We are beautiful. Or so we think. Even I have had my fair share of self esteem issues. But I'm a thirteen year old girl. You know what they tell us on TV? That we should be 5'8" and a size 2. Yes, I know you've heard that before, but what I want to ask now is... What is this doing to the youth of America? We are ingraining in ourselves that beauty is the number one priority. What will happen when the baby-boomers who made this media die off, and we are left with only the children of this generation? We can have people give speeches at middle schools to try to convince everyone they are beautiful, but that only lasts for a day! Most of us can't ever see ourselves as beautiful, but we have to keep trying, because being nice-looking isn't good enough. Will we teach our children that beauty is so important that academics take a back seat? By then our faces will be full of plastic, as well as our stomachs, our butts. What can we do?
How can we fix a problem that runs deep into the core of American society? How can we solve an issue that is being largened every moment? What step do we take first?
First, we have to look at ourselves.
Who are we? What are we showing our children? Is is better to shelter them from the realities of the world, or to harden them to it? Are we plastic surgeons, models? Does Mommy come home from work with tips because she is a hard worker? Or because of the plastic bags in her breasts? The parents in a home influence their children the most out of any person in the entire world of that child. Don't make fun of fat people when they walk by. Or anyone. Because one day your little boy will think he has to be a Taylor Lautner for any girl to fall in love with him.
We can't keep telling make-up companies to use flubbier models, or for runways to be make-up free! But we can tell the kids in our homes, right from the start, that everyone is beautiful. Every fugly person on this earth has beauty. We can't commercialize the low self esteem of teenagers, or make money off of getting fat people skinny. Or soon thats all we will care about. Do something in your own life. Change it even if it's just within yourself.
THINK about how you voice your opinions about this and how your kids react.
THINK about what you believe and whether or not your actions reflect that.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The Education System
Today in America we brag about our education. We exclaim about it. Even sometimes teach others about it. I will not tell you that I think it is bad. Somalia is bad. North Korea is bad. Limits on education are bad, but what is worse are places that filter education, places that fill their children's heads with lies. Of course, we tell ourselves that we are not that country. But are we? Are we just scared to admit it? Is it even worse because so fewer of us see the brainwashing? Every day we walk the lines of slant and censorship in our schools.
Religion has historically been the epitome of controversy in schools. Sometimes though, in the modern world, we overreact to that history. We take not talking about religion too far. We avoid the subject with such distaste that we miss a critical learning opportunity. Children don't understand other religions, and because of the hush hush, begin to believe religion is a secret. Where is the education in that? Why don't we teach our new generation about other religions? Why don't we give them options, teach them that theirs is not the only way? It makes me wonder. Where are we teaching tolerance and acceptance in our schools if our teachers can't even admit their differences?
We think we are so good, so much better than nation that teach religion in their school systems. I know, church and state have to be separate, but surely we can educate in our schools! It is simply e-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n to ask our schools to let religion be discussed but not influentially. We need to be more careful what we expose these kids to because it leaves an impression that lasts their whole lives.
And then there is dress code. Because America eats up the sexuality of young girls and boys. The market produces barely any clothing that entertains school dress code policies. Yet we force our children to abide by them. I know, all dress code policies are different, some more or less strict than others. But every public school has one, and especially for girls, these rules are hard to work around.
At a first glance, dress code seems to make sense. It simply assures us that we are not distracted by each others bodies. However, what many administrators don't seem to realize is that their rules take away from other aspects of school, and honestly, do not work the way they should. I think in modern America we generally agree that school is hugely a social experience. We tell students that there are no excuses, because you can't stay home from work to play video games! But similarly, you will not have an enforced dress-code in your work place. You need to learn in school what is appropriate for what situation! In the workplace, most of us won't wear skimpy halter tops or butt-length shorts. But if we can't now, won't we then?
I mean, not only should we really just be loosening our dress codes for students to make their own judgements, but also... they have no clothes to buy! It is extremely difficult to find clothes that fit the exact specifications of a school dress code. Asking students to be neat and clean and presentable is reasonable, but requiring certain measurements of certain articles of clothing? Simply not reasonable. What are our administrators thinking?
And uniforms. Some schools have them. Some do not. In world where the biggest thing we manage to encourage and cultivate in our children is self expression, uniforms are clearly impractical. They're like a step backwards to society. They state that we believe our children cannot handle themselves, that they all have to be the same so that none of them are singled out as being different. Read that again. We are trying to convince kids that everyone is the same just because you put them in the same clothes? SO everyone is the same really, it is only your clothes that make you different? What a message to pound into six year olds.
THINK. About how you dress, about how your kids dress. And who gets to control it?
THINK about what your kids are and are not exposed to in school!
THINK about what our schools are doing to our world and the future of it. Are we making fatal mistakes? Are we censoring our schools without barely realizing it?
Ask yourself.
Religion has historically been the epitome of controversy in schools. Sometimes though, in the modern world, we overreact to that history. We take not talking about religion too far. We avoid the subject with such distaste that we miss a critical learning opportunity. Children don't understand other religions, and because of the hush hush, begin to believe religion is a secret. Where is the education in that? Why don't we teach our new generation about other religions? Why don't we give them options, teach them that theirs is not the only way? It makes me wonder. Where are we teaching tolerance and acceptance in our schools if our teachers can't even admit their differences?
We think we are so good, so much better than nation that teach religion in their school systems. I know, church and state have to be separate, but surely we can educate in our schools! It is simply e-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n to ask our schools to let religion be discussed but not influentially. We need to be more careful what we expose these kids to because it leaves an impression that lasts their whole lives.
And then there is dress code. Because America eats up the sexuality of young girls and boys. The market produces barely any clothing that entertains school dress code policies. Yet we force our children to abide by them. I know, all dress code policies are different, some more or less strict than others. But every public school has one, and especially for girls, these rules are hard to work around.
At a first glance, dress code seems to make sense. It simply assures us that we are not distracted by each others bodies. However, what many administrators don't seem to realize is that their rules take away from other aspects of school, and honestly, do not work the way they should. I think in modern America we generally agree that school is hugely a social experience. We tell students that there are no excuses, because you can't stay home from work to play video games! But similarly, you will not have an enforced dress-code in your work place. You need to learn in school what is appropriate for what situation! In the workplace, most of us won't wear skimpy halter tops or butt-length shorts. But if we can't now, won't we then?
I mean, not only should we really just be loosening our dress codes for students to make their own judgements, but also... they have no clothes to buy! It is extremely difficult to find clothes that fit the exact specifications of a school dress code. Asking students to be neat and clean and presentable is reasonable, but requiring certain measurements of certain articles of clothing? Simply not reasonable. What are our administrators thinking?
And uniforms. Some schools have them. Some do not. In world where the biggest thing we manage to encourage and cultivate in our children is self expression, uniforms are clearly impractical. They're like a step backwards to society. They state that we believe our children cannot handle themselves, that they all have to be the same so that none of them are singled out as being different. Read that again. We are trying to convince kids that everyone is the same just because you put them in the same clothes? SO everyone is the same really, it is only your clothes that make you different? What a message to pound into six year olds.
THINK. About how you dress, about how your kids dress. And who gets to control it?
THINK about what your kids are and are not exposed to in school!
THINK about what our schools are doing to our world and the future of it. Are we making fatal mistakes? Are we censoring our schools without barely realizing it?
Ask yourself.
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