The Struggle of being Civic in Today's Society


During the first week on CAS 137h we discussed civicness and what it means to be civic?  We split into groups early on,  and were given the task of listing a few civic activities from least important to most important. We were then prompted with this question, How civic do you believe you are? With that question i was left to reflect on my short eighteen years on what i have done and accomplished that could be considered civic.Which then led me to the realization that being civic in today's age is increasingly difficult.

Being civic to many, seems all in all  an easy task.You might recycle, vote in local and national elections, or paying our taxes. Many people do that right? You would think that as an American citizen we would feel the need to go out of our way and increase our civic duties but that sadly, is not true. Forty to sixty hour work weeks are becoming the common occurrence. Couples get married , have children,they might divorce and start the whole process over again. College aged adults have four to five classes a day, with club leadership or athletics thrown into the melting pot that is called college life.Somewhere in all the hustle and bustle we forget to recycle a plastic bottle.Or maybe we were too lazy to walk off the couch to vote for our next county commissioner.Life and everyday struggles take precedence over seemingly simple,but important matters.

The influence of our society plays a major role in the impact of our civic nature.If you were raised in a family of non-voters it may not be as much as an issue for you come elections.the way that an individual was raised and how peers influence you, could be the main factor in whether or not you increase or decrease your civic nature.

But we must realize the impact that our civic nature can shape society. If we recycle more, less waste goes into the environment.If we vote, we make a direct influence in who shapes our country. There needs to be less excuses and more reasons for stepping out and doing our civic duty.

For my first passion blog post I will be focusing on children living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically those working as children miners.To paint a picture of the increased epidemic of child labor, the International Labor organization did a survey.In their findings, they found that with the estimated 215 child laborers,115 million work in extremely hazardous conditions.In the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the most dangerous types of child labor is artisanal mining.Artisanal mining requires plucking of rocks from tunneling or loose surfaces which can lead to rock slides.

Some of the statistics found in doing the survey were staggering.19 percent of the children have witnessed another child dying a the mine site, while another 87 experience severe body pain.The problem with these young children working at the mine sites is the fact that as we all know, their bodies are continually maturing and developing.The extreme and heavy work can cause bone and muscle deformities and permanently damage the bones growth. The continual exposure to Uranium and Mercury are also extremely harmful to the developing child's brain.In fact,since children breathe more deeply and faster then adults, they breathe in more airborne pathogens as well.

These children are forced to work every day with little time for family,little to nor breaks, and no time for normal childhood activities.Many of these children are the sole bread winners for families.Many of the children miners have had to drop out of school because the lack of funds, or the inability to attend class because of constant illness.It is not by choice that these children work in these dangerous environments, but it is a sad way of life for at least 40 percent of the children.There is no regulations placed n these environments, so until a set of rules are put into place, children as young as 8 years of age will be thrust into these sites and left with no childhood or peace of mind.But regulations are simply not enough.There's a lot to be focused on in the DRC such as child soldiers,sexual assaults, and forced marriages. The.The epidemic of poverty and malnourishment are rampant and the leading cause to many of these issues.All these children want is a chance to leave put their dreams, the same way that many of us hope to accomplish.But with limited support and resources, and danger extremely prevalent, there is no chance for them unless we put in a concerted effort to a help them in any way possible.



"With one king gesture you can change a life.One person at a time you can change the world.One day at a time we can change everything." -Dr. Steven Maraboli

RCL post #1

When it came time to brainstorm various ideas for our individual passion blogs, I knew without hesitation what my topic for the remainder of the semester should be.Back in my hometown, in order to graduate high school it was a requirement that every Senior complete an argumentative paper and speech in front of an audience board that would occur over one semester. Many topics were written out on sticky notes,many websites visited during the first weeks of class, but one remained permanent.As a child and going into adulthood, news was a main fixture of my upbringing.CNN,MSNBC, and even Fox, were constantly on the TV. As I had gotten older and matured, I realized the hardships faced by other countries and the turmoil facing their citizens, especially the children. So when it came time to writing an argumentative paper for a honors English class, I knew I had a passion for bringing a voice to the voiceless, and by writing this paper and presenting a speech to an audience, I hoped that another person would feel the same sense of urgency that I had.

 To make a long story short, when it came time to writing a passion blog, this topic instantly popped into my head! Each week I will be discussing a different country currently in hardship, such as Iraq,Afghanistan,Pakistan,etc.I will also be going in-depth into the many lives of the children living in poverty,living in danger, in these areas.The blogs will entail various topics such as: poverty,education,healthcare and female rights.The blog will be filled with quotes from people working for various non-profits to individuals living in these countries.I will also embed pictures of the children in each blog post as to bring a personal light to the topic.There's a lot going on currently within these countries, and much information needed to be shared about the youth.

Many people would argue that we have more pertinent issues to deal with in the United States, but I realize the impact that conflicts overseas could bring to our country.There are hundreds of thousands of individuals working towards the cause of improving the lives of these children, and maybe these blog posts will convince one of you to change the direction of your career path and decide to go down a more philanthropic route.