People Are Sheep
Every person everywhere in the United States is consumed by what the media tells them: what to do, what to wear, where to go to shop. People will swear up and down that they want to have their own identity, and they will even go to great lengths to attain it, yet, inevitably, they all fall into a “clique” with millions of others. Nobody wants to be a follower, but in terms of youth culture, nobody can really be a true leader.
Nobody, that is, except the media. The American people, young and old alike, line up like sheep and follow the media shepherd wherever it leads.
After a pathetic plea from my 13-year-old brother, I reluctantly agreed to take him and a few of his buddies to the mall to shop for basketball shoes. Although taking a slew of opinionated, loud-mouthed, smart-aleck teenagers shopping was not high on my priority list, spending time with my little brother was. So off to the mall we went. On the way the increasingly louder arguments over which shoes were the best made me want to drive my car straight into a tree. The one topic that kept rolling media presuaded tounges was that of the many different shoes they had seen on television. That’s when it hit me, my brother and his buddies were being led to slaughter --the mall-- by the media shepherd.
As we pulled into the parking space at the mall, I barely had time to put the car in park before my crazed passengers, a pack of teenaged hooligans, barreled out of the car and raced for the door. By the time I caught up to my mob of shoe shoppers they were already in a shoe store, each with a different shoe in hand. My little brother had already strapped a pair of hideous shoes to his feet and was bouncing around the store acting like he was Kobe Bryant. I asked him if he liked the way the shoes looked, or even if they were at least comfortable, and his reply was, “who cares? Kobe Bryant wears them so they’re awesome!”.
I gave the shoes a closer inspection, because if they were good enough for Kobe Bryant, they were good enough for my little brother. At least in my little brothers mind. When I peered at the price tag my knees got weak, and I nearly fell over.
The institutions, cultural forms, and economic powers were lifted as the term “teenager” itself was created to differentiate young men and women from adults (University of Toronto 145). The clothing trends, hairstyles, dances and even the language was different from that of adults (Armstrong et al, 134). Young men and women enjoyed dressing themselves with blue jeans, leather jackets,and pony tails for women, which stood as an identity for teenagers as it differentiated them from adults (Armstrong et al,135). This idea was amazing to acknowledge because a new type of people are emerging, and this added to Canadian multiculturalism and acceptance of the different types of people.The adults response to the wild nature of teenagers was that they were left shocked at first, yet later they acknowledged this act as just a phase during one’s life, they got used to this unique behaviour as time progressed (OC University 10). With the brutality of World War 2, the youth at the time were simply left neglected (OC University 10). Many believe that teens during the 1950’s were greatly influenced by being raised during a war generation (OC University 10). The youth distinguished themselves through shocking, yet enjoyable behaviour such as dance moves and their overall mindset on life. In addition, advertisers convinced teens to purchase certain products which
Adoption is governed individually by each state, Kansas and Alaska allow adult adoptees full and unconditional access to original birth records. There are many campaigns that support the right to find adoptees’ birth parents. One of these campaigns is the green ribbon campaign. This campaign fights for the opening of any and all birth records in every state. “A number of large adoption agencies are major supporters of the so-called Uniform Adoption Act of 1994 (UAA) that would reinforce and enlarge secrecy provisions of adoption law”(about.com, 2). Many courts including the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals have heard cases that pertain to the opening of birth records of adoptees’.
Deforestation in Africa is still a thriving conflict in today’s society. “Unlike other countries, deforestation in Africa is mainly caused by human activity, rather than for commercial use” (http://web.mit.edu , Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Citizens in Africa use wood for many purposes such as creating fuel, and other types of energy sources along with cooking. Although many highly educated persons have tried conducting a solution to this problem, they have not been able to come up with a final conclusion. People have realized that deforestation is an evolving problem that needs to be addressed, but it is hard to figure out an exact way to end it.
Place for open adoption from birth Juliana Whitney loved every minute of her life. When Juliana was old enough to know what adoption was her adoptive family told her that she was was adopted and even allowed her to interact with her birth family. Juliana would stay the night at her birth mother and father house, they were allowed to attend her graduation, and she also was able to interact with cousins,grandparents, aunts, and uncles from her birth mother and father's side. Ms. Whitney say that although she know the people who created her she was never confused about who her parent were (What Growing Up In An Open Adoption Has Taught Me). Open Adoption is a form of adoption in which the Birth parents can still be involved in their child's life.
