Mike Tyson-
I
feel that in a way, society let down Mike Tyson, but he also let himself down. He
did not have the best home life at all and you would think that the rest of his
neighborhood would realize that, but nothing was done about it. Also, in school
and after they would get home, kids would pick on them and bully them, but yet
again nothing was done. So, in this case, I think society let down Mike Tyson
because there were all these signs that he was not really being raised properly
and had no one there for him, and no one did anything for him. We are lucky
enough where we live that there for sure would be other parents who would step
up and do something for this kid and help out in any way. Where he lived,
society did nothing, and he was pretty much just on his own.
However,
on the other hand, he kind of let himself down. He liked to pick fights,
thought it was fun, and he brought a lot of stuff on himself. When he was just
young, him and his friends were carrying around guns trying to fight other
kids. He did not really have a parent to tell him right from wrong, but he
should have obviously known that you do not carry around guns in hopes of
fighting someone. Even after he was in trouble and had to go to a juvenile
detention center, he would still take on fights and get into even more trouble.
He said that after he beat the kid who took his bird, the kids would instead of
asking, “Can Mike play with us”, they would ask, “Can Mike Tyson play with us”.
I think a big part of how he acted and turned out was because he did not have
any attention at home, so he had to go other places to find it. Being in fights
and winning was a way for him to get attention and respect since he did not
have it anywhere else.
I
think one of the only things that could be done is to pay more attention to the
children’s home life. I think that if someone would have stepped up and took
him in and gave him better parenting, I do not think he would have turned out
the way he did.
Freddie Gray-
I
think the issue with Freddie Gray was mostly society and the government’s
fault. The biggest issue with where Freddie and his family grew up, was
probably with where they lived. There were a lot of people who ended up with
lead poisoning from the paint on the walls which caused a lot of problems. Some
people could say that it is their own fault because they are the ones who chose
to live there; however, if you do not have a lot of money, it is kind of your
only choice. Freddie got into quite a bit of trouble with the law too. I am
sure part of it may have been his own fault because he should have known right
from wrong since he did have at least one parent for sure that actually cared,
but the lead poisoning is a cause of this. Because of the lead, it caused some
learning problems and other behavior problems, so he is not all to blame for
being in trouble.
There
are many things that the government could have done differently in Freddie’s
case. A big thing that there is probably controversy over is how Freddie was
arrested the last time. Even though the officers denied that they physically
harmed Freddie, there is proof on a cellphone video. This is still a big
problem with police officers accused of being too rough while arresting
someone. In Freddie’s case, the officers should have had on a body camera,
because that would have been definite proof. Also, no one should be allowed to
live in homes that have lead paint. Lead paint caused a lot of problems. I
think the government should have had better homes for people who could not
afford to find their own. Where Freddie was born and grew up, I am sure there
were a lot of people in that area who could not afford nice, fancy homes. The
government had public housing units, but even those had lead-based paint. No
one should allow people to live in such run down places. So I think the
government played a big part in what happened to Freddie Gray; from when he was
born and what environment he had to live in, to what happened to him when he
last got arrested.
