Feb 13

Femicides: Also an American Issue

How many people know what the word femicide or feminicide means? If you google the word, you won’t find a formal definition besides the ones that Wikipedia gives.  These range from the feminist perspective, which describes it as misogynist murders to broader terms such as “all killings of women, regardless of motive or perpetrator status”.  So we don’t really use this world because most of us don’t live in an environment where this world is use colloquially.  But what happens with people that are forced to live in an environment where femicides are not only common but has become part of their social environment?  Yes, no one really knows because of the low coverage these crimes receive; for some of us they’re as foreign as the communities they occur in.

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is one of the most dangerous cities in the Western Hemisphere and the city with the highest number of femicides.  Since the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into affect in 1994, Ciudad Juarez has experienced about 600 femicides with at least 3000 women missing.  Because women are seen as the weaker working force in their community, they have become a greater target for crimes such as harassment, rape and homicide.  And because of the increasing number of jobs that were created after the NAFTA, the number of women working in maquiladoras increased as well.  The concept of maquiladoras has a long history between the U.S. and Mexico, but the easiest way to think about them are as factories run abroad by U.S. companies in order to get cheap labor (and because Ciudad Juarez is right at the border in the Mexico side, it’s easy to see why it has become bombarded by these maquiladoras).  The connection between this free-trade agreement and increasing number of femicides in Mexico can seem far-fetched.  The connection with people that live in suburban America and these cases can seem even stranger.

 

Yet, I think that communities are not only intertwined within their country, but I also believe that communities in different countries affect one another.  Whether it’s directly or indirectly, we need to be more aware about how our behaviors affect those miles away from us, like the women in Ciudad Juarez.  Lately, people have become increasingly concerned about where they get their food and if it’s fair-trade in order to help ameliorate working conditions in developing countries.  But what about where everything else comes from and what effects the demand of these products have on other countries?

Ciudad Juarez is home to about 80 members of the Fortune 500, which indicates that these companies are not only growing but also are the largest among all companies.  These companies are relocating manufacturing plants to places like Ciudad Juarez for cheap labor, but forgetting about other effects this has besides the cheap Continue reading

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Feb 13

Achieving Global Sustainability: Women’s Rights

The UN Secretary General chose a 22 member panel in 2010 to create a new blueprint for global sustainable development. At the end of last month the report, “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing,” was released to the public. Focus areas of the panel include the conservation of our planet, global equity, lessening poverty, and, not surprisingly, fighting gender inequality. The report states that “real choice is only possible once human rights, basic needs, human security, and human resilience are assured.” People cannot make sustainable choices without the power to direct their own actions.

I want to discuss the aspect of creating gender equality in order to progress global sustainability. While the fact is obvious, it is often overlooked and not even thought about: women make up about 50% of the world’s brainpower. That means that if all women were treated and respected on the same level as men, we would be reaping billions of more effective and innovative thoughts daily. Women in some countries are not allowed to leave their house without male company, much less speak their minds to the public. Who knows if it’s likely, but
what if one of those women had come up with a strategy to eradicate global poverty? What kinds of ideas and improvements are we missing out on by not pushing women’s equality more than we already are?

Women’s access to jobs, credit, markets, and property are unequal to men’s in an eye-opening number of countries. The UN’s report suggests that removing these barriers for women will finally let them contribute to sustainable development that includes social stability and economic growth. Currently, women hold less than 20% of all seats in national parliaments. You might find it amazing that women make up only 7% of environment, natural resources, and energy ministers; they account for only 3% of science and technology ministers.

What many fail to realize is that factual evidence has shown that when women hold a greater number of seats at any one table, collective needs are put at the top of the priority list. This means that if women were the majority of Continue reading

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Feb 13

The Education Changer

Education has been an issue that I have touched upon time and time again, and many times I have mentioned the ill reputed No Child Left Behind law.  The law, which was revamped under former President George W. Bush’s term, has left a bitter mark on teachers and schools across the nation.  Thousands of teachers, policy makers, and school districts have opposed No Child Left Behind because it places so much emphasis on educational success being measured by standardized tests.  However, it seems as though the Obama administration may be turning the tides on No Child Left Behind.  On February 9th, President Obama made some significant changes to the United States’ education policy by allowing ten states to escape a few of the requirements dictated by the NCLB act.

