Teenager's Have Courting Rituals?

  While reading the blog, "Teens: Think before you push the send button on that message!" and the link listed, Sexting Bill Introduced to Texas Lawmakers, I had a feeling of, 'teenagers are young and stupid.' I remember myself as a teenager and I don't remember such a dilemma about sexting that it is now. However, I wasn't surrounded by high school as a teenager. I never encountered an issue with sexting because I wanted to focus on school. I had ambitions that didn't warrant boy/girlfriends. I chose a life of school work by homeschooling myself. So I quickly did some light skimming about sexting as well as ask a few friends. 

  At first I couldn't understand the dilemma in the blog with sexting because who does that? Why not just meet with your significant other and have fun then? I asked my best friend who is the same age as me but she went to public high school while I did homeschooling. Her opinion was that of yours, that teenagers didn't need to be sexting at such a young age. She said that it could, "encourage those actions and I think that's what's causing them to want to have sex at too young [an] age because that's them experimenting at age 10." I asked another friend who also agreed that under a certain age teenagers shouldn’t be sexting and if they did their parents should be able to consent that they are in healthy mind to do so or not.

  So I started to consider that maybe teenagers nowadays don’t have the right mental states to be deciding that ‘child pornography’ is okay with them or not. I found an article that went over and was titled, “Consequences of Sexting,” this article helped me see what I couldn’t earlier. The article explains why sexting is considered child pornography and I wouldn’t have connected it that way since I didn’t see myself as a child back then. Most teenagers, I would assume, wouldn’t see sexting as child pornography but as a personal text to a significant other. However, the article I mentioned earlier includes teenager’s of the 2012 age and their opinions.

  The percentages were that “three-quarters of teens under 18 think they are too young to be sending sexts, half think they are at least old enough to decide for themselves whether it is ok for them to do it or not... [w]hile nearly all teens think it’s dangerous to be sending sexts of themselves, just over half know there are legal consequences.” So in my thoughts this means that teenagers know there are dangerous actions that follow sexting and that they are able to recognize the possible risks and decide if it’s right to continue with their decision. Yet, the article titled, “Sexting: A Brief Guide for Educators and Parents,” tells a different story. In this article teenagers still sext and at increasing rates (see Sexting by Age graph within the Formal and Informal Responses section).

  I now see that sexting is an issue that needs to be consulted logically. There are discussions in both articles mentioned about what kind of consequences, namely the felony and permanent record of child pornography, should be enforced. My opinion is the same as an Arizona School Resource Officer, “The laws need to catch up to this technology so a girl sending a pic of herself to her boyfriend isn’t prosecuted and charged as a sex offender.” Whether we, as an older generation, like it or not “adolescent courting rituals [are in] an era where cell phones, texting, sending digital pictures, are mainstays in youth culture.” Thus, they should not be punished in such severity that a felony is marked on their permeant record.

  Yes, sexting is bad for youth in that they can’t always control the path of their intentions so precautions need to be made to prevent teen suicides in result of sexting (see High Profile Tragic Incidents). Being convicted of a felony is not the solution, “the situation must be addressed in a delicate manner since emotional and psychological harm most likely has occurred.” School’s need to educate their students in a firm way, stating that the students are encouraging child pornography, inform them of teen suicides that were the result of sexting, and finally show them the legal actions the induce with sexting.

Alcohol Therapy: Learning How To Be An Alcoholic

  I celebrated my birthday not too long ago, just turned twenty this month and most of the comments I got were; "Oh you're not 21 yet, you can't drink," or "Wait 'til you're 21, then you can drink." Why wait? I grew up in an unorthodox home and if my parents are with me or consenting that I have a sober ride home then I can drink. The difference between me and the reason why we have a 21 and up policy about drinking is because the government thinks that if you're under 21, you're irresponsible. So what about the people who are over 21 and they drink and drive?

  I came across a pretty cool editorial titled, Drinking Age of 21 Doesn't Work, I wonder what their opinion is on underage drinking? John McCardell simply thinks that we're uneducated. Which we are. How many people under 21 can state the legal limit at which you should be for a breathalyzer? How many over 21 can tell you? A better question would be; how many people under 21 can tell how many beers they can have until they're tipsy? How many people over 21?

