Perks Of Being A Wallflower: Self Analysis
Education is a crucial part of the decision making process that we use every day, whether it be something as simple as choosing what to wear or as complex as making life altering choices, one of which is date rape. If someone goes on a date that does not mean that they want to have sex with you, being on a date does not give you consent to have sex with the other individual. Because a person must give their verbal consent and they should have the choice whether or not they want to proceed with any act under their own will.
The most important thing to keep in mind when entering into sexual activities with a partner is consent. Consent must be given verbally and clearly, stating “yes” I give consent, otherwise it is considered rape under the court of law. One of the instances that we experience in the book The Perks of being a Wallflower was when Dave raped his …show more content…
girlfriend in the coat room during the party that Charlie’s brother though. They asked Charlie whether they could use the room and they didn’t mind that he was there, and that’s when he witnessed the rape take place. Dave’s girlfriend said “no” multiple times to him, but he continued on and raped her (PBW, p.31). If she had given consent, then this would have been normal sex, but because she didn’t and stated “no” multiple times it was considered rape. Another problem can be identified in this situation where Charlie witnessed all of this happening and didn’t intervene being a bystander. Although it may seem like none of his business, he would have played a vital and responsible role in the situation by intervening or calling the cops rather than leaving it be. Additionally, one of the scariest things about rape are the chances of receiving a disease or STD. It’s one of the aspects that many people advocating for rape don’t take into account, saying that the victim was implying that they wanted to pursue sexual activities. They don’t realize that having nonconsensual sex with someone can lead to receiving diseases such as “Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydiatrachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus, and Treponema pallidum” (Oxford), things that are very hard to cure. Many of these diseases are found in primarily female victims, both children and adults, but has also been found to be prevalent in males as well (Oxford). This is why it’s recommended that you get a medical examination if you are a victim of rape (Oxford). One of the diseases or illnesses that was present in the book was PTSD, attained from Charlie’s childhood where he was molested by his Aunt Helen. Charlie recalls in one of his dreams how his aunt Helen has molested him, and comes to the realization that it wasn’t a dream it was what she used to always do to him every Saturday (PB, p.208-209). This was a sign of PTSD because he was recalling traumatic scenes from his life, but seemed to not realize what had happened till later on in the book. One of the symptoms that are used to assess whether someone has PTSD is whether or not they “Repeated and distressing recollections of the event”, which we see was prevalent in the case of Charlie and most likely prevalent in the case of Dave’s girlfriend (AAETS).
Furthermore, we have other issues such as pregnancies from rape, which “among adult women” is “an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year” (AJOG). There are so many subsections to the problem of pregnancies, such as abortion, adoption, and missing parents, which take a big toll on the child that was burdened because of the rapist. Many people assume that they won’t get any punishment or repercussions that will affect them, only looking to get rid of their sexual frustrations by force. This act leads to both jail time and paying for child support as well as other payments that have been put on them by the court. In some cases, many of the victims are unaware of who the rapist is and are stuck with a baby and no support having to put the child up for adoption or getting an abortion.
I think that this book would be a good for Walnut High School seniors because it gives insight as to what the real world has and allows for them to open their eyes to the realities of this life, which aren’t always the sweetest. It would definitely hold up to the standards that we have at the high school, where most of the students are graduates and attend college after. The students are going to be entering a world that isn’t as safe as Walnut, and in order for them to do well they will need to be aware of the dangers that are present and establishing their values as a person. The problems that arise in the book are also very helpful to the students that are already at the school because it addresses the problems such as rape, which does happen in high school and allows for students to discuss and get help if they have gone through that. It’s very tough for high schoolers to understand this topic and the book would allow for discussion in the classrooms that would educate them on something that may be considered sensitive in a household environment. Walnut High School differs from other high school in the area because it is very diverse in culture and has created a community that is very loving and safe, but in many colleges we see cases that have racist rallies and discrimination still. The Perks of Being a Wallflower allows students to think critically, which is a value that the California education system has been trying to instill in the teaching. Students that learn to think critically are more likely to come to an understanding whether or not they want to, creating tolerance in all aspects of life.