The states being exempt from No Child Left Behind are New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Colorado, Minnesota, and Oklahoma.  New Mexico is currently under consideration for a waiver because its application form was incomplete by the time the ten states were approved.  However, the states that have received a waiver will no longer have to worry about losing federal money if students fail to meet progress quotas set by the act.  In exchange for the exemption, states have to set out a report on how they plan to prepare students for their future, including college and career planning.  Furthermore, states have to create realistic improvement targets for children, come up with a better evaluation system for teachers and principals, and reward schools that have performed best in the state while focusing on the ones that have performed poorly.

 

New Jersey, which is my home state, laid out a specific plan in its application on how it is going to improve the school system.  A few of the changes that have been laid out include more educational opportunities like charter schools and non-profit schools.  New Jersey also plans on paying close attention to schools that rank as the bottom five percent in the state.  In these schools, which include minority students as well as those who are economically disadvantaged, the state wants to focus on ways to close the major achievement gap between these schools and others.  The other nine states have also set out specific plans for their own school districts, and almost all of them have focused on their lowest performing schools.

President Obama has made a remarkable move by allowing ten states to be exempt from the No Child Left Behind act.  However, there are a few things to keep in mind when trying to assess how these changes will affect schools.  First and foremost, I think it is important to allow states to create their own assessments as to how they plan on fixing their school systems.  In this way, if states fail to keep up with the changes they outlined for themselves then they will have to answer for themselves, and cannot blame anyone else.  Furthermore, having different plans will allow states to learn from one another if they realize that particular changes are beneficial and helpful for students and teachers.  However, since the changes made by President Obama have just come into effect, it will take some time to see how schools will be affected by states taking over their own changes.  Nevertheless, it is great to see that the education system is undergoing a set of transformations towards bettering schools for millions of students in the United States.

 

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Feb 10

India Revisited

Most of you probably don’t know that back when I first started writing for the SISGI Group about 9 months ago one of my first blog posts was about an ecotourism initiative in India.  Now, I like to think that my writing has improved a bit since then, but it was still a fairly good post about a government initiative to cut down on harmful tourism and boost sustainable development and environmentally friendly practices.  Well, the other day when I was surfing the internet—procrastinating, of course—an article about a responsible tourism initiative in India caught my eye and made me think, “huh.  Didn’t I write about that a while ago?  Maybe I should see what’s happening now.”

As it turns out, it was not the same initiative, but was nonetheless quite interesting, if only because it shows that India’s interest in promoting responsible tourism has not waned in the intervening months. The initiative that I wrote about so long ago was launched by India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests and dealt mainly with diminishing the harmful effects tourism has on the environment.  The initiative I will be discussing today, however, is actually the second phase of a program launched by the Ministry of Tourism aimed at improving responsible, eco-friendly tourism in the Kerala region.  It was launched on February 7th by Minister of Tourism Anil Kumar.

Phase One of this program took place from 2008 to 2010 in Kovalam, Kumarakom, Thekkady, and Wayanad, and completed its pilot program last year.  The goal of the program is to incorporate effective sustainability planning into the tourism industry in order to maximize social and economic benefits for the local community, enhance cultural heritage, and reduce the negative impacts to the environment, as the founders of the initiative believe that the tourism industry has a major role in achieving the sustainability (or unsustainability) of a region.  The program is focused on providing a good experience for tourists while enabling local communities to enjoy a better quality of life and preserving the natural environment, thus ensuring economic stability and preventing environmental degradation.  To that end, the initiative embraces diverse strategies like planning, marketing, and a classification system for tourism businesses (though we know classification systems are often not beneficial, as there are many that simply allow businesses to purchase high-ranking classifications that therefore are meaningless)

So far they seem to have done a good job, though, at least in some of the pilot regions.  In Kumarakom, for example, 13 hotels participated in the pilot program as well as 25 Kudumbasree units and many local farmers.  They provided goods for the hotels, including things like coconuts, rice, and vegetables, and it is estimated that about 2,000 people benefitted from this arrangement.  Because of this success the program will now be introduced into several more regions and a classification system for hotels will be implemented.

