laws, and manuals, there should be no reason for this unlawful action to be legalized although it is widely exploited.
ReplyDeleteSingleton makes it very clear that giving out more F’s is beneficial overall, so it only seems right that failing grades benefit the students. Singleton assumes that giving an F to a student will motivate that student to do better. Singleton makes this assumption because he knows that grades are almost universally important to all students. Along with this universal importance of grades, although he doesn't mention it, these grades are what allows students to get into college and pass onto the next grade. Going to college and advancing grades is very important to a good majority of students, so getting F’s should motivate students to do better. The question then comes up, what if grades don’t motivate a student? In this case, a student could care less whether they get an F or an A. In this case, it becomes increasingly important to appeal to the student’s interests. If a student doesn’t care about grades, this could be a fault of the teacher, not teaching in a way that appeals to the student. By appealing to the student’s interests, this will hopefully engage the student and draw their interests back into the subject and getting better grades. Giving F’s will motivate the majority of students in schools, so it is a necessity for increasing the quality of the American education system.
ReplyDeleteIt is evident that Bagaric and Clarke think that torturing will help save American lives, and it could be true. According to CNN, an ex-CIA agent used the tactic of waterboarding to save american lives and it did, in fact, work. There are many other instances where torture has led to the saving of innocent lives. Looking back on the history of this country, and even this world. Violence has been used more and more in order to solve conflicts and to “save” lives in the process. The United States has used violence time and time again in order to save lives. A perfect example of this would be the bombing on Japan to end World War II because President Truman believed that more lives would be lost in the war. There are countless examples where many other countries used torture or any other kind of violent method in order to save lives. In contrast, many people misuse torture and only use it for their enjoyment or even just to get what they want. This is a problem that might not save lives, but end lives instead. In addition, torture is seen by most as a method of hurting and punishing, and that could be true. Torture could also be seen as a way to save innocent lives and that is the way that Bagaric and Clarke want to use torture, and how everyone should use torture.
ReplyDeleteEven though there is harm, saving human lives is more important than saving an animals life. Animals are being tested and killed in order for biomedical research that is vital for the human population. According to Foundation For Biomedical Research, every major medical advance of the last 100 years has depended on research with animals. This research does not only improve the lives of humans but it also improves the lives of animals. Also, the research conducted on animals has contributed to vaccinations, such as polio, treatment for diabetes, treatment for cancer and many other treatments. The human population would not be as advanced without the help of biomedical research done on animals.
ReplyDeleteBagaric and Clarke state that, “Torture is permissible where the evidence suggests that this is the only means, due to the immediacy of the situation, to save the life of an innocent person.” (Bagaric and Clarke, 197). The authors believe that torture should only be used if it is the absolute last solution to saving lives. In supporting this argument, Bagaric and Clarke argue that torture is an act of self-defense, “the right to self-defense, which of course extends to the defense of another.” (Bagaric and Clarke, 197). The idea behind this argument is that torture is a method of self-defense because it can save the lives of others, similar to how hostage situations are a kind of self-defense. Bagaric and Clarke explain how during a hostage situation, it is the goal to save the life of the victim or victims, but if push comes to shove, the criminal may be killed in the process. This idea is identical in situations of deciding whether or not torture should be used. The goal of torture is to extract information from a criminal using techniques that will harm them, but in return, the information received will save the life of the victim.
ReplyDeleteWhen claiming that torture is an effective method of saving lives, it must be assumed that actually gets that information. The truth is that using torture doesn’t get all the facts needed. In a report released by the CIA, torture did not improve the chances of getting any pertinent information from people. The records show that seven of 39 people who were “subjected to especially aggressive interrogation” had no information that was useful to helping save innocent lives. When the people being tortured couldn’t handle it and more and they didn’t have any information, they would make up information to get the torture to stop. The Same CIA report even said that most of the torture methods used were not only useless but sometimes even counterproductive. It is not useful to keep torturing people for no reason.
