SELFIE

Selfie. A common word that many individuals from different gender and ages use. It is known as a photograph  taken by oneself through a smart phone. This word has been so popular that it has became one of the new vocabulary in the Oxford Dictionary!

The art of taking a selfie has transformed our culture in many ways. It influenced us to perfect on the way we take our photos. People took taking a selfie to a whole new level. A selfie stick has been invented. This device allow individuals to take a pictures of themselves and able to take a wider photo including the background and others who want to be part of it. I find that the person who created this was a genius because now people do not have to struggle to take a photo. For instance, if you wanted to take a group photo with the scenery and no one is there to take the picture for you, a selfie stick can be used as an extra arm.

I do not think the selfie stick should be banned because it is not a much of a safety hazard. There has been no news on how a selfie stick is dangerous. Yes, you are able to hit someone by accident with the stick, but it I don't think it would get to the point where it will severely injure the individual. I think the selfie stick was invented for enjoyment and to be able to take pictures of breath taking scenes. Therefore, I see no problem with this invention because it is just a stick that you can connect your smart phone to.

The Future

What is artificial intelligence? It is the development of computer systems able to perform tasks that a human is able to do. Since our society has been advancing in technology, scientists have created a way for jobs to be done more quicker and efficient. The solution is robots. A robot in today's society is able to think like the human brain. In my opinion, without robots we would not be able to live the way we are living now. For instance, military robots were created in order to perform extremely dangerous tasks. Without the military robots, many soldiers are at a higher risk of endangering themselves.

Although artificial intelligence can positively help our society, it has its cons. If we keep on depending on technology, we may end up not doing anything at all. For example, the robots in a factory helping to package products. Why do we need a robot to do this if we are capable of doing so. Simple, we are lazy. Our intelligence has becoming replaced with what a robot is capable of doing. We may lose jobs just because of technology. Technology is so powerful that it can prevent you from working because a machine can do the job better and more faster. This is quite scary because imagine a world with robots everywhere. Our world would be under the control of a machine.

I understand that our world has becoming much more advanced, but we should not always depend on artificial intelligence. Why spend thousands of dollars on new technology, when we have our own brains capable of doing the work. Im not one hundred percent against this matter, I just hope in the near future we do not become lazier than we are now.

Commercials Involving Stereotypes?

          Today, commercials and advertisements have one of the greatest influences in an individual's decision making. It can either impact them in a positive or negative way. Commercials and advertisements are a way of companies to convince you into buying their product. Sometimes when this is done, it may make the consumer feel bad about themselves. So in order to feel better, they decide to buy the product.

          But how can a commercial be so powerful? One way of doing it is by using stereotypes. You all heard the saying, "asians are good at math", "men can't cook",  and "guys can play sports better than girls". These are just some examples of stereotypes that limit a person's ability to do things. By this I mean, "men can't cook", discriminates all the men in the world to not pursue a cooking career. This is wrong because no one should be told that they can't look, live or act a certain way just because of stereotypes.

          With all these stereotypes being said around in society, it may lower an individual's self-esteem. An example would be the commercial about how a man is seen based on what kind of truck he has. In the commercial, the people being asked questions said that they would pick the man with the truck rather than the man with the car because a truck can make you seem more "manly". Although this commercial may have been intended to be humorous, I think its offensive. No one should have materialistic things to show who you are. A man should not need a truck to prove that he is worthy. This just goes the same to the commercial for Abreva. One of the bridesmaid felt uncomfortable showing her face because she had a cold sore. The message being delivered seems as if a woman should feel embarrassed about themselves if their skin is not clear. Commercials like this should be stopped because there should be better ways to showcase a product without putting someone's self-esteem down.

Are Parents Taking it too Far?

          In today's society, many young adolescents look down on themselves, maybe because of insecurity's due to appearance or even abilities. With these problems occurring, don't parents understand that their child's problems are big enough already? I guess not.

          On a social media site, the parents of their 12 year old son, Rushawn, decided to punish him by posting a collage of him with a haircut that makes him look like an old man. The person who cut Rushawn's hair was his father, Fredrick, who co-owns a barber shop. The reason for giving his son a horrible haircut in the first place and posting it online was because Rushawn's grades at school were not improving. “Parents are at a loss,” the 34-year-old dad said. “When you go to discipline kids these days, they can’t necessarily use physical punishment they way parents did in the past, but they have to do something.” The father believed that this form of punishment was okay to do because after humiliating his son, Rushawn's grades began to improve.  Although this punishment worked, I do believe that there is a fine line between shaming a child and disciplining a child. 

          The idea of punishing your child in a public manner is what some people would agree to. But, in my own opinion I think it is wrong. I find it wrong for parents and guardians to do this because shaming someone where the whole community can see it, can cause an embarrassment to this person. Not only it will embarrass them, but as well as lower their self-esteem. How can a child go to school with all their classmates seeing what their parents have done to them, without feeling bad about themselves? There must be a better way to handle this situation. The best way to do it in my opinion is to have a serious talk with their child rather than exposing the situation publicly because that is a form of bullying! 

Think Before You Tweet

     Social media became one of the most popular form of media in today's world. It helped many individuals keep up to date with what is happening, in respect to politics, global issues or simply to what is occurring in their peer's life. The internet became so popular that many people are using it as a way to express their thoughts and opinions. I do believe that everyone should be allowed to have their own voice. But when bullying is involved, that is when we need to take initiative to stop this.

     I feel that physical bullying is often taken more seriously than cyber bullying. But why? Yes, hurting someone physically does hurt and can leave mark on someone's body that may hurt for a small amount of time. But hurtful words can stay with them for a long period because it is like a voice in their head that is on repeat.

     It is very easy to bully someone on social media because they are not actually confronting the person face to face. This is wrong. Students or even adults should not think that just because they are "expressing their feelings", it is right. There should be a line between how and when speaking your thoughts is allowed in a way of not putting someone down.

     I do see this as a concern because sometimes we think that we are not doing any harm even if we are. Twitter or even any other social media should be used as a positive environment rather than another form of bullying. Our world is already in disorder. Why add more problems?



   

CELEBRITIES VS. PAPARAZZI

Iggy Azalea who is an Australian rapper was seen by a photographer, who tried taking pictures of her while she went grocery shopping. There was conflict between the photographer and Iggy, also her manager who tried to defend her when this occurred. Her manager said "Just cause she's a celebrity, it does not give you the right to follow her". I would agree to this because being a celebrity should not be a reason to have people stalking you. But in terms of the photographer's point of view, I can understand why he started talking pictures of Iggy. Society is drawn to seeing what their favourite celebrity is up to, so the paparazzi take advantage of this by invading a celebrity's personal space. I would have to think that both were wrong in this situation because once you are exposed to the world, many people want to keep up to date with you. Therefore, the paparazzi will follow you on a daily basis. So Iggy could have just ignored the photographer and accept the fact that her life is no longer private. But the photographer is also wrong because sometimes the paparazzi can become too much to handle because celebrities have their rights as well. Similar to this topic, Kristen Bell who is the star of Frozen was arriving in LAX in Los Angeles. She was caught on tape hitting a paparazzo because she was so frustrated. The paparazzo said," Kristen you hurt me a little bit, that's mean". I find it ironic that the paparazzo  thought that when Kristen hit him, it was considered mean or rude because it is also rude of the paparazzi flashing cameras in her face when she is bothered by this. At this point, this is when the paparazzi needs to stop because they should imagine that if this happened to them, they would feel the same. I do believe that the paparazzi only try to annoy celebrities for the entertainment.