Sarah Said:

Parents: Why don't you let kids be kids anymore?

We Answered:

I am not a teacher but I do understand what you mean!

my son is 3. His favourite thing is to kill ants in the yard. Some times i meet other parents of children around the same age who want to compare how "advanced" our kids are. They start bragging about how their child can count, read, name the planets, knows mozart, can speak different languages and on and on and on....

my son is not stupid, he can count well and knows his letters and many other things but I am not pushing him into being some kind of "super kid" at this young age. I do learning games with him and i do read to him but most of his days are spent getting dirty, playing and goofing off.
There is a difference between being a concerned parent and parents who want their kids to be the best at everything. It is kinda like the crazy hockey Dad who is yelling like a mad man at every game because they expect their son to be the next NHL star.

Joshua Said:

Artists similar to Banksy? Political or social artists?

We Answered:

Just remember that 'Banksey' has not revealed his/her identity.While intending a slight political element in the work there is much ambiguity as to his/her social origons and I beleive that this is to hide the fact that the artist is yet another rich middle class white kid ,foreknowledge of which would completly destroy any political petensions. I beleive that the art shows great intelligence but really and practically it is an irrelevance except to the art establishment which is constantly seeking credability and social usefullness ........Banksey an amusement for the priveledged classes.
Try looking at Robert Crumb or the artist of the alledged 1968 french cultural revolution.Many of the french artists at the time refused to make copies of the political posters for the collectors as it would have valued the object ,not the intent or purpose of the art object.Cartoonist are worth a look.They seem to cause far more trouble for their numbers and mostly express an individual style.

Josephine Said:

Could a teacher, preferably in social studies or civics, help me edit and add to this journal?

We Answered:

Just a couple of quick comments in general. In academic writing adverbs are hardly ever necessary, so see how your writing sounds when you begin to eliminate the adverbs. That will keep your writing more focused and crisp. Phrases such as "all in all" are not usually used in academic writing. Avoid passive voice (the form "crime is committed by many people" - instead say "many people commit crimes". Also avoid using the pronoun "I" if you can in formal writing. Third person is usually better.

Here are a few changes I would make:

Based upon everyday news broadcasts, crime is a serious issue in the United States today, and is often a result of ridiculous incidents that occur over stupid things. Some cases that should be noticed are ignored because of a focus on unimportant cases. The result is less order and more criminals on the loose.

The public broadcasters including ABC, FOX, PBS, CBS, and others work hard to report news to the people of America everyday. (This sentence seems misplaced here. I would probably put it at the very beginning.)

TV networks show accidents, murders, court cases, and burglaries. Lately, we seem to see more of such programming, including instances of high-school students shooting their principals, teachers, or classmates. Crime today is varied and complex, and therefore harder to deal with.

Crime wastes time, money, and effort, but preventing crime is an all-consuming task. (You don't really want to say that nothing can be done about crime - that would be defeatist and most people would say that things can be done, but society doesn't necessarily have the will to do it.) An example of this kind of crime could be not paying back a person. (Is that actually a crime??? You might want to say "An example of an incident that ties up the court system is not payng back a person", but I think this is actually a different issue,and usually involves small claims court rather than criminal court.) The parties could solve such a case peacefully, freeing up resources to tackle more serious crimes such as rape, murder, or fraud.

Part of human nature is to sometimes act without thinking, but such behavior seems rampant today. People use guns to kill without thinking of the consequences or the jail time they will have to serve.

Crime in the United States is a serious problem now, and is getting harder to address. Often released criminals commit other crime, hurting society once again, suggesting that the prison system is not working. Recidivism In the US seems to be getting worse and is a major concern.

I hope this helps. Best of luck with it.