What interests me, however, is not the relative success or failure of this program (though of course I am glad it has had success and hope it will continue to do so), but the fact that it exists at all and the rationale before it.  The program was developed to combat the negative effects of the 2008 financial crisis and of climate change, Continue reading

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Feb 10

The Need for Planned Parenthood’s Crucial Services

In wake of last week’s decision – and subsequent reversal of that decision – by Susan G. Komen For the Cure to end grant funding to Planned Parenthood Federation’s (PPFA) cancer screening initiatives, I thought it would be interesting to explain in detail the work that is carried out by Planned Parenthood Federation.  You may recall previous posts on this blog regarding Planned Parenthood and the services it provides.  These posts discuss, in varying amounts of detail, the political tension that the Planned Parenthood name carries with it.  In light of this and the recent news about Komen, I thought it was important to reiterate the services provided by Planned Parenthood, and to highlight who uses these services in the United States and worldwide.

Naturally, when Komen Foundation, an organization concerned with women and cancer, pulled their funding for the very cancer screenings that save lives or play a role in extending them, people were upset and confused.  Planned Parenthood offers a multitude of services, including cancer screenings – an effort that has been shared and supported by other women’s health groups, including Komen.  Komen’s decision to pull funding for cancer screenings came after Vice President for Public Policy, Karen Handel, took her position and instated a rule that funding would not be provided to any group which is under any sort of federal, state or local investigation.  As it happens, Planned Parenthood is under investigation for how it allocates funding towards abortion services and non-abortion services. Incidentally, Continue reading

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Feb 10

Stopping Prison Abuse In Libya

Recently all I have been hearing on the news about Libya is the issue of prisoner abuse.  It has been alleged that the prisons scattered throughout Libya are the sites of reprisals against the supporters of the ousted Gaddafi regime, as well as people the militias have grudges against due to tribal and regional differences.  One of the complicating issues with this is determining who is to blame for what.  There are a myriad of militias united along both regional and religious lines that answer to no one and many of the prisons are under the custodianship of these various militias.  This makes it hard to tell where the abuses are, who is responsible, and how it can be fixed.

The most talked about of these prisons is the one found in Misrata, Libya’s third largest city, where Medecins Sans Frontieres, the French Doctors Without Borders, has pulled out in protest of the abuse.  They claim that prisoners are being routinely tortured and that prison officials were asking them to treat prisoners only long enough to make them fit for further torture.  This highlights one of the greatest threats to the long term development of the new Libya; that of the unaccountability of the militias.

But who are these militias and why do they do this?  When most Americans hear the word militia in the context of the Middle East they automatically imagine groups like Hamas or Hezbollah, and rightly so. However, it is important to keep in mind that what we now call “militias” we called “freedom fighter brigades” not even a year ago.  Today there are loud calls for these groups to disarm, but so far they refuse to.  Some of these militias are Islamist in nature and fall into the same category of Hamas and Hezbollah, but most are regional in nature and lack a long term political agenda.  I admit that their claims of “safe guarding the revolution” sounds as fishy to me as I’m sure they do to you but Libya is undeniably in a period of change, to say the least.  The possibility of another Gaddafi-like ruler rising is a frighteningly real one.  Until the government can prove its good intentions these people are reasonable in their caution.  Now I do not mean to sound like I am trying to excuse what they are doing in the prisons, I am absolutely not, I am simply trying to make the point that these men who we praised as rebels a year ago are rightfully holding on to their distrust of government until they are sure that it has in fact been a successful revolution.

