SoCal immigrants and the new travel ban, LAUSD considers younger kids for Sex-Ed courses, how would the Aliso Canyon natural gas facility do in an earthquake?
Trump replaces travel ban with new restrictions that target 8 countries
DACA recipient becomes a teacher to help others like her
Miriam Gonzalez has had to fight to be a teacher.
Today she works at Crown Prep Academy, a K-12 charter school in Los Angeles, but her path there was anything but easy. She found out she was undocumented after telling her parents she wanted to get a summer job in seventh grade. They told her she couldn't legally work in the U.S. and that she shouldn't tell anyone.
In high school people, told her she probably wouldn’t be able to go to college. But she really wanted to go, so she decided to take a risk and tell her secret to a teacher she trusted.
"She just always seemed to care, I told her I was undocumented and she ended up confessing to me that at some point she was also undocumented and she was able to legalize her status when she was in college," says Gonzalez. "So for me, I was like 'Wow!' I found someone who kinda shared my similar experience, but she’s now a teacher giving back."
How has being a DACA recipient affected the way you relate to your own students, because you’ve been on both sides of this now?
Yeah, so now on the teacher side, and as a middle school teacher (which is when I found out I was undocumented) I’m pretty sure I might have some students that are undocumented. I know of two that are [undocumented] who trusted me with their status, but I know a lot of them are afraid because of everything that’s happening. And I know a lot of them share the fear of their parents. And I feel like, now having me in the classroom to be that person like ‘I know kinda what you’re going through, I’m here to help you, whatever you need just let me know. If your parents want someone to talk to you can send them to me.’
How did your students react when you told them you are a DACA recipient?
They kinda don’t really understand what that means, but I did have a student, after they announced the rescinding of DACA, who asked, "Miss, are you afraid to be deported?" And I told him, "No, I’m not afraid of being deported because I’m not going to be deported; cause I’m gonna fight with whatever I have to stay here with you guys." And right there I could see they were like ‘Oh miss, you’re so strong.’ And that’s the message that I want my kids to see: to not to be afraid, to battle with whatever they have, for whatever they believe.’
To hear more about Miriam Gonzalez's story, please click on the blue player above.
Want to ease US-North Korea tensions? Stop talking, expert says.
The heated rhetoric between President Trump and North Korea continued to mount this weekend. At a Friday rally in Alabama, Trump aimed at the country's leader once again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-wV_WYr-us
"Rocket Man" is Trump's nickname for leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea made its feelings known Sunday, by way of a propaganda video. It features digital images of North Korean missiles hitting an American aircraft carrier:
Meanwhile, in the U.S., President Trump capped the weekend by expanding his travel ban to include North Korean citizens.
So, where exactly do relations stand between the two countries this morning?
David Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute at USC, says the dynamic might seem more fraught but little has changed:
Fundamentally, we are in the same place that we've always been. The key part of Trump's phrase, which we often ignore, is the first part: 'if North Korea attacks first.' It's not a pledge to unilaterally or preemptively strike North Korea — and the North Koreans respond the same way.
We miss that part as well: 'If you attack us first, we may have to take you out.'
The rhetoric is heated and flamboyant — that's our president — but fundamentally, he's not saying anything different than previous presidents have said.
Kang adds that, if the two countries truly wanted to cool recent tensions, both leaders must simply stop provoking one another:
The first thing I'd say to both sides is: 'Just stop talking.' It's still taunting each other. No one's started shooting, but the taunting doesn't help. Every day we wake up and neither side seems to have the ability to just stop talking and responding to what is clearly just muscle-flexing, macho threats to each other.
Press the blue play button above to hear more on how the two countries could de-escalate the current tensions.
The birds and the bees: LAUSD sex ed might be going through some changes
We can probably all remember the time when learned about the P word: puberty.
If your main source of information for this was in a class at school, it was probably delivered via a squirm-inducing video.
"You're right, in the past, that was what was done," said Timothy Kordic, who is in charge of sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention education for LAUSD.
