Kidnappings in the United States as well the world are a big problem. There are various different things being done such as the Amber Alert as well as the GPS on children’s phones but that is not enough. This is why I purpose the Idea of voluntary micro chipping of children. There are so many benefits that could come from this idea. In the end, if this idea really takes off the amount of kidnappings will dramatically decrease.
This subject is particularly important to me because I work with children currently. I work in a day care with sixteen two year olds. Although there are times I want to pull my hair out because they are wild some days, they mean the world to me. They are so innocent and don’t know the difference between strangers and people they know. It would be so easy to take a child. So I have thought of an idea that could potentially change the outlook of kidnappings among other things. I believe if families had the choice of micro chipping their children at a young age it would cut down on kidnappings. The micro chip would be placed in an area that no one would know about except for the people who have placed the micro chip in. This would cut down on the idea that the micro chip could be removed during a kidnapping. This procedure would be completely optional. So in the case that a child was abducted the parents would call a number and the dispatcher would immediately type in the serial number on the chip and then the child would be located by GPS. When the child gets older then they can decide for themselves if the would like to have the chip removed. I am going to research more on approximately how much it would cost to have this procedure done on a human. I am hoping that maybe if the cost was as much as it would be to get an animal micro chipped so many people would be more willing to get their child micro chipped. I do see this procedure being feasible because it can be done to a human, it is completely optional for people, and finally it can be removed later in life. The reason many people are against this idea because it would take away from their freedoms so to speak because it would be easy access for the government to watch people. While that may be true and there is really no way of knowing this but the pro’s completely outweigh the con’s. The micro chipping of humans would not only help in cases of kidnappings it would also help with children who run away. There are more teenagers running away then ever. To most parents the loss of their child is most devastating. With micro chipping the chance of finding a run away are great rather than trying to find them with posters, news broadcasts ect. It’s a dangerous world out there and not many run a way’s realize that until it is too late. With micro chipping we could potentially prevent run a way’s and kidnappings because people would know there is no use to do it because they will be found! This is a great idea in my personal opinion because the minute a child goes missing there is a greater chance we could find the child unharmed rather than doing the Amber Alert.
There are millions of kidnappings every year around the world (nationmaster.com). I have prepared to show a diagram of kidnappings that occur around the world. In the United States alone there are approximately three hundred children abducted every year. Almost every forty seconds another child goes missing (eyesofamerica.com). This is outrageous. But around the world millions more are being abducted. In the chart below it shows how many children are abducted in other countries. As adults, children look to us to be protectors and we are failing them by not doing more to help. The government has made plans to give are trying to give harsher punishments to kidnapper’s (house.gov/list/press/az01), but we are still not seeing much being done as you can tell from the charts below.
Colombia 66.8%
Mexico 16.4%
Brazil 6.6%
Philippines 6.3%
India 1%
Ecuador 0.9%
Nigeria 0.4%
South Africa 0.1%
In February 2007 the FDA approved the veri-chip which is a micro chip that is used to find medical records in people that were severely injured or killed (rb59.com). There has already been about twenty two hundred implanted into people’s arms all over the world. It is injected into the dermis of the skin. There are no stitches involved (rb59.com). If we applied this concept into children we could dramatically lower the kidnappings around the world. There are a few obstacles that would have to be thought out. The biggest obstacle I foresee is a child is abducted the kidnapped could just remove the devise. Well I have thought about this and I have come to the thought that if the medical staff keeps the location of the micro chip top secret it would eliminate this problem. There is a chance that it could leak out but at the same time the benefits far out see the risks. There is also the argument that later in life these children would not want to feel consistently watched and they want the chip removed, well that can be taken care of. The chip could be just as easily removed. The picture below show’s exactly how small the micro chip would be.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6237364/(October 15, 2004)
Oct. 13, 2004
In the end the reason why I am writing this paper is to show people that there is a problem in kidnappings and we need to do something more. I feel that if this idea is spread and people really catch onto this idea, I know that we will have a safer world!
