web surfin
Apr. 10th, 2004 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rdfreakI changed my password on LJ so I can finally tell you what my other one was (as promised in my second LJ entry) so here it is. Lol "ifartalot" lol! that's the thing I found so funny! Lol
Not doing a lot today. just kinda chillin! I am eating my first red chulip easter bunny from Nanna. she stayed here last night and is helping me a bit today. She cleaned my windows! and later will go to safeway with me to help me get in some munchies for my party! I can't wait for tomorrow. In fact the whole week will be good stuff! If only i'd start my homework! *sigh*
I have been searching everywhere for Smarter child and all that as I wanna chat to it some more Lol! but unfortunately I think there is now a fee! who wants to pay for chattering to a robot?! Lol not me!
Anyway just then, I mannaged to accidently stumble upon this article:
It is kinda an interesting read:
Editorials
Editorials
MSN Messenger: The Downfall of Our Society
By Victoria Pazzano and Jennah Khaled
In the past five years, kids and adults alike have been strongly captivated by MSN Messenger, the new way of Internet communication. It’s a great way to
chat online...or is it? Before MSN messenger, life was quite different. Students actually read, wrote, and had real conversations, face to face. We want
our society to become more intelligent, so why are we discouraging intellectual activities? MSN messenger is a detriment to education and the day-to-day
lives of human beings all over the world.
Students spend too much time on MSN messenger, time they could be spending developing physical and intellectual skills. In 1997, 37% of kids spent over
6 hours on the Internet and in the last 5 years, that number has more than doubled. Concerned parents, such as Lori Lamala, mother of two preteen girls
says, "they do not pick up a book to read". Also, Phd Drew Altman announced that "...surfing the Internet has become a full time job for the typical American
child".
We do not want our children to grow up lacking the skills needed to succeed in our world. If we want each generation to achieve more than the previous group,
we need to make sure they are getting a proper education in the early years, before, during, and after school.
Another problem with MSN messenger is the use of incorrect spelling, grammar, and inappropriate short forms. This clearly affects the writing skills of
many students. Dave Riddell, an experienced grade 7 English teacher at Hazel McCallion Senior Public School says, "I have seen short slang forms of language
appearing in written formal essays throughout my career". Bradley Baker, a distressed father of three says, "The bigger fallback is penmanship; they are
becoming proficient in keyboarding but are lacking in handwriting."
Users of MSN messenger think that it’s a wonderful way to communicate with other people. A poll was conducted and showed that almost all students talked
to their friends from school on MSN messenger. However, the program was specifically designed for long-distance communication. Why should students be wasting
their time talking to people they see almost every day?
At HMC, a disturbing scene unfolds. In a 7th grade design and technology class, a teacher announced, "Let the computer do the work for you". This is the
message being taught to students: We don’t need to think for ourselves, a machine will do it for us. We don’t want our children to be dependant on little
boxes with wires to solve their problems. How can we expect them to be independent members of society if everything they do is relying on a computer?
So, if you want to talk to your friends, pick up the phone, or better yet, walk over to them and have an actual conversation! If you really need to use
MSN, use it in moderation. Don’t let it control you. Don’t let it ruin your reading and writing skills. Above all, don’t let your life revolve around it.
We need to become smarter, not dumber. Today’s kids are the future of our world, and we do not want to leave our planet in the hands of uneducated, illiterate
people.
Music Videos
Do they corrupt teenagers? Do they corrupt teenagers?
By Emily Gingerich
"On average, youth listen to music and watch music videos four to five hours a day, which is more time than they spend with their friends outside of school
or watching T.V.", says Kathleen O’Toole.
Music is something almost everybody can hear and enjoy. It was in the early sixties when the Beatles came out with a "Hard Day’s Night" in a video format.
Although music videos didn’t become popular until the eighties, it was in the sixties when they actually kicked off auditory and visual presentation of
music.
Today music videos have evolved into more than the Beatles running down the street being chased by a mob of fans. Music and the videos now produced, promote
the one thing that sells: sex. For example, one of Britney Spear’s songs: I’m a Slave 4 u. It is bad enough that the song contains lyrics about sex in
it, but producers portray it in music videos too, making them unsuitable for young children to view. "For young children, this effect can be extremely
damaging. Young children often have trouble distinguishing between reality and fantasy, right and wrong. They do not have enough personal experience to
compare what they see on TV with real life", says Elliot Marx.
In the way adolescents tend to dress like their favourite music star, this is why you see so many boys with the overly baggy pants, and the girls flaunting
shirts that are far too small for them, teasingly revealing fleshy stomachs.
Sex isn’t the only negative thing that music videos promote. Violence is also seen in many of the videos shown on T.V. This makes the message unclear, to
teens as well as children, that the violence on T.V. shouldn’t repeat itself in real life.
A 1998-1999 study revealed that music videos actually showed more violence than feature films and television. A 1997 study reported that 22.4% of MTV videos
contained overt examples of violence and 25% depicted weapon carrying. (
http://www.mediascope.org/pubs/ibriefs/yvm.htm).
Music videos are certainly easy to blame, but it’s the music itself that promotes the problem. Everything an adolescent sees and hears is influenced by
music. Music has become a powerful tool to send messages out to the ‘mindless’ teens of our generation. "Music alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes
much of their slang, dominates their conversations and provides the ambiance at their social gatherings. Music styles define the crowds and cliques they
run in. Music personalities provide models for how they act and dress," says Kathleen O’Toole.
