Effect of Media on Children

This week in class we have been learning about the effects of advertising and media on children. I could not agree more with the lesson in that kids are being shaped so much by the world around them, and advertisers are really forcing certain stereotypes and values on kids that should not be forced on them at that age. I remember back when I was a young kid, how much I was impacted by fads and listening to what the media portrayed as the "cool" thing to do or wear. Without the media and technology being so advanced, I really think things would be a lot different. When it comes to gender and the way kids are influenced by media, I really think the media and advertisers have way too much influence on the way kids perceive themselves and how they should grow up to be. This relates to sociology and our lesson because as a whole, kids are being influenced in a very broad way. It's not just a few kids who are being exposed to this kind of advertisement and control, it's almost all the kids in our society today. It becomes a sociological issue because of the massive number of kids being effected by media and advertisements.

Neglected Girl

Last week in class we learned about the neglect of children and how it effects how they grow up and become who they are. In particular we learned about a girl who was neglected by her mom and lived in a small room for years until she was rescued. This girl was living in a 10x10 room with a damp mattress to sleep on, and bugs infesting most of the room. She had parasites and bugs in her hair when she was found, and her vision was almost completely nearsighted because of only being able to see 10 feet in front of her for most of her life. After she was found, she was taken away by child services, which in my opinion was a good thing. According to the video, because the girl was neglected, her brain function was that of someone who was many years younger. Being neglected by her mother almost completely rendered this girl a vegetable in a way. Hopefully years of therapy and proper upbringing can turn her into a normal girl. This story really had an impact on me because of the nerve of the mother to not at least call child services herself. On the other hand though, this story really shows nature vs. nurture because of the fact that this girl had virtually no nurture at all. Without nurture this girl was basically a primate and this video segment really made me think how important nurture really is when bringing up a child.

Tuesdays With Morrie

This week in class we watched Tuesdays With Morrie, and it was a very good movie. Beyond having some humor and a good cast, it truly had a message that was important to understand. Beyond all the obvious messages that Morrie tried to portray to the audience, there was one that took a little thinking. I think that the main message was that one should always have respect for elders. In today's generation, with more and more disrespectful people growing up, less and less kids have respect for elders. I think this movie teaches that eventually everyone will become an elderly person (hopefully), and that people in general, not just kids, should have respect for what they will eventually become. This relates to sociology because people in our culture celebrate youth as opposed to being old. This leads to less people appreciating the wisdom of older people. People need to realize that they should listen to the words of older people because they have already experienced life and have more experience with life than younger people.

Community Service

Last week me and Frank went to Elgin for our community service hours. It was really tough work and I was really proud that I was able to help those people out. On our way there we kind of got lost, but we ended up getting there on time. Doing the community service was great and all, but the best part of the trip was easily something I observed while walking to a dumpster to throw stuff out. I saw a group of older people working on the other house and they seemed to be having a nice conversation. However, right when I walked past, this older white guy was handing out business cards to each of the people he was talking to.There happened to be an Japanese looking guy in the group so I started to laugh to myself thinking about our lesson about how the Japanese look at business cards and act very respectful about it. Then the funniest thing happened. While everyone else just took the business card and crumpled it away into their pockets, the Japanese guy took it with both hands and smiled and nodded his head at the card. The moment I saw this I said to myself "Wow I cannot believe I just saw that." because it was really crazy learning a lesson in class, and seeing a real life example of it literally days later.