Hot Car, Little Kids

On March twentieth there was an incident where a woman had left her two young children, one two year old and one six month old, in a car while she went to a job interview.

Unfortunately this in not uncommon nowadays. There are multiple sightings of this every day in the summer. Whether they were intentional or not is besides the point. But why is this story making the news and being discussed more than other cases? Well, this woman and her children were homeless.

As some of you may know, leaving your children in a vehicle with the engine off and no ventilation is considered to be child abuse. This is due to the fact that it can cause organ damage or failure as well as death. So this is obviously not taken in a light manner. It was reported by bystanders that the children were left in the car with the engine off, windows cracked ever so slightly, and in the sun for about thirty minutes. Given the conditions, you could see why someone would make a call to the local police.

In any instance like this one, the driver or caretaker of the children would be charged with child abuse and sentenced to years in jail. This mother was. Yet people are still getting worked up over it. Some are arguing that it wasn't all that hot. The kids suffered no damage, the baby was just crying. Others may argue that they were homeless and left in a car, but now they have no mother. Some say that the cops took the situation out of hand.

Well, it is the law. However, I do think it is an unfortunate situation for the mother as well as the kids. The officer even said that it was an unfortunate situation himself. Many people ask to themselves, if the officer felt bad and the kids weren't hurt, then why arrest the mother. No one really knows. The only answer I could think to come up with was that it is the law, the incident was reported and it is his job to act upon the law. Another possible answer would be that since they were homeless, at least all three of them would be housed and fed. It is just unfortunate that the family could not get the chance to have that job they were being interviewed for and given a chance to get on their feet in a stable living condition.

Hoping for a better world
~Hangin' from a clothesline

Studying Abroad: Really worth it?

What's all the craze with studying abroad nowadays? Honestly, I would do it if I were taking a language where I could go to a more sought after location instead of China where there is the lovely smog. When you can go to a place like Germany or Spain, I'm sure it is very desirable.

More people are trying to do it because there can be cheaper rates as well as being able to go to a foreign land with some of your friends as opposed to going with your family. You also get the benefit of going somewhere that you can exercise your language with fluent speakers. This can help you a lot in class, especially if you are going to take the AP version of that language at any point.

Are there perks of going other than studying your language? Definitely! You can see the sites of an unfamiliar land as well as go places that are unavailable to you in your own town, or even country. You can see the different styles, note different laws, you can enjoy being on vacation with people you enjoy being around, you can also have fun meeting and living with new people to see the different kinds of lifestyles there are. There aren't many downsides!

Note how I said there aren't many. That does not mean that they are non existent. There is always that little annoying thing called being home sick. No one really enjoys it, but I suppose it has to happen eventually. There is also the fact that yes, you do still have school work you have to do. There is a chaperon, so it is not like you just get to do what you please. There are obviously rules based upon who your teacher is that is there with you. Another downside some parents may see: laws are different in different countries! If the teacher that is with your child is lenient, there may be laws there that are different from ours that you may not want your child to participate in. The legal drinking age being one of them.

All in all studying abroad is rather beneficial and certainly has more upsides than down. You can do so much with a language after you have been somewhere that it is practiced fluently. Your strength will become bigger and your weaknesses will become less. As long as you can trust yourself, or your student, and you can deal with the minor side affects, it is most certainly worth a shot!

再见！
~Hangin' from a clothesline

Historical African American Movies

Recently it seems like there are more and more movies being released about the history of African Americans. They have been a hit. But why?

I believe it is due to the fact that America is becoming more and more diverse. We are becoming more accepting of each other and we have started to come to terms with the fact that what we did in our past was not necessarily right. How do we deal with this? Well, we make movies about the events. Now how does this help? When we show the events, we have hope that the viewers will collect the facts and evidence of what happened and come to the conclusion that it really was as bad as the history books make it seem. Those opinions then hopefully make us want to make sure that there are no more incidents or prejudices like that.

Would these opinions be had if we did not make movies like this? Certainly. School still teach about these incidents in history classes and some people may even go further into investigating and study about the events on their own. So what is the upside of making the movies like that then? Well, it is proven that most people take information in better when it is a visual. Sure, words and names out of a textbook are all fine and dandy, but humans have emotion as well . We don't feel the sympathy from reading facts as we do with characters and a back story.

Recently, I have discovered the different types of appeals we use today. It has sparked in my head that we tend to react more to emotional appeal than we do the others. By putting these incidents into a two hour long movie where you learn more about the characters as well as seeing the harsh treatment, your emotional appeal will make you feel sympathetic for them and therefore, leave with a bigger impression, especially if the movie was extremely rough on the senses.

So who do these movies effect? Well, obviously people with racial prejudices as well as people who aren't interested in historical movies won't tend to want to go to these movies. However, people with open minds, African Americans, history teachers as well as fans, and people who just want to know more about their life would be extremely interested in it.

Well they go, but do they leave with anything? Depends on the person. If you are a highly sympathetic person, then you may leave with more than someone else. But they are definitely worth it.

Thinking about the past
~Hangin' from a clothesline

Teen Stars Growing up Right

The latest craze in popular magazines is teen idols that have grown up to do something right with their lives. The most recent example that many people would know is Kevin Jonas.

Kevin grew up being in a boy band with his two brothers Joe and Nick. They were even featured in some television shows, including their own. Growing up in all this fame you have to wonder if he is going to grow up like some of the other teen idols.

