Cyber Bullying

No matter what anybody says, we have all been a victim of cyber bullying. People find a "safe-haven" when behind technology, meanwhile in reality people would not say such things to your face. Most people claim they can handle the things that are said, but deep down they can begin to affect our mentality.

On March 21 2010, sventeen year old Alexis Pilkington took her life due to cyber bullying taking place on a popular website known as formspring. While issues may have been already present in her life, maybe depression, it is still not okay that people took it among themselves to say such things to her. Legal action is being taken against the people who may be responsible for part of this teenagers death. Even though the posts were anonymous, IP addresses can be tracked and the person's address will be found.

Cyber bullying is never okay, regardless of the circumstance. An innocent life was lost due to the ignorance of others. Don't be ignorant: don't cyber bully.



Reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/24/alexis-pilkington-faceboo_n_512482.html

Walkure/Valkyrie

This movie is about a man who goes against Hitler and what he stands for. In the beginning of the movie, it is a scene where World War II is at it's worst. The man, Staffenburg, is a colonel during war. He sees the evil that Hitler is creating and experiences it during war when he becomes injured. He loses his eye, hand, and a couple of fingers. That is the turning point for Staffenburg, and he decides to go against Hitler. Valkyrie is a plan that if Hitler was to be killed his "government" would live on and operate without him. Staffenburg wants to stop Hitler, but realizes he has to do an inside job. A friend of his, which is a general, plan to bomb Hitler at a meeting of his. They place the bombs in a bag, a "call" is placed so that Staffenburg can walk out. You see him walk away from the building and in the background you see the building explode. Hitler's people disconncect all communications, which Staffenburg knew he would do. From that point on, Staffenburg and his crew have control of Hitler's army because they believe Hitler is dead. Later he is found by Hitler and his army and killed for his wrong doing. He was brave enough to stand up for what he believed in, unlike many people today. This story shows the bravery of an individual when nobody chose to speak out.

Cheetah Woods

If it was announced enough already, I'll announce it to you again: Tiger Woods cheated on his wife. I don't think this poses a shock to anybody reading this, since we do live in America and our country is Hollywood-based. Celebrities are our lives basically, you cannot go one day without hearing about what this person did, or that person did. My point about Tiger Woods, however, is that being publically humiliated to this extent is a bit much.

Some may call what he did wrong, dirty, looked-down-on, or just downright deceitful. From my knowledge, he's slept with over 20 women over a period of months, if not years. Some of them claimed to be pregnanted by Woods, but when it happened they never stepped forward. Is it simply the fame they crave, or that there's power in numbers? In this case, I think it's both.

As I was reading the Daily News the other day, I couldn't help but read the front page article which was a running list of texts sent from Tiger to a porn star. My take on this is that the porn star just wants fame. She chose to be in this profession, versus a stripper/prostitute who does it for money and not by choice. After Tiger apologizes to the public, including his wife, does then she decide to drop another bomb on him.

I don't believe Tiger deserved this much public humiliation, he could have simply been confronted by these women privately rather than ruin his career. Cheating is never an excuse to me, but I believe that there's a deeper meaning behind his actions. In May of 2006, he lost his father in a battle against cancer. His father was the one who propelled his career forward since an early age. Losing someone who had such an impact on your life will make an even bigger impact on yours. Acting out and doing non-regular behavior, such as cheating may result. Sometimes actions aren't up-front, like this situation.

Disability Discrimination

This idea came to me during the day. Have you ever realized that some people are "not all there"? They may be mentally ill, physically disabled, etc. Rather than people show them kindness, they show them hatred. It is not easy for people who are disabled to live there lives, even though some may not be able to understand they are disabled.

I see it in school, not just our school, but in other schools too. Children who have a disability are constantly picked on, bullied, and talked about. It is okay to acknowledge that someone is disabled, but don't make a big deal about it. It is not okay to make them feel any different than you. They deserve the same respect that any other human being does. It truly is a shame when immature children make fun of such people. They didn't chose to be this way, so why point out the obvious and hurt their feelings? Someone having a disability may be uncomfortable for some people, but be mature enough to understand it affects them way more than it affects you.

