The Digital Revolution

In another class, a classmate analyzed this image. Every aspect of this picture is consumed by some form of social media. The advertisement on the school bus says Facebook, the stores are Yahoo!, Google and MySpace.com, etc. Zoom into the people-- most everyone in the image is on their phone or computer. It appears to be a beautiful spring day, and people are out socializing with their friends.... but not the ones who are physically right in front of them. This Digital Revolution has begun to consume our lives. Professor Macek's class has made me step back and realize how INSANE it actually has become. We pick up our phone to check our twitter feed, despite the fact that we have just updated it 5 times in the past minute. We text people when we are alone in public because we simply cannot bare the thought of sitting alone. We feel the need to be constantly connected to one another.

The world is moving at a rapid pace and technology only continues to blow our minds. In ten years our world will be different, yet again. I think we need to make the conscious effort to set aside time each week to be alone without ANY distractions- to detox from this crazy chaotic technology-filled world.

Bullying

I definitely believe that in order to see any sort of change within the everyday practices of a bully, schools must use a less punishment-oriented perspective when addressing the issue. Nine times out of ten a bully has underlying emotional issues, whether they are personal or from the home life, etc., that are causing them to lash out. They may have not had a solid upbringing, therefore; do not even have the moral standards set in place to realize what they are doing is cruel. By punishing the bully/ kicking them out of the school it does nothing but prolong the issue. This person will continue to go through life with no guidance. Because of this, I believe that the best approach would be counseling ASAP. This way the bully can get to the core of their problems and in turn realize that they are the one who is hurting inside and have been taking the pain out on their peers. I have seen endless documentations on bullying and the amazing realization bullies have when they finally realize THEY are the problem. A forceful and punishment-oriented approach would be less effective than a loving and personal approach where a trained adult sits down week after week working to bring the underlying issues to the surface.