User:Rdiablo123/sandbox

=== ACTION OVER AWARNESS ===

One way to help avoid heinous crimes from reoccurring is to be an active member within society advocating against people like Robert Willie Pickton. In society, people are definitely aware of events like the Pickton murders because of newspapers, television, and the internet. However, not enough people actually act on it to help prevent it from happening again but rather just talk about it with hope that it does not occur again. Furthermore, merely being aware is not an effective means from eliminating certain adverse events from happening. Being an active participant of society and standing up for certain rights is mandatory to help create a more peaceful and positive world. The initial steps are to involve the youth instead of just making them aware. For instance, teachers educate youth about refraining from violence and drug use. However, unless a youth actually sees firsthand the consequences that arise from using drugs they will never really know what to stay away from or how to step in to help someone in need. This relates to the Robert Willie Pickton trial in the sense that he murdered these women. Even though some of the women were prostitutes on the Downtown East Side of Vancouver, it does not merit the right to take a life. These women belonged to families and people that loved them. The education for our youth needs to come into play by teaching them why Robert Willie Pickton is an evil man and how the women could have avoided prostitution and drugs.

We are aware of what took place on the Pickton farm but do we know what to do to prevent this from happening again? It seems that there are reoccurring themes as time goes on. This is because certain witnesses do not do anything to help people they see that are in need. Educators need to take a more hands-on and effective approach to educate the youth as is done by Jackson Katz, the co-founder of the Mentors in Violence Prevention program (MVP). Jackson Katz focuses on an approach whereby witnesses and bystanders can gain skills to help certain people in need and to, more importantly, make people more active participants of society . Katz uses a method known as the bystander approach. His focus is not primarily on the victim-perpetrator, but rather on the role of children in social settings. He demonstrates that instead of merely focusing on who the victim and perpetrators are, children need to be taught what they can do as bystanders instead of just letting certain crimes happen when they see something happening or about to happen. (Katz 2006, p. 116.) (Katz 1995, p. 165.) If people can be taught at a young age to step in and take action against things they see are wrong with a focus on role-playing whereby children can learn effective strategies .

If this strategy is implemented in more schools we can make people aware with our actions and prevent certain crimes from happening. Thus, maybe Robert Willie Pickton would not have murdered as many women as he did. Maybe someone could have stepped in or even gone to the police with whatever information they had. According to a witness on tape, Pickton had claimed that he brought his victims to the farm, handcuffed them, raped them, killed them and then fed them to the pigs on the farm . Unfortunately, too many people do nothing. This is because although they are aware, they have never had to take on the active role of taking action. “But intervening physically or doing nothing are not the only possible choices. The MVP Model seeks to provide bystanders with numerous options, most of which carry no risk of personal injury. With more options to choose from, people are more likely to respond and not be passive and silent – and hence complicit – in violence or abuse by others” .

The women on the Downtown East Side of Vancouver must have known about each other since they were all working in the same area. But how come none of them said anything? If they had learned at a young age to take action, maybe these murders or at least some of them could have been preventable. This bystander approach can relate our societal police force as well. Too many police officers just do what they are told although some know that serving someone 20 years or a maximum life sentence does not do much. It does not educate the youth. People take a passive look at individuals who commit crimes. They are simply sent to serve time in prison. However, individuals like Robert Willie Pickton need more than just prison time.