" Quotes Into Explanations "

The following is a CHUNK OF QUOTES that I found from Mercedes's blog 

         -->Click here for her blog<--

"I remember clearly an incident where I nearly walked right into one of these fights on my way to science; they were fighting right out in the middle of everything, and had to be torn apart by teachers, who they tried to beat on as well.

Though that wasn't always the case… every now and then, an alliance was formed, and being “unpopular” my friends and I were usually the ones being harassed. Truthfully, I didn’t much care, if they wanted to confront me; they needed to do it themselves, to my face. Otherwise, all their effort was for nothing… after a while, the other “targets” picked up on the same tactic, and eventually the harassers left us alone, if we weren’t gonna react, they wouldn’t bother. Tough sometimes this wasn’t as good an idea as it seemed… sometimes the “bullies” would react poorly, resorting to treats of beatings if we didn't do as they wanted. It was at that point we brought our problem to the administration." 

What Mercedes said is related to the ASTI Constitution number 1, THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK OR ACT. According to Mercedes's story, she was nearly going to be part of a fight on her way to her science class, but she calmed down, and stopped herself from being into those "CAT FIGHTS." It is important to THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK OR ACT, because once your words are out of your mouth there is no way to take it back and reverse what you said, and if you said something that offended someone then fights and conflicts are going to begin , and that will create and lead dramas. Plus, if you don't think before you act, you can lead to problem like this: you might have punched or slapped someone, because you were really mad at them or they said something that humiliated you. Furthermore, you might get in serious trouble with the administration. Though, Mercedes and her friends didn't bring up their situation to the administration when the time it happened, but she said that the next time it happens she will. This proves the ASTI Constitution number 10, RESOLVE CONFLICT PEACEFULLY. She didn't go up to their faces, and violate or offend them and she have never thought of  doing that. But instead she said she would go up to the administration and tell them what happened if the situation occurs again. So that's why we have an ASTI Constitution so it would help us build a safer and a more peaceful community at ASTI . (:
Thanks for reading . :D  

And here is the ASTI CONSTITUTION : 

1. Think before you speak or act
2. Include, don’t exclude
3. Accept others for who they are
4. Build mutual trust and respect
5. Assume positive intent
6. Speak up for yourself and others
7. Strive to understand where other people are coming from; be empathetic
8. Take responsibility for your actions and words
9. Make a positive impact on the people and environment around you
10. Resolve conflict peacefully

Hey you! Be nice!

After reading 'Just Kidding And Ganging Up' from

Odd Girls Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons reminded me a time when I was part of an alliance that made someone feel bad. So this is what happened, back in  Cleveland Elementary School,  where everyone did not think before they speak, when nobody took anything seriously, and when most of the time we joked around. So this is what happened in elementary, there was this one new girl that came to our school from Guangzhou, China. Her name was Wan Ying Li, she did not speak much English, but she understood most of  it because she learned some English in China. She had a dry, tanned skin and a round plump face with dark brown eyes.Wan Ying smelled like ornaments and herbs. She dressed differently from us, and had really deep Asian accents. My friends and I thought that she would not understand us, so we talked bad stuff about her in front of her face. We talked about how she dressed like an old lady. She wore homemade clothing and cargo pants from China. She wore knitted sweaters and wore socks with sandals. Also, how she had a hairdo that looks like a boy it was up to her ears, how her mom would always come to school to hand her, her smelly lunch, and how she was always a loner with no friends. Ying understood almost everything we said, when she spoke to us in her deep Asian accented  English, we were surprised and embarrassed. She said. "I know you talk bad me, you vevy mean." My friend replied in a nasty, "Its very mean not vevy, Hello?" After we promoted from elementary my friends and I thought back about what we said and we felt really sorry for talking trash about her, now we think back of what happened we regret for not apologizing to her. I guess we were young and did not have the guts to do it. After experiences in schools, elementary and middle school, I think people bully others, because they want to feel more superior and powerful. So that the others can not over power them. And plus, they want to hurt their peers; because they want to pick on people they dislike, or had conflicts with. Or probably, they got bullied before and wants others to feel he's or her's pain. Either way bullying is harmful and disrespectful to not only others but also yourself.