ReplyDeleteBagarick and Clarke make their case and point very clear when it comes to torture. Throughout their essay, they provide time and time again examples and metaphors of how torture can be a justifiable course of action; notably when attempting to save an innocent person’s life. However, one very important underlying question that both authors leave unanswered is weather or not torture is an effective ay of extracting life saving information. In other words, we must ask ourselves the question: does torture actually work? F.B.I. special agent Ali Soufan who worked from 1997 to 2005 and supervised “enhanced interrogation methods” claims otherwise. He recalls interrogation a high ranking terrorist known as Abu Zubaydah in may of 2002, stating that “under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence.” It wasn’t until august of that same year that unconventional means of interrogation, such as water boarding, were used on captured terrorists, including Abu Zubaydah. Interestingly enough, no additional useful information was extracted from him while using said methods. IN addition to being ineffective in extracting information, these means of integration caused a re-introduction of the so called “Chinese wall between the C.I.A. and the F.B.I.” the later of which refused to use torture oriented methods. Ali Soufan elaborated on this topic claiming: “Because the bureau would not employ these problematic techniques, our agents who knew the most about the terrorists could have no part in the investigation. An F.B.I. colleague of mine who knew more about Khalid Shaikh Mohammed than anyone in the government was not allowed to speak to him.” It has become a well known fact that the sharing of information between anti-terrorist organizations, such as the F.B.I and the C.I.A., has helped decrease the terrorist threat on a global scale. based on these findings, it is safe to say that torture is nit an effective way of extracting “life saving information.” If anything, it is counterproductive, and increases the threat of both Americas national security, as well as sovereign nations around the world.
ReplyDeleteFist of all, I believe that Singletons statement that giving more F’s will make students study harder, is only true for a certain amount of students. The students who have parents that have the money and the will to help their children may benefit from this change. What Singleton does not keep in mind is that not all parents are like that. There are many parents who would advise their children to drop out of school if they get F’s and start working so that they can help financially. Meanwhile, F’s may cause many students to give up. They may feel like school is not something for them and eventually give up instead of trying harder.
ReplyDeleteIn Bagaric and Clarke's essay,"The Case For Torture", the authors immediately make the point that torture should not be universally deplored. They believe that the argument of torture is "misguided". My counterargument is that torture is not misguided. It is a cruel action and should not be reconsidered. The authors feel as if it can save lives but there are many other ways that the government can save lives. The argument that it does save lives does not hold weight. Instead, there are many reasons as to why it can in fact harm innocent civilians.
ReplyDeleteIn Steven M. Wise "why animals deserve legal rights"he clearly is in favor of animals having the luxuries and rights that humans have. According to a new York times article that was written in 20013, iti is considered blasphemy if you were to eat cow, chicken, or pig also in parts of the southern hemisphere pigs and chickens aren't ment to be food in any way, shape, or form those animals are meant to be kept as companions for us. Think about this before there were humans, there was a species of prehistoric beings called cavemen they had no idea what. Clothes were to an extent all they knew how to do was hunt. Now, some one-hundred million years later, we have developed into what we call the modern day "humans" we have liberties and luxuries that many animals do not have. In fact animals are treated like slaves to a point because take for example chickens: they are forced into small living units sometimes kept in unkempt conditions and forced to lay eggs. With as much work as those chickens do for us, you would think they have the right to free range but no on the contrary.
ReplyDeleteSteven M. Wise point out great points when talking about the animals being miss treated in zoos but giving animals rights is taking it a little too far. I feel if we try an give animals rights, we won't know where to start. I don't see human beings changing the way we act towards animals. Don't get me wrong I'm a big animal lover treating animals that are labeled as a pet wrong is completely wrong no matter what, because when a animal becomes your pet it's now part of the family. Big companies on the other hand need to be on a close watch, I say that because we are talking about big numbers of animals are in these factories being raised an process for us human being to eat. Like I said I do feel bad when pets are being mistreated,but giving animals rights will be taking it to far we eat animals but nobody feel sorry for them because we are being satisfied.