One of the teachers at Walnut High School, Mrs.
Lim-Hays states the course goals for her English class to “develop professional and critical thinking skills” which can be learned with the provided texts (WHS). Perks of being a Wallflower provides a different writing style that is not prevalent in most other readings that the course provides. He uses the format as if he is writing in a diary, but with the proper formatting which falls under the rules of grammar. It provides real life stories that can take place in the same time as high school students and has great relevance to them, giving room for discussion past just the rulings of grammar. Critical thinking falls hand in hand with problem-solving which will be highly used in the work force, especially if you work with technical majors such as engineering and computer science. These skills will allow you to analyze problems or topics, and discuss problems that are prevalent with only basic knowledge. Many people don’t have this skill, but is now a very big focus in the schools across California, worrying many of parent who are very involved in the
schools.
Perks of being a Wallflower is a book designed to attract ages 15 and up because it addresses many world problems that we seem to have a hard time addressing. Things like date rape, sex, suicide, and masturbation are all real issues that parents and teachers have a hard time discussing with their children or amongst themselves, and this book helps to open the doors to discussion on what was once a difficult thing. Opening these topics up to students will help to decrease the risk of these students being one of the numbers and allowing them to seek the help that they may need, which we are probably unaware of along with gaining an understanding of the core values in the English class (WHS). A recent statistics states that 30 to 70 percent of all suicides are due to the fact that they suffer from either depression or bipolar disorder (M.H.A.). If we make this effort we will be able to prevent a good amount of suicides because people that are suffering from depression will have a space to talk and air out on things that they’ve been holding in, or getting the help they need for their bipolar disorders. Depression is very real in the United States, about “25 million Americans suffer from depression each year”(A.F.S.P.). We have so many mental health resource centers in the state of California alone, but the only way that we can solve these problems are to give people the push to go to these centers and seek the help that they need in order to get better. Many students at Walnut High School suffer from these type of diseases, having multiple suicides take place on our campus or off campus by our students. We need to make a change, and implementing this book will open doors for so many opportunities and change that will be a positive in regards to the mental health and education of our students.
The most important thing to keep in mind when entering into sexual activities with a partner is consent. Consent must be given verbally and clearly, stating “yes” I give consent, otherwise it is considered rape under the court of law. One of the instances that we experience in the book The Perks of being a Wallflower was when Dave raped his …show more content…
girlfriend in the coat room during the party that Charlie’s brother though. They asked Charlie whether they could use the room and they didn’t mind that he was there, and that’s when he witnessed the rape take place. Dave’s girlfriend said “no” multiple times to him, but he continued on and raped her (PBW, p.31). If she had given consent, then this would have been normal sex, but because she didn’t and stated “no” multiple times it was considered rape. Another problem can be identified in this situation where Charlie witnessed all of this happening and didn’t intervene being a bystander. Although it may seem like none of his business, he would have played a vital and responsible role in the situation by intervening or calling the cops rather than leaving it be. Additionally, one of the scariest things about rape are the chances of receiving a disease or STD. It’s one of the aspects that many people advocating for rape don’t take into account, saying that the victim was implying that they wanted to pursue sexual activities. They don’t realize that having nonconsensual sex with someone can lead to receiving diseases such as “Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydiatrachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus, and Treponema pallidum” (Oxford), things that are very hard to cure. Many of these diseases are found in primarily female victims, both children and adults, but has also been found to be prevalent in males as well (Oxford). This is why it’s recommended that you get a medical examination if you are a victim of rape (Oxford). One of the diseases or illnesses that was present in the book was PTSD, attained from Charlie’s childhood where he was molested by his Aunt Helen. Charlie recalls in one of his dreams how his aunt Helen has molested him, and comes to the realization that it wasn’t a dream it was what she used to always do to him every Saturday (PB, p.208-209). This was a sign of PTSD because he was recalling traumatic scenes from his life, but seemed to not realize what had happened till later on in the book. One of the symptoms that are used to assess whether someone has PTSD is whether or not they “Repeated and distressing recollections of the event”, which we see was prevalent in the case of Charlie and most likely prevalent in the case of Dave’s girlfriend (AAETS).
