8 Values of Expression

The 8 Values of Expression are crucial for a functioning democracy because they enable the free exchange of ideas, promote informed citizenship, and foster accountability. After reading brief descriptions on all 8, one really stuck out to me, and that is to Promote Tolerance. 

To promote tolerance is to actively encourage/support the acceptance and respect of differences in beliefs, cultures, ways of life, etc. to foster an understanding and peaceful coexistence in the world. I love to talk about this topic because I feel like no one can talk about being accepting of other differences enough. 

It is said that "freedom of speech teaches us to become more tolerant in other aspects of life." The reason I believe this to be true is because when people have the opportunity to speak out about their opinions on life or culture, they might reach someone who either doesn't know anything about it or someone who has a different opinion then them. 

It's so important to be tolerant in todays society because not everything you see on the internet is the truth any more due to the advance technology of AI. People can create any source of fake news and people will run with it just because they believed on source, which is why it is so important to look into things more then just once that way you can see different view points and can form, you're own opinion.

To be tolerant is showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. I honestly never knew what it meant to tolerant until I read into promoting tolerance, because people will call it being inclusive and that you should accept people for who they are no matter what differences you have. 

One place where I believe we as a country need to have more promoting tolerance is in the elections. A lot of people grow up with the same views as their parents just because that's all they grew up knowing instead of looking into it and forming their own opinions. How are we supposed to exceed as a society if everyone just makes up their opinions without even knowing what they are talking about?

The place where tolerance should be taught is in grade school because this is when children are most open and haven't formed too many opinions on things, so they are more accepting to many different ideas and cultures. If we taught our child how to be tolerant at a young age, then by the time they are adults they would be more accepting of different ideas and be more willing to look into things before forming their final opinion. 

I cannot express the importance of being tolerant enough because in today's society there are so many different ways to look at things such as, culture, ways of life, and beliefs, and you aren't always going to work with or even be around people with the same exact views as you. That is why it is so important to be accepting of people, their opinions, and hearing their side of the story out. 

How does the Supreme Court work?

 

The Supreme Court is something that everyone should have an idea about and how things, such as cases get processed through it. I personally had no idea how the Supreme Court worked other than there are only 4 women out of 9 members that make up the court. So, watching this video was very beneficial in teaching me a lot of things I never knew before.

Did you know the court room is open to the public at all times? I forswore didn't and I really wish I lived closer to Washington D.C because I would love to go and watch some of these cases get processed. The court receives up to 7,000 different cases a year but only around 100 get approved fully, for the court to even consider a case, the case must be brought to them. They can not go seeking an issue unless it is brought to their attention by the people.

Being a justice on the Supreme Court can be stressful, because you never know what you are walking into until you start the job. It's said to be that "you don't really start doing you work until you forget that you are here", I found this quote really interesting because I believe this relates to a lot of other things rather than just the job, due to things like stress and anxiety. So, it's only when you forget that you're there and are comfortable with the environment that you officially start doing your best work. 

As everyone else on the world, they do come to disagreements but at the end of the day they have the same objective of making sure justice and the law is being distributed fairly and respect each other’s good faith. Even during the trials they each have 3 different types of arguments " the one they planned to give, the one they gave, and the one they wish they gave", I found this important to mention because I feel that is how most people think in everyday life when they go into doing something which makes me remember that the people on this court are just people trying to do their job to the best of their ability. 

One of the most surprising things that shocked me to find out was that the opinion writing about a case can take up to 9 weeks and adjustments to that final draft can go on for months. the reason it goes on for so long is because in their opinion writings they are trying to get their point across to the other members who may disagree so that they may change their mind on the issue at the time. The releases of all the opinions doesn't happen until late June when they are close to the end of the term, which can at a shock as well because I thought they got released whenever the issue was done being discussed and was voted on.

Overall, I found this video was very informational and would highly recommend everyone to learn about the Supreme Court because it is something that impacts a lot of important cases that affect our lives. If we aren't aware of how decisions are made then how are we allowed to judge their decisions since we do are not aware of how if works.

 

Top 5 News Sources

 There are many different sources out in the world to get information from but here are my "to go to". 

1. Instagram 

Personally as a teenager, I would have to say my top source to find information is Instagram. throughout the day I scroll on Instagram multiple times a day and feel like there are many different types of view points on different topics. You can also comment and talk about your opinion on the certain post you are looking at, and it allows others to talk and reply to you. Now not everything you see on Instagram is real due to the advancement to AI technology so it is very important to look up other sources to be able to see what is true and what is false.

2. Facebook 

Instagram and Facebook are a lot alike, as much as I hate to say I am for sure considered a "Facebook mom". If I am ever on my phone more then likely I will be on Facebook. Facebook is where I keep up what is going on in my hometown and how I keep in touch with most family members. It is a great source of information because there are thousands of post everyday and a lot of companies have accounts on there, which means you can find a lot of information about hours, specials, and even reviews about certain businesses. I would highly recommend it because you can choose and pick what you see and what you don't want to see. I love Facebook and will forever be proud to say I am a "Facebook mom".

3. CNN

During High School we had to look at a news article and complete an assignment weekly so that we kept up with stuff that was happening around us.I felt like CNN was a great source to find news on because it covers many different ranges of topics and is always publishing 24/7. CNN is where I normally go to find more information on news articles that I see on Instagram. I would highly recommend CNN.com because it was a very helpful website when it comes to looking for news articles with real information and maybe even some witnesses who have experienced the topic the article may be covering.

4. Wikipedia 

When anyone looks something up online normally the answer is coming from Wikipedia. I would have to say 90% of the time when I do not know the answer to something I will go on the internet and look it up, which almost 100% of the time has the answer I am looking for and will even come up with some websites that I could look at that would have more information about the topic. I would fully recommend Wikipedia for someone looking to finding information especially if you don't know anything about the topic because it will come up with many different links that will educate you. 

5. The New York Times 

I would have to say I do not go on The New York Times website too much but if I am doing a research project or need to find information about. something going on around the world I will go on their website. the reason why I trust this website to provide true information is because they are one of the best known news paper agency in the United State. I would highly recommend using The New York Times to help gain information on topics because of how many wide range topics the cover.