Mask Law

As Boston won the Stanley Cup last year, some citizens in Vancouver were very disappointed, and started a huge riot in the streets. Cars were destroyed, buildings and mailboxes were destroyed, and stores were robbed. The police had to be called in and they had to use tear gas to stop some destruction. Only a few violators were arrested on that day and some more were caught after. Sadly, most of the violators had escaped, either they weren’t caught by hand by the police, not caught on surveillance, or had masks on to prevent being identified.  If none of them had masks on, a lot more violators would have been caught. Thankfully, there is a proposed law sending people with masks on during a riot to jail for five years or a fine of up to $5,000. It sounds like a great idea but is it good? Let’s look at some pros and cons of the new law.  

            If you were watching the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver last year, and the mask law was in place, and you were cold, you would cover your face. How about if you didn’t want to be on the news standing beside a burning car? You would have to go through some trouble with the police explaining that you are innocent and that would also be wasting the police’s investigation time. Also, riots are illegal, so if you add a mask wearing penalty to it, you just get a larger penalty, that is, if you could find the offender(s). The mask law is unneeded.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/05/should-it-be-a-crime-to-cover-your-face-during-a-riot-1.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2012/05/14/f-mask-riot-law.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/05/08/pol-riot-mask-ban-committee.html

Should it be a crime to cover your face in a group gathering?

(Bill C-309) which will make it illegal to wear a mask at any protest classified by officials as an "unlawful assembly", with a possible punishment of TEN YEARS in prison! Conservative MP Blake Richards says police have been asking for a law like this for some time, and that's why he introduced a bill to make the necessary changes to the criminal code last month. It will be debated in parliament today.

"When trouble starts, people intent on criminal activity depend on being able to 'mask up' to conceal their faces with bandanas, balaclavas or other means to avoid being identified and being held accountable for their actions," Richards said in a statement last month when the bill was tabled.

The debate sets up some questions, though. For example, the bill exempts people that have a "lawful excuse" for covering their face, but it does not define what a lawful excuse would be.

Also, it leaves open to interpretation what constitutes a riot. The criminal code defines a riot as "an unlawful assembly that has begun to disturb the peace tumultuously."

Bill C-309 would create two classes of offence.
Those who incite a riot while wearing a mask face an indictable offence up to 10 years. Those who participate in such an unlawful assembly while wearing a mask could face up to six months in jail or fines up to $5,000.

By making this law it will solve and make problems for us. First of all we have to understand the wearing a mask is anything that covers ones face so that people can’t figure out who that person is. This causes questions to arise, what happens when some kind of religious woman who is Muslim or any kind of religion goes to riot? What if that woman covers her face for a purely religious reason? What happens then? Would that woman get arrested for being faithful to her religion? However for this there is also a solution The bill, as it is currently written, does not define what would be a lawful excuse to wear a face covering. Richards said that wearing cultural or religious dress that obscures the face, or bandages for legitimate medical purposes, might fall under the exemption, although the person could still be subject to prosecution for participating in a riot. This still makes it possible that the person could still go to jail for this reason.

There are pros to this law too. Now for the police it will be easier to find criminals such as people who are robbers, terrorists and ect. As there are pros and cons to his law how this law will affect us will have a significant difference to us.

SOURCES

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/16/montreal-bylaw-could-test-whether-mask-ban-during-protests-will-reduce-violence-or-encourage-it/

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/16/bill-c-309-canada-mask-law-montreal_n_1520213.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2012/05/14/f-mask-riot-law.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/11/23/mask-bill-309-riot.html

http://www.sodahead.com/living/should-it-be-a-crime-to-cover-your-face-during-a-riot/question-2288139/

I'm sorry for posting too late. I had some techincal issues. I'm sorry for the weird font I can't fix it.

Bullying. A Crime Or Not?

   So bullying. Something we all know, and most of us have experienced. It can cause pain, misfortune, and can lead to many suicidal attempts.  But should it be considered a crime? Well 2/3 of Canada’s population thinks so. 

   Someone in Quebec decided it was time to make a change. He is attempting to pass a bill in which teachers and principals will have the authority to expel kids who continue to bully other students.  Even if no physical contact is involved.  Some people who are against the idea state: “bullying doesn’t fall as a crime in Canada’s criminal code”.

