Monday, October 26, 2009

Sex and the Media

Late last year, CNN published a piece on a RAND study linking teen pregnancy to watching sex on television. First, read the piece here. After reading i want you to address a few questions.
1. Do you think the results are correct? Does watching more sex on tv lead to teen pregnancy?
2. What other factors are also leading to teen pregnancy? In the piece one person says that too many things other than parenting are always blamed for teen pregnancy. Do you agree? Could good parenting counter the effects of watching too much sex on TV.
3. Could there be a third variable going on here? Teen pregnancy is on the rise. Sex on TV is on the rise. The number of hours of TV watched is on the rise? What's going on?
4. The term Media Literacy is used. This means teaching people how to critically interpret and understand the media with which they engage. (Basically you're taking a class in media literacy right now). Is there a place for this in the classroom? And how can we teach media literacy in the classroom when education budgets are being slashed and we are barely getting basic skills like reading and writing taught in the classroom?

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Get that Kid Outta Here

I was reading this article on CNN about the new movie "Where the Wild Things Are" based on the popular children's book. Of particular interest to me was the quote of the editor of the parenting site dadcentric.com who basically said taking a child younger than 5 to a movie is pushing it. One parent was upset that their 20-month old wasn't interested in the movie.

Here's my question. Have you ever taken a child younger than 5 to a movie theater? How about younger than 3? Should we expect children at this age to enjoy the theater experience? Also, a couple of months ago, i witnessed a couple bringing a young child (i'm guessing around 5 or 6) to the horror movie, Halloween 2. Of course, the movie frightened the child so bad that she cried throughout the film and hid her sobbing face in one of her parent's chest. Here's another question. In a situation like this, do you think the movie theater (and i guess by that, i mean the usher) should have told the couple to please remove the frightened child. By the way, the couple talked out loud during the whole movie to the point where the person behind them asked them to please be quiet. What's your thoughts on all this mess?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

SPOOKY TIME!!!!

Hello all,
It's that time of year again, my favorite time of year actually (well next to christmas).It's Halloween. I loved trick or treating as a kid and get to relive it all over again now with my own kids. And of course, cable tv is great now cause they show all the horror movies (even if they are edited).

That brings me to my question. What is your favorite Horror Movie. Tell me why it is your favorite. And why do you think we go see horror movies. Even if you don't like them, tell me why you think others go see them. And by the way, here's a good scare for you (not for those with a heart condition).

Monday, October 5, 2009

No Blog This Week.

Because the midterm is due, there is no blog for this week. However, someone posted last week that did not sign their name. I'm not sure who msright2474 is. If that person wants the blog points, they need to inform me of their real name.