Final Reflection

This semester my group was focused in bringing news about the Mexican Drug Wars. Since it was such a broad topic, we decided to divide it up into the role of women and role of the media. Topics covered ranged from a vigilante group that decided to take matters into their own hands, how women were affected, the issues with journalist, and how tourism still continued despite increasing violence. My particular part was with how journalist were affected to the point that they feared their life. Many have been threatened journalist for publishing incriminating investigations or other things such as tying the government to illicit activities. Therefore, it is probable that much of the events happening might not even be reported due to fear of retaliation.

As a group we decided that we should split into teams of two and within the team of two we would decide how to work. My theme was violence on women due to drug cartels. Therefore my research had to be based on this. However, there were times when there was no information about women. If this happened, I would move on to our other point of focus, which was the media. I was also sure to check the sites being used for my research because many information is from alternative media. This was specially important because sometimes the source would be extreme and their information was too biased. By working as a group, the feedback and comments of what went right or wrong that week helped a lot how to shape the research and post.

By doing this project I realized that there is much more to a topic than one would expect. I also learned that it is vital to keep updated on subjects of interest because from one week to the other, there would be captures of drug lords and that would reshape and bring new events sparking suddenly. Another thing that I found interesting is that this is a war and it is not getting enough attention by the US media. Innocent people's lives are being taken away and there are no big headlines talking about it. This connects with other issues such as why an immigration reform is wanted by people who have a fear of going back to a country where there is so much chaos. Therefore, I was able to make connections within international contexts.

Reflection Final Post

My group has covered the Mexican Drug Cartels and their effect on the state of the Mexico and Mexico’s inhabitants. My group covered the viciousness of the Mexican drug cartels including witness testimonies of actual victims who had been maimed by the cartels’ enforcers. We’ve discussed the difficulty of being a journalist in Mexico due to the ruthlessness of the cartels, which constantly kill anyone who attempts to shed light on their actions. We’ve also discussed Calderon’s war on the cartels and citizens trying to retaliate, both efforts to no avail as the cartels grip on Mexico has increased if any change has occurred at all.  My group has elaborated upon the Mexican government considering legalizing marijuana in an order to decrease the violence due to marijuana’s sedating effects. My group has also written about how the escalating violence in Mexico is hurting Mexico’s tourism which it relies on heavily as a source for income, due to the cartels’ practice of kidnapping, robbing, and even killing foreigners with no hesitation.

            My research was done basically though looking up topics on the internet, and I researched the history of some of the cartels by watching Gangland documentaries on Youtube. My first post was about the history of some of the cartels, such as the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels. It was relatively easy finding new topics to talk about because even though this is a subject that isn’t at the forefront of many Americans’ list of worries, it extremely well-covered. It was extremely difficult for my group to communicate with each other, we actually struggled with that a lot, or at least between me and my other group members. Working in a group also made it much more doable, however, it kind of made me not get into it as much because individually we didn’t have to do many posts.

            I learned how big the cartels are, and gained a better understanding of how violent they are with… anyone. I learned about how many of their different actions have huge impacts on Mexico. I’ve also learned that this problem is much more than the Mexican government can handle alone, and since the U.S. loves meddling in the affairs of other countries they should deal with a threat a lot closer to home than Syria. I learned that researching information can be difficult when you get extremely specific. I also was reminded of the difficulty of succeeding in a group where effective communication is sometimes not present.

           

Final Blog Post!

           Our group covered the Mexican Drug Wars and how it has had a negative impact on Mexico and its citizens. As a group, we discussed topics that might be able to narrow down our topic. At first we spoke about narrowing the topic down by region, but we found this too difficult since regional material was not always available. In my first blog post I wrote about the effects of one person and the violence that can be perpetuated by one person. My second blog post had to do with the rising death toll and the lasting effects this war will have. Both posts were under the theme of violence and the way government was intervening (or not). My fellow group members followed similar guidelines.

I did my research for my post by looking through Mexican Drug Wars section on my Google news feed. Every week there was coverage on something that went on throughout the week; typically reports would be on the rising dead toll or a significant drug deal or dealer that had been thwarted. My group influenced me on my approach to the issue by discussing topics we would like to reflect on before we started working on our blog posts. Having their feedback on my blog posts was also helpful because they pointed out what I didn’t see.

            I learned that making time to meet with a group was difficult. Working with other people takes an active effort and every person needs to put in an equal amount if effort for the happiness of the whole group. Working together is not and easy task, but when it is done right it is rewarding. I also learned and clarified fact and fiction between my topic. It was great was to stay active to the news and dig deeper into a topic.

-Mexican Drug Wars- The Final Post

              

Researching the Mexican Drug Cartels, our group had focused on its effects on Mexico’s community. Within the group’s first few blogs the group presented information about the dangers that were presented amongst Mexico’s drug wars and it’s job limitations, such as making journalism a dangerous job. There were several references about Calderon’s presidency in 2006 and how his initiative to end drug cartels ultimately made Mexico a much less peaceful place to live in. The group has also blogged about the increasing violence present in Mexico as the citizens begin to try to fight back with weapons of their own. Within this chaos we found out that this was affecting the community psychologically, especially the children. With the children now experiencing exploitation by their influenced peers at school, the Mexican childhood is not as safe or kid friendly as it used to be, but instead it’s become a life filled with the struggle to survive. Trying to curb the ongoing violence and its influence, the Mexican government‘s best efforts were the act of trying to legalize certain substances, such as marijuana.

