Sunny Youth Journal

Never make decisions that you will regret for a long time. “The Moustache” by Robert Cormier and “Hearts And Hands” by O. Henry both show someone who made a mistake in their life and they have or will regret it for a lifetime.

“The Moustache” is about a teenage boy named Mike who is visiting his grandma who has dementia, or a memory loss illness. She mistakes his grandson as her late husband, whose name is also Mike. The grandma starts apologizing to her “husband” for the actions she did. From this, the grandmother probably had a fight or argument with him before he passed away. She now lives her life in regret as she also seemed very distressed when she talked with Mike.

“Hearts And Hands” is about a man named Mr. Easton who met an old friend while traveling as a criminal with a marshal. He was immediately embarrassed as he didn’t want his friend to know that he got caught for counterfeiting, or making/using fake money. He will regret making that decision for a long time.

Making a decision you will regret is something you should avoid, and to prevent yourself from making any bad decisions, thinking carefully before big decisions is important. Don’t live your life with regrets.

The meaning of solitary confinement is placing a person in a small room without seeing anyone for almost their entire day. This technique of punishment is used in many countries, usually in secret because of how inhumane it is, and the damage it does to people mentally.

When staying alone in a room, not seeing people for 99.99% of your week. It can be really devastating. Identity and self-awareness will be lost in the cell. If the results of the affects of solitary confinement were published nationwide, there is no doubt people will be against its use. The US notices how effective it is, and its efforts to get other countries to stop so they have the most effective discipline, shows it.

This harsh treatment still causes suffering even years after being released in the forms of eye deterioration and mental trauma. Solitary confinement should be dropped from use in all nations, as no person would ever deserve it.

“911! There is a crazy person mass murdering people! Help!” You shout into your phone, minutes later, the murderer has been caught. You want justice, you go to his trial as a witness and was glad to hear that he was sentenced to a prison. Then you find out that they were being treated pretty nicely after what he did.

This is what Laura Rovner is telling us. She says “Why none of us will tolerate having a loved one, like a parent or a child, locked alone in a small bathroom for days, let alone years.” Well I disagree, mass murderers have killed our loved ones too, are they not to be punished for what they did? Are we suppose to invite them to do it again and not get punished just because there loved ones doesn’t want them to? What about other peoples loved one’s that he/she killed!?

Though there is one part I agree with Laura, long-term isolation should not be allowed, even if long-term isolation is not allowed, prisoners should still be punished and not be treated as guests. They should still have isolation, just short term ones, at most, 5-7 years of isolation. These are the reasons why prisoners should not have special privillages.

The book about this boy Mike who is 17 and he thinks growing a moustanche is cool. Then when he goes to the movies the lady charged him full price. So he goes to his grandma which his mom told him not to meet because of the moustache. His grandma thinks that he is her husband which she wanted to say sorry but could do it in time. So Mike learns that his grandpa had the moustache and that they had a fight because the grandma thought that the grandpa was cheating on her.

Mike then finds out that the moustache had a lot of bad stuff so he goes to his house and shaves it off.

I agree Laura Rovner, the person who did this ted-talk. She says how solitary confinement is like torture, and it is. Inmates spend 23 hours in their cell with nothing but a cot, toilet, and sink. They have their meal in arms-reach of their toilet. To solve this, it shouldn’t be like this for all criminals. Jail should be a rehabilitation center, where “inmates” could learn all sorts of skills like cookie, drawing, or business to help them get a job after their time. Therapy would also be used, if there were drug addicts.

Solitary confinement is a cruel form of torture, people can forget who they are. The American justice system is broke, they are putting kids as young as 11 into solitary confinement. Of all developed nations, the US is #1 in incarcerating children, and it’s estimated that over 70% of the kids they lock up suffer from mental health disorders. Skipping school and running away are among the reasons they lock kids up. President Obama even called the entire practice into question asking: “Do we really think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in tiny cells for 23 hours a day, sometimes for months or even years at a time?” Due the these reasons and the horrors of solitary confinement, the U.S. justice system should outlaw solitary confinement.