So that explains why they have not yet disarmed but what does this have to do with the abuse?  The answer is the regional nature of the militias.  As I said the worst of these allegations come from Misrata, the site one of the most prolonged and devastating battles of the revolution.  Misrata is only about 100 miles from the capitol, Tripoli, and was captured by the rebels early on.  As you can imagine this turned Misrata into a large scale engagement symbolic of revolution at large with the well-motivated rebels fighting the well-supplied government troops, which resulted in thousands of causalities on both sides.  The devastation in Misrata has caused much anger to be directed at suspected Gadaffi loyalists and is the direct cause of the abuse.  The fact that this anger is completely justifiable is extremely dangerous, as men who can justify their actions can ignore their conscious and project this sense of justification onto atrocities such as torture.

Is there a solution to this problem?  There is one, and only one, and that is the interim government.  Many have said that the first issue the government needs to resolve is disarming the militias but as we know this is not going to happen soon.  But would the militias be willing to give up the prisons?  In truth no one can know at this point but it is not inconceivable that they might be willing to handover the prisons before they disarm as this would not jeopardize their position as “guardians of the revolution”.  Now, the government has been accused of abuses itself but it has also shown a desire to remain in a favorable position in the international community.  To put it simply the militias have to worry about regional accountability but the government has to worry about international accountability.  And while it is hard to be forgiving of the men who destroyed your home its easier if it is not as personal, which can be accomplished by moving prisoners to jails away from the areas they terrorized.  If the government can negotiate for a hand over of the prisons it would give them a good chance to prove their worth to the Libyan people and their intentions to the international community.  Right now the ball is completely in Libya’s court but if the government and the militias are willing to negotiate a handover it would be the first step in bridging the distrust between them and the militias, and could be used as a litmus test as to their intentions for the nation at large.  This in turn could weaken the “guardians of the revolution” claim and possibly bring about a happy end to this sad chapter in Libyan history.

We, and by that I mean all people outside Libya, can help by supporting and donating to groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.  Pressure from these groups is already seeing results as Libyan officials have now started taking steps to address this issue.

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Feb 10

Heavy Marketing

I noticed an interesting phenomenon the other day. As I sat down to watch my favorite show on television, I started closely observing the commercials. A few car commercials passed and then a commercial for Pretzel M&M’s, a few more commercials were played and then a McDonald’s commercial. I also saw a commercial for Snickers and Pepsi. These were the only food commercials that came on during the entirety of the television show.

Have you ever seen an advertisement for fruits or vegetables? Probably not, and if you have I’m sure you haven’t seen many. Now try to think about the foods that you have seen advertised. Advertisements for sodas, chips, fast food, sports drinks, and candy bombard our television screens and invade our magazine pages. Children are influenced easily, and when all they see on television are advertisements for candy and soda, they are going to want to eat those products. This is a very simple concept, however little is being done to change this practice.

For youngsters, perception is everything. Companies can only dream for their advertisements to work as well on the general public as they do on children. A child’s thought process is simple. They see something that interests them, and then they exclaim, “I want it.” If healthy foods are not advertised, children will not want to eat them. However, when a child views an M&M’s commercial with walking, talking characters and bright colors, he/she is going to be immediately interested in the candy. In fact, most children are exposed to thousands of these types of advertisements each year.

Advertising affects our choices as consumers. That’s its purpose. That’s why companies spend billions of dollars each year on advertising. Children view advertisements for unhealthy foods and decide to purchase and consume those foods. This decision to eat the unhealthy foods advertised during their favorite television shows is a major factor in our nation’s childhood obesity rates.

