Wednesday, September 28, 2011
TEACHERS STRIKE! Acapulco teachers strike over drugs
Not over fair employment conditions but over salaries. Well, sort of. Drug cartels in Acapulco are "requesting" that teachers fork over half of their salaries to them. IF they do not there will be violence. Last night, five severed heads were found at the doorstep of an elementary school as a response to the protest. If you were living in Acapulco what would you do? Would you continue to go to school? What would you want your teachers to do? Would you protest? Would you hide?http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/22/world/americas/mexico-acapulco-teachers/index.html
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Before any of those things, I would be very, very, very scared! We aren't talking about threats or ideas here, we are talking about 5 human heads on the front step of the school. If I lived in Acapulco, I would definitely stop going to school, and I would probably hide. I would not however skip town because that would be running away from our troubles when we would need to stick up for our town to make it a safer place. I believe the teachers are doing the right thing with going on strike. If i were a teacher in Acapulco I believe I would be doing the same exact thing. But when will it stop? Because in Acapulco if the drug lords have done this, what will they do next? I believe the only way for this to stop is if every drug lord is caught, but I believe that is a task that is far out of hand. So what are they to do about this? Will they have to catch every drug lord and return kids to school? or will kids one by one try to end the strike and go back to school, along with the teachers? If your life was on the line, would you stick up for what is right (going to school) or cower and hide to make sure you don't get hurt?
ReplyDeleteI admire the courage of the teachers to participate in an act of civil disobedience. to do so in a country that has a sense of lawlessness means they are acting on a moral conviction we are rarely faced with. What would you think if on your walk to school you might see your teacher laying dead on the doorstep to your school? No change takes place within a gov't unless a few dedicated people outside of gov't challenges the indifference or complacency of an unjust regime. our country was built on these principles. WhAat do we stand for today? When does drug use, an international problem, become the problem to address instead of the drug dealer?
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I completely agree with Peter when he said, "Teachers are doing the right thing with going on strike." This situation was started with the fear of violence, and any counterattacks from teachers, students, or parents would just further the violence and murders. I find it interesting that the drug lords are attacking the teachers, and making it harder to get an education. In some cases, a lack of education and ability to find jobs leads one to do drugs, which would further the drug lords' profit. It leads me to wonder how much this is thought out by them, or if that aspect of the situation is by chance. According to the article, 14 people die every day due to drug related violence. That is a staggering statistic that is in all likelihood detering any and all protestors from continuing. As to how to improve the drug situation, I think that that is a more complex issue. On the one hand, it could be attempted to stop drug use, therefore destroying the market. However, it could be argued that due to the nature of addiction, that is not the most realistic approach. The other way to eliminate the drug problem is to attempt to detain drug dealers and stop the drug market at the source. In my opinion, other drug users will step up and fulfill the role as a drug dealer, and the cycle would be nearly impossible to stop. A combination of the two methods would be the most effective, because all aspects of the drug market would be under attack.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with both peter and elizabeth when they stated "teachers are doing the right thing with going on strike." i believe this because i think it would be wrong for the teachers to give into the drug lords. however, these people are very violent and not the type of people you want to mess with. unfortunately, they are also not the type of people you can stand up too without help from security and government. if i lived in Acapulco i would not feel safe going to school and would probably stop going in order to feel safe. however, i am saddend that the drug lords are robbing children of there educations. i feel that security should be added to school to allow children to get an education and feel safe doing it. i feel that this would because as the article stated when they tried the safe-school program there were no incidents at the school. also, there was no one from the school threatened or injured for 15 days. 15 days may not seem like a lot for us but for them it is a huge success and should be fallowed through with to stay safe and keep them selves from danger.
