Advice for College Advisors

Liberals vs Conservatives, an age long argument that never ceases to end. Since Donald Trump won the presidential election it seems to have escalated. The bickering is everywhere you go: social media, a trip to the grocery store, and especially on college campuses. Though most colleges want to limit the political conversations, the students won't stop. In fact some are outraged. An article written by Harvard students called "The Elephant and the Man" has proven this.

All puppy rooms and passive aggressive comments aside, students want and need to speak about their beliefs. The Crimson (the publisher of Harvard students) conducted a study. The study concluded that only 13% of students at Hardvard claim to he conservative, while 70% claim to be liberal. Now you may think a liberal college would want liberal teachings, right? Well you're wrong. The article, directed to the college administration, aimed to have both teachings involved in the classroom. An actual quote from the article says, "diversifying political expression in all settings ought to be an administrative priority." I believe, and the article agrees with me, that discussing politics and different beliefs will actually further your education. The article believes the classroom should "actively encourage the airing of different views." The article also states that Hardvard students to be open to other beliefs.

As stated earlier, out of the entire student population at Hardvard only 6% considered themselves conservative. A different study by Gallup found that slightly below 36% of millennials supported Donald Trump (a conservative). Conservativism seems to be the minority in the millennial generation. However, the students still want to be taught the minorities. Now my thoughts on this topic agrees strongly with the editors of The Crimson. Students have the right to learnt the fullest. College campuses should listen to the voices of the students. As proven throughout history, debating and listening is what founded this country. Public political discussions amongst millennials is almost a must. Though I do believe some college students are "anti-Trump" because he's not up for free college, I do appreciate the peaceful protest fighting for the right of freedom of speech. It truly shows who cares for proper education and who doesn't.

 

The Persecuted Church

The Christian Church has been persecuted since the beginning of time. It's throughout the entire Bible and throughout history. However, in recent years Christian persecution has been on the rise and in more extreme ways. Christians now get thrown into prison, tortured, kidnapped, and even killed simply for believing in Jesus Christ. According to theguardian.com, 200 million Christians in over 60 countries have reported being persecuted in some way, that's about 1 in 10 Christian people. In some countries Christiananity is only 1% of the population, the rest is Hinduism, Buddhaism, Sikhs etc. Persecution of the church happens all over the world, most commonly noted is the Middle East and Africa. Though also in China, Malaysia, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico, and that's just to name a few. According to John Pontifex of ACN, the number of Christians has taken a dramatic decrease. Isis, along with other extremist, have persecuted numerous people. In the past year we've seen multiple attacks on people, churches, and events. Though most occurring in the Middle East, they've also occurred in Africa, America, France, and other. Persecution does not occur to just Christians, though they do get the most, with 102 countries having some sort of harassment. The Open Doors Foundation estimates that 4,344 Christians were killed and 1,062 churches were destroyed in November 2013 up to November 2014. That number has only risen.

North Korea has stated that over 700,000 men and women are being held in gulgags. Some banished, tortured, killed, raped, etc. Persecution is rising and the methods are becoming more and more sinister. Organisations around the world have tried to help these people, such as: Open Doors, Voice of the Martyrs, and many others. According to Open Doors, 75% of the worlds population face

religious restrictions. It says in Jeremiah 20:11, "but the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten."

Recently, there was an attack on Kenya that targeted Christians. A group of Extremists, called Al-Shabaab, dressed as Kenyan Military and entered Mandera residential. They first attacked a mobile  money transfer shop and thre explosives into. The non native people were immediately shot as they tried to run free, the extremists assumed that they were Christians. 6 died from this accident and several injured due to the explosives.  An article was published on October 8 explaining the details, the article is on Open Doors website. These attacks aren't on the other side of the world either these attacks happen in America too. San Bernardino, Florida bar, and more. They might not have been directed to Christians but they're still part of these extremists groups. A few years ago a teenage girl in Texas was shot in the head for her faith. The persecuted church is a serious problem and people need to keep awareness of it. These people should not have to suffer in silence and/or stand alone. America was founded and built upon Cristian principles and beliefs. We fought in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism, why can't we fight for the persecuted church? These people, our brothers and sisters in Christ, are in need of help. It's up to us to change it.

Self Harm Awareness

Time Magazine wrote an article concerning teenagers and their mental health disorders. A few teenagers told their stories of their battles with depression and how the dealt. One girl spoke of how she self harmed. She would cut on her arms and ribs and felt that's the only thing that could make her feel better. Her parents were in the interview too and stated they had no idea she was depressed, let alone self harming. The only reason they know now is because the mother spotted the cuts on her wrist. The article stated tons of statistics and symptoms of depression or anxiety. The article, I believe anyway, was to raise awareness of the issue and to inform parents of what is going on.

Not only parents but adults in general seem to be oblivious to, or trying to forget, the issue. Many parents, teachers, coaches, and adults in general want the best for upcoming generations. No one wants to think of a child harming themselves, which is why I believe it's not highly talked about. As uncomfortable as it sounds it should be talked about more. Since about 15% of teens have reported that they self harmed, who knows how many teens have gone unreported. On top of that, the percentage is only growing.

While a vast majority of the teens are female there still is a good portion of males. There's multiple ways of self harm. The most common ways are: cutting, the most popular taking about 64%, head banging, taking about 21%, and burning taking about 15%. Research has also found two ways on why people cut. One being, they can't feel anything and can only experience this pain. The other being the exact opposite, they feel they are too full of sadness and that is the only way to release what's built up inside of them. Also there are two types of self-harmers: the person actually attempting suicide and the person crying for help. There's a common misconception that if you self harm that you're looking for attention. In most cases that claim is completely false. The people that cry for help aren't looking for attention, their trying to catch the attention of someone who cares, see the difference?

Personally I know what it feels like to self harm. Which is why I chose this as my senior project topic and the topic of this blog. It's something I'm very passionate about. Self-harming, cutting, whatever you want to call it can be like an addiction. Some people come home and get so hammered they can barely move, some people get so high they can barely understand simple English, others go home and cut their skin until they've lost so much blood they get dizzy. I'm certainly not encouraging these acts by any means, I'm comparing it. I was the person that was so immersed by sadness and pain I could only release it one way, or so I thought at the time. I know the pain of these teens, I was the one sitting on the edge of my bed crying wondering why I was like this. I believe wholeheartedly that if I can get through it anyone can.