Equal Responsibility

In our class discussion last week, much of our focus was on responsibility and whose to blame for much of the misinformation if not lack of information in the news. It seemed there was a question of balance and who was to be held accountable for information: journalists, citizens, or the government. But I think much of it has to deal with journalists. These days we've been trained to believe that everything government officials say is completely true. As a result of that, journalists have become "lazy" to take an extra step to question whether or not the information they received is true. However their responsibilities are to the people and in trying to get the most accurate information out there. This inherently hinders citizens from accessing further information because of the limits created to prevent that.

When citizens feel there is a lack of credible, useful, and insightful information about what is really going on in the world, people take it upon themselves to gather as much evidence possible and blog about their opinions and findings. For the most part, others are drawn to blog or read others' blogs because of its uniqueness, newness in the realm of journalism and the hunt for the real news. Maybe there's a deeper meaning behind all this lack of 'real' news coverage from journalists. I would like to think journalists believe that if the public really wants to know more they'll stay tuned and support those bringing in the real news and refuse to give in to the consumer attitudes by watching news about celebrities.

It's a cycle of responsibility and accountability. Even though journalists get most of their information from government officials they should already know the real story doesn't end there; there's more to it and in order to fully understand it more credible sources and investigation is needed. Equally important is the citizen's responsibility to FIND the real news and proceed further to find relational information and piece the puzzle together.

I think I'm going Crazy....

The semester is soon coming to a close and it just seems there's too much to do in so little time. This semester went by so fast...it's such a challenge for me. I've been slacking on my posts, feeling overwhelmed researching for projects for other classes, getting my capstone started, while trying to balance being a mom. Honestly this is a big stretch for me. I'm really excited and quite relieved to be graduating next semester. Honestly, being a full-time student and a full-time mom to an 8 month old really is challenging. How do other moms do it? I find it nearly impossible to get work done at home because whenever I'm there my son wants to be with me 24-7. I miss being with him at home and being able to witness his first steps, hear his first words, and all that landmark stuff. It's amazing how much one goal in life creates what feels like a million sacrifices to be made.

This is completely off topic from class discussions, but it really got me thinking. Did anyone watch "The Pursuit of Happyness"? If you haven't you should! It's such a big eye opener. Totally made my life look peachy. Which brings me to this...have we each found happiness? What is it that makes us happy? Is it that big "A" you received for writing that 10 page paper, the rush you get from retail therapy, or is it simply in the company of family and good health? All these questions....

Hate Speech in blogs

I think this week's discussions about hate speech was very interesting and an important issue to discuss about. The Court's definition for what categorizes hate speech is a bit vague, but as always issues vary in certain situations from case to case. I can't help but think about an email I had received a few months ago from someone (not too sure if it was a male or female but beside the point) voicing their dislikes or shall I say hate for Chamorro people. I must admit I was rather offended and hurt by most of the issues this person talked about degrading my people and pretty much stating Guamanians are a waste of space. I still have the email so I could analyze it and code it as hate speech if it was. Because it was really hurtful. Which brings me back to the issue of intent. I think it's hate speech if you intend to harm someone emotionally and psychologically with words. Words are powerful and though they may not inflict physical harm, I think it inflicts more lasting pain if it affects someone emotionally and psychologically. Threats alone could affect someone's psyche. No one wants to live in constant fear and worry that one day they're going to die or be brutally beaten. That's just wrong. I just don't understand how people get off playing off the fears of others through intimidation. I think it's just psychotic especially if all your anger and hate has driven you to drastic measures to physically harm someone.

But anyway, back to the email I received. I asked Dave yesterday if that type of email would be considered hate speech and to what extent was it protected if it wasn't. I received it on myspace which is a whole issue in itself considering there are certain guidelines to abide by in the virtual space. Summarizing some things the emailer wrote is that "Chamorro women ought to be murdered" because they are overpopulating the island, and Chamorro men are "good for nothing lazy asses" who waste their time doing absolutely nothing living off the system. The emailer also went on claiming the island was a "shithole" in regards to the hot weather, government, and the people. I really don't want to go on anymore considering this is a sensitive issue for me, but I would've never thought people like this still existed. I'm just so proud of my island and yes I realize there are some bad characteristics about it, but I think the locals and citizens of the island are the only ones who have that right to criticize it because they live and breathe the problems of the island. I thought could be a visitor or a military person who went there and just had a bad experience or encountered all the wrong people. But Guam is a very family-oriented place and shows overall hospitality to everyone. We're easy going people and sure we may have our problems, but what society doesn't.

