Sunday, October 11, 2009

Cyberbullying: Encouraging Ethical Online Behaviour

Cyberbullying: Encouraging Ethical Online Behaviour. Media awareness network. Web. .
According to a study by the University of Toronto, one out of five students have been bullied in the past three months. A study in Alberta reported that one-third of students who had cyberbullied were victims of cyberbullying as well. Cyberbullying is becoming more common due to easy access to different forms of technology like texting, e-mail, and chat rooms. The issue with cyberbullying is that it isn't just said outloud where only some can hear or see, but it's documented in often places where the whole cyberworld can see it. Teachers and parents cannot monitor and control this type of bullying as easily because it's not in a place for them to witness it all the time. Schools are addressing this issue more and trying to educate and inform their students and parents of this form of bullying.

I think cyberbullying can be a very bothersome thing to people because you cannot really ever get rid of the evidence of the bullying and it's where almost everyone in the world can see or know of it. It's a harder issue to confront someone about because it is less known and not as easily understood. I do think that sometimes the way to fix it is to make light of the situation or not take it as hard, because through different technologies it's often difficult to recognize sarcasm and playfulness. So communication is key to understand the full intent and thought.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Violence in Media Entertainment

Violence in Media Entertainment Violence. Web. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/violence_entertainment.cfm.


summary: Violence is a major part of entertainment today, and even as far back as 2000 B.C., when the gladiators would fight animals and other fighters for spectators. Although there was a lot of violence in the past, there has been an extremely high increase of violence in the past few years. Television shows and movies are major sources of violence seen by all. In 2001 t.v. shows averaged at about 40 acts of violence per hour, not to mention that 39% of this is aired before eight o'clock p.m. when children are watching the most. In the early 2000's, physical violence increased by 378%. These statistics have risen significantly over the years.

opinion: I think violence really should be reduced in television all together because the last thing our world needs is more media telling us violence is ok. As much as it should be reduced for the entire viewing world, it should especially be sensored to the eyes of children. Children are exposed to all kinds of things they shouldn't be, but violence is one thing that is extremely over done. Children are very perceptive and open to new ideas and opinions because they don't have much of their own yet, so by providing violence in almost every television program, this sends the message that violence is accepted and ok. By limiting the use of violence in the media we are cleaning up the minds of viewers everywhere.