  

   According to the “pink shirt day” website, one child in Canada is being bullied EVERY 7 SECONDS. How sad is that. To think that bullying is happening that often and our society can’t seem, or try, to do anything about it. 

   Responders to the bill to see bullying as a crime, has the support of about 78% of the Atlantic Provinces, while B.C. has given the least amount of support, only 55%. About 20% of Canadians believe that bullying should be seen as a crime ONLY if physical violence I s involved, and only 6% believe that bullying isn’t a crime at all.

   What I think most bullies don’t realize is that some victims can be literally “bullied to death”.  There have been so many (more then you’d think) suicides among teens because of bullying. We all know the kid’s don’t mean to cause the person to kill himself or herself, but how would you punish your child if their ways caused someone to commit suicide? That’s the big question.

     I personally really don’t have an official opinion whether I think it should be an official crime or not. There are most likely other methods we can use to decrease the amount of bullying without throwing kids in prison. So think about it.

  Sources:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/bullying-crime-225007123.html

http://www.theprovince.com/life/Bullying+should+crime+Canadians+poll/6229221/story.html

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/10/04/phoebe-prince-should-bullying-be-a-crime.html

Should the Government Ban Tanning Beds for Those 18 And Under?

        The government of BC has banned the use of tanning beds under the age of 18. It is said that using tanning beds increase the risk of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, by 75%.

      By doing so, the government is trying to decrease the amount of people that get skin cancer. They have done several researches to find that this is true. The researches show that this is mostly because of the high UV radiation that is exposed. It is to help prevent skin cancer.

        I agree with this law because skin cancer or any cancer for that matter, does not yet have a cure. So getting cancer would be very dangerous. Most cases result in death. By banning tanning beds, the government helps those who might not notice the risks of using tanning beds. This helps them and tells them the harm it causes.

           Cancer survivor Kathy Barnard says that she hates the numerous surgeries she went through to survive her cancer. She says that she would rather live with the skin that she was given than die because she had a desire for a more preferred skin. She says to be proud of the skin you own. Save it, protect it, don't try to change it.

         Steven Gilroy of the "Joint Canadian Tanning Association" said that it is usually people around the age of thirty that comes to do the tanning. Teens aren't a big part of our customers anyways. Steven thinks that this law was specially targeting the "Joint Canadian Tanning Association".

            But if teenagers are not a big part of their customers anyways, then why would they care so much about it? It must be because Steven is lying and they actually have quite a few teenage customers.

         Steven also states that the "Joint Canadian Tanning Association" might help by giving manned tanning instead of having unmanned tanning. This definitely will not help because unmanned tanning will not make it less harmful to tan, it will just make it easier for the tanners. This may even cause more people to tan because they might hear of the "excellent" services.

           Overall, I just agree with this law and want the government to ban the use of tanning beds under the age of 18. This will definitely decrease the amount of deaths in the near future.

Online Source:

Dan Burritt "BC Government Announces Tanning Bed Ban For Teens The Law Will Take Effect This Fall."  
March 20, 2012  14:36 P.M. <http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/342856--bc-government-announces-tanning-bed-ban-for-teens>

    

Bullying Should be a Crime?

All adults teach us how bad bullying is but why isn't it a crime yet? From just excluding someone in a group to severely injure someone, bullying can vary in many different ways. With all the educations in school and/or at home, bullying is still happening around us very commonly. Bullying can be in different forms, victims can get bullied in many ways. Verbal (calling names), physical (punching), social alienation (excluding victim from a group), cyber bullying (bullying on internet), disability (bullying to victims with disability), racist (mean words to victims’ race, culture…), sexual (mean words to a victim’s gender), homophobia (mean words to victim’s sexual orientation); these are just some examples of different types of bullying. Should bullying be consider a crime? Here are the disadvantages and advantages to what might happen if bullying is a crime, also my opinion of considering bullying a crime.   