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Annotated Bibliographies
Annotated Bibulographies
1. www.vaw.umn.edu/documents/pkreport/pkreport.html, 2004
this website is all about what laws are aviliable for people who have been the victims of parental kidnappings. This website shows different stories of people that had been effected by this crime and it talks about the actions that those families have taken against the purportators. There was a horrifying amount of people that have fallen victim to this crime. The numbers show that approximately 203,900 cases per year. That is a huge amount of people who have no idea where their children have been taken too. It is sheer terror for the families involved.
2. www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=26762. History Channel Online 1996-2007
This is a site that has showed some of the significant kidnappings since 1924. Even though it only shows’s few key kidnappings it gives some insight into the history of kidnappings. Some people kidnap people for money reasons and demand ransoms or some people just kidnap people sexual or mental reasons. Anyone can fall victim to kidnappings and this site shows how many people have fallen into those unfortunate traps.
3. http://www.house.gov/list/press/az01_renzi/pr_030410_sexualpredators.html. The House. April 10, 2003
“Child Abduction Prevention Act (H.R. 1104, passed the House by a 410-14 margin on March 27, 2003) that would stiffen penalties for kidnapping, ensures lifetime supervision of sexual offenders and child abductors and gives law enforcement added resources to prosecute these crimes” This is a great website to show all of the laws that were past. There are a lot of more harsh punishments for sex offenders/child abusers. There is also a great signal to send out in the case of a kidnapping called the Amber alert. This notifies people that a person was abducted and the alert gives the name and description of the person in hopes of finding the missing. This site is great to review the laws surrounding kidnappings.
4. Abrahms, Sally. Children in the Crossfire. MacMillan Publishing Company / 1984
This is an interesting book in the sense it talks about the motives of parental kidnappings. Its was noted that many parents who kidnap their children surround a divorce are not doing it because they miss or want their children but a lot of times are doing it because of spite. This book is amazing because it was a new look into the minds of these people who abduct these innocent children.
5. Smart, Ed and Lois, with Morton, Laura. Bringing Elizabeth Home a journey of Faith and Hope. Doubleday, 2003
I chose to write about this book because it is a true blessing. Not many children are returned from being kidnapped and Elizabeth was. The family had their faith in God and they believed that God was the reason for bringing Elizabeth back home. The person who took Elizabeth had no real motive for taking her, which is rare. Many people are after money, sexual reasons ect. This is a really good book about hope and how their lives were given back to this family.
6. Fisher, Jim. The Lindbergh Case. United States of America. 1987
This is a book about a child who was almost two years old was stolen and killed by a predator. About four years later the judicial system convicted Bruno Richard Hauptmann as the child of Charles and Anne Lindbergh’s killer. A lot of people back then believed that Bruno was the killer but now people are not sure that he was. This book is great in the sense it show’s how emotions can change over time about a trial. What if Lindbergh’s killer was still lose, killing other people? How will the public truly know? It’s a scary thought but in reality there are people who are wrongly accused for a crime. How does anyone really know someone was guilty of a crime unless they confess to it?
7. Strickland, Margaret. How to deal with a Parental Kidnapping. United States Of America. 1983
This book goes over some great resources needed when dealing with a situation of parental kidnapping. This is a scary subject and a person needs to know all of the necessary procedures in order to help get their child back. There is information on a parent’s rights, telephone numbers, laws surrounding parental kidnappings, and where to find help. This is such a great book to read because you never know when you could lose a child and its better to have knowledge in case this was to ever happen.
8. Cooney, Caroline B. The Face on the Milk Carton. Laurel Leaf / Paperback.
1996
This book talks about a girl who grows up thinking her family is her biological family but there are doubts in her mind as to whether she really fits in. Then one day she comes across a milk carton with her childhood face on it. Then she starts to unravel the truth that she was kidnapped. The book shows her steps to finding her real family. This story is horrifying not knowing who her real family is and the truth is it happens all the time.