Advertising unhealthy food is nothing new, and in 2007 numerous food and beverage companies banded together under the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative to voluntarily regulate the content advertised to children. Now you might be wondering the same thing that I was when I learned of this. Why do we still see so many advertisements for unhealthy foods? The ugly truth is that this initiative made only a small dent in the problem. Foods considered to be of the worst nutritional quality made up 84% of food advertising directed towards children in 2005. In 2009, this number dropped to 72.5%. This is simply not enough. Another shocking statistic is that only 1% of food advertisements directed towards children are for truly healthy foods.

What’s more is that the Institute of Medicine issued a report concluding that, as suspected, food marketing influences the diets of children. These influenced diets help contribute to higher obesity rates. So, now we see that children are exposed to thousands of advertisements encouraging them to eat unhealthy foods, and that these advertisements truly affect their eating habits.

While we might think we are telling the youth of this nation to eat healthy, in reality they are being told the exact opposite. This practice, if we want to see a decrease in obesity and other health conditions related to poor diets, needs to stop. Thinking that The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative would help was wishful thinking. At the end of the day businesses exist for one reason, to make money. These companies would never voluntarily jeopardize their revenue streams. Therefore, I do not think the blame should be focused on food and beverage companies. I think the government has a responsibility to take action against these marketing tactics.

I believe that the government should limit the advertising budgets for these food and beverage companies. The government can even go as far as to direct the major food and beverage companies to contribute money to campaigns for healthy diets. Without government intervention, I simply cannot see any changes in food marketing taking place in the future.

Let’s take a look at the tobacco industry. After the health effects of tobacco were confirmed, the government
passed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act banning all cigarette advertisements on television and radio. Will we see a similar fate for unhealthy foods? I certainly do not believe we will. I think the government should limit the amount of advertising allowed for unhealthy foods in order to help fight this nation’s obesity epidemic. Banning marketing for such foods altogether seems extreme and – in my opinion – unnecessary. However, I’m sure people had exactly the same thoughts about cigarette advertising.


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Feb 09

Expanding Exposure to Diversity

American children face a new and exciting environment, especially in their preschools and elementary schools.  The faces, languages, and cultures of children in our country are incredibly diversified, offering a huge opportunity for kids to learn about families that are different from theirs.  In large part, this diversity is being embraced, as is evident with the growth of bi-lingual schools.  Schools may be more willing to promote and teach about the varieties in different families’ ethnicities, but only if that family also contains different gender parents.  If our nation hopes to continue its legacy as a place of acceptance and diversity, is it not necessary to find a place for same-sex parents in the discussion of different family compositions?

Conservative estimates suggest 2 to 7 million children are being raised by non-heterosexual heads of household.  Children from same-sex parents entering pre-school probably have limited understanding of the difference between their family and their classmates’.  Additionally, students who come from heterosexual parents could possibly have little to no exposure to a same-sex family structure.  In these instances, schools can begin to play a role at a young age in teaching acceptance.  A lot of attention has been placed on bullying of LGBT youth (and rightfully so), but children coming from same-sex families also face difficulties feeling like they fit it.  Whether its parent-teacher conferences, PTA boards, attending a school play, or cheering at a basketball game, parents are extremely involved in a child’s school environment.  The acceptance of their parents in their school community is of considerable importance to a child’s educational experience and chance at success.

Especially in states with legalized same-sex marriage, public schools are seeing it as their role to start educating students at a young age about diverse family compositions.  There are numerous areas in the school where same-sex parents are calling for change.  For example, on the posters of families that line the halls and classrooms, same-sex parents would like to see their family composition represented.  Also, on gender sensitive holidays like Mother’s Day, which occur during the school year, two father households can feel excluded, and schools have begun to solve this problem by using gender-neutral language such as celebrating “Family Day”.  Additionally trainings from liaisons in the gay community are being offered to teachers to assist in student understanding as well as creation of a safe school space for families of all make-ups.  Finally, school affiliated groups are attending gay pride activities in certain communities.

