Campus Pulse: 5/22/18

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Gun education for youth

We should educate children in schools about guns and gun safety before passing more gun control legislation. Imposing more restrictions on obtaining a gun can help the crime rate to a certain extent, but education about guns will help more.

Gun control has often been compared to cars — over time, they’ve become more regulated and therefore safer. However, we also educate our youth about cars. They go through driver’s education courses, pass a test and must drive for a certain number of hours with an adult in the car before they can drive on their own. This is valuable education and has no doubt drastically improved car safety statistics as well.

What if we did a similar thing with guns? What if high school kids went to shooting ranges as part of their physical education courses and learned gun safety and gun operation? Then, if they chose to, they could continue on to get their hunter’s safety.

Having educational and controlled exposure to guns will teach youth how to respect and use them. This would be beneficial for gun safety in our great country. In short, to justify more gun control legislation, we first need to provide our youth with the same educational experience regarding guns that they receive regarding cars.

—Brad Clawson

Mapleton, Utah

True Christianity

“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” Throughout his life, Jesus Christ continuously admonished his disciples to follow his example. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

These challenges extend further than to Christ’s apostles; they extend to the whole earth. In turn, many have heeded these challenges and followed Christ. Millions of Christians now scatter the world, and millions of followers strive to be like Christ.

However, there are also millions of differing views, personalities and behaviors in the world. Every day I spent as a missionary, I was rejected and ridiculed. Many of these naysayers were Christians themselves, displeased with my personal efforts to teach people of Christ. It quickly became apparent to me that Christianity wasn’t one big team all pulling in the same direction but a very dysfunctional family, sucker punching its siblings every chance it got. However, this disharmony I saw was due in large part to my outlook on other religions. I was convinced I was right and that everyone else was wrong, and that was just the way it was going to be. I made many futile attempts to convince others of their foolish beliefs, and it fostered what one would expect — opposition.

These instances, along with seeing wonderful people following Christ in every denomination, helped me realize that Christ is the center of Christianity, and, regardless of how one expresses that belief, it should be encouraged.

—Justin Owens

Idaho Falls, Idaho

Foreign language in business

Enrolling in foreign language courses as part of post-secondary education has great practical application in business.

With the increased speed and dissemination of information due to modern technology, more and more companies are becoming worldwide. My own father is a manager over teams of computer programmers in Brazil, Mexico, China, Finland and the United States. There are very few people that can communicate with all of them due to the large language gaps, but knowing even small bits and pieces of those languages makes communication clearer between coworkers.

If you are attempting to make a business deal with those in other countries, knowing bits of their language can make other people feel more comfortable and more willing to seal the deal. Language classes in post-secondary schools are not just about the language, either; they are glimpses into other cultures. A more well-rounded education can help prevent at least some cultural miscommunications. Different places have various cultural taboos that are not always the same as your own. For instance, there are terms in Portuguese that would be offensive to many modern Americans, as they seem racist when translated into English. However, they are not intended that way, and it would be detrimental to any business deal with that culture to be affronted because of this. I urge the world to encourage second language learning and invite all students to take these classes to better their future careers.

—Tatjana Nashadka

Brownsboro, Alabama

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