Persuasive Essay (So Far)
Teenagers do not care about daily news and current events. It is a simple fact evident in not only in statistics concerning the issue but also in the major gap between teenagers and current events. As a college student I can see firsthand how disenfranchised we students can be about the things that are happening in our world. I would be a hypocrite if I did not admit that I am at times a part of the generational system that ignores national and international events, no matter how important. I would just like to be apart of a generation that is not clueless of where certain countries are on the map or who the speaker of the house is. Everyone should have at least a general knowledge of the world in which they live in no matter their age. Being knowledgeable in daily news events is not a detriment to anyone. There exists an empathy gap between teenagers and the issues of the world surrounding them. They have no interest in the media due to the fact that they are not directly affected by most national and international issues. Ultimately, I argue that this “empathy gap” that exists in our generation today can be attributed to factors such as the rise of social media and reluctance to hard hitting stories about topics such as the war.
Defining the Empathy Gap
– http://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/03/teju-cole-interview-twitter-drones-small-fates
I will explain what the empathy gap and how it relates to young teenagers but also in part relates to us as Americans in a country where we do not have to deal with war and bombings in our backyards.
I will quote author Teju Cole on his definition of the empathy gap and what he does to increase awareness of international events even though they may not affect Americans directly
Teenagers and the Media
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2007/07/10/life-usa-news-teenagers-dc-idUKN1036737320070710
Rapid paced social media provides an opportunity to “customize” exactly what type of information they consume daily. Whether it be Facebook or Twitter, the invention of the customiz-able dashboard has allowed us to ignore the more important although at times less interesting news stories
– Addition of statistics about age groups and there involvement in the media
What to do now
http://designcharitylife.com/toronto-star/youth-should-be-more-aware-of-current-events/
-There should be a nationwide implementation of education that heavily infuses current events into the curriculum of all schools. This should be done in a way that has a lasting impact on teenagers and not just an assignment they can hand in; there should be a change in how they view news events.
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Refutation
http://www.policymic.com/articles/1182/why-young-people-don-t-participate-in-politics
– Those who will argue that it is not the fault of teenagers that they are not involved in today’s current events
– Education does not adeptly prepare students to become interested in the media
– Youth feel that if they cannot change this world than there is no point in becoming interested in its issues (Apathy)
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Brainstorming Persuasive Ideas
Like most of my classmates, I have no idea what I’m going to write about for my persuasive essay or for my advocacy project. But I’ve been brainstorming some ideas and even though nothing’s concrete, here’s what I’ve come up with.
1.) I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of our generation and how many of us are not exactly politically minded or even interested in things such as current events. I would love to write a persuasive essay that would focus on students just like me getting more involved in the world they live in. I don’t know exactly how I would go about this but I’ve been pondering that topic for a little bit since the online deliberation project which made me want to participate in issues such as that
2.) My specific audience would be college students who honestly do not know or care about what’s going on in the news. I would also to take this further in the advocacy project and maybe conduct interviews and get to the root of the reason for this disinterest in the news and the world
3.) I would hope that anyone who reads my essay thinks long and hard about the state of our generation. I think it’s really sad that a lot of people didn’t know that we were getting a new pope or care enough to watch even 5 minutes of the news everyday.
4.) I would like to think that my research will come from interviewing my peers and also statistics about youth and their society. Also, there was an article I read on something called the “empathy gap” which I think will be really relevant to this topic
1.) Yes, because this issue is so relevant to not only the youth of today but the adults as well it is very urgent. It’s not life threatening or anything but it is still a pressing issue.
2.) I would need to do some more research on this issue to answer this question. Off the top of my head I can’t think of any groups who would be against this issue.
I think that I will be using this topic for my advocacy project if everything goes right.
