Reflection from Class- 10/25/12

For those of you that skipped class on Thursday to head to St. Simons, you certainly missed an interesting class that included a group activity that was really interesting and provided a large amount of discussion. Many of us have played the game before, 4 Corners, but playing in a Health class in college definitely allowed for a bit more discussion than is normally allowed. We were able to discuss the legalization of pot, making UGA a true smoke free campus, lowering the drinking age to 18, and the decriminalization of prostitution. This was a very interesting game because all issues divided the class into different groups and we had to work to present platforms to defend our opinions. Obviously, because this activity was based on opinions, all the issues were very emotional talking points. I really enjoyed this activity because I regularly sit with the same people in class, and often we were split into different groups. I especially enjoyed the discussion on the decriminalization of prostitution, mostly because I was the only girl, and one of 4 people, who strongly agreed with the point, while most of the class fell into the disagree and strongly disagree groups.  Having that much debate made for an interesting class. The moral aspect is certainly a strong one, since decriminalizing prostitution could be seen as an invitation to allow prostitution in public spaces. And for obvious religious reasons, this is certainly a problem because it could encourage activities that are acts against the major religions of the world. All these topics are obviously important to public health- cigarettes, alcohol, and sex- are important aspects of personal life that affect the public lives of the entire population. Making UGA smoke free would change the amount of second and third hand smoke affecting students, changing the drinking age would affect the number of people drinking and hopefully the societal pressure surrounding drinking, the same effects would exist in legalizing marijuana, and decriminalizing prostitution could change the levels of STD's in sex workers as well as provide added protection for workers against their pimps. For remaining questions, I would like to see more studies about the positives and negatives surrounding all these issues, and to know how current and future politicians plan to address these issues to improve the public health in the United States.

Erin Deitrich
Blayne McDonald
Michelle DeMasi

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