Cassie is taking action!

I took action by signing a petition that is against drug testing for welfare recipients. The website that I found this petition on is very reliable, and also provides a lot of statistics about why drug testing welfare recipients is not cost effective. I liked this website because a lot of people don’t know why drug testing is not effective. I know that a lot of people don’t think about the cost of drug testing, which is why they are pro-drug testing.  I felt really good signing up for this petition because I felt like I was actually making small impact on the topic. The government doesn't know how people feel about a certain issue unless they make a big deal and act on their feelings.

Taking this type of action definitely connected me with my democratic values. Before doing research on this topic, I was very pro-drug testing. Now that I have conducted a lot of research about the statistics and other information about drug testing, my views drastically changed. I know that the idea seems to be good, but is not practical at all. By signing up for this petition, I felt personally connected to this cause and want others to see the topic for its facts and not bias opinions about people on welfare.

I believe teaching social justice issues in the classroom are very important. Students need to know what is going on in the world, especially when it could immediately affect them or sometime in the future. When teaching current events, I believe students should look at both sides of the argument so they can make an informed judgment based on facts and evidence, rather than bias opinions they obtained from family members etc. Learning about current events also makes social studies interesting and fun to both learn and teach. Students should be encouraged to bring in articles that pertain to them or spark an interest. 

I believe this quote is critical to teaching current events in social studies: “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, and therefore in the world of teaching social studies.” It states that every individual has a place in society, and deserves to learn or be taught social studies. Social studies is history.  Every human being should know about history – either past, present, or future. If people are not taught history, they are missing out on what is going on in the world around them.

Overall, I really enjoyed doing this current event project. I learned a lot about drug testing and welfare, and my views on the topic has changed as a result of conducting research. At the beginning of this project, I chose drug testing and welfare because I was 100% for it. I believed that everyone should be drug tested and kicked off welfare if they failed the test. After looking up facts and articles about drug testing and welfare, my views completely changed. I believe that people shouldn't have to get drug tested for welfare, unless if there is high suspicion that they are on drugs. Learning this information made me want to share it with everyone that I know – especially those totally for drug testing! I believe using current events is important because it opens people’s eyes to important events and issues that are being dealt with in the government today.

Here is the petition that I signed: Petition to stop drug testing welfare recipients