9. http://www.lostchildren.org/statistics.htm, The lost Children, March 2007
This website is all about the statistics of children who were kidnapped by family members, random kidnappings, and planned kidnappings. This site is very informative in anyone was curious to see why people kidnap and or examples of how many are returned. The results were shocking.
10. http://www.thelost.net/mission.htm, The lost. April 2007
This website is the best website I have come across. This shows that this agency is the most successful at finding children. There have been over five hundred recoveries which is the highest anywhere. It was developed in 1987 and has been wildly successful and continues to grow. This is a great website to give hope to people in a time of desperation.
1. www.vaw.umn.edu/documents/pkreport/pkreport.html, 2004
this website is all about what laws are aviliable for people who have been the victims of parental kidnappings. This website shows different stories of people that had been effected by this crime and it talks about the actions that those families have taken against the purportators. There was a horrifying amount of people that have fallen victim to this crime. The numbers show that approximately 203,900 cases per year. That is a huge amount of people who have no idea where their children have been taken too. It is sheer terror for the families involved.
2. www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=26762. History Channel Online 1996-2007
This is a site that has showed some of the significant kidnappings since 1924. Even though it only shows’s few key kidnappings it gives some insight into the history of kidnappings. Some people kidnap people for money reasons and demand ransoms or some people just kidnap people sexual or mental reasons. Anyone can fall victim to kidnappings and this site shows how many people have fallen into those unfortunate traps.
3. http://www.house.gov/list/press/az01_renzi/pr_030410_sexualpredators.html. The House. April 10, 2003
“Child Abduction Prevention Act (H.R. 1104, passed the House by a 410-14 margin on March 27, 2003) that would stiffen penalties for kidnapping, ensures lifetime supervision of sexual offenders and child abductors and gives law enforcement added resources to prosecute these crimes” This is a great website to show all of the laws that were past. There are a lot of more harsh punishments for sex offenders/child abusers. There is also a great signal to send out in the case of a kidnapping called the Amber alert. This notifies people that a person was abducted and the alert gives the name and description of the person in hopes of finding the missing. This site is great to review the laws surrounding kidnappings.
4. Abrahms, Sally. Children in the Crossfire. MacMillan Publishing Company / 1984
This is an interesting book in the sense it talks about the motives of parental kidnappings. Its was noted that many parents who kidnap their children surround a divorce are not doing it because they miss or want their children but a lot of times are doing it because of spite. This book is amazing because it was a new look into the minds of these people who abduct these innocent children.
5. Smart, Ed and Lois, with Morton, Laura. Bringing Elizabeth Home a journey of Faith and Hope. Doubleday, 2003
I chose to write about this book because it is a true blessing. Not many children are returned from being kidnapped and Elizabeth was. The family had their faith in God and they believed that God was the reason for bringing Elizabeth back home. The person who took Elizabeth had no real motive for taking her, which is rare. Many people are after money, sexual reasons ect. This is a really good book about hope and how their lives were given back to this family.
6. Fisher, Jim. The Lindbergh Case. United States of America. 1987
This is a book about a child who was almost two years old was stolen and killed by a predator. About four years later the judicial system convicted Bruno Richard Hauptmann as the child of Charles and Anne Lindbergh’s killer. A lot of people back then believed that Bruno was the killer but now people are not sure that he was. This book is great in the sense it show’s how emotions can change over time about a trial. What if Lindbergh’s killer was still lose, killing other people? How will the public truly know? It’s a scary thought but in reality there are people who are wrongly accused for a crime. How does anyone really know someone was guilty of a crime unless they confess to it?
7. Strickland, Margaret. How to deal with a Parental Kidnapping. United States Of America. 1983
This book goes over some great resources needed when dealing with a situation of parental kidnapping. This is a scary subject and a person needs to know all of the necessary procedures in order to help get their child back. There is information on a parent’s rights, telephone numbers, laws surrounding parental kidnappings, and where to find help. This is such a great book to read because you never know when you could lose a child and its better to have knowledge in case this was to ever happen.
