User:Maddythursby4/sandbox

"Digital Literacy" Article Review
I found everything in the article to be relevant to the topic and aided in giving a well-rounded summary of what Digital literacy is. The article took a neutral stance on the material, and all claims that were made were backed up by sources. The only place that I see a slight problem is in the technology in the classroom section, the page is slightly biased toward technology aiding the educational experience. After reflecting on that bias in this section there is that slight hint of bias toward technology throughout the whole page. The viewpoint that I found to be overrepresented was discussing the limiting factors toward digital literacy. The article could have included some information on what is being done to improve access to digital sources such as new integration programs. I checked the links in the digital divide introduction section and all of the links took me to valid sources that contained information cited in the article. All the information has an appropriate source, most of them being other wikipedia pages. Additionally they use other journal articles, but the type of source is hard to discern because the citations do not follow a particular format. The socioeconomic factors section uses a slightly outdated source, referencing surveys done in the 90s. The digital divide was growing in the 90s but the trends may have changed and a more recent source should be used to cite the current trends.

The talk page mainly discusses whether the definitions that are used are the correct ones and if the sources that cited give the true definition. In a few places authors are talking about the information they wrote that got removed and why it did. Or they are justifying why it should stay. This article is rated C class, which means that it is just coming out of the starting point for wiki pages. This means that it has lots of room for improvement till it is a more reliable source. And it is of Mid-importance which means that it can become more important if more information is added. It is also shows that digital literacy is not a well researched topic which gives rise to that more people need to be educated on it. This differs from the way we talk about it in class because this is an unbiased source while in class we are reading arguments for digital literacy through the eyes of different groups. Through an argumentative paper there is going to be bias because the author is talking about one side of the argument, typically the one that they agree with or resonate with.

Maddythursby4 (talk) 15:36, 21 April 2018 (UTC) Maddythursby4 (talk) 18:24, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

Childhood Cancer Article Addition
Edited Article

Foundations & Fundraising
There are many organizations that are around for the purpose of fighting childhood cancer. Add in what is already on the wiki page. Some of the major foundations include: Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation allows people across the country to raise money with lemonade stands, to help find a cure for all types of pediatric cancer. The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation focuses on finding less toxic and more effective treatments for pediatric cancers. This foundation works with 24 different hospitals across the United States to look for treatments that are effective outside of just the lab space. Childhood Cancer International is the largest global pediatric cancer foundation. Focuses on early access to care for childhood cancers, because of its classification as a curable disease now, focusing on patient support and patient advocacy. These and the hundreds of other foundations involved in the fight against childhood cancer have made many research advances that allow many forms of childhood cancer to be curable. With the advances that are made daily in the labs and hospitals that the foundations sponsor, we are closer to eliminating childhood cancer.

The huge medical advances that have been made by these foundations are not been free, they require donations both big and small from the global community. Experts say that by the year 2020 cancer will cost $158 million annually including research and treatment which is a 27% increase since 2010. With these ever rising costs, the foundations rely on everyone for donations. There are many different ways to contribute from writing a check to collecting donations from neighbors, friends, families, or other community members. The Cure Childhood Cancer website outlines ideas for how to contribute to the cause in everyday ways. Some of the ideas they provide include collecting spare coins, bake/lemonade sales, donating potions of purchases from stores or restaurants, or Paid Time Off donations as some of the examples. Other bigger ideas that required more planning are auctions, bike rides, and dance-a-thons, to name a few, many of which are organized by the large foundations but can also be organized by people passionate about making a difference. Additionally, many of the major foundations have donation buttons where the funds you raised can be easily contributed to the cause.

Not only do the foundations help with advancing the research, but also in supporting the families that are affected emotionally by this disease. Support groups are offered in the hospitals and online that are funded by the different foundations. Families of the affect children are encouraged to turn to their family and friends, and to the other families that are going through the same struggles as them. The foundations for pediatric cancers help with these situations by organizing in person and online support groups and directing families toward books that aid in the coping process.

The foundations for pediatric cancer all fall under the 501(c)3 designation which means that it is a non-profit organization that is tax-exempt. If you are interested in starting a foundation you must first apply for this status through the IRS before you are able to continue fundraising for your cause.

