In my previous blog I have written of a celebrity who wants an eco friendly world. Well she is not the only one, Leonardo DiCaprio is also concerned about our environment and he calls out to kids to help save it. (image from here)

"Do you like this planet that we live on? Is this an awesome place to live or what?," was the words of Leonardo DiCaprio to many young children at the Kids Choice Awards. US Magazine writes about how he inspired many to start recycling and taking care of the environment. He speaks about many problems that have affected us; one in particular is global warming. A classmate is doing his weekly blogs on global warming and I found his blog called “People are Dying from This” very interesting. He speaks about animals being affected by global warming and how people are actually dying from this.

People should help save our environment, as I stated in my previous this is a serious issue and celebrities should get involved so that people can follow their example.

OUR ENVIRONMENT

Can we be eco-friendly? Our environment needs our help. Many people don’t understand the problems that is facing our world. In tha past we have had these problems but they definitely increased over the years. Pollution, recycleing, global warming, and many other problems have occurred because we are not eco-friendly. Many of us seem like we don’t even care about the envirnomt. In a blog called Global Warming, a fellow student of mine expresses his concerns toward Global Warming. He states, “The problem with this is that we are the ones responsible for it, and this is leading to the fact that now more than ever we should be concerned with how we have treated our planet which we live on.” This is definitely a serious concern that people have to pay attention too. (image from flickr)

Celebrities have an impact on soceity, therefore they should be the ones to help persuade others to be eco-friendly. Pamela Anderson, an actress and model, has just launched an eco-friendly clothing line, states Ok Magazine. She plans on making a fashion line that willl help not destroy our environment.

In my opinion, people need to start recycleing and they need to be more careful with how often they use there cars or anything else that can cause pollutents. Our environment is our home so take care of it.

Stalkers!!

Celebrities are usually number one target for stalkers, but what about normal human beings who have to deal with stalkers. Do we get help? Sometimes but its nothing compared to the help celebrities get. Recently, Shawn Johnson one of the celebrity dancers on the show Dancing with The Stars was almost attacked by a 34 year old man who has stalked her. He entered the studio with two loaded guns, was caught by security, and is being charged for stalking and carrying loaded firearms says Access Hollywood. Shawn was very lucky to have security; they probably saved her life, but what about the rest of the world?

Shawn was lucky, at the first attempt the stalker was put in jail. In an article, called Stalker at Bus Stop, it talks about how some people are being stalked and it gets as bad as they just want the person dead. It explains how a 13 yr old girl was walking to the bus stop were a man drove by and tried to get her to go into the car with him the girl pulled back and continued on her way to the bus stop. She went to the police and they caught the guy the next day. Unlike the celebrity, it took them a day to find the stalker, if she was famous, in my opinion I believe that the man would have been found faster. Unfortunately, that’s just the type of society we live in were the rich and famous come first even in issues as serious as this. (image from here)

Should he be punished?? NO!!

Any man who ever abuses a women should have to face consequences and should no that not one person out there supports him. As you have read in my previous blogs, Chris Brown has admitted to beating up Rihanna and is being charged but will that do justice? Many teenage girls follow Chris Brown and are his biggest fans. What has this taught them? Some may think that it has shown them how wrong abuse is and how a man should treat their women. Well, many teenagers have believed the total opposite of what may be right from wrong.

If you tell anyone the Chris Brown/Rihanna situation without using any names, they will surely tell you that Rihanna was a victim in the situation, leaving Chris to be the abuser.(image from here) Unfortunately, in today’s society the social status and fame of a celebrity can manipulate many fans to say that Chris Brown was the victim and Rihanna is lying. What is our world coming to when a smart young girl says that because she is a fan of Chris Brown?

In an article from the New York Times called “Teenage Girls Stand by Their Man,” teens in a high school are standing by the abuser saying that the tabloids were making it up and even going as far as saying that Rihanna probably gave him a reason to overreact like that. That was shocking to me, I could not believe that girls who were going to school and educated in how a man should treat them will defend him and blame Rihanna herself. As I kept reading the article, I was flabbergasted at what some girls said when the newspaper asked them “Should he be punished?” The girls replied with no because he probably wouldn’t do it again. I was shocked at their answer. This article gives a great example of how celebrities influence their fans everywhere. Girls everywhere need to see that whether someone is famous or not, every man should have respect for their significant other and there is no IF’S AND’S OR BUT’S ABOUT IT! In a letter called, Open Letter to Chris Brown, the writer explains how important it is for a women to realize how much they are worth and he directs attention to Chris Brown telling him ways that will help this incident never occur again. Take a look maybe his words will move you! (image taken from here)

SOCIAL NETWORKING: FROM OBAMA TO BRITNEY SPEARS!!