Expanding on this, some cities have explored the idea of gay and lesbian Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) to offer an important sense of community for parents across schools who feel isolated in the school environment.  I believe this organization could have a powerful impact in opening conversations and creating a safe space for families to discuss their concerns for their children in school; however, just as is taking place in Garden City, NY, I believe these groups need to accept participation of heterosexual couples as well as be open to families who are still resistant to exposing their children to diverse families.  Inclusion and open dialogue are key in creating real solutions to tolerance issues on school campuses.

Some significant fears and dilemmas arise when moving toward school acceptance of same-sex parents.  One of these dilemmas is the issues of custody.  Schools often need consent or verification from biological parents or legal guardians.  When same-sex couples have children, only one or neither of the parents has a biological tie to the child.  Many same-sex parents face difficulty legally adopting their partner’s biological child.  This can create huge problems within a school bureaucracy, and students may have trouble having a simple field trip permission slip signed by the person they call mom.

Additional challenges are present when same-sex couples are no longer together yet both parents continue to raise the child separately.  Again legal issues present themselves, as well as added emotional problems for the student facing a two home situation.  To overcome these legal difficulties, it is best for parents to be open and honest with school administrators and teachers, but in an age where LGBT persons are getting fired from jobs and denied housing because of their sexual orientation, parents fear the repercussions of admitting their sexual orientation in schools (including the loss of their child that they have no legal claims to).

Tackling the promotion of non-traditional families within the school context can cause administrators and teachers to struggle to deal with the topic of sexual orientation without overtly dealing with more explicitly sexual topics that are not age appropriate.  Moreover, at these young ages, children are beginning to identify their own gender and differences among sexes in a social setting.  In this way, educators also need to tackle the stereotypes of gender roles in society and allow children to understand their own gender without causing confusion or pressure.

It is important in this discussion of same-sex families in the school community to explore the challenges but also the solutions.  It is so important to the young children of our country to expose them to as many types of diversity that exist in our society as possible.  This includes different family compositions.  When students are educated and families feel comfortable, open communication and a safe learning environment can be created.

 


 

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Feb 09

Human Rights versus Civil Rights

During my time as a NotEnoughGood.com contributor, I have shared the plight of vulnerable populations throughout the globe. The realities faced by child brides, refugees and child soldiers have been exposed and discussed. This week, I presented the phenomenon of gender-based violence and shared links to fellow bloggers who have written similar stories covering topics such as honor killings, female genital mutilation and sex trafficking. All of which paint powerful pictures in our minds of exploitation, hardship and the severe treatment of man-kind especially at the hand of others.

As a human rights advocate, I feel passionate about raising awareness on these topics. Sometimes, these subjects appear so different from our lived experiences that we need to be reminded of the realities that others face. Then we can see how we can help improve the lives of those less fortunate. I learned today though that inequalities do not all present themselves in such extremes as those discussed in previous blogs. Sometimes, simple actions we take for granted are restricted as well.

In Saudi Arabia, a woman is suing her country’s equivalent of the United States Department of Motor Vehicles for her right to drive. While there is no specific law in this Middle Eastern state prohibiting woman from obtaining their licenses, it is culturally understood that women should not drive. Women are also not encouraged to have a personal bank account, vote or hold a passport. Reading this I see the disparity between the genders and the lack of freedoms afforded to women. However, as a human rights advocate, I do wonder, does this fit within the categories defined by the United Nations as a human rights violation?

As I researched I found that that no. The privilege to have the same rights as a man is considered a civil right, not a human right. Here is why and the key differences between human and civil rights:

 

Human Rigths

* Human rights are those rights that an individual is entitled to because they are a human being.

* No government, group (state-sponsored or rogue) or individual should interfere with such rights as the right to freedom, education, and expression.

* Human rights are considered universal.

 

Civil Rights

* Civil rights are rights that an individual is given by their country.

* Civil rights protect the individual from discrimination and unjust action by others.

* Civil rights are written in the constitution of each country and created by society.