  Education is serious for teenagers and throughout adulthood. John McCardell talked about an education course for which people would have to take to be able to drink instead of an age restriction. I think that that's a great idea. I grew up with parents who enjoyed an occasional alcoholic beverage. As I grew up with them the informed me of the things that could happen with alcohol, the dangerous affects it has on people and their perceived surroundings. My parents trusted me to make the right decisions while also being under their care. I was allowed to try their drinks and in turn I got to have one of my own every now and then. Once I was able to handle it and feel the effects I was able to understand when I'm tipsy and my judgments might be off. They informed me to always have a designated driver and that if I didn't then don't drink. Be responsible and know what can happen.

  Teenagers know what might happen these days but do they really understand? No, I don't think so. Just like I don't think that people who turn 21 understand what alcohol can do to them. 21 is just an age at which they know they can try every alcoholic beverage in the bar and it's legal to drink them. Did they think about their way home? Did they think that the alcohol wouldn't affect them and they'd be okay to drive?

  Educate. Many people in this world are not educated on the simplest things even though it's assumed that they know everything. Billboards and commercial promote safety but nothing on the true education of drinking. 

Fences That We Can Shoot Ourselves Off

I'm on the fence about "The Right to Bear Arms... or Not?" On one side I understand that if people were able to carry a weapon then maybe 9/11 could've been stopped or a multitude of events could have been averted. However, on the other side, I only believe that if I believe that everyone is good. I don't think that everyone has good aim or good control. Just because they have a permit doesn't mean they can shoot well, they might even add to the problem. As I talk about this law more and more I see myself side with the idea that letting people carry a weapon is dangerous, more harmful than helpful. I personally don't trust people and no matter what the state says even criminals can pass a test to lawfully carry a weapon, what's to stop them from causing crime and using the law of carrying a weapon in self defense? I also don't like the idea that it gives criminals the right to lawfully carry arms to protect themselves, yet it gives other citizens the right to protect themselves from criminals. I think that the right to carry would cause more problems than good. The thought of guns all around is scary.

Synonyms for Hate: Black, Holocaust, Racism, etc.

  Synonyms for hate: abhorrence, abomination, animosity, aversion, blackbeast, bother, disgust, enmity, grievance, gripe, hatred, hostility, ill will, irritant, malevolence, rancor, repulsion, resentment, revenge, spite, trouble.


Synonyms we may also know for hate: black, hispanic, white, suspicious, racist, profile, teenager, etc.


  Hatred is a powerful thing and a lot of people perceive it in many ways; that dirty look someone gives you, a honk of a horn, a punch in the face, an aggressive word tossed your way. There's an abundance of hate, it's "a constant presence. Throughout world history there has never been a shortage of justification for it." As our world grows more advanced we find different and creative ways to express ourselves, express our emotions of love, opinions, and hate.


  I stumbled across an editorial, Fight Ignorance and the Hatred it Spawns, and it was mostly about the Holocaust but also about how hate is seeping through everything we do as a human race. Take the issue about Tryvon Martin as "911 Calls Paint Picture of Chaos After Florida Teen is Shot." This blog entry was posted a day after the editorial about hate. Racism and suspicion are types of hate and I think that this issue with "[t]he death of Tryvon Martin, an unarmed teen who was shot while walking in his neighborhood," brings up why we still deal with hate.


  Tryvon Martin's story is summarized as a young black teen walking to his father's house in a gated community is followed by George Zimmerman, who is a neighborhood watch volunteer, in his truck. Zimmerman follows Tryvon whilst talking on the phone with 911. The blurry details start when Zimmerman is assumed, via 911 recordings, to get out of his truck and approach Tryvon within the gated community about why he is "up to no good." Several 911 calls are made by the surrounding neighbors about screams of 'help' and a single shot fired almost immediately after Zimmerman hangs up the phone with the police. There currently has not been any arrests for Zimmerman as he claims self defense.


