If you are reading this, then you are probably planning to respond to my post. This is either because (a.) You forgot about Tuesday's post or were just too lazy, or (b.) You just really like me. Both is fine, but if it is because of the latter, I really appreciate it. No but really, I hope it is because of the second reason.
My article was about violence against women and how people don't give enough attention to it. It was more focused on the victims of college and professional athletes. I guess you could consider some college athletes as professionals because they get paid under the table, but that's besides the point. What I'm really trying to get at is that when the athletes are charged, they usually get away with minimal punishment. And the media sometimes doesn't even focus on the violence. Take Ben Roethlisberger for example. He was accused of rape in '09 and sexual assault in '10. The league did suspend him for six games, but it was later reduced to four games. The media didn't even pay much attention to the violence towards the women, but his "immature and frat-boy-like behavior."
The article did mention too that sports seem to be a "powerful way to expose the the general public to problems rarely discussed openly in our society." Len Bias, a star college basketball player, died from an overdose of cocaine in 1986 just two days after being drafted as the second overall pick by the Boston Celtics. His death rallied the country to the war on drugs. Also, Michael Vick's crimes a few years back raised awareness on animal abuse. And most recently, Jerry Sandusky of Penn State and Bernie Fine of Syracuse's horrendous actions brought child abuse into the public eye. O.J. Simpson's trial did raise awareness of domestic violence, but some say that that case was more focused on race.
So do you think less, equal, or more attention should be given to violence against women as compared to child and animal abuse? And why do you think athletes are not punished enough for their crimes?
http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/lapchick-111130/the-public-underwhelming-reaction-athletes-assault-women
I think that equal attention should be given to violence against women and violence against children because everyone is equal so equal attention should be given to everyone. If we spend all of our time focusing on just violence against children or just violence against animals, the issue of violence against women will never get solved. I believe that more attention should be given to the violence crimes committed against women because without the public’s awareness and attention, no one will ever know the extent of the violence problems that our country faces. Also I think that athletes do not get punished enough for their crimes because people idolize professional athletes and they don’t want to see their idol charged with a violence crime. Also professional sports bring in multibillion dollar revenue each year, but they wouldn’t be able to have as many fans and supporters and bring in as much of a profit if the professional sporting world was tainted by violence crimes. If all of the violence crimes that have been committed by professional athletes but have been hidden from the public’s attention were brought into the open, people would not spend as much money on sports.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren, that equal amount of attention should be payed towards woman and child abuse. It doesn't matter who is being hurt, women animals, or children, nobody deserves to be hurt like that for things they can't control. I know this sounds bad, but I think that in a way it is good media attention is brought to sports figures when they commit violence crimes. It makes the public more aware about issues that go on in our everyday life. For example, when Michael Vick was arrested for dog fighting, it attracted a lot of attention. Before him being arrested, I didn't even know that things like that were going on. I don't think that athletes, or any celebrities are punished enough for their crimes. They should receive no special treatment. It doesn't matter if they will miss their sports season, when 'normal' people are abusive they also have to leave their jobs.
ReplyDeleteI with Lauren and Kayla that equal attention and penalty should apply to everyone who has committed the crime wether they are an average person or a professional athlete. Violence against women, children and animals are all equally important in our society. Any violence or crime committed against the groups of peope and animals is just as equal as a threat as the other to the victim's well being and health.Popular celeberties and atheletes who commit violence against any other person should be made an example of that their organization or team will not tolerate violence against women, children and animals. Many people look up and are inspired by professionals, therefore by making an example of someone who has committed a crime, awareness of the issue of abuse will become more important to the public. For professionals well known by the public and media to be charged with a less penalty as an average person is unfair. Sports teams today have the ability to be able to decrease an athletes sentence because the team needs them to play as Matt mentioned in his post. Equal awareness, and punishment should be charged to anyone set apart their profession, importance as an average person committing the same crime.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates above. I agree equal attention should be given to women and children, but because children are already being focused on I think it is necessary to spend a little time on violence against women. Compared to child abuse, women don’t get as much time or attention. I believe if we spent a little extra time talking about violence against women a chain reaction would start. Just like we talked about in class, if one person speaks up, it is easier for other to speak up as well. I think giving violence against women a little more attention for a short amount of time would make a huge impact. I also believe that giving athletes harsher punishment would do the world some good. It is not fair that they receive easier punishments and it gives off a bad impression on how serious violence against women is. If they were given harsher punishments I believe that people would start to understand the severity of the issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above. Although violence against women is a very important issue that needs attention, violence against children and animals is just as important. I do not think it is fair that athletes can get off easy when they commit a crime; they are as guilty as anyone. I agree with Michaela that athletes should be given a harder time because they are role models for so many people; if some people see that an athlete can get away with something, they will most likely believe they could get away with the same crime as well. This issue should be put into focus in the United States, but we should not let it overpower the other issues.