Have you ever thought of being in Solitary Confinement? Well, it isn’t a very nice place to stay in. Solitary Confinement is just “Jail”, a place where “bad” people stay in. ADX is a place where people live a life of a Solitary Confinement person. Solitary Confinement can harm people in bad ways and also it is a good thing because it helps the world from danger.

Bad things from Solitary Confinement is people are treated very badly and are not supposed to be tortured that way. They get tortured from not being able to see even a glimpse of light in the crakes of the window. Rarely able to communicate with family and friends, and also being punished in very harsh ways. This affects the Solitary Confinement people because they might even forget who they even are. Searching themselves often get the brain to get together. Sometimes they even want to commit suicide, which is a very, very, very, dangerous thing to do to yourself. Some even succeeded in suicide.

Now that the bad things are covered up, let’s talk about the ways Solitary Confinement can help the world. Solitary Confinement can help the world with less “Bad” people in the world. This is because people in Solitary Confinement are “Learning their lesson” on how to become a better person. This is also helpful because when the people are out of Solitary Confinement they will try and help other people in Solitary Confinement how to become a better person than what they are that moment.

As we all know Solitary Confinement is a very Harmful and Useful thing to have around us. Many people think differently in the way it is harmful and why it is useful. It works in many ways of how someone describes Solitary Confinement.

In Robert Cormier’s short story “The Mustache”, the main character, Mike, who was 17 years old wanted to look and act like an adult. He grew a mustache so he could seem like a adult even though he was only 17. The story shows what Mike is concerned about in his day to day life, but each problem concerns him even more. His first problem was paying more for movie ticket, the second problem was wether his grandmother still remembered him or not, and lastly his grandmother thought that he was her husband. But why does this matter? Isn’t these problems normal? Every time you grow other, you will carry more and more responsibility as a adult. Mike, who wanted so desperately to become somebody mature, doesn’t realize he responsibilities. This story tells us that the more older we get, the more responsibilities we will carry and we shouldn’t disregard our problems in life.

First of all, life is full of twists and turns. You wouldn’t expect an accident when it happens. When your small, most likely you won’t have a family to feed as one of your problems. The most distressing problems you might have is doing your homework on time or passing a test. However, when you grow up to be an adult, it would be like cold water hitting your warm, comfy position in life. Now, passing a test is least of your worries. Will I get a job? Can I pay off this year’s rent? Am I going to lose my job? These are only some problems that adults have to deal with, and obviously is more stressing. Lots of people want to run away from their problems in life and try to ignore the fact that they are failing or having a bad life. This is a problem you will see hundreds, maybe thousands of times in your life. However, you should never run away from your fears or problems. The fear and problems you have will always be at your side, your merely just ignoring it. You need to be mature and face your problems in your life so you could actually move on.

Lastly, you shouldn’t fake trying to be mature. Faking maturity will bring you lots of problems in life, especially problems that you can’t deal with at your age. Take Mike for example, when his grandma thought that he was his late husband, Mike had to answer things that he knew nothing off and was obviously scared. Mike wanted to be a adult, he wanted to be more mature, yet he couldn’t face problems like these in his daily life. Somebody that fakes maturity will get problems they are not yet ready to deal with. The reason that your parents and those around you are constantly helping you get a good start at life is because they want you to grow up and face your problems with a calm mind. Trying to be more of an adult then you are, will bring up lots of problems that you wouldn’t be ready to deal with, and will often make you regret your choices.

In conclusion, dealing with your problems in life can be hard and seem impossible, but we have to deal with it, or else the problems that haunts us will never go away. We have to realize that being an adult isn’t something to be playing around us. Having an adult life will get you in adult problems that our parents and those around us face everyday. It’s better to just be who you are and enjoy the responsibilities you have today.

