Service Learning-Proposal
Proposal
Evan Mowry
Introduction to Sociology
For this project I chose to sign up for Someplace Safe. It was quite a decision for me to actually choose to interact with people instead of write about interesting books, but I felt it would be wasting an opportunity to become involved in the community and to directly apply what I learn in the class to my life and vice versa. I feel that this sort of outreach work is important to a community and to the individuals involved.
I chose this specific project partially because I think the goal is one of the three more noble among the many choices, being that of trying to affect change in people’s lives. Also, I feel that educating young people about sexual violence is something that is often shied away from when it should be confronted directly. There seems to be a stigma about young people about sex, and only a minimal amount of information is presented to them when it should be much more. Too little is done at a governmental level about domestic violence, leaving the burden of caring for victims to other members of the community, which is wrong. Government has a responsibility to provide for people, and people have the responsibility to become involved in changing government to effect that change.
I personally have no experience with sexual or domestic violence. However, I am very good at talking with people about their lives and reassuring them. Several of my close friends in high school struggled with eating disorders, and I personally think that my talking with them about their feelings helped them organize their thoughts and begin to deal with their issues.
I do have speech experience, however limited, as I participated in Forensics in high school and have always been good at giving presentations. I am good with talking to younger kids, and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a Link leader my senior year (Link is a program that introduces freshmen to high school through small groups and 12th grade mentors, who keep track of them and plan activities for them throughout the year. It serves to develop a more realistic view of high school and helps to develop coping skills for the freshmen.) In addition, I’m pretty laid back and have a sense of humor, which helps me to connect with younger people, even when talking about serious issues that they might not have encountered before.
The very personal nature of sexual and domestic abuse hides its scale. Because it affects so many people, it could be elevated from a personal trouble to a public issue. Unfortunately, rarely is it treated as a societal ill, but rather on a case-by-case basis with very little prevention being utilized. This is compounded by the stigma of abuse as something that is between the abuser and the abused, rarely attracting the attention of their immediate acquaintances, requiring the state to involve itself when it is notified, which is another example of the phenomenon transcending a local problem and becoming a public one.
Before I begin participating in the project I think I’d like some training, or even just advice, on how best to talk with survivors of domestic abuse, and how to be sensitive to their needs without appearing condescending. I’d also like to have an idea of what topics students have touched on when they prepared their projects for presentation.
The information I’ve received so far has been pretty standard, but it has been sobering. I usually don’t figure domestic abuse or sexual violence would be very prevalent in a community such as Morris, and maybe it’s not, but just that it exists is chilling.
I would really like to extend this to the student body as much as possible. Although I don’t think sexual crimes are an issue on the Morris campus, I do think that prevention is a lot easier than treatment, and not just for the counselors. Anything we can do to prevent a rape is worth it. I can apply a lot of what I learn about this particular phenomenon to other social issues. I’m going to guess tentatively that the root causes of sexual violence, domestic abuse, gang violence, drug addiction, and others are similar if not the same. If this is true, then there’s no reason I cannot find connections that will aid me later in life. Also, as (if) I find root causes to sexual and domestic violence, I can perhaps really address real issues when I present information to whomever. I know when I was younger, and still now, I was much more likely to think carefully about something if I could relate to the people involved in it.
Evan Mowry
Introduction to Sociology
For this project I chose to sign up for Someplace Safe. It was quite a decision for me to actually choose to interact with people instead of write about interesting books, but I felt it would be wasting an opportunity to become involved in the community and to directly apply what I learn in the class to my life and vice versa. I feel that this sort of outreach work is important to a community and to the individuals involved.
I chose this specific project partially because I think the goal is one of the three more noble among the many choices, being that of trying to affect change in people’s lives. Also, I feel that educating young people about sexual violence is something that is often shied away from when it should be confronted directly. There seems to be a stigma about young people about sex, and only a minimal amount of information is presented to them when it should be much more. Too little is done at a governmental level about domestic violence, leaving the burden of caring for victims to other members of the community, which is wrong. Government has a responsibility to provide for people, and people have the responsibility to become involved in changing government to effect that change.
I personally have no experience with sexual or domestic violence. However, I am very good at talking with people about their lives and reassuring them. Several of my close friends in high school struggled with eating disorders, and I personally think that my talking with them about their feelings helped them organize their thoughts and begin to deal with their issues.
I do have speech experience, however limited, as I participated in Forensics in high school and have always been good at giving presentations. I am good with talking to younger kids, and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a Link leader my senior year (Link is a program that introduces freshmen to high school through small groups and 12th grade mentors, who keep track of them and plan activities for them throughout the year. It serves to develop a more realistic view of high school and helps to develop coping skills for the freshmen.) In addition, I’m pretty laid back and have a sense of humor, which helps me to connect with younger people, even when talking about serious issues that they might not have encountered before.
The very personal nature of sexual and domestic abuse hides its scale. Because it affects so many people, it could be elevated from a personal trouble to a public issue. Unfortunately, rarely is it treated as a societal ill, but rather on a case-by-case basis with very little prevention being utilized. This is compounded by the stigma of abuse as something that is between the abuser and the abused, rarely attracting the attention of their immediate acquaintances, requiring the state to involve itself when it is notified, which is another example of the phenomenon transcending a local problem and becoming a public one.
Before I begin participating in the project I think I’d like some training, or even just advice, on how best to talk with survivors of domestic abuse, and how to be sensitive to their needs without appearing condescending. I’d also like to have an idea of what topics students have touched on when they prepared their projects for presentation.
The information I’ve received so far has been pretty standard, but it has been sobering. I usually don’t figure domestic abuse or sexual violence would be very prevalent in a community such as Morris, and maybe it’s not, but just that it exists is chilling.
I would really like to extend this to the student body as much as possible. Although I don’t think sexual crimes are an issue on the Morris campus, I do think that prevention is a lot easier than treatment, and not just for the counselors. Anything we can do to prevent a rape is worth it. I can apply a lot of what I learn about this particular phenomenon to other social issues. I’m going to guess tentatively that the root causes of sexual violence, domestic abuse, gang violence, drug addiction, and others are similar if not the same. If this is true, then there’s no reason I cannot find connections that will aid me later in life. Also, as (if) I find root causes to sexual and domestic violence, I can perhaps really address real issues when I present information to whomever. I know when I was younger, and still now, I was much more likely to think carefully about something if I could relate to the people involved in it.
posted by evan at 7:53 AM
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