Facebook and Myspace watch out because theirs a new social network that’s taking over. Twitter a new networking page like the other two but just a newer updated version seems to be taking society as fast as facebook and myspace did. Everyone from Barack Obama to Britney Spears to many other celebrities are on Twitter

chatting away. Bloggers Blog offers a Celebrity Twitter List that ranges from presidents to ex-presidents to actors and singers. As BBC News explains, “Twitter is a micro-blogging site where people post short messages online using up to 140 characters,” which is one of the reasons celebrities like it so much, but what does this say to the world? If celebrities are doing it, it must be the hottest thing so everyone is going to get a Twitter. (image from here)

What do I think of this? Celebrities definately help keep the trend and definately advertise the sites, but to me, its no surprise that there is another social network out there, in about a year there would probably be another one. The fact that we have so many social networks is a good thing for me. I believe it helps people stay in touch with each other and updated with everyone’s doing. Some people might use this negatively and that’s were we have our problems. People may get addicted or even cyperbullies can arise. The way that the internet was being abused was shown in this video "Growing Up Online" which I blogged about previously. This is were society needs to step up and teach kids the risks of using the internet and being on these kinds of websites. Therefore, as long as you do not make these sites your main priority in life there is no harm in them. What is a society without many to many socializing?

<---- This picture represents some of the social sites out there and the title basically explains how all these sites are a tool that helps people connect socially.

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD

(image taken from here)

One Laptop Per Child is an interesting concept. The mission of Nicholas Negroponte is, “To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. When children have access to this type of tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.”

This concept is interesting but at the same time very risky because in my opinion children shouldn’t be accessed to a computer at such a young age. What is becoming of our world? We are so technology driven that we are willing to waste money to give each child a laptop that they might even destroy. This idea seems kind of absurd to me.

(image taken from here)

CNN news takes these words from Negroponte, “If we could get all the children in the world -- 1.2 billion of them between 6 and 12 -- to have a connected laptop that would be success. Roughly, half of those children have no electricity at home or school. The poverty is so extreme, and the environmental conditions are so extreme, we have to focus on them." They see this as a good thing but I see it as a negative point because as we spoke in class regarding the Mansell, "Digital Entitlements,” the digital divide is caused because of the economy and because people can’t buy computers. Therefore, should we give computers to children everywhere or should we use that money for water that people may not have. So that’s were I see the problem in this concept.

Growing Up Online

(image taken from here)

The video, "Growing Up Online",(Rachel Dretzin and John Maggi, 2008), is a very interesting video that shows how teens are using the internet and ho some parents are panicking. Although, I liked the video and I liked how they showed real life situations that were occurring due to the video, I did not like how they didn’t show the positive of the internet and how it can also do good for kids. The internet is like an open encyclopedia that has a lot of information, some good, and some bad but the video seemed to portray just the bad. I believe the video’s intentions were to open the eyes of parents and scare them a little so that maybe they will start to ask questions more often. On the other hand, it shows the gap between the teens and their parents. Sort of like the digital divide, parents are illiterate when it comes to the computers and it shows how much children can do without their parents having the right amount of knowledge to stop it. As Mike Miliard from the Boston Phoenix states, “The Internet can be terrifying. For parents who don't know what goes on online, and those who do but can't control what their kids do there, the baleful tone of the Frontline special "Growing Up Online" is sure to be scary.” This video was a great example of that.

Many adults don’t know what the latest technology and styles are so some of the new things scare them because they are very un-educated when it comes down to it. Professor Daniels states in her blog, “There have been all sorts of moral panics, often characterized by older adults reacting to fads and trends enjoyed by younger people.” I definitely agree with this, the new fads and trends cause the adults to panic because they don’t know how to deal with the situation.