Summary

The story “The Moustache” by Robert Cormier is about a seventeen year old and his moustache. Mike’s mother and girlfriend really wants him to shave it. One day, Mike’s mother then tells him to go visit his grandmother in the nursing  home. When he goes to visit she thinks Mike is her husband because of his moustache, she then apologizes to him about accusing him of cheating on her. Mike’s grandfather had died awhile ago. Mike didn’t know what to do so he acted along, that day when he got home he shaved his facial hair.

Theme

The theme in the story The Moustache by Robert Cormier is that the main character wants to grow up quickly and decides to grow a moustache, but after visiting his grandmother at the hospital and hearing the things she told him he realizes that there is no rush to growing up and at the end of the story he shaves off his mustache  The theme is you don’t have to hurry up to get older take you time , you might not be ready to be an adult.

Moustache Symbol

The moustache represents adulthood. I think this because, when Mike went to visit his grandma at the nursing home she thought it was her husband because he had a moustache just like his grandpa had. “And he wore a moustache. I brought my hand to my face. I also wore a moustache now, of  course”. Mikes grandma got the chance to apologize to her husband, even though it wasn’t really him. Mike then left his grandma and shaved his moustache he wasn’t ready to be an adult and deal with those kind of stuff yet.

The story starts out with Annie getting the flu and not being able to go on a date with Harry. And then Annie, talks with her little brother, Mike, that he didn’t have to wear a mustache. She didn’t want Mike to wear a mustache because a few days ago, he went to the movies with Cindy and the person at the movies making people pay money charged Mike full price, even though he showed her his driver’s licence. And then his mom said that his Grandmother probably wouldn’t recognize him. Mike’s Grandmother lived at a hospital and was diagnosed with arteriosclerosis, which is a chronic disease, which makes sense, because Mike’s grandmother is very old. Mike went to visit his Grandmother. His first impression of the nursing home that his grandmother was staying at was the air was sterile. He couldn’t smell or taste anything. He found the room for his grandmother and found her in her bed. He was relieved that his grandmother called him Mike. And then she started talking about random stuff that Mike didn’t know about. And then she started asking for forgiveness from Mike. And then Mike realized that she recognized Mike as her husband, not her grandson. And then his grandma fell asleep and Mike left. And then he went home, went upstairs and took out the electric razor Annie gave him for Christmas and shaved off his mustache. 

When the US says they don’t torture the prisoners, we say other countries do such as Iran and North Korea. this TedTalk by Laura Rovner is all about solitary confinement and how we can stop it.

First, we do torture people, and it’s called solitary confinement. Officers give them food from food slots on the door and take them to exercise cages, also known as dog runs. They get locked up in a closet for 23 hours a day every day. No windows to see a view, no people visiting, nothing living. Some say that they are losing their eyesight because they only need to see 10 feet in front of him. one of them would lie on the floor for hours just hoping to see someone’s feet walking by. Another made a wasp into a friend, feeding it talking to it like a friend. Some shout through the drains just to communicate.

One man, Tommy Silverstein, who the Federal Bureau of Prisons put in solitary confinement after killing an officer in a “no human contact order” in 1983. He was 31 years old, but now he is 66. He has been there for 35 years. He couldn’t find the words to define solitary confinement, he drew it, and now he is an artist. If we don’t do something he most likely will be there for the rest of his life.

Some prisoners say that the worst thing in prison is solitary confinement. It is because there, we lose who we are and if we are in a larger world. How we connect is by talking to other people, so it can make you think if you even have a self. Some prisoners in solitary aren’t sure if they exist. Over time they start to break down in ways like banging their head on the wall or smearing themselves with feces or committing suiciding. Many cut themselves intentionally just to feel the pain that keeps them in the real world. It can lead to social withdraw, in the beginning, they want human interaction, but over time, it could become frightening.

So we need to watch and if we watch the path will alter, so we can change it. I think that they should have a maximum amount of 10-15 days so it won’t be that much, instead of years and years.