When you think of teen idol used to be's, most of the time you think of the kids that went off the deep end or completely changed their image. Well, Kevin didn't. He stayed out of the wishy washy waters and he moved forward with his life. He married his girlfriend he met in two thousand and seven and kept his good guy image. He proceeded to make music and take his girlfriend on tour with him. Eventually another show was produced called "Married to Jonas" after they wed in two thousand and nine. They said they were waiting for the right time to have a baby so that they could actually spend time with their child, which is rare to find in such young stars.

The Jonas brothers were a big hit while I was growing up, there were a lot of young boys who wanted to grow up to be like them and a lot of young girls that wanted to grow up to marry them. With them setting this example, it shows a higher standard for the kids of America to live up to, which in my opinion is what we need.

If Kevin weren't to grow up like this, it probably wouldn't have made that big of an impact. However, adding one more to the book of examples, such as Hillary Duff, makes it so much more tempting for the kids of the future to follow suit.

Following suit
~Hangin' from a clothesline

Frozen: New Style for Disney?

As many of you know, there is a new Disney movie out. The name is Frozen. I have seen this movie and I think that it has opened up a whole new idea for young girls. But what if it hadn't?

The question I would like to ponder on is if Disney were to have kept it's typical princess theme, would they still be getting all this praise from viewers? Ideally, I would like to think not. The praise they are getting for producing this movie is that it isn't like any of their previous movies. It enters a whole new style of princess. It teaches young girls that they really don't need a prince or a man in general, but that they can do good and be happy without one.

With today's society this is a good thing considering that there are more single moms as well as rights for women as compared to previous release dates of Disney movies. I'm not sure what exactly changed in Disney to get them to produce a movie with women of such power, but it worked.

The movie was a hit! Little girls all over are lined up to see Anna and Elsa (the main characters) at Disney or movie sites. Girls are dressing up as them on a regular basis. Birthday parties are themed around frozen. The soundtrack boomed even before the movie was released for a week! Hairstyles were seen all over modeled after them! Disney knocked it right out of the park with this one!

What if they made the same thing happen to these princesses though? What if Elsa didn't tell Anna she couldn't marry a boy she just met? What if Elsa had to be married before she became the queen? Would it still be all the craze? I think not. Sure there would still be the usual fan base that there usually is with regular princess movies. However, this time there are mothers and fathers everywhere trying to get their daughters to think and act like these princesses with a caring heart and a mind set on bettering themselves. Parents pushed to have their children see this movie so that they could get the idea that a girl doesn't need a boy to be happy.

So is it a good movie? Yes. Does it give girls a good lesson? Of course! But would it have had the same effect as it did without the lesson? Probably not. Now the question is... Do we want them to continue with this theme?

Letting it go
~Hangin' from a clothesline

Companies Apologizing for What?

     What are these companies apologizing for? Would they be apologizing if they didn't get caught?

     Recently there are more and more companies that are having to take things off of their websites, advertising platforms, as well as their promotions throughout the store. Some have also had to publicly apologize for what has been seen or said. Two companies come to mind.

     One is Target. Recently Target put out a photo to advertise their new swim suit collection. Normally, you can assume that there is some editing done to an advertisement, especially if it is advertising a swim suit. They do this to make the swim suit look more flattering on the body. They also aim to make their models look like what everyone woman in society is supposed to want to look like. Before it was barely noticeable. Target also had no shame until one advertisement edit went wrong.

     There is new thing for the body of a woman that they are supposed to strive to get. That thing is called a thigh gap. Originally it was a natural thing to have. However, now it has been taken to a sickening degree. Whomever edited the photo for the Target advertisement obviously did not pay close enough attention to what they actually sent to be published. This copy that was sent had the edited chunk of the models body dis-proportioned. The area the editor meant to make skinnier went in the wrong place. Instead of trimming some width from the legs, it ended up going up a few centimeters and leaving a white rectangular shape cut out of this model's butt. The way that this was shaped makes it obvious that it is not anatomically possible.

     Once people started catching on there were many complaints to the board of Target. People were very upset with the fact that they tried to make this model appear smaller than she was in the first place. Once there were enough complaints and large controversy over it, Target came out with a public apology.

     Now why did they feel the need to apologize? Well, if they had owned up to making an unhealthy standard for women and young girls, they would have been hated and their production as well as sales would decrease dramatically. The question is, would they have apologized if their business was not effected?

     A similar incident also happened with Barbie. They started creating skinnier, more defined dolls. The standard became more and more impossible for young girls to reach. It ended up that many girls became upset with their bodies to the point of anorexia or bulimia. This obviously sparked something in the parents of these young ladies and you can only imagine their reaction.

     Many parents went to the head of the company and threatened to sue for their daughters actions and health based on their want to meet the standard their company (Barbie) had set for them. There were also strikes as well as threats to make sure their business was effected.

    While Barbie still makes these impossible standards for girls to meet, they admit that it is not okay for young ladies to want to be as skinny as Barbie. They also admit that it is wrong for them to set the bar this high, however they have made larger dolls before and can't change them back now.

     Would Barbie have admitted that they were in the wrong if they didn't get caught making the sizes more and more impossible? It's the same answer for any business. No they would not.

     Why does this question effect us as a society? Our wants and habits are based upon what these businesses promote. They get skinnier models, we want to be skinnier. These models fit into a size 00? Let me lose a few pounds! It is never ending and if they aren't caught, then it will keep happening with little to no remorse and that is not okay. Our health and habits depend on this.

     In the end when you think about it, companies are apologizing for getting caught. They are not apologizing for the fact that they do it.

Happy with my size
-Hangin' from a clothesline