Constitutional chaos

  The fight for independence was and still is a painful one. In the book, "American Creation" by Joseph Ellis, chapter 3 addresses Washington and Madison's struggle to welcome a new government style, one that would bring a compromise amongst all states in one central way. Argument filled the scene but essentially developed the American answer. A healthy democracy or tension among the people brought out the ideas and philosophies of which our country is built upon. 

   The Articles of Confederation was the "first constitution" between our 13 original states but being frank, a constitution that was not effective. A weak sense of government with no one to officially enforce it and having no authority to collect taxes and no given word for the people. "The people" being the main concern of the nation.

   The first issue needing to be addressed was the Articles of Confederation, a new government style was a necessity, so Madison went to work. He constructed a general constitution in hopes it would have all the states on board, the Virginia Convention was to enclose this argument with some seriously vicious words.

  Madison was up against Patrick Henry, the most popular figure in America at the time and who opposed Madison's ideas almost absolutely. But as John Marshall said, "Mr. Henry had, without doubt, the greatest power to persuade, Mr. Madison had the great power to convince", this is relieving because in physical attributes Madison did not have much to offer.

  The new constitution exposed true citizenry, giving the phrase, "We, the people" meaning we would operate directly on the people's thoughts as a whole. 

   The point of Madisons argument was thus: "The genius of Madisons argument for a version of sovereignty that was at once shared and divides raised the wholly pragmatic and politically painful compromises reached at the constitutional convention to the level of a novel political discovery: to wit, the notion that government was not about providing a framework in which the salient questions could continue to be debated".

  Madison's goal was to create a republic among all interest groups to compromise needs. A republic that could effectively communicate and come up with solutions that would work in future situations. Madison set up a democracy and an effective constitution that helped unify all needs and a way to discuss issues in a manner of debate. A healthy debate that gave way to the nation we have today. 

   It seems today's society spends more time on social media than embracing themselves in the world around them. In the article, “We are increasingly thinking mobile first” it explains that so many people have resorted to life in the online world using snap chat as their new “photography” career, which brings a challenge to those who work in the profession. Photography dates back to 1826 when the first photograph was taken by Joseph Nicephore but smartphones with cameras did not come out until 2002, a great span between having the little history on the camera phone. I am not discouraging the use of phones (Snapchat) to take pictures but I believe it takes the sanctity of capturing a moment away. 

“Vertical is a symbol, whereas horizontal is a story”, said by Natalie Keyssar.

 Vertical being how pictures are taken and viewed via snap chat, horizontal being the way most photos are viewed via camera. This is important to understand because where a phone can simply be turned on and snap a picture, professional photographers take time and effort to make sure that artistically, the picture or moment is captured fantastically. Photographers put time and effort into their pictures; adjusting the lens, adapting the ISO to the lighting, fixing the focus, and setting up a scene or watching and waiting for one to present itself.
Smartphones also force us to be constricted to few filters that take away our artistic vision, which is discouraged in the photography world.

Tomas Van Houtryve explains, “ In the age of smartphones, I’m hesitant to encourage photographers to bend to the constraints of app engineers at the cost of their own artistic vision”.

As a human being and photographer, I believe that art is how we express ourselves and yes, much of art is influenced by others but, it is distracting I find that apps have a hold on our thought process. I encourage others to use whatever means of a camera they have but to not be confined by society's set imagination and grow as an artistic individual. 

What kids wish their teachers knew?

Many children go from home to school and seek to find a safe place but if the home is not that to them they look for it in school.  A School is mainly built upon the principles of learning but does not realize that for some, emotion can hold a restraint on the learning process. Thoughts impose the child's mind and distract them from the purpose of school and at times cannot think past it, in this case, the child needs you, the teacher to take an interest. In the article, “What kids wish their teachers knew?” the pictures of notes kids are sharing are heartbreaking.

It most likely took the author of this note many minutes to compose do to hushed emotions. I admire the teachers that start the day with a gentle greeting and a “how are you” or who have an open door policy for their students to feel welcome, I believe we should all be exposed to this kind treatment in primary school. I saw primary school because it's when we grow the most and need that affection not always given at home. Secondary school is different I believe, students should be given this greeting but not to the extent of those in primary because here we learn to be self-sufficient and how to deal with our emotions which would have been taught in primary school. The exercise of expression is a healthy one in which I believe should be practiced in all schools not just those of religious origin.

When I attended public school in both 3rd-6th and 9th-11th, teachers rarely took notice of the mental state of the students, other than some of the caring individuals I have encountered. This is sad because it's easy to read the students faces and see that they are not okay and just a simple act of kindness could have changed this. I cannot find much on the suicide that took place with the girl from Sutter but I am certain that if the love and support needed to get through whatever it was she was going through were given, this tragic event would have never happened. So I encourage those who have seen and thought about these events to look at your students and take an interest because sometimes you are their last hope.