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of my classmates above. Equal attention should be given to animals, children, and women. There is no such thing as “better violence” so all of them should be given equal attention and all should try to be stopped. Like Michaela said, there is already a lot of attention on violence against children so we should start spending more time on women, but never more than another group of individuals. People who commit these crimes also should get equal penalty for their crimes. No one should get more time for hurting an animal than someone else who hurt a woman. Violence is violence, and it should all be treated equally. I don’t think that athletes are punished enough for their crimes because, like Lauren said, people don’t want to see their idol being thrown in jail for domestically abusing a woman, child, or animal. They are let off the hook easily just because some people are star struck and may make excuses for the athlete. Things like missing their sports season, violating their contract, and getting out of shape for the upcoming season may be excuses that they use to try and get themselves out of jail. They need to have the same punishments as people who don’t live in the spotlight, because they are suffering just as much as the athlete, just in different ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the people above in the aspect that there should be more attention given to violence against women. I think that athletes in sports do not get enough punishment. I think that they should get the same amount of punishment as anyone else even if they are famous. There are so many celebrities today that get away with things that the general public would not and this is unfair. I think that the athletes get away with these crimes because they are in the public eye and everyone wants them to keep doing what they are doing. The public would rather see people that play sports be on the field and not behind bars.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the people above. I think equal attention should be given to violence against women, children, and animals as well. I do believe that crimes involving animals are extremely sad and whoever contributes to those crimes should definitely be punished. I do, however, believe there already is more attention being given to violence against animals than women and children. There are several different foundations for violence and neglect involving animals. I feel like not as much is being done for women and children though. So, I think more needs to be done for women and children to help them cope with the violence they have endured and encountered, as well as a way to solve those problems. We are humans, and we need to take care of each other. Responding to the second part of the question, I think athletes aren't punished as much for the crimes they commit because of the fact that they are athletes. Athletes tend to have a lot of money which means they can get the right lawyers and attorneys to help them win their cases. Also, there could be bias involved with the jury as well as the judge, because the person who is in the trial is a famous athlete. Usually, the athletes have many supporters trying to get them freed if they are convicted and put in jail which tends to lead to an early release if the protestors are successful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above that violence against women should have an equal amount of attention as violence against children and animals. Everyone is equal, therefore, an equal attention should be given to each matter. The violence against women will never be fixed if all the attention is put on violence against children and animals. I think that athletes are not punished as severely for their crimes than the everyday person because, like Lauren said, they are idols. If people see their idol doing something bad, they might think what they are doing is okay. Then more and more people will follow in the chain reaction and the problems will get worse. Therefore, I definately think that athletes should be given the same punishment as the everyday person; just because they are an athlete, it doesn't mean they are better than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else above that violence against women should be given attention equal to the attention given to child or animal abuse. I think that often child abuse and animal abuse are more prominent because people think that those victims are helpless and did nothing to deserve the abuse that they receive. However, women in this sense are helpless too; if they could do something to get away from abuse or defend themselves I'm sure they would do it, but often times they are scared and/or don't know where to go. So for this reason, abuse of women should have equal attention. I also agree with some of my above classmates that athletes get it easy because they are "idols". All celebrities get off easy because they are in the public's eye and no one wants to see them in jail. As far as athletes specifically, if they are in jail, they aren't making money - for themselves or the team. If a team's star player is in jail the team could lose a lot of fans watching games on TV or in the stadium and obviously when a player is in jail he can't play in games so he can't make that money. Teams and players will do anything to get off easy but that's not right. Athletes should be given the same punishment as normal people because like Laura said, people will think its okay then everyone would do it and the problem will get worse. Athletes should be treated equally because they are equal to everyone else in this country; no better, no worse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of my classmates above that say that violence against women should be treated just as equally as violence against children and animals. I think that we often see the cases when children and animals are abused because they are viewed as defenseless. On top of that, often children and animals are seen by other people besides their abusers, which make their cases more susceptible to be seen. Women should be given the exact same attention as children and animals because often they too can be defenseless and be overpowered by their abusers. On a separate topic, I believe that athletes are often treated differently in terms of crime because they are looked up to by so many people. It would be hard for children to grasp the fact that their favorite athlete is no longer able to play sports. On a separate note, many athletes that play in professional sports are needed by their teams. In that case, I believe that the need for the player outweighs the fact that they had committed a crime.
