Drugs

So on Friday we did the whole activity where we ranked where drugs should be and where they should be placed in our society. I was kind of surprised when I saw where people ranked certain types of drugs. For instance caffeine was ranked as a 4 meaning it was classified as one of the worst illegal drugs. As oppose to marijuana which was classified as a 2 meaning it should be an over the counter drug. Now clearly I don't agree with caffeine being a 4 considering there is caffeine in a lot of good products such as soft drinks and coffee. I however think that marijuana should not be illegal. I think they should legalize it for medicinal purposes and for those who choose to smoke it. I think it should be treated like alcohol. If you choose to do it at least be smart about it. I am not a marijuana user but I am for legalizing it I believe people should be allowed to purchase it at age 21 but only in certain amounts. As for other drugs like heroine, meth, cocaine, pcp, and extacy I believe that all of those drugs should be banned and should never be legalized just because of the effect it has on people. Like the inmate Travis from the video, he was going through withdraw from heroine and it really messed his life up.

Is age equal to society

So in class the other day we were talking about how in our society you have to be of a certain age in order to do certain things. For instance you have to be 16 to drive a car 18 to vote, buy cigarettes, go into a bar, ect and you have to be 21 to drink. I just think that our society is rediculas in this aspect. At 18 you are a legal adult. You can go off to war, you can live on your own but you can't have an alcholic drink. In Germany you are allowed to buy alcohol at age 16. I feel like if we changed our rules people wouldn't get in as much trouble. For instance if we changed the drinking age to 18 people would not get into as much trouble because they have access to what they want at an appropriate age. 18 is the age you are a legal adult not 21. Since the drinking age is 21 more and more teens are illegally drinking. Point being they are doing anything they can to get their hands on alcohol. By the time they are 21 they will be so happy that they can finally access alcohol legally that they will abuse their privileges and drink uncontrolably. This could result in severe consequences or even death. This is why I believe that we should be able to drink at 18,because by the time we are 21 we would already have experienced what alcohol is and what it can do to you.

the media destroying our culure

I couldn't believe my eyes after watching that Dove video about the model who got a complete digital makeover. It didn't even remotely look like the same person. They changed her complextion, stretched her neck to look longer, made her lips look more full, widened her eyes, arched her eyebrows higher, and thinned her face out. And we wonder why our perspective of beauty is distorted. America has a very superficial view on what beautiful is. In the media's eyes beauty means looking very thin while at the same time having curves. Women go to jurastic measures to look what as they view beautiful. They have breast implants, they get botox surgery, pretty much women will go under the knife just to look good. It is at a very crucial stage because now girls as young as age 9 are noticing all these models in the media and are wanting to look like them. Because of the media more and more girls are developing an eating disorder such as bolemia, or anorexia. I like the Dove ads because it shows everyone what a normal women look like. I believe that the Dove commericals raise girls and womens self-esteem and helps them accept who they are. Back in the 1940's Marilyn Manroe was considered a sex icon and beautiful. In today's standards Marilyn Manroe would be considered fat because she was a size 11-12. And for males they are always pushed to look fit and look masculen. It's a lot of pressure on males because they feel like they need to constently be working out to get girls to like them. The media wants young males to think that their body is the key to get girls. If you're not buff like Brad Pitt then you won't get a girl which is not true at all. I just think that it's absolutley rediculous that the media gets away with showing these kind of things on T.V. People should love who they are no matter what they look like.

masculine or femanine?