Read MoreTwitter and Tirades
So, we all remember M.I.A, right? She got really popular a few years back with her song “Paper Planes”, which I definitely listened to extensively the summer it came out. She’s always been known for being a little radical, like the time she performed on stage 9 months pregnant in a weird polka dot get-up. She’s been out of the spotlight for a while but now she’s being scrutinized for something other than her music: her custody troubles over four year old Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman
Earlier today on Twitter, M.I.A accused the father of her child, Ben Bronfman, and his family of conspiring to have her child taken away from her. She launched into a fiery tirade on the social networking site which may not have been the best choice concerning such a sensitive subject. There is another side to this story that makes things difficult. Ben Bronfman comes from an extremely wealthy, very well known family in Canada. This family founded Seagram (Think ginger ale), oil companies, and also founder of the Warner Music Group. So, if Bronfman wanted to take sole custody of his child on maybe not so justified grounds, he has the influence to do do.
This situation brings up many questions about custody battles. We usually tend to think that courts always side with the mother in cases like these but statistics say otherwise. In a study of US appellate cases (court of appeals), 51% of fathers who applied for custody won.
Obviously, all of the information on this case isn’t out in the open but hopefully all of the adults involved work out what’s in the best interest of the child. Comment below with what you think!
Read MoreDiversity Talks
In my last post, I focused on the issue of diversity within college campuses . I brought up the issue of how diversity can be seen differently in various contexts such as the lack of diversity on a campus such as Penn State’s. Some of the comments on my last post encouraged me to explore the various contexts in which diversity plays out around the country. Through some research I saw exactly what some teaching institutions in this country have to offer in terms of diversity. As I explained in my last post Penn State can be considered a Predominantly White University or PWI. There are also schools called HBCU’s or Historically Black Colleges and Universities that have a predominantly black population. The education at both types of institutions is the same but people may view what exactly you get out of attending these types of schools. Both of these types of universities are considered extremes of the spectrum and the students who attend them have various ideas about the experience one would receive by attending. The debate has raged on for years on which type of education is better. The ideal choice seems to be schools like Rutgers or Stanford that have the highest diversity ratings in the country with a 0.76. For comparison, Penn State has a diversity rating of 0.32. Ultimately I think that one school makes you appreciate the other. It’s like a “the grass is greener on the other side” situation. One isn’t really better than the other, it simply relies on perception.
Personally, I was encouraged to attend an HBCU but I decided not to because I know that the world is not only inhabited by black people so my university shouldn’t be like that. However, I also have friends who go here who would rather attend an HBCU simply for the experience of being around people with similar experiences. This brings up the information from Chapter 2 of Gastil’s PCD that people are more comfortable with people more like themselves. This begs the question; can we ever have a truly diverse society if we are fundamentally drawn to others like us? From a scientific standpoint, diversity is seen as a fundamental element between humans and a socio-ecosystem. We attend college to get us ready for the “real world”. It’s important to make diversity an important part of one’s life now before you enter into the workforce with a false sense of society. Diversity in an educational setting will ultimately foster diversity in a real setting.
Does a school’s lack of diversity cause certain problems for the institution? We all remember the heat that girls from the sorority Chi Omega came under for posing with racially insensitive signs and costumes. If the diverse on campus was more prominent, this situation might not have occurred simply for the reason that one is less likely to say something about a certain minority group they are surrounded by.Comment below on what you think!
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My Moderating Philosophy (Draft)
I want my moderating style to be, above all, friendly. As nervous as I will be next Monday, I also know that the English 15 students will be feeling the exact same way. For that reason I would like everyone to feel included and comfortable as opposed to nervous and stiff. Hopefully I can inspire most of the student sot talk and not have a Spiral of Silence situation. I would also like to encourage any and all opinions that may arise on Monday and avoid the persecution of another just for having a different opinion. I believe that this type of thinking encourages healthy deliberation and leads to the fostering of ideas.
With the topic being deliberated, there is a chance that there may be farfetched or maybe uninformed opinions so I would like to guide these people through the deliberation process in such a way that they become more informed without leading to an argument. My biggest strengths that I will focus on when I moderate are my inviting personality and also interest in creating an open environment for deliberation.
The purpose of deliberation is to voice one’s opinions with facts and experiences, listen to the voices of others and perhaps arrive to a state of enlightenment. This is what I hope to happen on Monday when I have my first moderating experience. What I will keep in mind for Monday is that everyone is different with different opinions, make sure everyone feels included, and to forget to be nervous hopefully.
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