I wish there could be anthropologists and ethnographers that go along with these people to ensure they have an open mind for different cultures. I think this is another barrier the person may have had. As with any culture, if you don't know or have lived the culture or in the society you have no right to provide your assumptions and interpretations about those people. There are so many things happening in one issue and most of it is influenced or derives out of the culture and one just cannot compare the differences with their own culture because that leaves too much room for judgments wrong ones at that. Whatever happened to having respect for one another? I know when I go to foreign countries I try my best to understand and observe what is going on in cultural and traditional contexts of that society before I draw any conclusions about its citizens. I would hope that everyone who leaves this country to visit another is culturally and diversely aware of differences and respects them.

"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness."

Suspended for saying "VAGINA!"

I think this is really ridiculous! I came across a video clip on the TODAY show about high school students who were suspended for saying "vagina" in a school play. A group of three girls were suspended from high school for performing a school play and for using the word "vagina" after being told by their principal to not use the word in the play. The girls and Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues" were interviewed on the Today show. (To watch the clip, click here. Scroll to "Students suspended over the v-word")

This issue totally relates to what we discussed in class. Maybe not on the grounds of pornographic images, but the use of graphic language. The superintendent of the school said they feared there were young children in the audience and this particular use of the language was not appropriate for them. However, the girls claimed the audience was only of parents and 9-12 graders. I personally think the girls did the right thing in saying "vagina." I don't see the harm in the word...it's just a body part. Yet again this is another way educators try to shelter children from learning. So what if young children were in the audience and heard the word? How would that NEGATIVELY affect them? I think if children are educated about sexuality, their body parts, then aren't we doing our job to protect them from harm; the harm of abusing it? The Vagina Monologues has been shown on college campuses nationwide, why not show it to a high school audience? If anything I think there is a NEED to show it to a teenage audience.

I thought it was just great to see these three young women standing up for what they believed in. This was their way of showing they would not be silenced. Someone in my group in seminar yesterday mentioned that nowadays and even long ago, sex education has always had a negative connotation (i.e. venereal diseases, dying from them, etc.). By including plays like the Vagina MOnologues in the high school environment teenage girls and boys will learn the vagina is a beautiful thing. I mean damn, LIFE is created from it! Where the hell else did we all come from? That's right....OUR MOTHERS VAGINAS! As a parent, I would want my child to learn about these things so he's informed and won't feel the need to EXPERIMENT to be educated about it. Really this is so ridiculous! Any thoughts.....

Who Decides????

I absolutely loved the discussion we had in our last seminar meeting. My group touched on so many issues of the topic in the limited amount of time we had. Everyone offered thoughtful critical insights and multiple perspectives on the issue of "censorship." I could tell we were all very passionate about the discussion....and EVERYONE was actively engaged!

As a parent, this discussion made me really think about what I would want my son to be taught come his time to start school. I do want to have a say about what he should and shouldn't be learning in school. I do realize there may be few things in the curriculum I may not agree with, but in one way or another he will encounter members of the GLBTQ community and other minority groups and I would want him to be educated about it. I want him to be informed and from that formulate his own opinion about it. Shunning or sheltering him from a reality of a diverse society is just unrealistic and ridiculous.

I was rather appalled after reading the Dobson article. Yes I understand he has his beliefs and feels strongly about marriage, education, and opposes homosexuality, but he never explained HOW teaching this in classrooms would negatively affect young children. What is the correlation between teaching about homosexuality and the promotion of "perverse behavior?" Children are unaware of others' differences unless it is pointed out to them and interpreted as bad or taboo. Exposing children at a young age will give them the freedom to determine what they think about it; acceptance, toleration, or rejection. Also, Dobson seems to be stuck in his ways and frankly I cannot begin to wonder where he lives. We live in a very diverse nation made up of multicultural communities and times have changed. He posed the question: If it's okay to teach about sexuality or in this case homosexuality than why not include religion in the curriculum? From his article he stated in explaining his scenario of Mrs. Jones, a kindergarten teacher, "...Mrs. Jones cannot mention the contributions to society made by people pf faith, or the role that Christianity played in the lives of Pilgrims and the Founding Fathers, or the meaning of the Judeo-Christian concept of morality." I can understand where Dobson is coming from with this, but I think he is also missing the central point of all of this. I don't think it has anything to do with promoting homosexual behavior, rather by teaching about an overall difficult reality to understand that is not popularly accepted, children and staff who are homosexual or some who are sexually confused can find this space to be comfortable; some won't have to be passive about it. Which leads me to this...If religion was taught in a public classroom (Christianity) Dobson would say we are preparing children to be Christian role models and instilling them with good morals and values. But what about the Crusades, missionaries forcibly converting non-Christians with violence, and killing in the name of God? Wouldn't that influence children to be violent and condemn others who are Christian? How would this promote good Christian morals and values?