This week we discussed how people view masculenity and femanism and how it plays a role in not just adults but even children as young as 9 years old. At a young age girls are looked upon as docile and extremely vulnerable. Boys on the other hand are expected to be tough and show no pain. Also in our culture if a boy cries he is looked at as a baby whereas if a girl were to cry it would be acceptable just because she is a girl. For girls they are suppose to not play in the mud or play with action figures, they are suppose to quietly play with their dolls in their room. When I was younger I always was around my older brother either playing basketball outside or playing street hockey with him and his friends. I did play with stuffed animals and enjoyed other toys like my Easy Bake oven, but I hated playing with dolls. I was very much so influenced by my brother. I believe that we way our mentality is set on gender is very unhealthy. If girls are always thought to be quiet and docile and if boys are thought to be tough and not to cry, then they are going to have such an unstable mind because they are supressed emotionally and mentally. Even as we grow older we are still in the same state of mind only it is altered a little bit. According to the media the thinner the girl is the sexier she is. The more buff the male is the sexier he is. All of this is based off of genetic structure and how we suppose to be. The upsetting thing is if people don't meet these standards then they are looked upon as a looser. School shootings happen because certain students felt like they had no control or didn't feel like they were treated well because they were different then everybody else. In the movie that we watched today in class, one murderer stated, "murdering someone is gutsy and daring." males want to show dominace and bravery to be accepted. Statistics show that females are not as violent then males are in which I believe because I think that males hold in their emotion because they don't want to talk about their feelings as oppose to females who almost talk daily to at least one person about how they feel about something. I firmly believe that our perspective on gender should change.

Our Society

After viewing the movie "Bowling For Columbine" it made me realize how scary our society is. Not only do we have a high murder rate due to guns but because of the gun access in our country we have had school shootings, and multiple people have been shot or have accidentally shot themselves while jokingly playing with a gun. In the movie that we watched they showed the victims of the Columbine incident and their wounds after they were shot. And they showed one student who was shot and is now permanently parazlyed from the waste down. Many young males in our society are influenced by gang members or killers in the media, and by watching these young men shoot people it influnces them to do the same. If we continue to have guns that are simple to get we are going to have the highest murder rate in the world. I use to live in Kentucky and I was about six years old and I remember during recess my friend and I found a rifle gun in a sewer grate. Any child could've picked it up and seriously have hurt themselves. We have too many guns in our country. I think that guns should only be used for the army or if you live in an unsafe area. And guns shouldn't be sold at Walmart or K-Mart they should be sold in a shop that is more secluded to the society. One that really surprised me in the movie was how they blamed Marilyn Manson and his music. Because he is a heavy metal artist they blamed him for all of the shootings that happend. They thought his music influenced people to act violent. This movie just really surprised me and made me realize how our society is and how my danger there is.

Happiness

After we watched "Tuesdays with Morrie" how our society views happiness. yea we might say we are content with ourselves because we have money and we have a stable job. But in reality so many people are not happy because American's are overworked. We have no time for ourselves anymore. We are all about being successful and being the best. In order to be happy our mentality is based off being number one, if we come in second we act like its the end of the world. As Morrie said "What's wrong with being number 2?" Despite what happened to Morrie he still lived life to the fullest. He enlightened those who needed enlightment and he taught people how to live. His friend Mitch was a typical American business man who was always working and never had time for himself until he started talking to Morrie again. Morrie showed and explained to him how much enriching and fulfilling it is to be alive and to enjoy being accompanied by loved ones. I think Morrie's life lessons should be honored and rememebered by everyone

Doing "Nothing"

So over the weekend I did my "nothing assignment" I thought hmm this is going to be a peice of cake I'll just stand there and do nothing no problem. I got to work and as usual it was crowded as ever. I worked for about 2 hours and then I was on break. I went through a crowd of people trying to find the best place possible for me to do my assignment. I finally found my spot and just stood there starring off into space. All in all I thought it was very relaxing. Because I had nothing to think about all the noise of children screaming and people talking about their day all just kinda drowned out. Occasionally I was interupted by several customers asking me "where do I pay for my pumpkins?", or "where do get corn or tomatoes?" One of my co-workers was on break with me and she came up to me and waved her hand infront of my face asking me if i was ok. When I was done with my assignment I relized that everyone is programed to look like we are occupied. What ever happend to using your imagination or cleansing your mind and relaxing? Our society is all about being fast and getting everything done in a matter of time. It's everywhere in America Dunkin Donuts slogan is "America runs on Dunkin" and underneath their slogan the have a cartoon business man running with a coffee cup. And the Dominoe's pizza slogan is "you've got 30 minutes" implying that they have 30 minutes to deliver a fresh pizza to your house. Not only is this an unhealthy life style but we are all just forgetting what its like to enjoy life. We are so wound up everything that we just can't enjoy simple things anymore. I am a victim of this my day revolves around school, field hockey, work, homework, eating, and sleeping. I think everyone needs to take a mental health day :)