In the end, and as society continues to let the moral line in the sand slide back, music videos will just keep pushing the extremes. Children will be exposed
to whatever is on T.V. And teenagers will always be influenced, if not from music, then from music videos, magazines and even each other.
Not doing a lot today. just kinda chillin! I am eating my first red chulip easter bunny from Nanna. she stayed here last night and is helping me a bit today. She cleaned my windows! and later will go to safeway with me to help me get in some munchies for my party! I can't wait for tomorrow. In fact the whole week will be good stuff! If only i'd start my homework! *sigh*
I have been searching everywhere for Smarter child and all that as I wanna chat to it some more Lol! but unfortunately I think there is now a fee! who wants to pay for chattering to a robot?! Lol not me!
Anyway just then, I mannaged to accidently stumble upon this article:
It is kinda an interesting read:
Editorials
Editorials
MSN Messenger: The Downfall of Our Society
By Victoria Pazzano and Jennah Khaled
In the past five years, kids and adults alike have been strongly captivated by MSN Messenger, the new way of Internet communication. It’s a great way to
chat online...or is it? Before MSN messenger, life was quite different. Students actually read, wrote, and had real conversations, face to face. We want
our society to become more intelligent, so why are we discouraging intellectual activities? MSN messenger is a detriment to education and the day-to-day
lives of human beings all over the world.
Students spend too much time on MSN messenger, time they could be spending developing physical and intellectual skills. In 1997, 37% of kids spent over
6 hours on the Internet and in the last 5 years, that number has more than doubled. Concerned parents, such as Lori Lamala, mother of two preteen girls
says, "they do not pick up a book to read". Also, Phd Drew Altman announced that "...surfing the Internet has become a full time job for the typical American
child".
We do not want our children to grow up lacking the skills needed to succeed in our world. If we want each generation to achieve more than the previous group,
we need to make sure they are getting a proper education in the early years, before, during, and after school.
Another problem with MSN messenger is the use of incorrect spelling, grammar, and inappropriate short forms. This clearly affects the writing skills of
many students. Dave Riddell, an experienced grade 7 English teacher at Hazel McCallion Senior Public School says, "I have seen short slang forms of language
appearing in written formal essays throughout my career". Bradley Baker, a distressed father of three says, "The bigger fallback is penmanship; they are
becoming proficient in keyboarding but are lacking in handwriting."
Users of MSN messenger think that it’s a wonderful way to communicate with other people. A poll was conducted and showed that almost all students talked
to their friends from school on MSN messenger. However, the program was specifically designed for long-distance communication. Why should students be wasting
their time talking to people they see almost every day?
At HMC, a disturbing scene unfolds. In a 7th grade design and technology class, a teacher announced, "Let the computer do the work for you". This is the
message being taught to students: We don’t need to think for ourselves, a machine will do it for us. We don’t want our children to be dependant on little
boxes with wires to solve their problems. How can we expect them to be independent members of society if everything they do is relying on a computer?
So, if you want to talk to your friends, pick up the phone, or better yet, walk over to them and have an actual conversation! If you really need to use
MSN, use it in moderation. Don’t let it control you. Don’t let it ruin your reading and writing skills. Above all, don’t let your life revolve around it.
We need to become smarter, not dumber. Today’s kids are the future of our world, and we do not want to leave our planet in the hands of uneducated, illiterate
people.
Music Videos
Do they corrupt teenagers? Do they corrupt teenagers?
By Emily Gingerich
"On average, youth listen to music and watch music videos four to five hours a day, which is more time than they spend with their friends outside of school
or watching T.V.", says Kathleen O’Toole.
Music is something almost everybody can hear and enjoy. It was in the early sixties when the Beatles came out with a "Hard Day’s Night" in a video format.
Although music videos didn’t become popular until the eighties, it was in the sixties when they actually kicked off auditory and visual presentation of
music.
Today music videos have evolved into more than the Beatles running down the street being chased by a mob of fans. Music and the videos now produced, promote
the one thing that sells: sex. For example, one of Britney Spear’s songs: I’m a Slave 4 u. It is bad enough that the song contains lyrics about sex in
it, but producers portray it in music videos too, making them unsuitable for young children to view. "For young children, this effect can be extremely
damaging. Young children often have trouble distinguishing between reality and fantasy, right and wrong. They do not have enough personal experience to
compare what they see on TV with real life", says Elliot Marx.
In the way adolescents tend to dress like their favourite music star, this is why you see so many boys with the overly baggy pants, and the girls flaunting
shirts that are far too small for them, teasingly revealing fleshy stomachs.
Sex isn’t the only negative thing that music videos promote. Violence is also seen in many of the videos shown on T.V. This makes the message unclear, to
teens as well as children, that the violence on T.V. shouldn’t repeat itself in real life.
A 1998-1999 study revealed that music videos actually showed more violence than feature films and television. A 1997 study reported that 22.4% of MTV videos
contained overt examples of violence and 25% depicted weapon carrying. (
http://www.mediascope.org/pubs/ibriefs/yvm.htm).
Music videos are certainly easy to blame, but it’s the music itself that promotes the problem. Everything an adolescent sees and hears is influenced by
music. Music has become a powerful tool to send messages out to the ‘mindless’ teens of our generation. "Music alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes
much of their slang, dominates their conversations and provides the ambiance at their social gatherings. Music styles define the crowds and cliques they
run in. Music personalities provide models for how they act and dress," says Kathleen O’Toole.
In the end, and as society continues to let the moral line in the sand slide back, music videos will just keep pushing the extremes. Children will be exposed
to whatever is on T.V. And teenagers will always be influenced, if not from music, then from music videos, magazines and even each other.
