Our criminal justice system suffers in many ways. One category that I think it suffers the most in is the fact that sentencing is very lenient. It focuses more on rehabilitation than punishment, which I think is affecting Canada greatly. Many criminals are released on bail and commit the same offences. If these criminals were punished more, it would make sure that society isn’t overrun by crime and protects the community. Because of this reason, I think that our criminal justice system should be more punitive.

Critical and Reflective Thinking Core Competency

I can analyze my own beliefs and consider views that do not fit with them. From the paragraph written above, it is clear that I can analyze my own beliefs. If someone were to disagree with it, I would try to understand their beliefs and have a deeper understanding of the topic at hand.

1. Include your answers to the following questions in your reflection: 

1. What is your Inquiry Question? Has the focus of your inquiry shifted or changed since you wrote your Personal Learning Plan? Explain. 

My focus for my Inquiry Question has not changed since I wrote my Personal Learning Plan. To be completely honest, I have not worked on my IDS project over the past months.  

2. How is your time management? Are you using CENT time weekly to work on your Inquiry, or are you finding other time during the week? 

During CENT time, I do not work on my IDS. I usually find myself working on my other assignments from my other classes. I don’t find any other times during the week to work on my IDS.  

3. What resources (people, websites, apps, videos, etc.) have been most helpful? 

Once again, since I have not been working on my IDS for a long time, I have not been able to see which resources have been most helpful, but from the progress I’ve made so far, the “HISTORY” website has been most helpful, giving me all the information, I need. 

4. What challenges are you currently facing with your Inquiry? What challenges have you overcome? 

Some challenges I am facing with my Inquiry is the fact that I am not setting aside any time to work on my IDS. I hope to overcome this challenge.  

5. Describe your growth of a Core Competency through this inquiry process. 

My growths in a Core Competency have not grown through this inquiry process, since I have not been working on the project.  

6. How will you share what you have been learning, creating or planning in this Inquiry? Are you on track to share your learning by the end of May or early June? 

I hope to complete my IDS project and share it through a PowerPoint presentation. I may be on track to share my learning by early June.  

7. Will you continue working on this Inquiry, or parts of it, for your Capstone next year? 

I may think about working on this Inquiry for my Capstone next year. This way, I am able to continue my learning and treat it in a more serious manner.  

Critical and Reflective Thinking

YouTube has been an ever-growing website with millions of people visiting it every day. There were many challenges towards achieving this success. Firstly, one of the co-founders of YouTube, Steve Chen, had many doubts about his company’s success, saying “there’s just not that many videos [he] want[s] to watch”. Like any other businessman starting up a new company, Steve was very worried and stressed that this company of his might crumble. However, I believe this gave Steve motivation to make his company better and I strongly agree this is the reason that YouTube is so successful today. Secondly, I think YouTube is popular all these years after because of the continuous success of many different content creators. Without these creators, YouTube would fall. They contribute heavily to YouTube’s relevancy and success. I also strongly disagree with what Steve had said in the beginning. Now, there are billions of videos for every occasion. From trendy, funny videos to serious talks, everyone can enjoy the videos released on YouTube daily. In conclusion, YouTube was slow in the beginning, but achieved great success with the diverse group of individuals that brighten up YouTube’s page.

I can examine evidence from various perspectives to analyze and make well-supported judgments about and interpretations of complex issues.   

I believe that I completed this core competency perfectly in the paragraph that I wrote. Looking at different perspectives is crucial to analyzing complex issues. Everyone needs to be heard. Without content creators, YouTube would fall. Without YouTube, content creators would fall. I believe that everyone plays a part in the success of each other.

When I need to boost my mood or re-focus, I tend to find that I pre-occupy myself with unproductive things. I plan to set aside these aspects that negatively affect my studies and well-being. Some ways I can do this is by: turning off my phone, playing music that boosts my mood and allows me to focus, making sure I’m not mid-conversation with someone, getting schoolwork done as quickly as possible and making it my first priority. These are just some way that I plan to re-focus and boost my mood.