Some disability facts for the road:

In 2002, 56 million people in America had disabilities.

25% of people with disabilities were from ages 0 years - 19 years old.

5.6% of Americans are unable to work because of their disabilities.

Save the Music

In May of 2009, president Barack Obama announced budget cuts for the Department of Education. The total came to $405 million in cuts. Each school cut an average of 4.9% from their budget, which took away many helpful programs once given to students.

This sparked VH1 to run new ads for their campaign called Save the Music. This foundation has been restoring musical education in American public schools since 1977. They have given a total of $45 million in instruments to over 1,700 schools across the country. This impacted the lives of over 1.4 million public school students.

I believe this is such a great thing for celebrities to do. They're helping future musicians arise from public schools, which some of them once were. Music is not my forte, but I still believe it has great impact on children's educational experience. For budget cuts to take away something that expands children's minds is a crime in my book.

Looking to do more? You can go to: http://www.vh1savethemusic.com if you wish to help.




Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/05/19/2009-05-19_harsh_lesson_new_york_city_education_department_announes_405_million_in_school_b.html

Teen Pregnancy: Glamorized or Reality?

As many of you who watch MTV, you may have seen a change in the programming. It's shifted from music entertainment to real-life situations. Many of these consist of shows with Dr. Drew Pinksy. As many of you know, a huge show of his is 16 & Pregnant. It shows the reality of teenage pregnancy.

However, in news in the recent years, I believe pregnancy has been glamourized. Jamie Lynn Spears, the younger daughter of Britney Spears, had a teenage pregnancy and ended up on the cover of OK! magazine. Does anybody see something wrong with this picture? No father. Father of Jamie Lynn's baby, Casey Aldrid, is not present to take on his duties as a father, at least not if it doesn't involve the spotlight.

16 & Pregnant shows girls from around the country who are affected by teen pregnancy. When asked, most girls admit to not using protection. This is a prime example of the Id, the Ego, and the Superego that Sigmand Freud believes in. In this case, the Super Ego was not present to tell the couple to use protection, there was just the pleasure factor of the Id.

Many girls have to leave school due to being teased, drawn attention to, etc. The young guys who are the fathers run most of the time because they cannot handle the responsibility of being a father. This leaves the young mother to depend on her family for support & help with the baby. Many of them do not understand the responsibility it takes to have a child.

Did you know:

* Three-quarters of a million teens between 15 and 19 become pregnant each year.

* US teen pregnancy rates are higher than those of other developed countries.

* Out of all teen pregnancies, 82% are unintended.

This show helps teenagers understand what teen mothers go to, and the affect having a child has on their life through their way of communication: television. I think this is a great way to get through to young girls. Teen pregnancy is not a thing to be glamorized, rather than exposed for the reality of it.

Relief Funds for Haiti: Where Is It Going?

On a Tuesday evening, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. Many lives were lost & many building were destroyed. A total of 3 million Haitians were effected by this disaster. The United States was the first to reach out and help the country. Many large company's have pledged money to help rebuild Haiti such as the Red Cross. The company has given more than $10 million in funds for relief efforts and $37 million to deal with the entire country.

However, many people who donated should be cautious of who they donate to. Some company's will take your money & say it's going to a relief fund, but it really isn't. They suggest you donate to a large and well known company such as UNICEF and The Red Cross. If you are still interested, you can text "Haiti" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

The main necessity needed in Haiti is water, and since their water system is damaged. While many people look around for water in dirty places, they may catch diseases that can kill as many people that the earthquake did. The red Cross is providing water with the money donated to make sure not Haitian goes without water.

I believe it is a beautiful thing that people can come together to save another country. It shows the goodness in humanity, even throughout tragedy. This is why America is such a great country, we pull through almost anything, even if it may not concern us.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1629828/20100115/story.jhtml