  Everyone all has a different opinion and definition of bullying. A “teasing” action to someone may be thought of bullying to someone else. This isn’t likely to happen but what if some people pretend to be injured or bullied, to get a chance of charging someone? There could be many false accusations. But no one will know if it actually happened. People may be using this regulation for other wrong purposes and what would people think of this law? Useless? Unnecessary? Making bullying a crime may be difficult. Many people are saying teenagers commit suicide because of the bullying happened in school. But there are cases where teenagers commit suicide not because he/she got bullied. Since we won’t know really know if a person actually got bullied, experts are needed. Therapist and other educated doctors are essential to determine if the victims are affected, whether it is physically or mentally. Although there are some loss if bullying is a crime, there are much more benefits toward it.

Making bullying a crime can save one's life. These are some positives things if bullying is a crime. Bullies will finally pay for what they have done to their peers; they will get punish for what they did. The perpetrators will get an opportunity to learn more about how bad bullying is and how much it can hurt the victim. Some bullies bully for satisfaction; they don’t know how it feels to get hurt. This is inadequate. Another good thing is victims will not be as afraid to go to school as before. Many victims are missing or skipping school because they are suffering from bullies. Bullies who are one step to bullying someone, they will think first before doing it. If this law happens, victims of bullying will surely reduce.

Bullying should definitely be a crime. This way more people are educated. Bullying is just like any other crime, bullying hurts others. Making bullying a crime can certainly make a difference, thousands and thousands of people will feel safe, and the pain will stop. Having anti-bullying day is not enough to promote the stop of bullying, we need to make it bigger. We need to make it a crime.

Sources

http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/recognizing_bullying.page

http://www.abcornwall.org.uk/children/types-of-bullying

http://www.chicagoparent.com/magazines/web-only/april-2010/is-bullying-a-crime-should-it-be  

CE Blog Post 3

Should Bullying Be A Crime?

            Many students and people are being bullied in today's society. It is not always physical bullying, and now because of cyber space people can be bullied virtually. Now the question is "Should Bullying Be A Crime?" I'm going to talk bullying (long term effects and short term effects of the victim and bully), society's answer and about my opinion to the question.

            Bullying is very serious in our society today. Some of the short term effects for the victim are that he or she will have trouble sleeping, depression, and have anxiety to attend school. They have troubles sleeping because they have bad dreams also called nightmares. Depression is another thing and they will have it in extreme case, too. They will be scared to go to school because they are intimidated or threatened of the bully. Some short term effects for the bully themselves are hard time making friends, more likely to get involved in harmful activities, and usually more likely to have an alcohol and substance abuse. They will have a hard time making friends because they scare most of the students. They will more likely get in involved in harmful activities such as, stealing, vandalizing property, and getting into physical fight and injuring themselves. They are more likely to have an alcohol and substance abuse because they think they have no other way to solve their problem other than drinking. In fact drinking does not help solve your problem it just makes you forget why they are feeling that way or the problem.  

            Some of the long term affects for the victim are alcohol and substance abuse, self-destruction, and depression unless they are given immediate help the victim, they should have limited long term effects. They abuse alcohol and substances (drugs) because they want to forget the problem when in fact the problem is still there. They will be in a self-destruction mode because they will put themselves down and just totally feel down. The victim can be so depressed that they commit suicide. Some long term effects for the bully is that he or she will have a criminal record, be dependent on alcohol and feel guilt if the person they bullied committed suicide (my opinion). The bully will have a criminal record because their aggressive behaviors grow. They will be dependent on alcohol because they abused it when they were younger. My opinion was that the bully will feel guilt and that was because let's say that person was the bully's best friend before the bully was that bully.  

            I think bullying should be a crime because bullying is part of harassment and abuse. And harassment and abuse is a crime. What if someone commits suicide because of someone bullying him/her then isn't that the same thing as murder? Bullying someone until the point where the victim commits suicide is no better than murder. Actually it is the same thing as murder. So bullying should be a crime. Don't you agree with me?