Working as a group, I felt made the individual was able to focus on who the blog’s audience was—attempting to make it as interesting as possible. Knowing that a fellow classmate was going to read it, I tried to give them an easy read on a current event that I knew they might have not been familiar with. Researching things for my blog’s topic was hard for the fact that many of the articles had been about 6 months old. They weren’t as current as I hoped.

Usually my sources came from outside Mexico, rather than inside, maybe it was because it’s become increasingly difficult in Mexico to be a journalist. In fact, the most substantial information I received from inside Mexico had been YouTube tapes secretly taken by average citizens asking for help and explaining the corruption in their towns. In doing my research, I became really conflicted because I knew that there were many other upsetting stories out there in relation to the drug wars, in fact other wars as well. Some people never get the opportunity to voice out for help and now more than ever, I’ve felt we need to use the media more effectively. People need to be driven to do something about helping others rather than just feeling pity.

Final Post - Mexican Drug War- Kelleen

Throughout the semester my group and I researched the Mexican Drug War and its effect on Mexican society and population. We decided to focus on a new theme related to the drug war each week. My theme the first week I wrote was violence against women and I wrote about vigilante assassinations of  male bus drivers in Cuidad Juarez perpetuated by a mysterious woman, highlighting the frustration of Mexican women that Mexico authorities do not take crimes against women as seriously as violence between men. My second post was about Mexico City legislators considering legalizing marijuana with a theme around possible solutions for the drug war. The other members of my group wrote about a variety of topics including violence against journalists, trends in tourism related to violence from the drug war and immigration to the United States from Mexico due to drug war violence. Since we had to focus on stories in the news that week, it was hard to narrow our topic beyond the general drug war. The drug war is in the news frequently but the stories are often similar: extreme violence due to cartel fighting and control.

Before starting my research for my blog post I decided on a theme I wanted to focus on; the two I chose were violence against women and solutions to the war. Next I would look at the news for the drug war that week on different new source websites including Mexican and American Press. It was often hard to find the kind of story I was looking for because the news stories about the drug war are usually just about someone being arrested or civilian deaths. I found the vigilante killer story and the possible legalization of marijuana stories very interesting because they were not like most of the stories about Mexico. The vigilante killer story was all over the American press and was unusual as it was a female suspect. Our group had decided to have one person each week write a blog post and send it out to the rest of the group by Wednesday for everyone to give feedback. The group's feedback was helpful because they often mentioned things I hadn't thought of, like explaining the back story or including the response to the incident. Having group feedback was helpful while writing my posts.

During this project I learned that working in a group can be very difficult, communication is often hard to maintain. I also learned that feedback can be very helpful because things you had not thought of can be brought up and fixed. Our topic was not a happy one and reading all the news stories was often disheartening however I do feel that I now have a better grasp of origins and reasons for the drug war. Mexico is very close to the United States however we don't often think of the horrible things going on there, of which our citizens are partially responsible for. People also often think of immigration as an American problem but we need to look at why people leave Mexico and other Latin American countries. If we are horrified by the civil war in Syria and feel obliged to take action there we should also be looking closer to home and realize that daily senseless violence is occurring right next door and we are not doing anything to stop it.

Mexico's Drug Wars Transcends Into the Classroom

 

Since the year 2006, many gruesome acts of violence, acted on by cartels, have affected communities. There are constant acts of violence seen by the public (children, teachers, the elderly, etc.) on the daily. In Acapulco, it has become increasingly hard for the school children to focus on their education. There have been prolonged summer vacations due to the number of violence that had been increasing. In Juarez, an elementary school vice principle mentioned to a reporter, "Kids all over town are used to seeing violence. They record pictures of dead bodies on their cellphones and put them on Facebook." Mexico, being the fourteenth largest economy, spends roughly 20 percent on the countries education. However, most of it goes to waste due to the immense corruption. As the drugs wars continue they’ve given a lot of influence to those who have no other option, but watch and let it happen. There has been a constant struggle for people to survive. To give you an idea as to what is happening, Mexico spends 24. 3 % and Canada spends 12 % on educational purposes  (Thackston), but unfortunately because of Mexico’s failing economy, even then… the amount Mexico spends on the children is a lot lower than neighboring North American countries.

There have been many complaints by teachers of being constantly threatened to give portions of their salaries to cartels. This constant threat has affected the attendance of teachers, as well as the amount of money that is invested in the classrooms. There have been complaints that the classrooms have reported to have dim lighting and have that not enough money has been spent on school buildings and materials. As children are lacking the resources they need, they see the growing economic value in illegal business with the drug cartels. Various psychologists now explain that many children have begun to think that extorting money and violence is an acceptable way of living  (Murphy). There has been an increase in bullying amongst many schools in Mexico. Within 31-32 Mexican states, there are only five laws in place to protect against the school bullying.  Sadly, there have been cases of students charging other students to use the playground. Just like the drug cartels act, the students are using extortion to their advantage. The means in which children in Mexico have been bullying has shown, not only the influence that drug cartels have on the characters of the young children who watch them, but also the change in what a child experiences during childhood, from the way they are bullied to the way they think about being successful.   

Works Cited

Murphy, Annie. "Mexico's Drug War is Changing Childhood." 2012 27 November. NPR. 2013 26 November <http://www.npr.org/2012/11/27/166027034/mexicos-drug-war-is-changing-childhood>.

Thackston, David. World Issues. 24 April 2013. 26 November 2013 <http://www.worldissues360.com/index.php/countries-that-spend-the-most-money-on-education-800/>.