Despite that being cool includes gathering attention through showcasing an impressive individual feature one has, it still falls heavily in the idea of conformity. People, mostly in school settings, have this set image of what’s cool and what’s not, and despite that it may vary, they all involve the same idea. The common idea shows how “cool behavior can range from dressing in trendy styles to being good at a certain sport to being sarcastic to parents; uncool behavior often includes displaying excessive affection and obedience toward parents, reaching out to an unpopular classmate, and expressing interest in school work” (Bernstein). This type of behavior is often showcased in the media, or even inspired by it. In schools, there tends to be a separation of social status, based on their behavior. We have those students who rebel against the rules, disrespects others for comedic effect or proof of dominance, and simply follows all the popular trends to gain this title of being cool. On the contrary, we have these students who are more obedient, presents themselves as good role models, and are more in the side in which they weigh their responsibilities more than what’s in and what’s not. They’re two different kinds, but in the end it tends to just merge into one whole group, as the students who are more ‘uncool’ in a sense, desire to be ‘cool’ and act accordingly. This is always the case in my history of transitioning from to a higher level of education, in which I have relations with these students who used to be very invested in their studies, start to become more rebellious and uncaring for their education as they grow. From what they see in excessively in the media, the people who tend to who have bad behaviors are more popular, and as they grow to become teenagers, popularity seems to grow more of its significance. Since its significance grows, these
Open adoption records would provide the tools for people to learn indispensable information that is provided to all other Americans beside themselves. Sealed records violate adoptee’s rights as human beings. Adoptees are discriminated against like no other group in this country. Records should be opened so that we have the same rights as those who are raised in their biological families.
Adoption in the United States was beginning to be known around the 1850”s. Back then, births were not being recorded properly or taken into notice at all. This made it accessible for people to give up their children and make informal
A couple who opts for open adoption will be blessed to have the biological parents in the family’s life because of the blessing (that the biological parents offered to the adopting parents). Open adoption gives the child the opportunity to have both the biological and adoptive parents a part of the child’s life. Could Open Adoption be the Best Choice for You and Your Baby, states the positive effects of what a child goes through with the open adoption process. For example, “removal of the feelings of secrecy and shame that can come up at different points in [the child’s] life, links to [the child’s] birth mother, and possibly birth father, brothers, and sisters, and knowledge to important medical information” (Could Open Adoption be the Best Choice for You and Your Baby). In most open adoptions today, the child is allowed the access to the birth parents and receiving information, which in a closed adoption, the adoptee would never obtain. Also, in open adoptions the birth parents are able to choose who the adopted parents are for the child. For example, if a close relative couldn’t conceive a child, the birth parents could allow that couple to adopt the child. “Having been selected by the birth parents, the adoptive parents feel entitled to parent, which is an essential ingredient in all adoptions” (Silber). Overall, open adoption is beneficial to the adoptee because it
There are two deeper categories to adoptions that are known as open and closed. The one in which the profile of the parties who are involved are hidden and unknown is known as
In Rushkoff’s film, The Merchants of Cool, he rhetorically questions if “teenagers even have a culture to call distinctly their own.” In the late 1990’s when the documentary was made, the implication was that they do not. However, with the internet’s advancements and the accessibility of communication with massive amounts of people, teenagers today can form authentic cultures that are not contaminated by the corporate media.
birthrights need to be reviewed to allow the adoptees to have an open access to their
With open adoption kids do not really struggle with finding out more about their original family. Before the child is born the adoptive parents and the biological constantly meet and continue to have this relationship throughout the kid's life. So, the questions kids with open adoption have are less because they are more likely to have answers to their questions. On the other hand, there are still big numbers of kids that want answers, they want to seek the truth but do not have the resources needed to have their answers. People fight for open records because everyone deserves the same rights as others (Silber web). Adoptees should continue to fight for this right, it should not even be a right, this is something they should be able to access without having no
Adoption is a strenuous process that affects the child and the parent. Most of the time it has lasting effects on the child, due to many issues within the adoption process itself. A child who has gone through the adoption process also deals with issues post adoption. Information of birth parents may be locked away due to the fact that the birth mother does not want to have contact with the child. Which brings me to the first solution I have to offer.
We are often bombarded with bad news whenever we tune into the media. Violence, police brutality, homosexuality, even the ridiculous things that celebrities do are becoming headlines for modern media outlets. With all the bad news, it is difficult to understand what the media 's influence is because it is often polarized; it becomes very challenging to know what the true influence of the media is. The media has a strong effect on the identity of young people. However, if we can understand how the media affect the identity of young people, we could understand a bit more about what “identity” really means.
Despite positive economic gains, such widespread agricultural activity has severe ramifications, notably in the degradation and destruction of the environment. Indeed, one of the most pressing issues linked to farming practices is deforestation. Globally, over 30% of forests are thought to have been destroyed, with most destruction occurring in the last 45 years (OSSREA, 2013). In Africa, it is believed that forested regions have been removed at a rate 29 times faster than re-plantation activities during the 1980s (OSSREA, 2013).