Spring Break Reflections

Recently for spring break my friends and I travelled to Miami, Florida. In miami, I got the experience to discover alot of hispanics and the enviroment they live in. We travelled through the pooere neighborhoods of miami which consisited of mostly hispanic and african americans. It made me wonder how do these minority people often are the ones living in such poverty or low income areas. There were only a few white families living in these below standard living neighborhoods. As a social worker, I realize that I will be experiencing alot of contact with people who have low income and live in areas such as blackmond road and what I saw in downtown Miami. I realize how unsafe most of these places are because people do what they have to survive. What it takes to survive usually consists of prositituion, drug deals, and stealing because most of these people do not have jobs are can not get a good one due to lack of education. I hope that I an empower these people to change for the better given the opportunity to work with a family or individual living in these conditions. When I think I have it bad in as a college kid because I feel that I am broke and livnig on a budget, all I have do is think about the great opportunities I have in life and I no longer feel upset. I become much more gracious and appreciate what I have more. I feel that a greater appreciataion of life is one of the great aspects of being a social worker. As a social worker you will experience alot of things that will make you appreciate and realize that truly your life is not as bad as you think.

Alcohol Abuse

Recently in social work 20o we discussed Alcohol and drug abuse. Its hard to belive how common this is among individuals. I know about 3 people that have been in keystones due to an alcohol problem. Alchohol is a problem that runs in my family. My grandpa was an alcohol and luckily he recovered and stopped for a few years. It also make me wonder why do people get started? I believe it starts in college. college is a time where most people drink and partyall the time. They stay drunk alot and forget who their selves are. I know alot of people like this. Its like they feel incomplete with out drinking and they do not know what to do with out getting drunk. This topic hits home for me because i am familiar with this topic. Luckily I do not have any close experiences with drugs. I have lost a boyfriend due to alcohol. He was killed in a drunk driving accident. I wonder what the world we be like with out alcohol? I wonder how many lives would still be here?

Podcasts

Just recently I had to do a podcast for social work 201. I found it to be very intresting. They can be very useful to record positive messsages for an individual who may need help. They can simply load the podcast and hear positive words when a social worker/counselor is not there with them. They are also good to record notes as well. I had fun doing my podcast; however, was very embarrased because I was in a lab with people and it seemed as if I was talking to myself. I thought the assignment was really good and feel that everyone should have some experiene with podcasts. I had a teacher who would often give his lectures on podcasts and require us to listne to them outside of class on days he was not able to attend. Podcasts can have various uses. I feel that eventually, podcasts will be more popular and in use by more and more individuals.

Poverty and My thoughts on Blackmond Road

Poverty is an ongoing issue that is most likely to progress due to the current economic state of the United States. Blackmond road which is not far from Winthrop University is one area in society that suffers from extreme poverty. The road is jsut outside city limits of Rock Hill but is considered a part of York County. However neither of the two will do anything to help this area because they claim that is is the others responsibility. I feel that York County s hould help this area. It is technically a part of york county despite that it is just outside city limits of Rock Hill. But I also feel that Rock Hill should help some what by offerign more donations. It is a shame to see this are in our society be finanically oppresed but unfortunately they are. I hope that one of the two either York County or Rock Hill will stop being cheap and eventually step up to shape Black Road Community.

recent plans for this community: it is a step up
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/heraldonline/access/68063483.html?dids=68063483:68063483&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+6%2C+2001&author=&pub=Herald&desc=A+plan+for+Blackmon+Road

My thoughts about Sexual Abuse

Recently in Social Work 200, we have been watching videos of a young girl who was sexually abused as a child. I listened to her story and feel that this kind of stuff is happening to frequently today. Most sexual abuse goes unoticed due to the amount of fear children have of telling an adult what is going on. I feel there should be more advocates to stand up against sexual abuse among children so that they will become more empowered to stand up against sexual predators. Schools influence children second to their families and should do more to help children confess to whats going on. I think its a good idea for schools to spend a little bit more time talking to children emphasizing what is good touch and what is bad touch, so that they can become more familiar and aware of their situations. I strongly admire young lady who has the courage to speak up about what has happened to her. As a Social Worker in the future, I realize that I will unfortunately come across many kids who have been sexually abused. My goal is too help free these kids of their pain and help recreate their life so that they can experience a loving childhood they deserve. I feel like my future profession will be rewarding and excited at the opportunity to make a difference in society.

So far in Social Work 200/201

I am learning alot about what social work is and how much different profession all work together. Social work is part of social welfare. There are many other professions such as psychiatry, psychology and political science that addressed social welfare. All these different forces combien to help solve a specific issue in society. Im also learning more about the past such as the Elizabethan Poor Law that said that only children or people who are disabled or bling are eligable for government assistance. Most of these factors still apply today such as applying for medicare and medicaid. Im learning more about what the government does to help those in need and the values of liberals and conservatives. I never really understood the difference betweeen the two and how the government dispences is money to help until I learned in class. I learned that conservatives would rather give money to business's to help boost economy where as liberals feel its best to give money to the people itself to be able to buy goods from business's. There are downsides to both liberals and conservatives views on the economy. If you give money to the people they may not spend the money to boost economy and if conservatives give money to the business's they may not make do as promised and use their money in other ways that will not be benefical to society. There needs to be some type of middle person to help ensure that whoever gets money or asssistance from the governemnt is spending the money in the correct way. I never realy thought about issues like this until I learned this information in class. :)

What exactly do I want to do with Social Work?

After switching my major many times from Biology, Pyschology, and now finally Social Work. There are many things to do with a BSW in Social Work. I am unsure which track I am really intrested in pursuing. I really like the Mental Health track but also the family and children track. I really hope that by the end of SCWK 200, I will have come to a concensus on what I wish to study in graduate school. I think that I may lean towards the Mental Health track only because they make a little more money and I have an aunt who is a liscened medical social worker. I can relate to this a little more than the familes and children track. Who knows what I will choose, after all I've already changed majors three times already.