Trust Your Consciousness

Mariama McGhee

Sophomore

UPREP High School

Let’s continue our discussion on peer pressure. It’s a force that makes us feel shaky and out of character. It makes our friends force us to do things their way. We don’t want to, but we do it anyway, all for the sake of a self-centered person, who does nothing in return.

How do we solve this problem? It’s simple. We walk away from it all. To be honest, there are other ways too. For example, when your friends’ demands can endanger others or damage some one’s self-esteem, you can get advice from a neutral person or an adult ally or reason with them so they won’t hurt anybody.

I remember a time when I saw a senior pressuring a female freshman to have sex with him. When he asked her, she was silent for a moment. The girl was unsure if she wanted to do this act. “I don’t know what to say”, she replied, genuinely embarrassed. “Just this once, please do it for me”, the senior said with an impatient voice.

That incident was stuck in my mind for the entire school year. I was angry that the senior would dare ask such a question to her. This is how uncontrollable some of us are. We don’t even feel that we have a choice in the matter. What’s worse, our friends just sit back and watch. Well, I won’t.

We can not allow people to control our lives. I learned from my mistakes and because of that, I am more assertive, because I am a member of the NSO/Youth Initiatives Project. It’s a program that teaches leadership and conflict resolution skills to prevent violence and drug use. While in the program, you actually get a better understanding on why kids feel so insecure and why they pressure their friends. In the end, you will be ready to face the world.

Provocative Woman Campaign: Peer Pressure

Provocative Woman Campaign: Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure

Mariama McGhee
Sophomore
UPREP High


Peer Pressure is when someone is forced to do something they don’t want to do. Their friends are the main ones who cause their discomfort. Drug usage, violence, lying, and betrayal are part of peer pressure. The victim feels so challenged and uncomfortable that he or she completes their friend’s request. After that they are left with nothing.

Peer Pressure is also related to insecurity. Those who cause peer pressure are suffering from insecurity. They believe that they are not popular enough for anyone and anything. So in order to make themselves feel better they pressure their friends to do unpredictable things. This is a vicious cycle that goes on and on.

I go through this everyday and to be honest it’s not easy. I have to deal with students who love to get their way. They think I’m nothing like them (I don’t want to be anything like them). They pressure me to do things that make no sense to me at all. Fortunately, I learned to deal with it in a positive way.

For example, the book, Animal Farm, tells the story of a group of barn animals and their two leaders Napoleon and Snowball. The animals lead a revolt against the humans, but ever since they succeeded Snowball gets driven out and Napoleon pressures the animals very brutally. The animals are forced to do everything Napoleon wants them to do. This is a huge example of peer pressure.

In conclusion many teens are faced with this issue. They feel as if they can’t get help from others, let alone their own parents. Again, I felt the same way and I am willing to learn from my experience. I wish my fellow peers weren’t suffering form their own friend’s foolishness. To my fellow peers, let's rise up and help each other through insecurity and peer pressure.

We Need A Resolution..... It should start NOW!!!!!

V'Lecea "Queen" Hunter
Graduate
UPREP High School

STOP THE VIOLENCE!!!!! Everyone just take a moment and think about the three letter words I’ve just mentioned. What does it mean to you? Does it mean, standing up for what you believe in, making a change in the community, or and/or having support from everyone around you to come together as one and encourage each other to do the right thing. Now, while you’re thinking about that let me tell you a little about myself.

My name is V’Lecea Hunter, but I go by the QUEEN. Queen symbolizes me being my own individual with a plan that I must hold. Having a plan that will help me become more successful and to be known as a role model the all teens that have been through the ins and outs of violence. I am a representation of violence, however, I have accepted that I once was apart of violence and now I am against it. I am 18 years old and I have been free from violence for three years now. I can truly say that it wasn’t easy taking the positive route, but I had to do it once my life was put on the line.

I will briefly give you an overview; I was apart of gangs that had no purpose, I dated boys that only wanted one thing, and I hung with girls that wanted children because their parents were out of their lives. I was sexually assaulted by a man with a black face, I had my dignity taken away twice, I was shot at, I fought to get respect, and lastly I had no respect for MYSELF.

It took me three years to change my attitude. NO, I didn’t do it by myself. I had help from Mr. Frank McGhee and being apart of NSO/ Youth Initiatives Project, which is a program that promotes non-violence and substance abuse prevention. This program has groomed me and helped me understand the value of leadership and commitment. Leadership is the ability to guide your peers into a positive path and to know what you want to do and how you want to do something. Commitment is your own ability to stick to a specific task or belief without allowing anyone to change your mind. Jumping to the plate when there’s a problem and not being scared to STOP THE VIOLENCE!!!

To go back to the question I asked you at the beginning, what does “STOP THE VIOLENCE” mean? It means, standing up for what you believe in, making a change in the community, or and/or having support from everyone around you to come together as one and encourage each other to do the right thing. I know you may be thinking like “those are the same examples she gave earlier”. Yes they are, I did this to make you think harder because I know that there are other positive meanings. So, basically I’ve just tested you. Being tested is something we go through everyday and since the outsiders see that we are falling, then our community is becoming worse.

So now the second question is, what can we do? What can we do to stop the violence in our communities? What can we do to show the outsiders that they can not win? What can we do to prove to the teens that they are not the only ones fighting? What can we do to protect everyone and everything that are valuable to us? We need to make a change and it should start now because I am tired. I am tired of seeing little children joining gangs just to gain respect, teens having to drop out of school because their getting bullied, teens just dropping out of school period! It’s crazy and we need a change.