8. Cooney, Caroline B. The Face on the Milk Carton. Laurel Leaf / Paperback.
1996
This book talks about a girl who grows up thinking her family is her biological family but there are doubts in her mind as to whether she really fits in. Then one day she comes across a milk carton with her childhood face on it. Then she starts to unravel the truth that she was kidnapped. The book shows her steps to finding her real family. This story is horrifying not knowing who her real family is and the truth is it happens all the time.
9. http://www.lostchildren.org/statistics.htm, The lost Children, March 2007
This website is all about the statistics of children who were kidnapped by family members, random kidnappings, and planned kidnappings. This site is very informative in anyone was curious to see why people kidnap and or examples of how many are returned. The results were shocking.
10. http://www.thelost.net/mission.htm, The lost. April 2007
This website is the best website I have come across. This shows that this agency is the most successful at finding children. There have been over five hundred recoveries which is the highest anywhere. It was developed in 1987 and has been wildly successful and continues to grow. This is a great website to give hope to people in a time of desperation.
Kidnapping Cover page
New Found Hope
I chose to do my proposal and annotated bibliographies on kidnappings. This subject is particularly important to me because I work with children currently. I work in a day care with sixteen two year olds. Although there are times I want to pull my hair out because they are wild some days, they mean the world to me. They are so innocent and don’t know the difference between strangers and people they know. It would be so easy to take a child. So I have thought of an idea that could potentially change the outlook of kidnappings among other things. I believe if families had the choice of micro chipping their children at a young age it would cut down on kidnappings. The micro chip would be placed in an area that no one would know about except for the people who have placed the micro chip in. This would cut down on the idea that the micro chip could be removed during a kidnapping. This procedure would be completely optional. So in the case that a child was abducted the parents would call a number and the dispatcher would immediately type in the serial number on the chip and then the child would be located by GPS. When the child gets older then they can decide for themselves if the would like to have the chip removed. I am going to research more on approximately how much it would cost to have this procedure done on a human. I am hoping that maybe if the cost was as much as it would be to get an animal micro chipped so many people would be more willing to get their child micro chipped. I do see this procedure being feasible because it can be done to a human, it is completely optional for people, and finally it can be removed later in life. The reason many people are against this idea because it would take away from their freedoms so to speak because it would be easy access for the government to watch people. While that may be true and there is really no way of knowing this but the pro’s completely outweigh the con’s. The micro chipping of humans would not only help in cases of kidnappings it would also help with children who run away. There are more teenagers running away then ever. To most parents the loss of their child is most devastating. With micro chipping the chance of finding a run away are great rather than trying to find them with posters, news broadcasts ect. It’s a dangerous world out there and not many run a way’s realize that until it is too late. With micro chipping we could potentially prevent run a way’s and kidnappings because people would know there is no use to do it because they will be found! This is a great idea in my personal opinion because the minute a child goes missing there is a greater chance we could find the child unharmed rather than doing the Amber Alert.
I chose to do my proposal and annotated bibliographies on kidnappings. This subject is particularly important to me because I work with children currently. I work in a day care with sixteen two year olds. Although there are times I want to pull my hair out because they are wild some days, they mean the world to me. They are so innocent and don’t know the difference between strangers and people they know. It would be so easy to take a child. So I have thought of an idea that could potentially change the outlook of kidnappings among other things. I believe if families had the choice of micro chipping their children at a young age it would cut down on kidnappings. The micro chip would be placed in an area that no one would know about except for the people who have placed the micro chip in. This would cut down on the idea that the micro chip could be removed during a kidnapping. This procedure would be completely optional. So in the case that a child was abducted the parents would call a number and the dispatcher would immediately type in the serial number on the chip and then the child would be located by GPS. When the child gets older then they can decide for themselves if the would like to have the chip removed. I am going to research more on approximately how much it would cost to have this procedure done on a human. I am hoping that maybe if the cost was as much as it would be to get an animal micro chipped so many people would be more willing to get their child micro chipped. I do see this procedure being feasible because it can be done to a human, it is completely optional for people, and finally it can be removed later in life. The reason many people are against this idea because it would take away from their freedoms so to speak because it would be easy access for the government to watch people. While that may be true and there is really no way of knowing this but the pro’s completely outweigh the con’s. The micro chipping of humans would not only help in cases of kidnappings it would also help with children who run away. There are more teenagers running away then ever. To most parents the loss of their child is most devastating. With micro chipping the chance of finding a run away are great rather than trying to find them with posters, news broadcasts ect. It’s a dangerous world out there and not many run a way’s realize that until it is too late. With micro chipping we could potentially prevent run a way’s and kidnappings because people would know there is no use to do it because they will be found! This is a great idea in my personal opinion because the minute a child goes missing there is a greater chance we could find the child unharmed rather than doing the Amber Alert.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
I am having a hard time coming up with a good topic for our research topic! I am going to do some solutions to kidnappings and missing people in general. Its is horrible seeing how many people turn up missing and nothing can really be done. Its such a scary thought. I am now researching some of the things that are being done to help and what can we expand on. I have a few good ideas, or at least that's what I think. This project is very difficult because I am still not exactly sure in what I should be doing.
