The Culture Of Fear Chunk #2

Barry Glassner's "The Culture Of Fear", talks about the youth and the types of risks they face. Suicide was one of the major problems in the youth. "The incedence of teen and young adults suicides nearly tripled between 1952 and 1992, to 1,847 in 1992." He started to talk about why these types of things happen. It's mostly because of drug abuse, gambling, or bad parenting. He then talks about a high school student named Scott Croteau. He was a straight A student and co-captain of the football team. He had scholarships to Harvard and Princeton, but then he decided to hang himself from a tree and shoot himself with his father's revolver. The youth are confronted with so many problems that it can lead to these kind of incidents. He then goes on about child and teen pregnancy. He referred to it as ''Babies Making Babies." ''The most talked about pregnant person in the world in early 1996 was a ten year old runaway." This childs name was Adella Quintana. The youth often get pregnant because of rape or doing thing without the protection needed. There are many problems in society like drugs, gambling, etc. It is up to the parents to steer them on the right path. (pages 50 to 109)
Tone: Serious
Discussion Questions:Why do the youth do these types of things? Who's responsible? If this happened to someone close to you, how would you deal with it? What would you say to this person?

Culture Of Fear Chunk #1

"The Culture Of Fear," by Barry Glassner, tells you why Americans fear the wrong things. In the introduction the author asks rhetorical questions such as "Why are there so many fears in the air, and so many of them unfounded?" Many people fear many different things like drugs murderers, thieves, etc. These people are not worried aboout deadly diseases, They're worried about suspicious strangers.(Intro) The author then tells us how fears are sold which interests me a lot. Fears are sold through the media, radio, or newspaper. For example, road rage. These incidents may start with a simple blowing of the horn but can result in murder. They tell their veiwers about gang shootings, neighborhood robberies, child pornography, rape, and things that would make these people not want to come outdoors. Some things are meant to stay secret because people become afraid too easily and can result in riots and chaos among our city streets.(Chapter 1 and 2)
Vocabulary:None for this chunk
Tone:Sarcastic
Discussion Questions:How do people deal with their fear daily? What do you think is the cause for people to become afraid? Explain.