Maddythursby4 (talk) 15:37, 2 May 2018 (UTC) Maddythursby4 (talk) 17:54, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Alyssa's review of article

 * 1) Yes she followed directions
 * 2) She has participated on the talk page
 * 3) Section title is descriptive and relevant
 * 4) Her stance is neutral
 * 5) This section makes a good contribution to the article
 * 6) The first paragraph is a little long, but not excessively long
 * 7) It's really well organized, the main points are distinct but related
 * 8) The sources are pretty authoritative, maybe add a journal article to back up some claims made in the second paragraph
 * 9) The wording is comprehensive and could be easily understood by a general audience
 * 10) Maybe adding multiple sources per point

Abortion in Afghanistan
Moved to Abortion in Afghanistan Page Maddythursby4 (talk) 23:59, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

Abortion in Afghanistan is a very controversial topic, where some believe it is a choice and others believe that all fetuses have a right to life. This is an issue in Afghanistan that is affected by the religious constraints from the national religion, Islam. Islamic law comes from their religious text, the Qur’an, which Muslims believe comes from God. Islamic medicine is based on the sanctity of human life, where they believe that God does not cause illness that is incurable. Abortion is only legal if it is performed to save the life of the mother or if the child is going to be born with a severe disability. Due to these constraints, women can choose to pursue an abortion illegally or be shunned by society due to a pregnancy outside of the socially accepted norms. Contraception is approved by Islam when it prevents the formation of the zygote and prevents implantation in the uterus. Afghanistan has one of the highest fertility rates, but its levels are decreasing since the fall of the Taliban, which is allowing the entrance of aid works into the country to help with fertility and mortality levels.

Terminology
The cells that are developing in the mother’s womb to eventually become a baby have many different names at the different stages they pass through. From conception, when the sperm and egg fuse in the fallopian tube, till week 5 of the pregnancy, it is referred to as the zygote. From week 5 till week 10 of the pregnancy, it is referred to as an embryo. At week 10 in the pregnancy, the embryo becomes a fetus and development of all organ systems and body parts begins. At around the 38-40th week, a fully developed baby will be born.

Current Legistlature
Chapter 4 of the Afghanistan Penal Code outlines the consequences for performing abortions. It states that abortions outside of saving the life of the mother or if the babies life is endanger, interpreted as a severe disability or low quality of life, are illegal. Article 402 says that anyone who purposefully kills a fetus will be sentenced to no more than 7 years in prison. Article 403 says that anyone who performs the abortion will either be in-prisoned or fined up to approximately $165USD (12,000 Afghanis). If the person performing the abortion is a doctor they will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Access to Abortions
There are very few legal cases that will allow abortion to occur. Women are able to get an abortion when their life is endangered by the pregnancy, or if the baby will be born with severe deformities or disabilities. Religious ethical committees must rule on the ethics of the abortion, and if the circumstance for the abortion falls under the legal realm of abortions though before the abortion can be carried out. After ethical approval of the abortion, there must also be approval from a gynecologist, 3 general practitioners, a counselor, and permission of the doctor, before the abortion can take place. One additional situation that occasionally allows abortion to occur is due to poverty. This is especially prominent in Taliban run areas. Within Taliban controlled areas, poverty based abortions are generally approved more often because they have too many children.

Due to the few cases that allow abortion to occur, women have to pursue abortions through illegal means, which is necessary in order to avoid shame from their husbands, families, and society. This leads women to having to fund the abortion themselves, which can be difficult because of the social norm that implies that it is women's job to have children and thus they don't have jobs outside of taking care of the house and the family. Many women would prefer not to have children, but lack knowledge of how to limit the number of children they have outside of use of abortions. When pursuing abortions, they many times need to use uneducated midwives who don't know how to properly perform the procedure or deal with complications. Another option they have is to use expensive private clinics, which leads to the issue of funding the expenditure. Since women are typically unemployed, rounding up the funds for an abortion can be difficult. The price of an abortion has decreased from 250,000 Afghanis ($3,500USD) to 17,500 Afghanis ($250USD). This decrease has been seen because fo the increasing need of abortions. But the price is still 15,000 Afghani ($150USD) higher than the average price of an Abortion in the United States, where abortions are legal and generally publicly accepted.

Safety of the procedure
Due to the illegality of abortions in Afghanistan, it makes the procedure unsafe for women pursuing an abortion for reasons not covered by the law. Afghanistan is in the top 16 worldwide for the highest mortality rate from abortion. The healthcare system in Afghanistan is also not at a level to properly care for pregnant mothers. Every 2 hours there is a pregnancy related death in Afghanistan. The high maternal mortality is due to lack of post procedure care. International aid workers are now working to improve the safety of the procedures by educating midwives and nurses that are involved in performing abortions on how to better care for their patients, and limit the mortality of the procedure.