English paper #2 Animal Testing
Time for Change
The use of animal testing is not only cruel it is completely unethical. What rights do we have as human beings to occur prolonged and painful tests on animals? We don’t have that right. There are some outcomes that do benefit medicine, but at the same time there is not enough to outweigh the benefits. With animal testing there also comes animal abuse. There is no way to really show how much of these experiments on animals turn out to be abuse, but there are some horrifying instances where these cases have been brought to the publics attention. Its time for a change!
“The history of animal testing can be dated back as early as the third and fourth centuries BC” (Wikipedia). Aristotle and Erasistratus were the first to perform experiments on animals. In the 1880’s Louis Posteur gave sheep antrax to show the public the germ throry of medicine (Wikipedia). Dogs were given insulin in 1922 and changed the treatments of diabetes forever. In more recent times there was a big break through with cloning with a sheep named Dolly, which was a first. Throughout the decades there have been numerous break throughs medically through the testing of animals. Another important topic many people in favor for animal testing tend to look over which are the technicalities. Animals are all not genetically like us with our organs and skin tissues, some of the tests preformed on animals may not be as accurate as one would hope it to be. An example is “aspirin is a teratogen when given to certain animals in high doses, but there is conflicting evidence regarding its effect on human embryos” (Wikipedia). So in other words we can react much differently to medicines than animals that were tested with the same product.
There are many different types of tests preformed on animals. There are medical/laboratory tests which tests different medicines that could help with a certain disease/illness. There is also cosmetic testing which tests the cosmetic products to see if they are harmful in any way to the public. Finally there are safety tests which can be used to see if products that are ingested or spread upon skin what the effects will be. While a lot of these tests seem great in theory one has to also look and see that these animals are also being abused in harsh ways. One example was a test conducted upon monkeys. The test was to induce a stroke upon these monkeys to see how their motor functions would turn out. The way these scientists would induce the monkey would be sawing off the tops of their heads and wait for the stroke to begin. Then by the end of the day there were locked in cages alone with out water or food and no human contact for fifteen hours. Then the staff would return and test the monkey to see how their motor functions would react. Another harmful test for cosmetics would be the draize tests preformed on rabbits. They would their eyes, usually resulting in the rabbits going blind and/or eye decay (animalcruelty.com). Is it really fair for the animals that have no voice to be put through these types of agony?
It is time for changes inside the world of animal testing! There are too many animals that have been killed and abused for the sake of us. The ratios of people who agree with animal testing have dramatically gone down since the 1940’s. In 1949 at least eighty five percent of the population of America was for animal testing. In 1990 less than fifty percent of the population is in favor for animal testing (Corthran,14). People are now starting to realize that animal testing may not be the only solution to testing product. We have the luxury of using technology to test different products. There may be some flaws in the system but there will not be any more flaws than testing animals (stopanimaltesting.com). Its time to save the lives of animals and give them the voice they deserve. Right now we are their voice so its time we make an effort and save them.