To make a change, I and three of my other peers that are apart of the Youth Initiatives Project has started a campaign for young females. The Provocative Woman Campaign, this campaign is to let young females know that they are not out here alone and all of their challenges that they are facing, someone else is facing too, however, the issue that we are primarily focusing on is sexual assault. This is an issue in every community and some teens are scared to let people know what is happening or what happened to them, due to what other people may think or how people may treat them. So, I am here to let them know that I am a victim of sexual assault and yes, I was one of the people who waited a month before I told someone. But waiting a month I had to deal with the consequences of being pregnant, having a urinary tracked infection, and now my uterus is messed up for life. I’m not telling you this to scare you, but more so to show you that your not alone and I want young girls that are either in my situation, worse off, or in an easier predicament to be with me and allow their voices to be heard because until we speak out on our views on sexual assault no one will. We need to hear from you!! The web address to leave your comment on the campaign is http://www.provocativewomancampaign.blogspot.com/.

Being a teenager and knowing that violence in the streets is a way for most teens to gain respect, is being accepted by everyone. However, we can make a change by stopping it. Now, I know the same question that I asked earlier should be still squirming through your head. But when you actually sit down and think about it, please just know that there is a resolution to everything as long as you put your mind to it. You must first have a plan with passion, and then take action. So my challenge is what can we do? We need a resolution and we need one now!!!!!

Sexual Assault Part II

Mariama McGhee

Sophomore

UPREP High School

Sexual Assault Part II

Hello ladies! Today’s topic will be on resources you can use to get help if you have been sexually assaulted. Please read this carefully and act now if this crime has happened to you or a friend. Once again this information is provided courtesy of PLEA (Public Legal Education Association). After you read this speak up and spread the message.

Victim Services
Victim Services Programs are available throughout the community. These programs are designed to provide information and support to victims of crime. They also offer assistance and support to victims who are required to testify and can provide a liaison between the victim, the police and the court. They may also be able to provide compensation to victims for some expenses that result from the crime. Contact the Detroit Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit Rape Counseling Center at 313.833.1660 (They are also providing resource information for the Provocative Woman Campaign).

Other resources include the following:

Detroit Police Department Police Community Services Unit 313-596-2520

Interim House Y.W.C.A. of Metropolitan Detroit - Domestic Violence P.O. Box 21904 Detroit, MI 48221 24-Hour Crisis Line 313-861-5300 Write D.V. Shelter at ywcaih@aol.com

First Step Western Wayne County Project on Domestic and Sexual Violence 26650 Eureka Road Taylor, MI 48180 Toll free help line 1-888-453-5900

If you need additional emotional assistance because you are a secondary victim (i.e. parent, friend) of a sexual assault victim, you may call any of the listed crisis lines 24-hours a day for support or additional referrals:

Interim House - (313) 861-5300

First Step - 1-888-453-4900 (toll free)

The Police Can Help

The police can try to help in a number of ways. They can take you to get medical attention, gather evidence and interview possible witnesses.
The police will ask you detailed questions and prepare a statement for you to review and sign. The police will use your statement and other evidence to try to find the person responsible for the assault. If the police are able to locate a suspect, they may ask you to help to identify the suspect. The suspect may be arrested and charged.
The police can also refer you to victim services and other available resources.

If you would like to also contact the NSO/Youth Initiatives Project (YIP), we can be reached at 313.965.6924. Always know, we are here to provide resources and help!

Sexual Assault

Mariama McGhee
Sophomore
UPREP High School

Hello ladies! Today’s topic will be on sexual assault. You will be learning how much harm it can be to females nationwide, if you don't speak up. The information on sexual assault is provided courtesy of PLEA (Public Legal Education Association). Please take a moment to read this information with utmost care.

What is sexual assault?

Sexual assault is a crime. It involves sexual contact, such as kissing, touching, fondling and intercourse, without consent.
A person may be charged with:
sexual assault, or
sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm, or
aggravated sexual assault

What is consent?

Consent means to voluntarily agree to engage in sexual activity. When threats or force are used to obtain consent, that consent is not voluntary. If a person, such as your boss, teacher, doctor or family member, uses power they have over you to obtain your consent, your consent is not voluntary.

Consent must be clear. If you are too afraid to yell or resist or fight back, your consent cannot be implied. You have the right to decide whether to have sexual relations with another person.

You can consent to some sexual activities without consenting to all sexual activities. For example, you may agree to go on a date and to hold hands or kiss. You may have agreed to have sexual relations on previous occasions. Agreeing to any or all of these things does not mean you consent to other sexual contact. You have the right to say “No” to anything, at any time. No one has the right to force you into unwanted sexual activity, no matter what has happened before. “No” means “no” - always.

Sexual Assault is Wrong

Anyone who forces sexual activity on you can be charged with the offence of sexual assault. It does not matter whether the person is a stranger or someone you know, such as a date, friend, relative, spouse or partner. Sexual assault is a crime.

What to do

If you are sexually assaulted you should get help right away. You can contact the police, a doctor or sexual assault centre. A sexual assault centre can send someone to give you support and information, accompany you to the hospital and help you work through the process of deciding whether to report the incident to the police.

It is important to get medical attention, even if the assault did not involve sexual intercourse. If you decide to seek medical attention or to report the incident to the police, you should not clean yourself, change or throw away your clothes, comb your hair, or take any drugs or alcohol. If you do any of these things it may be harder to gather evidence about the person who attacked you.

Even if you do any of these things you should still seek medical attention and call the police. It is a good idea to write everything you remember down on paper. Your notes may be helpful if you need to give evidence at a later time.

If you were sexually assaulted a long time ago but didn't report it at the time, you may still decide to report it. The police can investigate and determine whether there is enough evidence to lay charges.

My next entry will address resources you can use to receive help. Stay tuned.