Now the district is re-evaluating how they teach sex education:
"We're talking about body parts and what they are in grade four. And then in grade five, talking about pregnancy and what happens during pregnancy. We're talking about STI's, what causes an STI. And then in grade six we really start getting into puberty."
It's all part of a pilot program at just a handful of schools that the district is rolling out, exploring different textbooks, materials and methods to teaching sex ed.
Why now?
"Well, we've been getting for years now calls from elementary schools around the need for talking about these things more and getting really updated information. A lot of people that present this information at elementary school were really concerned about the outdated materials they had available to them. But as the other parts of health education evolve, just like nutrition and everything else ... we are looking at new things that are updated and that are more updated and that are more compliant with the law."
Going younger
"Many parents are having these discussions before they even enter school with books and conversations but you have to remember that I would really stress that these are really basic conversations and really basic simple concepts. These are kids, it's sensitive topics but they're important."
That pilot program Koredic was talking about is looking at various materials and courses. One of them is "Puberty: The Wonder Years." It's a sex ed curriculum used in 27 different states. If it's implemented by LAUSD, they would be the largest district to do so.
Wendy Sellers is the author of the book the course is based on. She spoke to A Martinez about what sets "Puberty: The Wonder Years" apart from other curriculums.
Parent engagement
"It has a strong family engagement component where the children are encouraged to find a parent or another trusted adult that they can talk to. And then each grade there are two homework assignments where the children take home questions to talk with that trusted adult, hopefully, a parent, about topics related to puberty."
Questions like:
- What was puberty like for you?
- How did you learn about puberty?
- What are some of the rules of our family around dating?
"So they're very low-level, not embarrassing questions, but the parents and other family members can then increase the conversation based on their own comfort level."
Inclusivity
"The approach that 'Puberty: The Wonder Years' takes is one of inclusivity in language. So, it uses terminology that all young people can relate to and it defines terms in ways that all young people can relate to. It does not have lessons that actually teach about sexual orientation, gender identity, directly."
To hear more about the possible new curriculum and why the district launched the pilot program, click the blue play button above.
Do professional athletes have a right to 'take a knee'?
Athletes from all over the country "took a knee," either literally or symbollically, when the national anthem played during their events over the weekend. That included the Los Angeles Sparks and the Chargers.
It was a response to remarks by President Trump on Friday, challenging owners to remove players who didn’t stand for the anthem.
"Some owners are going to do that," said the president during a rally in Huntsville, Alabama. "He’s gonna say, that guy who disrespects our flag, he’s fired."
The kneeling movement started last fall when Colin Kaepernick, then playing for the San Francisco 49ers, knelt during the national anthem to draw attention to police brutality targeting the African American community.
But the president's comments on Friday gave new life to the movement. Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors was among the first to publicly respond. He declined an invite to the White House.
"I commend and applaud everybody that’s spoken up," said Curry on Friday. "That’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed continue this conversation, and hopefully to promote change. And everybody’s doing it in their own way. And it’s really important."
The conversation soon turned to players' right to protest.
Many athletes saw the president's remarks as a challenge and planned some form of action over the weekend. That included the Los Angeles Chargers, many of whom linked arms when the anthem played Sunday during their game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The protests spread beyond the National Football League. The WNBA's L.A. Sparks left the court during the National Anthem yesterday before a play off game against the Minnesota Lynx, and Oakland A's catcher Bruce Maxwell took a knee before both games this weekend.
Before a game against the Giants this Sunday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that he'd take issue with a player not standing for the anthem. But he also admitted that it was personal decision for each player.
"I would just ask every person to be educated," said Roberts. "And when you make a point ... really think long and hard and be educated on why you're doing what you're doing. And after that, it's each individual player's decision."
So what do you think? Should sporting events be the place for political protest? Do athletes have a right to express themselves in this way? Tweet us @TakeTwo or let us know here, in the comments section.