The Curious Researcher Exercise 4.1

               For my final essay of the semester, I decided to write about the topic of child execution. This has been a controversial topic that has since recent been a bit of a concern globally. It used to occur all over the world, but now it only happens in, I believe, 7 countries. This has continued to occur because people are not exactly sure how to handle a child who has committed an 'adult' crime. When I say child execution, I mean children being incarcerated and put on death row. Most people have mixed feelings about the situation. They are not entirely sure how to handle a child who actually murdered someone. I feel that this really should not be happening in the first place because kids are still growing and maturing. Although this does not excuse the action, the child still needs time to grow as an individual. I have not found much more out at this point rather than the bits of history I have scrounged up and a list of the cases done in the United States. For example, the last known execution in the United States was in 1947. It did not surprise me that it has been so long since the last case. A few questions rise when dealing with this subject, such as why is this still happening or how are people okay with these kinds of decisions? This affects mostly the families of the children being executed and the people dealing with the case. I think we should put a stop to this and discover what actually causes a child to come to this point rather than killing them off immediately. I believe this because again, children are still growing and maturing, so they should be given a second chance seeing as that may be all they know. I think we should offer therapy sessions and do whatever we can to help these children as much as possible and then returning to the case when they are adults to see if anything has changed.

Exercise 2.2 The Curious Researcher

For the next exercise in the book, we have to choose one of the 3 steps and further our research. I decided to do step 1, which is searching my topic using different keywords in a general search engine like Google or Bing. I chose Google and tried the terms 'juvenile behavior' and 'juvenile execution.' I came across a few webpages filled with the history of child executions. I tried to do further research on them, but the cases are so old, there's no record of what exactly they did. Basically, I could not find any alibis for any of the cases. Not even the most recent one, which was in 1947. Or at least the most recent on that page. For those of you who do not know, I am researching child executions and the psychology behind it to bring them to that point. I know it sounds morbid and a very depressing topic to research, but I am more interested in their behavior and why they did what they did to bring them to death row. Unfortunately, that is turning out to be a lot harder than I was hoping. Because there is no alibi from any of the juveniles, there's really no record of them besides their death row sentence. I may have to change my topic a bit since this is proving to be almost not worth it. I am not giving up just yet, but I may have to tweak it a bit, seeing as this may be near impossible with no records and my not being a professional psychologist so I cannot exactly diagnose them. I have taken a few psych courses, but that does not make me a professional nor give me the right to diagnose whatever to whomever. For now, I am going to see what I can come up with, but until then, I am going to have to start tweaking.

The Curious Researcher Exercise #1

So, for an assignment for my english composition class at school, we have to read a book called The Curious Researcher and then do the exercises that follow or lead into each chapter. For the first exercise, there is a list of statements that I have to choose from and then write why I chose it for 3 minutes. The first statement I choose is..."You can use your own writing voice."

This statement I think is true but I am not entirely sure. I was always taught that you have to write as if you are writing to a publisher. That person is going to critique it like crazy until it sounds professional. There should be some elements of your voice, but that should not be the focal voice throughout the paper. The paper should sound professional, but you should know what you are writing about. My whole thought on that is if I know what I am writing about, shouldn't I write in my own voice? Obviously, you have to keep it professional but there should be some elements of you throughout your paper or piece of writing that you are working on. I have recently discovered that there is a way to sound like you are the one talking about the subject, but at the same time, sound professional.

For the second part of the exercise, I am going to choose the statement..."People are entitled to their own opinions, and no one opinion is better than the other."

I definitely agree with this statement. Everyone has their own past experiences and those moments molded and shaped them into the people they are today and why they stand where they stand. Who is to say one is right and the other is not? Now, I am a Christian, so I think that God is all powerful and he is always right. He created the whole universe and everything in it. He has not been wrong yet so he is clearly a trustworthy being. I side with him on everything he takes a stand in. That does not mean I do not mess up and think I am right here and there or think God is crazy for thinking or doing the things that he does, but he has not been wrong nor has he broken a promise. I say it is worth looking into and thinking about. So, when it comes to arguments, I side with him 100%. I find that his opinions make sense to me, but that is how I was raised and how I understand things. To you, I may be completely wrong and crazy for thinking the way I do. Or maybe you completely agree with me. I do not really know. That is why this statement is true. No one opinion is better than the other.