Mark Wahlberg: A Rag To Riches Story

Cole is a fifteen-year-old juvenile from Minneapolis. His father is a raging alcoholic and beats Cole constantly while his mother does nothing to stop them. Cole’s been to many therapists and many detention centers. Cole wants to get revenge on a boy named Peter who heard about him breaking into a hardware store by beating him very badly.

Mark at a young age challenges himself to accomplish many goals that a 'normal' teenage boy would never even consider. Mark has difficulties

Mark explained that both of them were friends who were inseparable. He stated, “ I lost both my friend and my privileges to experience the world.” The two teens were students at Waverly High School. Carl Stringfield, who is the principle of Waverly High School stated, “ These gentlemen were very outstanding both educational and athletic.”

The book That was Then, This Is Now is about to really good friends Bryon and Mark starting to go their separate ways. Bryon was a 16 year old hustler who lived in a hood. His mother was poor and she had adopted his best friend Mark. Mark was an illegitimate who was adopted by new parents that got in a drunken fight and killed each other. Mark was a thief, and he always got away with everything that he possibly could do. Teen kids in there element who thought they could rule the world, everything was theirs and that nothing could possibly go wrong. They did everything bad together smoke, drink, jump kids for their money, steal, skip school, take drugs and get into gang brawls.

High school is a big time for change in a teenagers life. They go through problems with friends, family, grades, and sports. For Andy Jackson, a 17 year old student at Hazelwood High School, he went through all of those troubles. He plays for the basketball team with his friends Rob Washington, Tyrone Mills, and B.J. Carson. One night after basketball practice, Andy was drinking alcohol and driving which led them to get in a car crash. Andy, Tyrone, and B.J. escaped the car with a few cuts and bruises, but Rob got stuck and burned to death. Rob’s death brought Andy to blame himself. He turns away from his friends, his girlfriend, Keisha, and his family. Andy changes negatively after the car crash; he becomes insecure, he closes up his feelings, and he turns emotionally weak.

Many of us have missteps in our lives, some may define you for the rest of your life and other times they will not. In the books, The Other Wes Moore written by Wes Moore and The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the audience will see how characters in the books make missteps and how they define them. In The Other Wes Moore, the protagonist Wes Moore is caught doing graffiti with his new friend. In The Scarlet Letter, The protagonist Hester Prynne commits adultery and is forced to wear a Scarlet letter “A” on her chest.

Case 5.2 involves the Madsen-Walker family. James is a 12-year-old African American 7th grade student. James has made a comment about suicide due to his parents’ divorce and bullying at school. The teacher consulted with parents and the school counselor. In the end James was hospitalized for 72 hours. Selma Madsen is James’ mother and primary care taker. Stan Walker, James’ father, lives in a neighboring town with his girlfriend (Amatea, 2013).

However, they also have strong differences. Bryon is a big hustler. He tries to get money by playing pool at bars. Mark, on the other hand, is a thief. He sneaks around picking pockets and stealing money from people. Even though both boys have fun fighting and stealing, Bryon starts to see that fighting people for no reason is wrong. Mark still thinks stealing is enjoyable and amusing. Mark is very conceded and only care about himself and his feelings. Unlike Mark, Bryon cares about other people's emotions and thinks before he acts. For example, when Mike Chambers, a boy in the hospital, told his story of how he got beat up, Mark said he would hate that person for the rest of his life. Bryon understood why the person might have done such a terrible

October 13, 2006 seemed like it would be like any other day for Arlena Lindley. Her friend had come to visit her but when her three year old son, Titches, soiled his pants, the day took a turn for the worst. It was on that fateful day that Lindley’s then boyfriend, Alonzo Turner, beat her toddler with a leather belt, threw him against the wall and then proceeded to wipe the boy’s face in his cereal. Turner would continue to abuse the boy, going as far as pushing the young boy’s face into the toilet. Lindley tried grabbing her son and running, yet her efforts were to no avail. Turner snatched the toddler from her hands and proceeded to lock Lindley and her friend out of the house. By the time the two reentered, Titches had stopped breathing;

Whether they are good or bad, many influential individuals interfere in the involvement of adolescents with gangs. However, not all kids willingly join gangs or conduct in crime. Some join by force through a strong negative influence, or some join, simply because there is nothing else to engage in. Myers elaborates on gang culture by creating preteens and teenage characters, so the young readers can relate and understand. The novel introduces Jamal, a twelve-year old boy whose older brother Randy is in jail. To pay for his appeal, Randy

Robert Downey Jr. is one of the most gifted actors of his generation, but he had a tough time finding stability in his personal life. According to Biography.com, Downey was born in New York City on April 4, 1965, and began is acting career as a young boy. Born into the business, his father was a filmmaker and his mother was an actress, he appeared in his first role when he was five years old. Downey appeared in several popular films throughout the 80's and 90's, and during this period, he was also well known in the media for his substance abuse problems. Downey received critical acclaim for his many of his performances, but at the sometime earned the reputation as a disturbed and controversial figure. Many of the stories in the media focused on Downey's personal issues and less on his acting performances. The following quote appeared in the Los

Being the subject his stepfather’s violent physical abuse, Richard had acquired a violent nature early on in his life. He carried this violence from his childhood to his marriage with Shirley. Richard would abuse both his wife and her mother. The abuse his wife endured was both physical and mental, which would often include being raped at knife point up to several times in a day. Richard was also fond of kissing and fondling other women in front of Shirley, forcing her to watch. Their marriage was short lived and the two separated. Under his mother’s recommendation, Richard became a live-in babysitter for a 29-year-old woman, who was a bartender at his favorite local bar, Ginny’s. One month later, his wife filed for divorce. In January of 1966, the same month of the divorce, Richard stabbed another man at Ginny’s. The fight was brought about by his anger at the discovery of his ex-wife’s remarriage after only 2 days of the granted divorce. These events were just the beginning of his violent streaks and became the foundation to his ultimate crime that made him infamous.

Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson novel Target accounts the life of a sixteen year old boy name Grady West . Grady was your average high school sixteen year old who hung out with a group of friends, very outgoing, and likable. But, everything changed on a tragic uneventful November night. While walking home Grady was attack, beaten, and raped. From that very moment Grady’s life changed. He would no longer became the Grady he once was to his friends, family, and even to himself. Grady tried to escape his friends, old school, and what happened that night. But, every so often the memories reoccur. A year later, he now attended Thomas Jefferson High where no one would know who he was and what had happened to him. His journey at his new school is

Mark’s psychosocial and biological predisposing vulnerabilities ultimately lead to the increase likelihood of his substance abuse disorder. A disorder he wasn’t aware that he was facing because his intentions for the substance were to merely ease his stressors.

"At school, I kept to myself, glowered in the hallways, and, with the right kind of provocation, punched people in the face." Mark is expected to feel a certain way about being Jewish, but that label means something different for him then it means for his parents. Such as when his family is leaving his grandparents in Vienna at the beginning of the story, his grandfather refuses to go chasing them around the globe. His reasoning being