ReplyDeleteFamilies who might not be involved in a child’s education right now, will be drawn into more active roles once the shock from seeing their kids ends (But he makes it clear that even then, effort and success is the student’s responsibility.) And this problem will carry on to the larger society where, a backlog of failed students will be created in the system that would demand immediate attention from everyone involved. In this sense, what Singleton is suggesting less a solution and more a catalyst to magnify issues – much like how an inflammation of the skin to Bee stings is a start of the procedure to fixing the problem.
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ReplyDeleteI understand where Singleton is coming from in wanting to improve the educational system by cracking down on slacking, on both the students’ side, as well as the teachers; this is a good cause. Singleton brings up the fact that by receiving an F, students will automatically work harder and therefore gain higher grades; however, the reality is, not all students work like that. Some students when they get an F, do work harder and push themselves to achieve a higher grade. Other students however will become discouraged and give up. Their ability to turn their grades around will require something more than just receiving a bad grade. What does Singleton expect will happen to those students? What if parents of these F students do not get involved in their child’s education? Some parents just do not care about their children’s lives, and that includes their education. If a parent is not interested in their child's education, why would their child receiving an F change that? If a parent does not care about their child’s life, then their child receiving an F is the least of the concerns. Children under these family circumstances have a lot going against them. Getting bad grades is often the least of their problems. Giving them an F is also not the solution to their problems. Our society already has a large number of students who drop out of school. Would Singleton’s solution of giving out Fs cause more students to dropout? I think so. If we’re going to start giving out a lot of Fs, then we need to also provide support especially to those students that don’t have the support at home.
ReplyDeleteIt is not that animals may be treated in an inhumane way because they are mere inferior beings to humans. It is, however, that if the reason why animals should be given legal rights is to protect them from being raised under bad conditions and mistreated, there is another way to make that happen. The way is to get them protected within legal system, instead of giving them rights of which they will neither be aware nor be capable of making use by themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about the American educational system many flaws and possible solutions come to mind. One such example of a possible solution to America’s issues in education is brought up in Carl Singleton's, “What Our Educational System Needs Is More F’s.” He introduces the idea that in order for students and families to be more motivated and successful in their academic endeavors, educators must give out more failing grades and grade students stricter. Singleton assumes that all students have the same learning styles and intelligence to benefit from the negative reinforcement that comes with giving out more failing grades. He neglects to acknowledge that people have different types of personalities and in accordance benefit academically from different styles of teaching. He also doesn’t consider that students grow up in families that put varying emphasis and value on education and might have parents that don’t value the grading scale the way Singleton does. Singleton's essay, though sometimes vague, brings up many valid points that if the variables involved were considered would bring up a strong argument to the table in how to improve America’s educational system.
ReplyDeleteSingletons ideas to give more F’s is one that should be forgotten in our society. When students receive a failing grade what does that actually accomplish in the long run. When students receive a failing grade harm will be the only thing that comes from that grade. Students will just become more and more distraught and will begin to give up on themselves. Once students begin to give up on themselves it leads to many different paths in life, none being good paths. Looking at statistics online it wrote that students with low grades after grade nine are three times more likely to commit suicide than students who received the best or better grades in grade nine. This statistic is just one problem that is associated with low grades being given out. As students grow older and school becomes more and more hard, the students that receive the lower grades will be more prone to just giving up. As stated before, the path for dropouts is one no parent, teacher, or school wants to see happen to their children/ students.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to coddling children, no generation does it better then the current one. With acts like No Child Left Behind in place, the education system does everything in its power to pass students through high school. However, this is not always accomplished by employing better teachers or improving academics. Some schools pass children by giving them a D when they really deserved the F. Singleton makes it very clear in his essay that giving a failing student a D does a disservice to everyone involved. The teacher suffers because they’ve lost an opportunity to improve their teaching with a challenging student. Rather then improve their own teaching skill they just move the student along, as opposed to taking the time to help the student and become a better teacher in the process. Giving a failing student a D also hurts the entire class. The members of the class who put effort into their passing grades are discounted when a student who didn’t put in that effort still gets to pass. It’s an extreme example, but some students may see that and decided that they too can coast. Both teachers and other class members are examples of the indirect distress of passing failing students, but there is one group that suffers directly.
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