Some of the ways I work to build and maintain relationships are by making sure that I always have a positive attitude every day. I make sure the needs of those relationships are met and help in any way I can. I plan to strive further into my goal to maintain my relationships by continuing the contributions that I implement into them.

If I notice that my group members are wavering, that’s a sign that my group needs help and we can get support by making sure we are all on the same page or asking a teacher for further instructions. This is of utmost importance because every single person needs to play their part to be a successful student and also a valuable peer. I plan to ensure that my group is on the same page and on the path to success.

Core Competencies – Communication:

Communication is a big part in everyday life. Tasks are done, ideas are brought forth and your fresh coffee is brewed when you order it. Communication in our group was not the best. We didn’t have any contact with each other outside of class, and many times group members did not show up. However, we were still able to communicate our ideas and come up with a simplistic, yet elegant, little world that encompasses our physics project that we are very proud of.

Core Competencies – Thinking:

Everyone thinks in their own little way. Different thoughts and views shape the world as we know it. In our project, thinking about where and how we would use different forms of energy was a prime example of our thinking skills. We were able to plan things out, know where everything went and how it all falls together. In addition, thinking about time management and when things would be done was a big aspect in the success of our project.

Core Competencies – Personal and Social:

Personal and social contributions happen every second of every day. To narrow it down to myself, I contributed an excess amount to the project, almost too much. I am a very hard worker, and getting things done myself and in a group is one of my strengths. Almost everything you see in the video I have contributed on. I was responsible for planning with my group members and recording the video. In addition, I also created a script for all of us. However, I was not able to send it to my group members. For a last resort, I decided to do the whole voice recording, sacrificing some of my own marks and taking the blame so that it would be fair to my group members.

Racism Within Canadian society has been an everlasting issue in Canada. Firstly, the First Nations people have been significantly mistreated and racially profiled. Many systems put in place were designed to benefit white colonists while disadvantaging the First Nations populations who had lived here prior to colonialism. This power dynamic continues to be upheld and reinforced in our society, extending its impact on new racialized citizens. Furthermore, black citizens have been ostracized from Universities and Colleges. According to a 2016 report from Statistics Canada, the black community were less likely to obtain post-secondary education compared to the rest of the population in Vancouver, with a difference of around 10%. From these examples above, we can clearly begin to realize that racism is still an immense problem in Canada. In drawing things to a close, my opinion on racism has remained unchanged after reading To Kill A Mockingbird. The book has given me even more of a reason to fight for the struggles that these groups face in their everyday life.

By: Rosan D.

It felt like a few weeks ago that I saw my neighbour being dragged out of her house and forced 

into an internment camp. She was a small, old lady, and wouldn’t even hurt a fly. The actions of 

the Canadian government were not justifiable one bit. The law, “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” 

was clearly violated. Trials were not even put in place for the innocent Japanese Canadians. 

Where was the proof to put them in the camps? Just yesterday the R.C.M.P. said they were 

found to be loyal and by no means a threat to Canada. How much longer will my neighbour 

have to endure these racist acts? I hope to see her soon. 

Curricular Competency

• I made an ethical judgement about the action of internment the Japanese-Canadians in my paragraph by making sure the unfairness that the Japanese-Canadians went through was clearly indicated.

• I did assess and explained the changes the Japanese-Canadians went through in my research handout by explaining that the everyday innocent Japanese-Canadians were forced into camps.  

•  I did assess and explained the justification for different views of Japanese-Canadian internment in my research handout and paragraph by explaining the view of many non-racist individuals.

Core Competency

• I did analyze evidence from the research I did and made judgements which has been shown in my paragraph.

•   I now understand and can appreciate diverse perspectives on issues and can resolve problems effectively and responsibly by this assignment which has helped me see that people are not bad just because of their ethnicity.

• I now understand what is important to me and I can explain my values since the situation that the Japanese-Canadians faced have opened up my eyes.