Religious limitations
Islamic law comes from the Qur'an, which they believe comes from God and Muslims use it to dictate their every day actions. The religious laws of Islam dictate strict policies on gender interactions. One of these requirements is that women use a female gynecologist. Islamic rule says that males in the medical field should only treat females if there are no other females in the field to care for them. Women are more likely to seek care from a female gynecologist to conform to their religious convictions. Increasing the number of female doctors in Afghanistan could make women more likely to seek professional help as opposed to nonprofessional help.

Islamic medicine ideals are based on the sanctity of human life, which states that God created humans and did not create diseases or other ailments that do not have cures or other solutions that humans have the ability to discover. Muslim teachings say that human life begins at conception because the fetus is able to perform actions within the womb that humans outside of the womb are able to perform, such as movement and digestion. This means that the fetus has a soul. This means that the fetus has rights, which the mother is responsible for protecting until delivery. This leads to the overriding belief that abortion should be avoided whenever possible. Any action that would take away the soul of the fetus is illegal. This includes a pregnant mother being murdered--the murderer is tried for both deaths--and if the father dies while the mother is pregnant the estate will not be divided until the birth of the child, because the fetus has rights to the estate and the father's inheritances. However, in cases of rape, abortion is not permitted because one crime cannot be solved with another crime, and having an abortion for reasons other than the health of the mother and the baby is considered a crime. If a fetus is predicted to die right after birth, the mother and the father must make the decision, considering all factors, that they feel aligns best with the Qur'an.

Islam approves certain forms of contraception as well. Contraceptive methods are acceptable when they prevent ovulation and formation of the zygote. Once the zygote has formed, which means the egg and the sperm have fused, it is considered a human life and thus is protected as such. Ethicists believe that the proper use of contraceptives in the proper form prevents the need for abortion and the consideration of the moral dilemma.

Stigmatization of Abortions
Due to the religious views on abortion, society stigmatizes the women who receive abortions. Many women account that they are stuck deciding between whether to have an abortion or have a child outside of marriage, both which cause them to be ostracized from society. Some reasons that lead women to pursue abortions to avoid being ostracized include drug and/or alcohol addicted husbands, poverty, and being single. Due to the constraints that the government places on access to abortions, women must pursue abortion through illegal means to avoid being shunned by their families or punished criminally. The culture in Afghanistan developed both from the government and religion, makes women believe that it is their job to have children. This social role for women does not take into account that Afghanistan has an extremely high birthrate, ranked 12th in the world, with little access to education on family planning and contraceptive usage.

Birthrates & Fertility
Afghanistan has one of the highest fertility rates in the world, with very few women actively using contraceptive methods, despite support from the government and conformance with religious ethics. Only 22.5% of people utilize contraceptive measures in comparison to the United States, where 74.1% of people utilize contraception. In the 1990s, the average woman had 8 children throughout her lifetime, but this decreased in the mid-200s to 6.,1 with hopes to hit an average of 5 births per woman by the end of 2010.

Since the Taliban's fall in 2001, fertility levels are decreasing, which make sense due to the Taliban's belief in not educating girls, child brides, and not providing healthcare for women. The falling of the Taliban has allowed an entrance of aid workers to the country to provide educational funding for schools, family planning, and more access to birth control. The uncontrolled high fertility rates make it difficult for Afghanistan to manage the poverty levels and improve other social conditions which leaves a high dependence on aid from other countries. High fertility rates cause high birthrates, which contribute to the high fetal mortality rate. Afghanistan has the highest fetal mortality rate in the world, with 110.6 deaths per 1000 births. The mother is also 19.9 years old on average at her first birth. As access to education across Afghanistan is increasing due to the fall of the Taliban, the fetal mortality rate is also decreasing. In rural areas the mortality rate still remains high, but aid workers are being sent to many regions of the country after receiving training on deliveries and care for newborns.

Maddythursby4 (talk) 18:22, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

Why this topic?
Access to abortions is a very controversial issue where some women believe that it is their body, and therefore their choice, on if they should carry the birth to term and others believe that all fetuses have a right to life.

Maddythursby4 (talk) 20:34, 13 May 2018 (UTC)

Peer Review

 * Is it too repetitive? Or are there things that I am missing?
 * What is a more logical order to put my article in?
 * Should I use more subheadings?
 * How do I link to a Wikiproject?