 

It is important to note that while human rights do not change from one country to another, civil rights do. These depend on the laws of the country. Human rights are universal regardless of the nationality, religion or ethnicity of the individual. In the case of civil rights, they fall within the limits of a country’s law, and pertain to the social, cultural, religious and traditional standards.

Going back to our case study above, in Saudi Arabia, women can be arrested for driving. While it is not part of their legal code, it is a traditional and understood social norm. Civil rights are only being violated because it is not written in the statute that they do not have a right to drive. However, civil rights are not being denied in the lack of equality between women and their male peers.

While I finally understand the differences between the two terms, I am now left with more questions. The main one is if certain civil rights, like the ones in the scenario above, violate human rights, especially the freedom of choice. Do you agree?

To learn more about the “Women-2-Drive” campaign visit the following link. Please note you will need to use software like Google translate if you cannot read Arabic.


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Feb 09

The Sad Tune of Headphones

For many young people, listening to music while walking down the street has become a pretty common practice.  Thousands of students on college campuses, as well as high school and middle school students, can be seen bopping about to their iPods or mp3 players.  However, there is a major issue coming out of this new technological culture in which young people find themselves in devastating accidents because they were not paying attention to their surroundings.  The number of these accidents has slowly gotten higher as the years have gone by, but what exactly can be done to stop young people from listening to their tunes and walking about completely oblivious of cars and trucks?

In a recent case study, 116 people were studied in order to see how listening to headphones affected their interaction with their surroundings.  Approximately two-thirds of the pedestrians who were hit by cars were under the age of 30 but over the age of 18.  Though the age gap does not include high school and middle school students, it does include college students and does not account for the other one-third of accidents.  Many of those who were hit by cars or other moving vehicles reported that they did not hear horns signaling the cars moving towards them.  Others stated that they were simply not paying attention to traffic rules, and walked into oncoming traffic without realizing what they were doing.  Regardless of the specific reasoning behind why young people were involved in car accidents, the major issue was the fact that people were not paying attention to traffic because of their headphones.

The issue with young pedestrians listening to music and being oblivious to their environment is not a new phenomenon.  In fact, many of us have been told to never text while driving because it causes deadly accidents due to negligence.  In 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5,870 people had died in texting accidents and over 1 million were severely injured.  Though hundreds of laws have been passed in many states to bring an end to texting while driving, it is still a major problem for young people because it is something that is still going on today.  I cannot tell of how many times I have been in a car with my friends and seen them texting away.  There may be laws to prevent texting in a car, but it is painfully obvious that these laws have not left a major impact on thousands of young people.

For that reason, it seems to be futile to create laws against pedestrians wearing headphones and listening to music while walking.  Laws have already been passed in places like Chicago, which has banned cyclists from using phones while biking.  New York City policy makers have also been entertaining the idea of banning pedestrians from listening to their iPods and mp3 players.  However, will a ban of iPods really work for the young population?  Despite the fact that listening to music while walking or running has resulted in numerous accidents, the laws will most likely backfire.  The reason behind this is the fact that many people who exercise and work out outdoors use music as a way to help them be active, and they will see the loss of their music as an infringement on personal rights.  Furthermore, some people may not want to go outside and exercise if they do not have music to distract them or get them into the mindset of working out.  Perhaps, to counter the effect of headphones resulting in accidents, the U.S. needs to invest in more pedestrian or bicycle lanes so that people are not walking into oncoming traffic.  Countries like the Netherlands in Europe have invested a great deal of money in segregated bicycle lanes in order to promote biking as well as making the roads safe for those who cycle.

Of course, the issue will then be for those who are not exercising and simply meandering down the street with their headphones.  In that regard, it will still difficult to monitor the thousands of people who listen to music on a daily basis.  Though it is important to come up with a solution to help pedestrians learn to be better focused on traffic, passing laws to ban headphones may not work.  Perhaps the fear of a law against headphone use will prompt young people to be more cautious.  Even then, technology continues to improve and adapt to society so perhaps a ban will not do much other than create a new sort of headpiece.

 

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