AVID How-To's by Amy Matt https://padlet.com/amy_matt/54l20zue94ql Instructional writing on topics in which we are experts. Learn from us. en-us 2017-04-20 02:04:48 UTC 2024-01-15 03:55:57 UTC hello@padlet.com Immigration Ban amy_matt https://padlet.com/amy_matt/54l20zue94ql/wish/167163389 Amy Matt]]> 2017-04-20 02:11:06 UTC https://padlet.com/amy_matt/54l20zue94ql/wish/167163389 Wash Your Dog amy_matt https://padlet.com/amy_matt/54l20zue94ql/wish/167163556 Amy Matt
Fed Up With Sugar Intake
In order to decrease the obesity epidemic and improve the health  of our population, sugary beverages should be taxed and labeled for harmful ingredients. 
Children in America are consuming sugar in higher amounts than any previous  generation and much of it is hidden in convenience food and beverages. What most consumers do not understand is “most of the corn we consume is invisible” (Pollan, par. 6). Corn has been refined and broken down into artificial sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup and our bodies are not used to breaking this chemical down. Sugar is not always labeled as such and can be misleading to consumers. In fact, on nutrition labels the daily recommended percentage of the sugar content is not listed (“Dole,” par. 3). This is most likely not labeled because most servings would be over 100% the daily recommended amount of sugar intake. 

In highly populated, urban cities like South Los Angeles, most food  is purchased at fast food restaurants or liquor stores and “fast food is killing people faster than drive-bys” (Finley). 

]]> 2017-04-20 02:12:57 UTC https://padlet.com/amy_matt/54l20zue94ql/wish/167163556 Invisible Cost of War amy_matt https://padlet.com/amy_matt/54l20zue94ql/wish/167164184 Amy Matt
For centuries we have sent our young men to defend our homestead, our country, our way of life, with little regard to the cost. The politics of war are heavily debated: should we send soldiers? Should we intervene? What is the fiscal impact? Will this cost political favor in the next election? But no evening news headlines address the impact of war on the human beings we send to fight and protect our freedoms. Those fathers. Those brothers. Those sons.
Young men are sent because they are the epitome of strength, virility, and power. The ability to fight and defend is natural in them. Young men go through grueling training programs designed to break them, then strengthen them. They are turned into soldiers, made harder than they ever thought possible. We expect they remain indestructible, even through the ravages of war.
Their bodies may be able to withstand the heat, the ache of muscle fatigue, loss of sleep, or even bullets, shrapnel, IEDs. Limbs torn from bodies. Blood spilled from a brother dying in their arms. Poisonous gas filling their lungs.
All of that may be endured and survived. Limbs can heal, or be fitted with prosthetics. Medicine and bandages can heal wounds. Technological advances only go so far. What about the broken mind? The broken spirit that only knows anger, hate, destruction? How do we help our soldiers who return with invisible wounds?  | In previous generations, we have seen the ravages of war both on our returned veterans and on television. After World War II, our soldiers returned home plagued by nightmares, anxiety, even alcoholism. Psychologists have now diagnosed their “shell shock” as an actual mental disorder known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and various treatments. After Vietnam, and viewing the horrors of war on the evening news, we treated our vets with disrespect and contempt. Ostracizing many of these vets from society and not getting them health services, they became homeless, drug-addicted, or incarcerated. We have to do better for our returning veterans; otherwise, what will our legacy be?

We expect our vets to return to the boring hum drum of life: grocery shopping, traffic jams, soccer practice, family dinner, having left all traces of war behind them. We expect they return “normal” happy to be back in our lives, our homes, our freedoms. The reality is, they have difficulty transitioning back to civilian life. Like American Sniper, Chris Kyle, who returned to a loving, supportive home, but felt extremely isolated and without help transitioning out of active combat life. Our system teaches them how to be strong, not break, to kill, but neglects to teach them to be gentle, to heal, to live.
| How do we help our soldiers who return with invisible wounds?
The Department of Veterans Affairs was designed to assist in the transition and provide medical help to our veterans. However, bureaucracy and ineffective systems have slowed, even halted help to those who need and deserve it most. According to John Cooper, a spokesman for Concerned Veterans for America, “The VA is still struggling with an inability to properly manage a budget, and a failure to provide veterans with timely access to care and benefits.”  Veterans are put on endless waitlists or applications lost in mountains of paperwork. Veterans with invisible wounds like PTSD suffer the most because they are not considered a high priority or do not advocate for themselves.
More awareness, education, and support must be provided around mental illness and the lasting impact of war. Certainly, this will not be the last war fought, but we surely must apply what we have learned from previous wars. As a country, we must support funding and demand systemic reform of the VA to provide immediate transitioning programs for our vets, along with mental health education for troops and their families before deployment. We must protect our soldiers that we ask to protect us. Our fathers. Our brothers. Our sons. ]]> 2017-04-20 02:19:25 UTC https://padlet.com/amy_matt/54l20zue94ql/wish/167164184