I have high hopes for the future of animal testing. I am hopeful that people will see how the animals are treated while being tested and realize its not fair for any living creature to be put through that. The use of animal testing is not only cruel it is completely unethical. Now I feel people are beginning to see the viewpoints of animal activists. The only way to spread the word of animal testing is sharing and discussing these horrific situations. I strongly feel by spreading the truth of what happens in animal testing that a great change will come.
Friday, March 9, 2007
2nd Peer Review
I really enjoyed this last peer review. I had alot of great feedback on my paper. This time around my paper had some edit marks on my paper. Later when i got home I went back and reviewed my paper and I took the edits and reworked my paper and it really helped my paper. I also went back and made some corrections myself and I really feel good about my paper. So I am hoping it will turn out really good. So I am keeping my hopes up.
The Dreaded Research Paper
I really dislike writting research papers. I know being in college I will encounter many of these I still am not too fond of them. I absolutely hate doing work cited pages. I am always freaking out I am doing completely wrong and I am going to fail on my paper. I have been researching my topic of animal testing for quite awhile because I am really interested in the subject. So this research shouldn't be too bad. I have gotten most of it done about a week ago and I cant wait for the peer review to get other people's opinion on my subject as well as my paper.
Peer reviews
I reallly like the idea of a peer review but the first peer review I felt like I really didnt get as much feedback as I hoped too. The person who was reviewing my paper was helpful but I would like to have a few marks here and there on my paper to show me what I need to improve on. So I am hoping that I did good on my paper reguardless. I also have higher hopes for the next peer review to get more feedback!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
English 102
These blogs I have just added is my work that I have been doing in my English 102 class!
Reflection and Analysis
Helping Hands
In the letter I had written to the editor I wanted to share how the story of “At the Bottom of the Bay” affected me as a reader. The story was filled with compassion, hope and pure courage. Lately the news is filled with violence and hate; it’s nice to hear that there is still a hope for compassion for one another. I have personal experience with a car accident that had almost left me dead. I have used a lot of pathos and ethos in my essay because I can really relate to their situation because I was in a horrible accident myself.
In “At the Bottom of the Bay” a family of four was traveling on a bridge going fifty five miles per hour and their tire blew out on their ford explored. Soon after the blow out the father, Mujo, lost control of the SUV and hit the railing of the bridge and it toppled over the edge and fell into the river. The mother, Amira, and their oldest son, Emrah, immediately got out of the SUV that was submerged in the water. But the father and youngest son, Amar, were still trapped inside the SUV; soon after the father found his way out of the SUV. The boy was still trapped underneath the water in the SUV. An onlooker named Kerry Reardon saw the accident and jumped into the water to save the little boy. After a few attempts he finally managed to pull the little boy out of the water but he was lifeless. A nurse, who by a stroke of God, was traveling on the bridge got out of the car and did everything she could to go down to the accident and try to help. She saw the lifeless boy and did CPR and anything to try and help. Finally he took a breath. It was amazing. The family now is all doing well and the little boy had no major damage done. These random citizens could have chose not to save the family and the boy would have been dead.
I have been in a similar situation when I was two years old in 1988. My mother and I were on the way to my grandmother’s house. We were driving a Chevy truck. I was strapped into my car seat and my mother had her seat belt on. We were at a stop light that gave us the green arrow to make a left hand turn. Then a teenage boy driving a SUV and was speeding smashed into our truck turning us over and during the impact I flew out the back windshield and my mother hit her head on the steering wheel. I flew under the car behind us and the lady and her husband slammed on their brakes. The lady thought she had run over me. Her husband jumped out of their car and he started to do CPR on me. He was a paramedic and it was his day off. I was quickly revived. My mother ran out of our truck and had lost her shoes. It was the middle of summer and she got burns on her feet from the heat. Soon the ambulance came and took us both away. I know for a fact if it weren’t for the lady and her husband helping us, I would not be here today. I sometime think why did they I mean they could have easily gone about their business but they chose to help me and for that I will always be grateful. It people like them who make life brighter and they help keep hope alive. Hope that one day everyone one would be willing to help anyone no matter age, sex, and or race.