Furthermore, we have other issues such as pregnancies from rape, which “among adult women” is “an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year” (AJOG). There are so many subsections to the problem of pregnancies, such as abortion, adoption, and missing parents, which take a big toll on the child that was burdened because of the rapist. Many people assume that they won’t get any punishment or repercussions that will affect them, only looking to get rid of their sexual frustrations by force. This act leads to both jail time and paying for child support as well as other payments that have been put on them by the court. In some cases, many of the victims are unaware of who the rapist is and are stuck with a baby and no support having to put the child up for adoption or getting an abortion.
I think that this book would be a good for Walnut High School seniors because it gives insight as to what the real world has and allows for them to open their eyes to the realities of this life, which aren’t always the sweetest. It would definitely hold up to the standards that we have at the high school, where most of the students are graduates and attend college after. The students are going to be entering a world that isn’t as safe as Walnut, and in order for them to do well they will need to be aware of the dangers that are present and establishing their values as a person. The problems that arise in the book are also very helpful to the students that are already at the school because it addresses the problems such as rape, which does happen in high school and allows for students to discuss and get help if they have gone through that. It’s very tough for high schoolers to understand this topic and the book would allow for discussion in the classrooms that would educate them on something that may be considered sensitive in a household environment. Walnut High School differs from other high school in the area because it is very diverse in culture and has created a community that is very loving and safe, but in many colleges we see cases that have racist rallies and discrimination still. The Perks of Being a Wallflower allows students to think critically, which is a value that the California education system has been trying to instill in the teaching. Students that learn to think critically are more likely to come to an understanding whether or not they want to, creating tolerance in all aspects of life.
One of the teachers at Walnut High School, Mrs.
Lim-Hays states the course goals for her English class to “develop professional and critical thinking skills” which can be learned with the provided texts (WHS). Perks of being a Wallflower provides a different writing style that is not prevalent in most other readings that the course provides. He uses the format as if he is writing in a diary, but with the proper formatting which falls under the rules of grammar. It provides real life stories that can take place in the same time as high school students and has great relevance to them, giving room for discussion past just the rulings of grammar. Critical thinking falls hand in hand with problem-solving which will be highly used in the work force, especially if you work with technical majors such as engineering and computer science. These skills will allow you to analyze problems or topics, and discuss problems that are prevalent with only basic knowledge. Many people don’t have this skill, but is now a very big focus in the schools across California, worrying many of parent who are very involved in the
schools.
Perks of being a Wallflower is a book designed to attract ages 15 and up because it addresses many world problems that we seem to have a hard time addressing. Things like date rape, sex, suicide, and masturbation are all real issues that parents and teachers have a hard time discussing with their children or amongst themselves, and this book helps to open the doors to discussion on what was once a difficult thing. Opening these topics up to students will help to decrease the risk of these students being one of the numbers and allowing them to seek the help that they may need, which we are probably unaware of along with gaining an understanding of the core values in the English class (WHS). A recent statistics states that 30 to 70 percent of all suicides are due to the fact that they suffer from either depression or bipolar disorder (M.H.A.). If we make this effort we will be able to prevent a good amount of suicides because people that are suffering from depression will have a space to talk and air out on things that they’ve been holding in, or getting the help they need for their bipolar disorders. Depression is very real in the United States, about “25 million Americans suffer from depression each year”(A.F.S.P.). We have so many mental health resource centers in the state of California alone, but the only way that we can solve these problems are to give people the push to go to these centers and seek the help that they need in order to get better. Many students at Walnut High School suffer from these type of diseases, having multiple suicides take place on our campus or off campus by our students. We need to make a change, and implementing this book will open doors for so many opportunities and change that will be a positive in regards to the mental health and education of our students.