  The controversy with this story is race, Tryvon's family feels that if he were white he would receive better treatment about his case than if he were black, they also feel that if Tryvon's killer were black he'd already be in jail by now. Truthfully, [y]ou don't have to go far to find evidence of the deterioration of civility in public discourse," it's already there; racism, suspicion. In my understanding of this case racism has little part in it, it's suspicion, ignorance and assumptions that fuel hate labeled as 'racism.'


  Zimmerman states that Tryvon "is a black male," in my understanding, as a description. In his following phone call he describes Tryvon as something being "wrong with him" and that "he's got something in his hands. I don't know what his deal is." To me that isn't racism, that's a typical profiling of someone you think is suspicious, an ignorant suspicion.


  Further into the debate about Tryvon's shooting and Zimmerman's jail elusive self-defense plea all the media as well as family speakers talk about is race and the injustice Tryvon's family has grieved through. Injustice? Yes, I agree as clearly within the police calls and the reports of other neighbors Zimmerman confronted Tryvon with nothing but hate for what Zimmerman thought he represented and shot Tryvon, killing an innocent teenager. Racism? No, police are doing what the system we have in place attempts to do, Capt. Darren Scott, the "acting African-American chief "on this case; "It may not be perfect but it's the only one we have. I urge everyone to let the system take its course."


  Tryvon's unjustly murder was brought to Austin in several ways, one controversial way included; "The Daily Texan Editorial Cartoon Stirs Up Controversy." A student made a comic that created controversy about what it tried to portray. Another way; Austin supported The Tryvon Martin Rally, a rally held to support Tryvon and his family and the prejudiced shooting and profiling that befell him. Austin also plans to rework the 'Stand your Ground Law' that allows "more leeway to attack and even kill someone who is threatening them."


  Hate is everywhere and in varying degree's. My opinion on this issue, and this case in particular, will be different than others as they feel different about hate. I think that Zimmerman should go to jail for unjustly profiling what he assumed to be a teenager "up to no good" when really it was a teenager walking home to his father. I also think that maybe it's hate towards the so thought prejudice cops who work Tryvon's case fuel's Florida, Houston, Dallas, and Austin's anger enough that it's spread this far. The involvement or, possibly lack of involvement, of the police is difficult to judge as they view that legally the evidence is at war with itself and it's a 'word against word' match. Hate is powerful.


  If you wish to follow Tryvon Martin's case the following links are listed as cited works and viewer interest:
911 Calls Paint Picture of Chaos After Florida Teen is Shot
Tryvon Martin Rally
The Daily Texan Editorial Cartoon Stirs Up Controversy
Fight Claims, Pot Put Fla. Teen's Side on Defense
Tryvon Martin and Stand Your Ground Law

A Little M3nT/\L or Mental?

There is no such "condition" as "schizophrenia," but the label is a social fact and the social fact a political event. - R. D. Laing 

  Grits for Breakfast offers up a nice piece of thought on what our society's criminal state might be in with an: article titled, 'Townsend: 52% in Texas youth prisons suffer mental health problems.' This is an article in which Cherie Townsend, an executive director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, pleads for officials to "improve their early intervention efforts" to help juvenile delinquents before they even become one. She uses the percentage, "52 percent of teens and other youngsters held at the state's six juvenile detention facilities have been diagnosed with at least moderate mental health problems," while the adult system has "1/4 to 1/3 of offenders with mental illness" diagnosed with severe mental illness. There's a big difference here that Cherie seems to ignore; you can't compare two systems on two different scales if you're trying to show percentages. The juvenile system includes moderate illness while adult systems only include severe illness, how can you compare when you don't have all the data?


  Continuing this article it points out another thing that Cherie Townsend missed. Rep. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican legislator, "suggested authorities might be classifying too many young people as having mental health problems." We all hear about teenagers going through a rebellious phase and act out, it's a natural step in growing up so should we slap a DSV-IV label on them and dope them up with drugs? Rep. Charles Perry thinks that we already are, "I know kids that act out that have no mental health issues."