I wanted to incorporate my story into my letter to the editor so people could see that there are nice people in the world; and to maybe influence other people to lend a helping hand to one and other. In the long run you never know when you could save a life! I also made the choice to insert the date that the article was published so maybe people would be interested in going back to the article and read it for themselves.
I used a lot of different emotions in my letter for specific reasons. I used a lot of my personal experiences because I felt that maybe some people can relate to my story as I related to the story of “At the Bottom of the Bay.” I also wanted to give the emotions of how grateful I am to the people who saved me. Through out my letter I mostly portrayed the emotion of hope and gratitude. I am so hopeful that people will change in the sense that if there were an accident on the side of the road that people would stop and give a helping hand if at all possible. I am learning this myself. In writing this piece I have really opened my own eyes to wanting to change my life and help others as much as possible. My purpose of this letter is just to inform people of my own situation and maybe open other people’s eyes to their lives the way I did my own.
They key audiences that I am targeting are the people who read the Reader’s Digest. Many different people read this magazine because there are stories for everyone. I started reading these magazines back in my junior year at high school because there were such a variety of stories. The stories can range anywhere from health to the war on Iraq. I want people to read my letter and really get a sense of how I portrayed the story and how I applied it to my life. I also want the audience to be influenced by my letter. I want to influence them to get out into the world and do some good among our neighbors, cities, states and hopefully the world.
In conclusion this letter to the editor is very personal in the sense that I let all the readers of the Reader’s Digest into my past. I share with the readers all of my hopes and gratefulness of the people around the world. In may other situations I would not be as open in my life as I am doing in my letter but I feel that this is a perfect opportunity to let people of all ages know what’s going through some of the minds of younger readers. I know some people feel that the youth of America are a bunch of slackers and I hope to show those readers that there are young adults my age who do want more for our world, and how we want change!
In the letter I had written to the editor I wanted to share how the story of “At the Bottom of the Bay” affected me as a reader. The story was filled with compassion, hope and pure courage. Lately the news is filled with violence and hate; it’s nice to hear that there is still a hope for compassion for one another. I have personal experience with a car accident that had almost left me dead. I have used a lot of pathos and ethos in my essay because I can really relate to their situation because I was in a horrible accident myself.
In “At the Bottom of the Bay” a family of four was traveling on a bridge going fifty five miles per hour and their tire blew out on their ford explored. Soon after the blow out the father, Mujo, lost control of the SUV and hit the railing of the bridge and it toppled over the edge and fell into the river. The mother, Amira, and their oldest son, Emrah, immediately got out of the SUV that was submerged in the water. But the father and youngest son, Amar, were still trapped inside the SUV; soon after the father found his way out of the SUV. The boy was still trapped underneath the water in the SUV. An onlooker named Kerry Reardon saw the accident and jumped into the water to save the little boy. After a few attempts he finally managed to pull the little boy out of the water but he was lifeless. A nurse, who by a stroke of God, was traveling on the bridge got out of the car and did everything she could to go down to the accident and try to help. She saw the lifeless boy and did CPR and anything to try and help. Finally he took a breath. It was amazing. The family now is all doing well and the little boy had no major damage done. These random citizens could have chose not to save the family and the boy would have been dead.
I have been in a similar situation when I was two years old in 1988. My mother and I were on the way to my grandmother’s house. We were driving a Chevy truck. I was strapped into my car seat and my mother had her seat belt on. We were at a stop light that gave us the green arrow to make a left hand turn. Then a teenage boy driving a SUV and was speeding smashed into our truck turning us over and during the impact I flew out the back windshield and my mother hit her head on the steering wheel. I flew under the car behind us and the lady and her husband slammed on their brakes. The lady thought she had run over me. Her husband jumped out of their car and he started to do CPR on me. He was a paramedic and it was his day off. I was quickly revived. My mother ran out of our truck and had lost her shoes. It was the middle of summer and she got burns on her feet from the heat. Soon the ambulance came and took us both away. I know for a fact if it weren’t for the lady and her husband helping us, I would not be here today. I sometime think why did they I mean they could have easily gone about their business but they chose to help me and for that I will always be grateful. It people like them who make life brighter and they help keep hope alive. Hope that one day everyone one would be willing to help anyone no matter age, sex, and or race.
