ENDiNG REFLECTiON

To me, the blogs themselves were a journey because they were something i had never done before. So to connect them to a current issue in our society was way new to me. I don't just speak of my blog specificly when i say a lot was put to my attention. All the topics were quite interesting because they were being viewed and explained from fellow peers that had strong thoughts and feelings when it came to their topics. This goes to all topics; how world wide these are, how much of an effet these have on everyone without even noticing, and how no one realizes these are problems today. For my topic specificly, based on what ive learned i'd like to send out one message and that is to stick to who you are and be strong about it so you won't be defined by what you see and by what is put out by the media. You are who you are so why not stick to it? My main benefit from doing this blog was my end result- felling more knowledged and educated when it comes to the worldwide controversies.
Since this whole "blog" thing was so new to me, i didn't like it. The adjustment was by far time consuming. I hated that it was a weekly thing instead of a monthly thing adn because of that it was so easy to fall behind=yikes!! I kept my cool about it though and just kept going, hopefully it's enough because what i fell i got out of it sure does feel "enough".

**THE AMERICAN DREAM DOES NOT EXIST**

First of all, what is this so called "American Dream"? Well many have viewed it as the Dad being in charge of the household, Mom always looking pretty, and their kids obedient and affectionate. Lorie A. Johnson says things have definitly evolved and trying to reach that goal of the supposed "dream" is getting further and further out of our reach. She has studied humans and our lifestyles. Shes also gone in to depth with their lives financially and that's when she noticed that in our society today, people cannot affford to buy a home anymore. People are putting their money to other things in order to find happiness. But Lorie A. Johnson believes that "in order to be truly happy, Americans need to reject the false American dream and create their own vision of happiness". It's false to her to live a day in the United States and not hear something about "the American Dream". Lorie questions whether it is a dream or just a vision. My opinion on all of this; it is really quite fascinating. I'm amazed and agree in every which way because her thoughts and how she figures,well, they make sense. She is indeed a reliable source because she has so much backround knowledge. Her points are very well seen.

STATS

• According to Nielsen the top TV shows for 12-17 year old girls were: American Idol, The O.C., Will & Grace, and One Tree Hill. The top TV shows for 12-17 year old boys were: The Simpsons, Malcolm, and The O.C.
• 2004 Super Bowl: Nielsen estimates that 6.6 million kids 2-11 were watching at about the time that CBS's little halftime fiasco developed when Justin Timberlake ripped off a piece of Jackson's bodice, exposing her right breast to the nationwide audience. Another 7.3 million teens 12-17 were tuned in at that time as well.
• On December 10th, 2003, Fox failed to bleep the f-word and the s-word during the Billboard Music Awards.
• # of 2-11 yr olds Watching = Over 1 million
  # of 12-17 yr olds Watching = Over 1 Million
  These two groups comprised more than 20% of the total viewing audience.
• Average time kids spend watching TV each day: 4 Hours
• 54% of kids have a TV in their bedroom.
• 44% of kids say they watch something different when they're alone than with their parents (25% choose MTV)
• 66% of children (ages 10 to 16) surveyed say that their peers are influenced by TV shows
• 62% say that sex on TV shows and movies influences kids to have sex when they are too young
• 65% say that shows like The Simpsons and Married… With Children encourage kids to disrespect parents.
• Television alone is responsible for 10% of youth violence. - Leonard Eron, Senior Research Scientist at the University of Michigan

What stands out most to me is the statistic that states that a pretty good amount of kids watch something completely different when their parents are around. Not too astonishing but still rather shocking-i remember doing that! It also wasn't too much of a shocker to hear that the t.v shows The Simpsons and Married....With Children kind of push kids to disrespect their parents. Also, kids that have t.v's in their rooms are more likely to have a tendency to be "violent" and possibly have a "temper".

Citation: www.parentstv.org/PTC/facts/mediafacts.asp

POEM

It's all a bribe
Concluding in a lie
No "good" comes from it
Yet, it's very looked up to
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Sadly said, but many are victims
Sucked into it, and rarely spat out
It's never recognized to them what they're doing
Buying this, giving into that....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
It's all part of the game
1 rule though, you got to be gullible
Because with out it....
YOU LOSE!

Article: Influence Studied in New Year's Arson

This article talks about the "believed" and "assumed" influence put on by movies and video games. Around the time of the upcoming New Year, there had been a burglary that gutted the city's water and sewer department. Investigators came up with an insane theory that this incident had to do with relevant games. They mainly pin-pointed out the game Tony Hawk's Underground 2 because the mission is to complete a destruction tour. The two boys that did this are in being held in a regional Youth Detention Center in Rome, GA and both are 15. Chief Freeman thinks the arsonists may also have been influenced by the movie and video game "Fight Club" which is based on a book that relates to graphic violence. A 2005 study shows that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior in children and adolescents. The cost of this incident is more than a million dollars and the contents of the building were worth additional hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I think it is interesting how they say that "theres no evidence that mock violence makes people violent" and that "there's some evidence that make them more peaceful". What i think is more logical is that there's no evidence that can make a person turn either way. Though this was just an oppinion in the article, i do believe and agree that "parents should be aware of media influence, in other words watching what their kids watch and being involved with what they do on the internet." It also makes sense to me for people to think that video games and violent movies mold a human and their actions, BUT that is to an extent because either way a person is going to do waht they want to do in the end.

VIEW POINTS

THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT VIEW POINTS TO THIS SCANDAL. THERE ARE SOME FOR IT BUT AN EXCEPTION. THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE AGAINST IT WITH EXCEPTIONS. AND OF COURSE THERE ARE THE PEOPLE THT ARE EITHER COMPLETELY AGAINST IT OR FOR IT. THEN WE ARE LEFT WITH THE PASSIVE ONES THAT ARE CONSIDERED NEUTRAL. WHEN YOU GO IN DEPTH WITH IT THOUGH, IT'S KIND OF INTERESTING. THE "MEDIA ENCOURAGERS" ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO USE THEIR IMAGINATION LIKE MAKING COLLAGES, INVENTING PLAYS,AND TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS. RESEARCHERS SAY THAT "MEDIA USES PATTERNS FROM THEIR PARENTS SO PARENTS, USE WHAT U WANT THEM TO USE. RESEARCH ALSO SHOWS THAT CHILDREN THAT HAVE "MEDIA PROVIDERS" IN THEIR ROOM LIKE T.V, VIDEO GAMES, OR COMPUTERS IN THEIR ROOMS GET LESS SLEEP AND ARE MORE OVERWEIGHT.
citation- Author=Kirsten Scharnberg
Source=Chicago Tribune (IL); 06-16-2006
Document type=Article
Database=Newspaper Source

survey-

Because people are so diverse, their responses were no exception because they were just as diverse. It was very surprising to see in the results that a very decent amount of people thought race had to do a lot with who was and who wasn't influenced. And because not too many people have heard about this being an issue, they think it's not important. Most rated between a 4 and a 7. Although i must agree that it's not very "popular" issue; it isn't put out there too much. A lot of people, when they defined "media influence", said it had to do with money. They said that this issue revolved around money which to me, makes sense. Who isn't after money these days??