I’ve decided to continue my research with immigration because this topic is very important to me. Especially with the current political climate I want to be able to research a topic that affects many people. I’m having trouble choosing one research question so I have three in my mind right now.

Why is it easier to shame immigrants than to help them live a better life?

How can an immigrants life be controlled by others?

What is the cause of prejudice towards minorities in their home countries?

I’m not sure if these questions are good, but I do feel that these topics are important because the current government shows how they don’t have the time to help those who need it the most. I thought of these questions by trying to think of the struggles that some immigrants face in America but its hard for me to think about it in a specific and concise way. Once I get one question ready I will explore the problem that i’m trying to solve and find the research that others have put together to analyze why this topic is talked about all the time. This topic is difficult to write on but I’m sure that I will find the answers that I need.

The topic of my research is “How is school bullying treated legally, and what are the social impacts of school bullying? “I was asked to choose this question on campus bullying because I am in my student years. There are many real cases of campus bullying around me and I have witnessed the horrors of it first hand. Through this research question, I want to learn more about the laws that exist regarding campus bullying. Therefore, more students will learn about the laws regarding school violence so that they can accurately use the legal tools to protect themselves. In the case of school bullying, it is divided into several situations. The first is when the bully has developed a habit of bullying the weaker students. The second scenario is the bullied has done or said something bad to the bully. The other type of school bullying is when the bully has bullied someone else without their awareness. But no matter what the situation is the bully needs to pay the appropriate punishment. So the question I ask is to point out what legal responsibility the bully should have in terms of the law. Just because they are minors, they should not get away with the punishment they deserve. Also as the bully and the bullied get out of school and into society, what kind of impact their school bullying has on their future development and growth. This will warn the bully that fists won’t solve any problems and calm down to think about the negative impact school violence will have on their future life.

My research questions takes into concern on “Why are immigrants in detention centers treated with inhuman conditions?” I would like to further my writing with the same social issue pertaining to the injustices of immigrant detention centers. Another question I have is “Why does the U.S Government feel ok to treat innocent people like criminals?”. I feel that this social issue needs to be projected more as it is not. We are currently living in a broken system with no way of getting out. I decided to further my writing on this topic because coming from a family full of immigrants I don’t know what I’d do if my family were to be stripped away from me, especially when most are trying to better their lives as well as their children’s future. I feel for families who want to seek asylum where they don’t feel safe at home, I have had family tell personal stories where they thought they were going to die if they stood in Ecuador. This social issue is definitely an issue where it feels personal.  I plan to explore my topic with research based articles that can guide me with finding a close result for this social issue. After doing my research on relating articles I plan to come to my own conclusion to my based questions. I hope to learn if the government is doing anything pertaining to the lives lost and lives that continue to suffer who are experiencing abuse in immigrant detention facilities.

With the medical community beginning to validate psilocybin and mdma for therapeutic treatment and their legalization in certain states on the frontier, have these substances been an effective treatment and to what extent will our society begin to see them? Psychedelics have been a large part of American history and have left a large imprint on the American people both positive and negative. With the changing times and perhaps the changing outlook, I think it is imperative to take a good look at the science behind the use to better understand these substances and possibly even chip away at hidden biases and preconceived notions. Another aspect worth looking at would also be the legislative support these substances are beginning to have in certain states and other countries that we may not have expected. I think this is a very important topic because whether we like it or not it looks fairly likely that these substances will  no longer be restricted by our government and the more scientific information we can have about them, the more we can make educated decisions in our own lives. I came up with this topic because I have had a long interest to understand the philosophy of the mind with the use of physics and I think psychedelics may provide a great aid in that quest. I think the best way to approach a topic like this is to stay adamantly to the science and to be wary of implanting my own opinions into the subject. Another interesting thing is to choose wisely the opinions of others that I will allow for opinions in itself, though useful if used correctly, can give the wrong impressions to the readers.

My research question is how can we improve the American education system? I came up with this question because this was a similar topic for my last essay and I wanted to research more about it. This is important because there are many flaws within the American education system and I want to understand ways in how to improve this system. There are many issues such as teaching students that grades are the most important thing in life which creates pressure within students to perform within certain expectations. Furthermore, I feel that the system relies more on the memorization aspect of the subjects rather than teaching students how to understand it. Are politicians aware of how bad our education system is? I feel like people need to be aware of this situation since it is the cornerstone of nurturing children and for them to become successful. A broken system would not be ideal for the growth and development of our youth because it would greatly affect them in the future. Students tend to not learn properly in the classroom as well and having a lot of homework can affect them negatively since it can create stress on them. This can potentially result in depression and hopelessness because of how flawed our education system is. I believe it needs to be more lenient on the students and implement better teaching methods. The education system needs its attention on its students rather than trying to teach every student the same method because every student learns and adapts to material differently. I want to know about more solutions on how to improve the current American education system. I plan to explore this question in my research by looking at various articles that address this issue and highlighting key ideas that resonate in how to improve the American education system.

