Social Media

As the internet gets bigger and bigger, each generation gets more involved in it. This has affected society both in a positive and a negative way. Although people are more connected through social media, the whole idea of socialization has begun to change. Now a days people are more concerned with how many friends they have on Facebook, or how many followers they have on Twitter. Not only does this trend change perception of identity, but it also can cause depression. The news has been covering more and more stories about suicide due to depression from bullying. Like in YouTube comments, it's a lot easier to troll around hurt others through a computer screen, than to bully them in real life. Sometimes the computer screen seems like a "small square of the windowpane," small and impossible to escape (Woolf 2). With kids spending more and more time on the internet, reality may shift from the real world to the digital world. Teenagers these days are often concerned with how many favorites their tweets get, or how many people say happy birthday to them on Facebook. Although social media helps people socialize, it can also hinder socialization. You can't really tell the emotions of the person you're talking to through a computer screen. Therefore signs of depression are harder to notice. Sometimes we just need to look up from our handheld devices and just ask how our friends are doing, and stay a little bit away from social media. 

PSA: Being Different

Like Nancy Mairs' Disability piece, Amy Tan brings to light the idea of being different. She ends up feeling embarrassed and ashamed for simply being different. Especially in high school, people just want to fit in. They want to be accepted and fit into their group of friends or cliques. However, that doesn't justify being ashamed of who they are. Not only is it important to be proud of your culture, but it's also important to just be yourself. High school is only four short years. What happens there does not define who a person is. So what if some people don't want to cut their hair even though it's starting to look like a straight haired afro? So what if some people like wearing crocs because they're comfortable, yet stylish? Or, as Amy might say, who cares if some people eat "stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges" instead of roasted turkey and sweet potatoes for Christmas (Tan 95)? Everyone should take pride in being unique. As my friend's blog title says, You [is] for Unique (check out the blog). However, this does not mean people should go around trying to be all hipster. It is definitely not a good idea to reject all of society's rules and decide to never wear clothes again in hopes to be "unique".  That being said, "your only shame is to have shame" (95).

Words

    While we were discussing Mairs's Disability piece and how media misrepresents disabled people, Joe Swanson immediately came into my mind. Before reading this piece, I never really thought much of him; he was just a handicapped character that would occasionally provide comedic relief through his ignorance. However, now that I think about it, what's funny to me may not necessarily be funny to others. I know I don't find Asian jokes to be very funny; I'm sure handicapped people don't find the portrayal of people like Joe Swanson to be very funny either. However, this brings light to a separate issue. Maybe kids learn to make fun of others by seeing such ridicule in comedic television shows, thus thinking it's acceptable. These examples of ridicule and mockery are perceived as normal because the characters themselves lack the "complexities that round out a character and make her whole" (Mairs 14). What I mean is, people never see how the name calling, the racist, sexist jokes actually affect the characters' emotions. Just like how their outfits never change, cartoon characters in Family Guy, The Simpsons, and many other shows lack any change in their personalities. They can be made fun of, physically beaten or or even die (Kenny from Southpark), yet the next day they're back to normal. Kids may interpret this as a green flag to make fun of others, as long as some people find it funny. The saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" is total bogus. Words hurt. A lot. The earlier they realize how distorted the media is and how powerful words are, the better.

SNOW DAY!!!!!