I wanted to incorporate my story into my letter to the editor so people could see that there are nice people in the world; and to maybe influence other people to lend a helping hand to one and other. In the long run you never know when you could save a life! I also made the choice to insert the date that the article was published so maybe people would be interested in going back to the article and read it for themselves.
I used a lot of different emotions in my letter for specific reasons. I used a lot of my personal experiences because I felt that maybe some people can relate to my story as I related to the story of “At the Bottom of the Bay.” I also wanted to give the emotions of how grateful I am to the people who saved me. Through out my letter I mostly portrayed the emotion of hope and gratitude. I am so hopeful that people will change in the sense that if there were an accident on the side of the road that people would stop and give a helping hand if at all possible. I am learning this myself. In writing this piece I have really opened my own eyes to wanting to change my life and help others as much as possible. My purpose of this letter is just to inform people of my own situation and maybe open other people’s eyes to their lives the way I did my own.
They key audiences that I am targeting are the people who read the Reader’s Digest. Many different people read this magazine because there are stories for everyone. I started reading these magazines back in my junior year at high school because there were such a variety of stories. The stories can range anywhere from health to the war on Iraq. I want people to read my letter and really get a sense of how I portrayed the story and how I applied it to my life. I also want the audience to be influenced by my letter. I want to influence them to get out into the world and do some good among our neighbors, cities, states and hopefully the world.
In conclusion this letter to the editor is very personal in the sense that I let all the readers of the Reader’s Digest into my past. I share with the readers all of my hopes and gratefulness of the people around the world. In may other situations I would not be as open in my life as I am doing in my letter but I feel that this is a perfect opportunity to let people of all ages know what’s going through some of the minds of younger readers. I know some people feel that the youth of America are a bunch of slackers and I hope to show those readers that there are young adults my age who do want more for our world, and how we want change!
Letter to the Editor
7, February 2007
Letters to the Editor
You Said It
Reader’s Digest Box 200
Pleasantville, New York 10572-0200
Dear Editor:
In reading an article out of the January 2007 issue called “At the Bottom of the Bay” I could personally relate to this story. I know when the is an accident on the side of the road not many people stop to help, but these people in the story were willing to risk their own lives to save a family from a car accident and ultimately dying underwater. This story really applied to my life because when I was two years old my mother and I were involved in a serious, and could have been deadly, car accident. A teenage driver ran a red light and hit my mom’s truck and I went through the windshield and went under the car behind me, if the people in the car behind us did not help us both my mother and I would not be here today. I hope that the people who read “At the Bottom of the Bay” can feel inspired to stop and help people who have been in an accident because you never know maybe you could save a life!
Sincerely,
Malory Landrum
2784 N 28th place
Scottsdale, AZ 98525
Letters to the Editor
You Said It
Reader’s Digest Box 200
Pleasantville, New York 10572-0200
Dear Editor:
In reading an article out of the January 2007 issue called “At the Bottom of the Bay” I could personally relate to this story. I know when the is an accident on the side of the road not many people stop to help, but these people in the story were willing to risk their own lives to save a family from a car accident and ultimately dying underwater. This story really applied to my life because when I was two years old my mother and I were involved in a serious, and could have been deadly, car accident. A teenage driver ran a red light and hit my mom’s truck and I went through the windshield and went under the car behind me, if the people in the car behind us did not help us both my mother and I would not be here today. I hope that the people who read “At the Bottom of the Bay” can feel inspired to stop and help people who have been in an accident because you never know maybe you could save a life!
Sincerely,
Malory Landrum
2784 N 28th place
Scottsdale, AZ 98525
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