  I agree with Rep. Charles Perry and the opinion of Grits for Breakfast, that we love to label and provide a miracle pill that will cure your 'sickness.' Daydream a little? Oh, you're ADD, here's a bottle of medication to help you focus. Your kids talks back to you? Don't worry, he has an anxiety disorder and there's medication for that. Juveniles put in the justice system are judged constantly for their crime and when they don't talk about why they did what they did and they're "diagnosed with mental illnesses, too frequently and sometimes inappropriately, in hope that their behavior issues can be medicated away." Although there are mentally ill people out there, some in the criminal systems just got a bad hand; "a crappy home life, absent or ineffective parents, poverty, grief, etc."


  All in all, if 52% of our juvenile system is mentally unhealthy then maybe we all might need a Mental Health Hotline?

I Hate Camping Anyways ...there's bugs!

  Originally I had found an article on The Daily Texan about being able to camp while protesting on UT grounds, Let Us Camp. This article was done by a government senior of UT and her perspective on the camping ban was that it would hurt the student’s rights to protest, “why have a policy outlawing camping when nobody has set up tents?” (1) Her article went on to describe our government as a “system that favors capital and profits over human need” and was the problem all along (1). Due to the city taking down housing for the sick and/or homeless they push them on the streets with nowhere to go but the city itself. Thus, this creates an issue for UT as it’s grounds are wide open for protesting, camping, so if UT imposed the camping ban then they would be able to “protect its property” from camping. However, as opinionated in the mentioned article, UT is also the student’s property as their tuition pays for it’s facilities and “we should be able to use it any way we please.” (1)

  On the other hand, I found the original article that the previous mentioned article was a reply to, The Benefits of the Camping Ban. A business honors freshman, also posted on The Daily Texan and from UT, stated his opinion on the camping ban that “the policy will do far more to help the campus than hurt it.” (2) He then went on to say that camping out during a protest would be futile anyways as “no one is around to hear protesters complain at night.” (2) He then explains that if the camping ban were lifted we would have the homeless population around UT migrate onto UT ground thus conflicting with student affairs. He pushes that “protest is good” but to “leave the tents and camping out of it.” (2)

  At first I was all for opposing the camping ban, I mean if there isn’t any camping already why would you need to enforce a ban? Then I read the second article on the benefits of the ban and I started to change my mind. Let Us Camp is by a UT student within the government major and she’s been at UT longer than the other UT student who is a business honors freshman, so in thought the senior government major would win out in credibility. However, in my opinion, this isn’t so. I think that in the way The Benefits of the Camping Ban was presented and the way it was backed up helped present his article as having more thought and research. Let Us Camp simply states that the government is the problem but never provides a possible solution while the other article does, or at least attempts to.

  As a conclusion I agree with the camping ban. If there aren’t any students camping anyways then the ban wouldn’t affect them other than during a protest. The ban would keep out homeless citizen that aren’t permitted to be there and would be a hindrance to student life. Unfortunately the city does tear down places that create homelessness in turn the UT campus can protest that and while pretesting under the camping ban you can work in shifts, like The Benefits of the Camping Ban suggested, while not breaking the ban.


Articles:                    (1) - Let Us Camp                            (2) - The Benefits of the Camping Ban

I need a Dr.

  No seriously, I need a Dr., more specifically a Dublin Dr. Pepper. If you haven't heard then The Burnt Orange Report will opinionatedly give you some highlights. I am a huge fan of Dublin Dr. Pepper although I no longer drink soda anymore I can't help but to buy one when I find it. In a household of popular brands Dr. Pepper was among them and my passion for it still remains in my young adulthood. 

  The scoop is that the Dublin Community is being sued by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Corporation that reaches a settlement to steal the Dublin Dr. Pepper logo. Really?! Steal a famous logo of a, "small, local, over a-hundred-year-old-still-in-the-family-business bottler," and do what with it? Slap it on the Dr. Pepper cans of today and hope that people won't realize that this isn't your usually shitty, non-real sugar crap in a can? I don't think so.

  I recommend this article, linked in the first paragraph, to anyone whose willing to help support the boycott. I guess Dr. Pepper won't always be One of a Kind anymore since they stole the logo.