Cassandra's "Take Action" for Obesity and Nutrition

http://www.petitiononline.com/YMCAFood/petition.html

What I did for my "take action " was I signed a petition to eliminate junk food at the YMCA facilities. I felt great knowing that I was helping to potentially make a difference! I think it is a great idea to take junk food out of the YMCA. First off, many poor income families children attend after school programs at the "Y." These families usually consist of a higher degree of uneducated parents in regards to nutrition. By eliminating junk foods at the YMCA it is helping to further educate the children, as well as the parents to the importance of nutrition, and the severity of obesity.  This "take action" connects with democratic values by taking a stand and voicing our beliefs. It also connects to democratic values by the mere action of having someone form a petition, and having the public sign the petition, in hopes of bringing change.

As an educator I believe it is crucial to teach children about social justice issues. Children need to be educated abouit the issues surrounding their lives. All too often adults look the other way, using the excuse that children are too young to understand. But I believe many people under estimate the knowledge of young children and how much they are already exposed to these issues.

" Struggle for social justice is central to our nation's history... "Concerns about the common good and the rights of the individual, no matter how humble in social standing, transcends politics and holds a definitive place in the realms of morality, ethics and federal law, therefore in the world of teaching social studies."

In response to the above quote, I could not agree more. We touched upon this topic last class. In our discussion, I stated it is vital to teach about social justice because it surrounds history. If you look at why the constitution and the bill of rights were created, it was because of social injustice. These two important documents now provide an important foundation to the freedoms we have been guarenteed today. Also, many important historical figures became famous because of their willingness to fight for social justice. Examples of individuals who fought for social justice would be Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Ghandi, to name a few. Not to teach about social injustice would be depriving children of some primary knowledge of the history of this country and our fore fathers. It also would be leaving out part of what it means to be an American.