Write about 100-150 words for each response

Response to Gio

Deciding at what age is right for adolescents to get a tattoo. Deciding when adolescents can take birth control. Deciding when is the proper age for adolescents to live on their own and away from their parents. These questions concern what is the proper age for adolescents to participate in. they are varying life choices so no answer would be necessarily the same.
For getting a tattoo, I would say it would be based on Child Labor Laws or the Fair Labor  Standards Act, in which when adolescents in the work environment work, they do so in a safe environment, the work is safe, does not conflict with health and well-being, and does not conflict with education. 18 would be the acceptable age for an adolescent to receive a tattoo as they would have graduated high school, their work will no longer conflict with their education therefore they can work  more and they will make more money in which they can fund their own tattoo expenses. This is concerning when is the appropriate age to get a tattoo, whether they regret it or not in the future is completely up to them and no matter the outcome it would provide experience and a learning opportunity on taking responsibility in their choices and be wiser for it. 
When deciding what age an adolescent should take birth control is really depending on the individual. It would be necessary if they plan to have intercourse but if still under the age of 18 that would depend on the parent or legal guardian’s decision.
When deciding what age an adolescent should be fine living on their own should be if they have a job to financially support themselves such as money for housing, bills, food, and other necessities. Another prerequisite should be that they should know how to write checks, do taxes, and be financially educated in which public schools in America has failed to teach to their students. For living on their own it really  depends and should not be determined by age but by their work situation and knowledge of finances. For example I still live with my mom and I work as a dog sitter. My dad has his own house near Trenton and my mom visits every weekend since they are married but live separately. When my mom retires from working as a nurse she plans to leave her house to me with only a few couple thousand left on payments for owning it which is rather nice especially with how the housing market is and that most people in my generation would not be able to own a house but rather rent. This is nice, so when that time comes it would be my time to live on my own. 

Response to Samantha

The zone of proximal development refers to the gap between what a child can accomplish alone and what they can accomplish with help.  Scaffolding is the degree of assistance provided to the child.  Therefore, as the gap in the zone of proximal development grows smaller, so does the need for scaffolding until eventually the child is able to perform the task on their own.  This is a concept which continues through adolescence when some scaffolding in certain areas may be needed, but is extremely evident in childhood when children are learning a new skill.  I have experience teaching painting to children.  For this example, let’s say that a child has never painted before and they are having trouble controlling the paint because they are holding the paintbrush incorrectly.  In the beginning, there will need to be a lot of scaffolding, meaning that they are going to need a large degree of assistance to close the gap in the zone of proximal development.  Again, the zone of proximal development is the gap between what a child can accomplish alone (no control over paint; holding paintbrush incorrectly) and what they can accomplish with assistance (with help holding the brush correctly to provide more control in their painting).  The common mistakes are gripping the brush wrong, and holding the top of the handle instead of the bottom (closer to the bristles).  To correct this, I often ask kids to show me how they hold a pencil or crayon.  After they do, I explain that this is how we want to hold the brush, and I show them how I am holding my brush.  Brushes have a metal piece called the ferrule which holds the bristles in place.  After the child is holding the brush correctly I tell them to move their hand closer to the metal.  Making both of these corrections is a high level of scaffolding, which makes sense for a new skill.  As the child gets the hang of it, I may simply have to remind them to “hold it like a pencil!” or “move your hand near the metal!”.  As they become more experienced, I have to make these corrections less and less, and the scaffolding decreases.