What are the primary contributing factors to rising U.S. crime rates during the Covid-19 Pandemic? After reading an article a few months ago in the NY Times that violent crime in New York City was up by 50 percent and continuing to see an increase in reports of criminal activity each morning on the news, I decided to use this as my initial question for the research essay. I would like to align my paper with that of an informative/explanatory genre as I am truly inquisitive as to what factors may be of significance in this surge of delinquency. When reflecting on the weight of my initial inquiry I found myself with a long list of follow up questions: Is the rise due to a general unrest and agitation due to stay-at-home orders and wide sweeping loss of financial security? Are de-fund the police protests and riots subsequently contributing to a decrease in law enforcement? Are higher numbers of homeless and displaced individuals a factor in this recent increase of misconduct? What about the early release of violent criminals due to Covid-19 concerns within penitentiaries? Are regional discrepancies suggestive and do greater crime statistics correlate with highest infection rates? Or does it ultimately come down to political polarization and a country divided during an unprecedented and life altering global outbreak? From the reading I gather that the development and refinement of the actual research question is largely what this assignment centers around. I hope throughout this process  I am able to accomplish focusing my subject and investigation in a clear and structured essay that may offer clarity and enlightenment regarding this recent unsettling increase in crime.

My research question as of right now is “What causes school shootings, and how is this linked to the education system and social media?”. The reason I decided to choose this research question is because for a while now when me and my fellow classmates were having debates regarding topics such as school shootings we often only focused on the guns. Gun laws are important however I believe the issue is more geared towards the students themselves. People used to say that committing a murder splits your soul and takes part of it. To go from that to annual school shootings in America where hundreds die is a big leap. To have the mentality to commit such an act one would almost have to go through hell. However, we have kids going into schools and killing each other. Guns should be limited yes; however, I don’t think that will solve the problem. If someone decides “I will go kill people in my school and then kill myself” they will end up finding another way to do it. So, an approach from the psychological perspective might be the way to go, to avoid kids from even having a thought such as that. So, therefore I chose this research question, to see what causes these crazy acts and how we can help people calm down to avoid it.

My initial research question would be “What are some causes of depression and how it affects students in their daily lives in the United States?” I initially came up with this question by thinking about some of the common issues the students have in their daily lives, but I also wanted it to be related to schools and other outside causes. I think this issue is important because nowadays many teenagers and students are having different difficulties and matters that influence their mood and behavior toward certain things, and might even drive to their misconduct actions due to their lack of calm and thinking of clarity in its consequences. After that, I also want to know how this issue drove them to this cause and what some of the common effects are to the students, and how most of the people manage it. In other words, I would like to know how we as students can do to manage these feelings of depression and what are some of the strategies to calm ourselves down and get some of the comforts after all this. With all of these in mind, I plan to explore my research question through some of the open webs at first and then move on to reading relevant articles and to look for some scholarly sources to give some of the basic ideas of this issue, and also to look for the answer later on. This research focuses on how some people hold different ideas and views toward this question on depression in teenage ages.

The question that my research paper will be based on is “How does racial inequality and poverty correlate with one another?” I started off wanting to analyze the topic of poverty, especially because many people were losing their jobs and the poor are struggling even more than they already are when the pandemic impacted the US economy. But I was also interested in exploring the topic of racism, therefore, I decided to combine both topics by analyzing how racial inequality would be related to poverty. I would also consider this a learning experience because I don’t really know much about poverty in America and how race could be connected to it, therefore, I created this question. I hope to learn why most lower socio-economic people are made up of Hispanics and black people and what factors make up these statistics. Also, I want to know if there are any solutions to this social issue and how these racial and ethnic groups could rise in their socio-economic status. This is an important topic to dive into because racial inequality and poverty—especially racial inequality—is already a problem in America. If racial inequality was a factor in those who are in poverty, it would mean that their opportunities in education, career, food, and access to medicine are hindered because of their ethnic and racial background, and that’s not right. I plan to explore the question by reading research articles, historical articles, and statistics that analyze the correlation between race and poverty and to give me a historical and/or present background that explains why it is the way it is.

I believe that writing is an important form of expression. It is almost everlasting, as we are able to read people’s writings from the beginning of time and apply it to whatever we want in our time. I believe that writing is a necessary tool and can help one manage emotions. When writing in my journal, I use my pen to place any inner turmoil onto the paper, it heals me. Writing can communicate thoughts, feelings, ideas, etc. in a specific way, unlike any other form of communication. This class is further teaching me how to use writing to communicate ideas and thoughts with others. This class is also teaching me how to analyze what I am reading and apply it to other texts as well as in real life. What I am learning in this class does not necessarily aid me in using writing as a way to deal with my emotions. However, I am able to write about what I feel passionate about, as I am allowed to choose my topics. 

I tried to make a timed plan for this essay, finishing one source a day from the time of 7:30 to 9:30. I used to do this in my freshman and sophomore year of high school when I went to a community school. This approach failed, I ended up submitting my final essay days after the extended due date. One reason why this approach failed is because I allotted time during the night to work on this assignment, rather than during the day. My anxiety increases during the nighttime, making it hard to do stressful things. Sometimes I would end up falling asleep while trying to do it. Another reason this strategy failed is because I prioritized work from my other classes as well as responsibilities I have throughout the week. Only giving myself 2 hours a day to work on this essay was not realistic, and I was in a bad space mentally. To cope with my anxiety, I avoid the very thing that is contributing to my anxiety. For our next essay, I will make more time during the day to work on the assignment. I want to schedule time each day so I am not struggling to finish the entire thing within one day. I also will do breathing exercises to cope with my anxiety, continue going to therapy, and I plan on doing yoga again in the mornings and at night.