I could honestly go on and on about this topic. Like Dave said, there are just too many elements playing into this issue; from teachers, students, the government, parents. What we teach our children is important because they are our investments for our futures. They are the future leaders of tomorrow. We don't want them to be cookie cuts; we'd leave no room for change.

Are You an 'Internet Addict'?

My apologies for a late post Dave, but all day today and yesterday evening, the internet was down in Frederick Park. I must admit I was irritated with the whole thing considering I had to get some work done and not having internet prevented that. My experience today is completely relevant to an article I came across on MSN.com about the treatment of *internet addicts* in China. The article was very interesting and aroused much thought about how we as a society are very dependent on the internet.

The Chinese government has started a campaign to stop virtual addiction or what they called a "grave social danger". According to statistics, nearly 14% of teens in China are susceptible to virtual addiction. The article was focused around what is being done to treat internet addiction. Teenagers are taken to a military hospital for treatment, are banned access to the virtual world, and are monitored by medical staff 24/7. For more info...

What's interesting about this article is the fact that everyone in general depends on the internet for everything; information, news, research, romance, etc. And everyone has access to it; people of all ages and nowadays with such a reliance on computer technology children are being trained to use the internet at such a young age. In the article, another point made was how detrimental the internet can be if started at a young age. Some problems mentioned were it prevented social interaction and was a distraction to much daily activities. I do agree the internet is addicting. I don't know how many times a day I check my myspace page. I also depend on it to handle my finances, shop, and communicate at no-cost with my family. There are endless possibilities to the uses of the internet. In many of my classes, many students bring their laptops to class to take notes, search for relevant materials on the internet for class discussion, and other things. This can be beneficial, but I can also see how it deters much of their attention away from class; checking emails, 'myspacing', researching for other classes, etc.

But I can see how this kind of "addiction" can be harmful. Sometimes when I'm writing papers, I tend to browse the web when taking my break. Rather than taking a walk or reading a book, I choose to spend free time on the internet. I do some online shopping, visit news sites, listen to music, and other things. What would the world be like without the internet? Computers alone have revolutionized worldwide communication and access to information, but have we gone too far? We depend on the internet for so many things, but in the process of trying to make life easier I think we've equally made it more complicated. The internet is a powerful tool in reaching mass numbers of people, but what happens to those who do not have access to the internet? Any thoughts?.....

"GANGSTA" themed parties

As I was looking through online news articles on MSN.com I came across an article of interest. I thought it would be appealing to our class considering its main focus is on the freedom of expression. Across the country there have been an increased popularity of "gangsta" theme parties on many college campuses. This has raised attention to many African American and white students who are offended by these events particularly thrown by students. African American students argued that these parties are insulting and perpetuate stereotypes. What adds insult to injury is the fact that many of these parties are held around the time of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a holiday to honor slain civil rights leaders.

Experts say that those who do portray these stereotypes are not consciously aware of how their actions affect others considering much of this behavior is shown on TV through hip-hop music videos (BET, MTV) and some movies. Some of the behaviors people found offensive included a white male student wearing blackface and a white female student who put padding in her pants to make her rear-end appear bigger.
Link to article for further details.

The striking thing about this article is here is an example of how social injustice issues of race is still prevalent today. Once again the influence of the media (MTV) provided a negative portrayal of African Americans. Particularly the examples of young women who added padded articles to their rear-ends and men wearing machine guns as part of their attire is not what hip-hop is all about let alone African American culture. I agree with the experts opinions that people don't realize that their actions affect other people. We live in a generation where kids and adults think it's okay to act this way because it's showed on television, but what we don't realize is the fact that though it's harmless fun to us understand that the U.S. past history includes the ridicule and approval to kill African Americans (Civil Rights era).

But there is another side to this also. What makes this issue a double-edged sword is that some influential African Americans, particularly rappers, continue to play out these stereotypes. In many of rap songs the constant repetition of derogatory phrases to describe women and the portrayal of "bling" is referred to to exemplify success. However since the time of the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans stay in the political realm to fight for their rights and to gain respect from others and refrained from detrimental behavior. And we've come to an understanding that in order to make more money in the industry people have to do some shady things even if it means damaging your integrity. Don't get me wrong, I'm most definitely not insisting people shouldn't listen to hip-hop and have a good time, but people who deliberately act out certain stereotypes lose the idea, think its funny, and believe they're not hurting anyone.