ReplyDeleteAlong with the rest of the class I agree that violence against women should be just as publicized and important to be aware about as animal or child abuse. Like Lauren said, the problem will never get solved if it isn't exposed. Every problem should equally be publicized. Like Sydney said, violence is violence; no violence is more important than another. As of now I think that violence against women is in the shadow of animal or child abuse. I do not recall ever seeing a violence against women's awareness commercial but I have seen an animals' one before. As for athletes getting away with these charges, I think that since they are idols, Like Lauren said, they want to be seen as respectable idols. These athletes could be seen as role models to younger people and it would do no good if a young persons idol is being exposed of abuse charges. Those charges could potentially influence those who look up to them. I agree with Greg, that the team needs the players. The player may be so vital to the team that some how their lawyers get that player out of trouble to be able to support the team. In reality, no one should be above the law and be treated as if they are better than anyone else. If an athlete were to commit a charge of a abuse, they should be treated and charged fairly, as if the average Joe were to be charged.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates that have posted above. I think that violence against women, children, and animals should all be treated equally, and their should be more publicity on the effects and consequences of the violence. I agree with Kayla when she said that she didn't know that dog fighting was going on until Michael Vick was arrested because it wasn't a major issue until a celebrity was responsible with the charge of the offense. Although I think that women, children, and animal violence should all be treated equally, I think that Alex was right when she said that animal violence does have more publicity now. I think this is due to animals being helpless. They have absolutely no way of telling anyone that they are being harmed, unlike women and children who can speak to police or friends about the men committing the violence on them. Women and children violence needs to be more addressed in the public. I think it is absolutely horrible that celebrities get less of a punishment for violence against women, children, and animals. I have mixed feelings on why the celebrities and professional sports players commit these crimes. What I mean, is that I'm not sure if these celebrities do the crimes purposely and get less of a charge than a regular middle-class person committing the crime, or know that because they are a celebrity, they will not get charged as severely for their actions so they are more willing to commit the violence.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone else has stated violence is violence whether the act is against women, children, or animals. I think Jurnee's observation about seeing violence against animal commercials yet no women or children commercials is interesting because it is true. Maybe it is because of the fact that animals are helpless, as Crystal said, and obviously cannot physically speak up for themselves as a human being would be able to. As for athletes being excused from crimes Lauren had a great point that professional athletes do not get charged as they should with crimes because they are many people's idols and I completely agree. Professional athletes are rich and can afford to do almost anything including paying for a high attorney to get them out easy of the crime they have committed which is so wrong and unfair. Any act of violence will only be stopped when enough awareness is raised and when people are being fairly punished for the act they have committed. Until then, I do not see a change in the violence patterns which is a complete shame.
ReplyDeleteIts not that I disagree with everyone before me, but I don't completely agree. I believe more attention should be given to abuse against women than animals because women are humans, and animals are, well, just that. But I believe that a large emphasis should be put on animal abuse, because I don't believe that abuse towards women could ever really be eradicated or significantly minimized, whereas the opposite is true for animals. Abuse towards animals occurs mainly in the gambling environment, such as Michael Vick's dogfighting thing, and that could be better controlled by stricter laws and punishments over such things. Violence against women occurs in houses, jobs, and mainly out of the public eye. To completely stop the abuse of anything, the support of the entire population is necessary, and, especially these days, it seems that nobody can agree on anything (example: POLITICAL PARTIES).
ReplyDeleteTo answer the first question I think more attention must be about violence towards women than to animals or other issues. Women are humans and people must protect women over any animal. Crimes towards humans especially women should be extremely more punished crime than anything done to animals such as the case for Mike Vick. I also do agree that athletes are almost above the law, for example a crime committed by any average citizen will get harsher punishment than a crime committed by an athlete. People care more about sports and their favorite teams player than the victim. They would rather see their star player helping the team win then behind bars paying for his punishment. This starts even in college where players receive better grades and chances just because they are more athletic and seen as more important to the school than any other average kid who must pay full price and doesn't receive any special treatment. I believe that professional athletes know that they can get away with things so they test their limits thinking that they are invincible to the law because people want to see them play so bad. The law wants to prove this is not true and that's why Mike Vick was punished and sent to jail to prove an example that just because you are a professional your not better than the other citizens when it comes to the law.
ReplyDeleteI think that violence against woman should receive equal, if not more, attention then animal abuse and the same for child abuse. I believe that domestic violence as a whole should have more attention than animal abuse because it is a more serious topic; however animal abuse is still very important. Violence against woman is very important at and should be stopped. Demotic violence is not always men against woman where I feel most people believe it is: it could be men v. men, woman v. men, or woman v. woman, these all fall under the same category. I believe that domestic violence needs to be stopped and people shouldn’t just focus on one sex. I believe that athletes are not punished enough for their crimes simply because that they are famous. No one wants to see an icon or role model being put in jail, because it would hurt everyone that looks up to them especially the youth.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evan and think that women should receive about an equal amount of attention as children and animal abuse. They should receive more attention than animal abuse but i think they should get less attention than children. The women can at least fight back and try to stop it, and they can also report it and do something about it afterward. The children cannot fight back or do anything about it. For athletes, I'm not sure why they have more leeway than the average person. They are role models for a lot of America so they could encourage people to commit more crimes. If this professional athlete commits a crime and gets off easily, it could convince a person that they could get away with the same crime. I think the United States should be more aware of this and try to change it.
ReplyDeleteI believe equal amount of attention should be given. Because if there was more attention given it would not be fair, or equal just like everyone wants. And with the athletes they should get the same punishment as everyone else. just because their good at a sport and the team needs them it shouldn't mean that their punishments are different as a normal person to make it fair.
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