Advertising to Children

Many of us do not even realize how many ads we see every single day. If you live in a city, according to this New York Times article, you can see up to 2,000 ads every day. However, more information is now coming out on the effect of advertising and children. Even more specifically, how these ads effect what children eat and how it is directly related to the growing population of children who are overweight in the United States.

Everyday in the United States, "children and teenagers see 12 to 14 food ads on television" according to this other New York Times article. This does not even include the many other places children have the opportunity to see advertisements like billboards, the internet, and even in school. The repetition of seeing these usually unhealthy food ads played in front of children is now making researchers look at how this related to the obesity crisis in the US. 

Now some campaigns that are trying to fight childhood obesity are firing back with ads that directly show the effects of being overweight as a child. While some of these ads have come under criticism for bullying children and being to harsh others believe its time to really show the effect of obesity on this country. What do you think? Do you think these ads are to harsh?

The Biggest Problem

In the area I live sometimes its easy to forget the vast majority of problems most Americans face today. From the economy to enviroment, the north shore "bubble" provides a cover from many issues today. However, the issue I am reasearching for my junior theme is affecting 17% of children in the United States today; childhood obesity. The repercussions of this  many children being overweight or obese are numerous. Some lasting issues that the country will have to face are not enough healthy recruits to join the army, rising health care costs, declining life span, and a worse overall quality of life.

Many may write off the obesity problems as this generation being lazy and stuck in front of computers and TV screens all day long. While the number of hours children spend in front of a TV may have increased; according to this University of Michigan study, "kids aged 6-11 spend about 28 hours a week in front of a TV," the number of kids overweight can not be entirely blamed on this. Another thing to consider are food deserts: "a district with little or no access to large grocery stores that offer fresh and affordable foods." This means that parents may not have access to fresh, healthy, food instead of fast food like McDonalds or Burger King.

The solution to this problem is not one, many things must be done to make American children healthy again. Michelle Obama's main cause is fighting childhood obesity. However many people do not want the governement coming into this issue and take offence. What do you think? What do you think should be done to help fight this problem?

New Delhi Protests

Over three months ago, a gang rape in India caused an international news firestorm. The story refused to fade, as many do in America and very recently the New York Times reported an update in the story. One of the main suspects in the trial, committed suicide in jail as he was awaiting the trial in the case. The man was the driver of the bus on which the women was raped on and fatally assaulted. According to this New York Times article, "The six men, the only occupants of the private bus, beat the man with a metal bar, raped the woman and used the bar to inflict massive internal injuries to her," which clearly shows how horrific this tragedy was and the reason why this is still such a talked about news story. 

This rape has also spurred protests of women's rights in India. These protests have urged the government to pass more laws and criminalize even more any assault on women. They have also criticized the government for not providing more protection on public transportation, like the bus the women was raped on.This horrific gang rape, is also bringing even more attention to the mistreatment of women, which can go unnoticed to many people in todays society. In just America, every 2 minutes someone is sexually assaulted according to this website.  Many more laws needs to be passed, even in a "progressive" country like America is seen as to protect and help women. What do you think? How can we encourage more laws to be passed to decrease the amount of assaults on women? 

The Fall of A Hero

As we have discussed in class multiple times, a common theme that often shows up in American culture is the one of a rise and fall story of a hero. The American people love this type of story: the rise of a struggling person who has to overcome a challenge, then winning or rising above, and finally the eventual fall. Recently, I have watched this play out in the rise and fall of athlete Oscar Pistorius.

A picture of Pistorius is taken down in Johannesburg after the charges were announced.  

Oscar Pistorius is an Olympic track and field athlete from South Africa and had the lower bottom part of his legs amputated when he was only 11 months old. He was fit with prosthetics and began running in college even though he played multiple sports growing up. After not making the cut for the 2008 Olympics, he focused on training for 2012. He ultimately made the 2012 South African team and ran the final leg of the 4x400 meter relay race. The challenges Pistorius faced were numerous, but he overcame and truly fulfilled the "rise' part of a story and became the hero for the South African team.

However, when you rise, it is inevitable that you will again fall. In February 2013, Pistorius was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. She was shot to death in Pistorius's home. The ongoing charges and court appearances have been all over the United States news which shows how interested the American people are in this type of story. How this whole story will play out will take time. What do you think? Do you think the American people will stay interested or forget about the rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius?

Teach for America

In class this past week, the topic of Teach for America was brought up. I knew only a little bit about this program, and after hearing both positive and negative comments about it, I wanted to learn more about it. According to Teach for Americas website their mission "is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by developing such leaders." Basically what TFA does is take recent college graduates, put them in urban and rural public schools, and have them teach for about two years.

Some of the positives of this program include new teachers who are eager and excited to teach in these schools. They bring fresh energy to the schools and are really committed to helping these kids. And probably even more importantly, TFA is doing something to try and help change our public school system that is failing. According to the TFA website, "8% of kids growing up in low-income communities graduate from college by age 2" which shows how much change is needed.

However, this program is definitely not perfect and not everyone agrees that it is doing that much. People argue that placing new college graduates into struggling classrooms is just a recipe for disaster. These teachers have no experience and are replacing teachers who have worked at the school for years. Whats your opinion on Teach for America? Comment below.

Violence Against Women Act

This week, I started reading about a new act called the Violence Against Women Act. This act would "authorize $659 million over 5 years for VAWA programs and include new protections for victims of domestic violence" according to this Huffington Post article. This act was supposed to be a bipartisan bill, and the Senate just passed it 78 to 22. Not surprisingly, senators who voted against the act were all Republican males. The question that I had right after I read this article was why would anyone vote against this bill, that would help countless people?

I found some sort of answer when reading a quote from a House Republican, Eric Cantor. He said, "We blocked the Violence Against Women Act because the Senate forced it on us without our consent. I'm sure women understand." It shocked me that any elected official could ever say something so horrible and just plain dumb. Hopefully, other Republicans in the House don't share this same view, and pass this crucial bill.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Referring to the Sandy Hook shooting, President Obama said, “That was the worst day of my presidency.” Today, I found myself looking at a photo the White House released of President Obama shooting a gun at Camp David. The photo was taken on August 4^th , 2012, so the fact that it just happened to be released February 2^nd, 2013, this photo seemed like a strange thing for the White House to release.

Was the White House trying to silence anti-gun control critics by showing President Obama is just like them? If that was the case, according to an article by the New York Times, which gave a quote by Chris Cox, the Chief Lobbyist for the National Rife Association, they failed. Mr. Cox said,  “But in his effort to pursue a political agenda, he apparently is willing to convince gun owners that he’s one of us, that he’s a Second Amendment supporter.” The question now is what is President Obamas political agenda. A gun control activist or a “Second Amendment supporter?”

I couldn’t find any definitive statements from President Obama addressing his exact viewpoints on gun control. Instead, I found statements like, “I will use all the powers of this office to help advance efforts aimed at preventing more tragedies (referring to recent mass shootings) like this” and “proposals (referring to gun control laws) that I then intend to push without delay.” President Obama’s quotes use vague language and his statements don’t seem very convincing. However, this picture released by the White House speaks much more then any of his previous statements in his various speeches and interviews. What does this picture say to you and do you think President Obama will take action on gun control based off his statements?