Blog Assignment 12

Build Your Own Blog Assignment
This week we were assigned to create our own blog assignment based on our major.  I'm an English major.  English is all about creativity.  For my blog assignment, I want to give a social question that relates back to technology and creativity.  I am going to give an open ended question that will spark a lot of different opinions.  This is my assignment:

As a technologically advanced generation, we are bombarded with media every day.  Some people consider some of this media bad or not educational.  Do you think this is true?  Do you feel children should be sheltered from this type of media, or do you feel this media helps kids think in different perspectives?  Be sure to tell specific reasons for your opinion in your argument.  Follow the requirements in Writing a Quality Blog Post.

My Answer
A lot of media today is considered bad or not educational.  Why?  The main reason is that people turn away from anything that is different.  As a society, we don't view many television shows as educational unless they explicitly point out they are educational (Sesame Street, Discovery Channel, etc.).  What about the other stuff?  What about the science fiction and horror movies?  What about the HBO movies and shows that are so controversial?  Should children be sheltered from this type of media?  My answer is no.  If children never experience media that is over the rating of PG, they are going to be hit with a rude awakening when they experience the real world.  I believe it is better to just lay things on the table.  I was never sheltered as a child, so I didn't feel the need to try to sneak around and do things behind my parents' backs.  I also wasn't surprised when everything didn't turn out right.  It made me a realist.  It also made me more creative.  Experiencing media that is not "age appropriate" makes you think.  It made me question things more than others who had been sheltered.  This is probably the real reason that children are sheltered.  Adults don't want conflict.  By keeping some things reserved for adult eyes only, teachers and parents maintain power.  I was always that kid that felt I was my teachers' equal.  Some didn't like this very much because I wasn't afraid of a challenge.  That's what not being restricted does to a child.  It makes them more mature.  I learned what not to do in a lot of situations by watching it played out in movies and television.  My parents didn't have to explain to me why I shouldn't get into a car with strangers because I had seen the consequences first hand on television.  Adults don't realize that by keeping kids sheltered from certain things, they harm them more than the media would.  It is like a parent that makes sure her child never gets sick.  Well, when that kid grows up, he is going to be sick all the time because he never built up an immunity.  It is the same thing with media.  You eventually build up an immunity to certain vulgar or obscene things.  Isn't it better to let kids view what reality is than making them think everything is candy-coated?