ReplyDeleteYO ITZ MY BIRTHDAY YA'LL!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf I lived in Acapulco, Mexico, I would fight for the teacher's rights'. The teacher's are only asking for more security to keep safe. It says, "The teachers say they refuse to go back to the classroom until they get assurance about their security." The governor and/or government needs to think about the students, and teachers's safety before one of them gets severely hurt, or maybe even be killed. As for me, I would not continue going to school, until the safety/security cautions have occurred to help better the students and teachers. It would make the teachers feel like they are in a safer place to continue teaching. I would want my teachers to stick up for their rights. It states, "..."It's impossible to teach given the current levels of violence. We are asking for conditions that allow us to return to our schools and homes to live a normal life. That's all were asking for. We don't think that's too much to ask for. We're asking for something that anybody anywhere in the world would want: peace," said the teacher." If the teachers don't feel safe to teach in this community, then they should have the right to request more safety. I would help protest with the surrounding community in Acapulco. They need help to get the word around the country to come out and help them with this issue. I would not hide, I would want to speak my mind and let them know they need to do more to provide security for innocent civilians in Acapulco. The teachers have the right to feel safe at their job, they demand security and peace before they go back to work. They need to stop this madness before something significantly changes the community.
I have been trying to post this comment since last night.
ReplyDeleteDrug cartels are growing in Acapulco. 14 deaths daily is not right, and only protests are being done to stop it. The drug lords are indeed dangerous, but more needs to be done to protect the teachers from being threatened. 5 severed heads being left on the doorstep of a school is disgusting and sickening. The fact that this is happening in Mexico, not too far from the United States is an eye opener. Amherst, New Hampshire is small and sheltered. I chose to comment on this article to bring to the attention that we need to realize there are more serious things in the world than the petty things we worry about daily. 14 innocent people are being killed because drug lords aren't getting money from teachers, that don't have any connection with the drug cartels to begin with. If this was happening within the US boarders, serious consequences would have been executed and this would no longer be an issue. It's simply sad to see so many people worrying about the little things in life and wasting so much time and energy on them when there are large issues that are hurting our neighboring countries. The teachers in Acapulco need a safe environment and have every right to be able to teach at school ever day instead of it being closed due to a murder scene being left in front of their work.
The teachers need to be in a safer environment, this issue is getting out of hand too quickly.
One of the first commentors Wally summed up the solution to this situation perfectly. Mexico needs people outside the government to stand up against these thugs. No one man can do it alone, however, no one dad or one policeman will be able to stand up alone. The people of mexico and their government need to work together in order to end this violence. If I was a student at this school myself, I would be very afraid. 5 heads in the entrance to my school would not encourage me to return. However, if I was garunteed protection, and my role as a mexican citizen was to attend school, I would attend school. This would be the bravest thing to do as a student, not to attend school would not help the countries' progress, and it would let these local extorionsts win. Therefore i'd partake in this most peaceful form of protest if I was a student of Acaoulco.
ReplyDeleteAcapulco*
ReplyDeleteTo start off, I agree with Peter on being extremely scared of the 5 heads on poles in front of the school and to be truthfully honest, I most likely would not return back to school even after the school is secure and safe. Now, if I lived in Acapulco when the 5 heads were found in front of the school,I would have no idea what to do. Most likely I would run and hide somewhere in my house or my room, but I would not leave town. It would be irresponsible, but understandable to leave the town. If the schools had suddenly reopened with promises of safety, it would be a great way to as Peter states it "stick up for our town to make it a safer place" by going to school, even if I was to be reluctant and scared. I think that what the teachers are doing now is amazing and the courage of those teachers that are standing up to the drug lords is amazing because they are standing up for their rights that seem none existent because of the drug lords. What I would want the teachers to do is continue their work and just try to get as many teachers and supporters as possible so that what the teachers want (which is safety) is satisfied and the education of the students to continue. I would mostly likely not participate in the protest because as stated in the article "teachers fled from about 75 schools after receiving threats" and I would just think that if I were to get involved, I might get threatened and potentially killed. I would most likely just go hide in some corner so that they could come find me. If the schools were to ever open again, I would go back to school because as Kenny had put it "i'd partake in this most peaceful form of protest" because the student body is saying that we need education and without the teachers to teach the later generations, Mexico will slowly fall apart.
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