Bibliography

"Consequences of Bullying."  Oracle  June 7th 2012
http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/00117/bullyingconsequences.html

John W Sheridan  "Short and Long Term Effects of Bullying - The Victim & the Bully." 
June 7th 2012 
< http://ezinearticles.com/?Short-and-Long-Term-Effects-of-Bullying---The-Victim-and-the-Bully&id=4615335 >

Rita Berhel  "The Long-Term Effects of Bullying on the Victim, the Bully, and the Bystander."  June 7th 2012 http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=171

"Family Violence Initiative" June 7th 2012
< http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/fv-vf/pub/har/har.html>

June 06 Final Blog Post- BC has passed a law regulating tanning beds

BC has passed a law regulating tanning beds and it is to be put in to action in the fall. The law states that if you are under 18, you are banned to get bronzed in a tanning bed unless you go out of British Columbia. The only exception is if you have a doctor’s note which happens when they find that the ultraviolet rays could be used to treat some specific conditions like psoriasis. Do you think it is right for the government to come up with these rules without other people’s opinion?

Studies have found a 75 percent increase in the risk of a deadly skin disease called melanoma, due to those who have been exposed to UV radiation from indoor tanning. Also the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) estimates that there are about 3,000 hospital emergency room cases in a year due to indoor tanning beds and lamp exposure. If there are so many risks and consequences that you may get when you tan in indoor tanning beds, then why do thousands of people still do it? Firstly, tanning is very similar to smoking a cigarette. You eventually get addicted to it if you use it frequently. Intentional exposure to UV light may lead to an addiction and many people are not aware of this. Secondly, people believe that having a tan makes them look more attractive because they get the idea of “everyone else” doing it. For example, they tan because they want to be like their friends or favourite celebrities. For these reasons, Health Minister Mike de Jong is working on banning tanning beds to avoid future health problems even though he understands the tanning industry opposes the ban.

A cancer survivor, Kathy Barnard said that she was an obsessive tanner in her teens and endured numerous surgeries afterward. She believed people should be proud of their skin and to own it, protect it and save it. She ended the discussion by saying that she would rather be alive with the skin she was given than die in the skin she so desperately wanted to have. Do you agree with her?
            I believe many teens who tan regularly would object to what Kathy said but they do have to admit; tanning beds give them big consequences that would affect their life terribly. Furthermore, I believe setting a law would help save and prevent many young lives. Once the teens pass the age of 18, they would be able to choose to tan again but it is known that they would mature throughout the years and make the right decisions in the end.

Many other places who don't already have this law are starting to consider to create it.This includes Nova Scotia, France, Quebec etc. The Australian state of New South Wales also announced that they will ban tanning beds outright by 2014. Do you think this law is reasonable to the tanning industry and to all the minors who enjoy tanning?

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/government+working+tanning+regulations/6182237/story.html

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/342856--bc-government-announces-tanning-bed-ban-for-teens

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/06/05/tanning-beds-minors.html

Proposed Mask Law

Proposed Mask Law.. Should it be a crime to cover your face in a group gathering?
First of all, lets take a look at the pros about the proposed mask law. If we do make it a official law, yes it'll be much easier for the polices to catch criminals such as in a riot, robbery, murders,...etc by searching them up with their face, and identity that comes from their lookings, styles. Also, it'll be easier for leaders to recognize people who join their group, club,...etc

Cons- There could be a lot of problem to this proposed law, since this means that the police will gain the power to fine (range $500~$3000) anyone they see with a mask on. First of all, it'll effect badly on the holiday "Halloween' since it is pretty much all about changing your identity into something else.
Also, this will effect the protestors to lose everytime they protest when the police deploy tear gas, which means a lot of people will not be so happy about negative things that happened but did not get solved.
it'll even effect sports like cycling, skating,...etc that requires masks to prevent cold air going into your mouth so you wont catch cold, or any kind of sickness, and it'll effect illness people who needs masks so the disease from speading, such as in school. Also, there is already a law about wearing a disguise to commit an offense.

This law only give rights to the police, and a few others because, as i know, it only gives a few positive points to the police, few leaders,... etc and a lot of people will only be effected badly. So from what I know, it is better without this law since it effects so muchs things giving only a few positive things. and when you look at the fact that there is already a law about wearing disguise to commit an offense. so all the government should do is making this law a little strict. It may be a little difficult to the police to find the criminal, but it should be better without this proposed law since it only effects them and a very few others.


Online source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2012/05/14/f-mask-riot-law.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/16/bill-c-309-canada-mask-law-montreal_n_1520213.html

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/16/montreal-bylaw-could-test-whether-mask-ban-during-protests-will-reduce-violence-or-encourage-it/