On Facebook, Biggest Threat to Your Private Data May Be You

               The article I read for this week is called “On Facebook, Biggest Threat to Your Private Data May Be You” by Jacquielynn Floyd. In this article she is talking about how we provide so much information on Facebook that we are threatening the privacy of our personal data. She talks about the recent change in the terms of service on Facebook and how many people think that Facebook owns them. She points out that by posting what you are doing, where you are going, and every aspect of your life you are jeopardizing your personal information not the terms of service. I completely agree with the author. I have a Facebook, but I rarely post anything. I have friends that post something at least three times a day. Some of them post how they are feeling, where they are going later that night, and pictures. Most people have at least 200 friends and they usually do not know most of them. A complete stranger that you say is your “friend “or has complete access to your life through your Facebook. Someone could rob you blind because they know you will be at your grandmother’s for the weekend or they could stalk you because they know everywhere you are going. You decide what to post and what not to post not your terms of service so if you become more discrete about what you are posting you may not have to worry about going home to a man with a mask and a knife hiding in your closet waiting for you to come home.     

I am going to live with my parents forever!

               Is there such thing as living on your own by the age of nineteen? This is a question I am facing right now. I live almost an hour away from ICC and soon I will need to be in Peoria every day during the week for the radiology program. I have been looking at apartments for months now and the prices are outrageous! For a one bedroom apartment in a good part of Peoria or Dunlap is over five hundred dollars a month in rent and that does not include utilities. I am a full time student and work part time, but there is no way I make enough money to pay rent, cable, utilities, a car payment, and food. My boyfriend is moving with me, but it is still hard to make ends meet. With the way our economy is today it is so hard for young adults to get their lives started. It is hard to establish credit when you are this young, pay bills, and go to school. I do not want to live with my parents until I am thirty, but I might have to if I do not find something cheaper. In ten months of living in an apartment I could spend five thousand dollars alone in just rent. I might as well start paying a mortgage on a house.

Out of the Woods: Today's Kids Can't See the Forest for the MTV

I recently read the article “Out of the Woods: Today’s Kids Can’t See the Forest for the MTV” by Joel Achenbach. This article was published in the Washington Post. In this article the author provides his opinion on why children today stay indoors more than children years ago. He describes how when he tells his kids to go outside they moan and groan, and are bored outside. He also talks about how back when he was a child there was no such thing as Nintendo or MTV; so he played outside most of the time digging in the dirt, climbing trees, and messing with ants. Kids today on the other hand would pick playing videogames over playing outside nine times out of ten. He says this is true mainly because of parents. He says that parents today over protect children and make them think that the outdoors are dangerous; as a result children are soft and would rather be indoors.

I have lived in the country my whole life and loved being outdoors. I would ride horses, go swimming, ride my bike, and go for walks in the timber. I was not like most kids my age because I hated videogames and I still do. I believe that kids spend way too much time inside. I think that many kids are lazy when it comes to physical work and their attention spans are practically nonexistent due to the fact that everything they do (videogames and watching TV) is so interactive that children get bored with tasks that involve work or learning. Also childhood obesity is on the rise and lying on the couch all day playing Xbox is not helping this issue. Playing outdoors in my opinion is much more beneficial to children. They get exercise, learn patience from animals or playing with other kids, and they are away from many of the negative issues videogames and TV provide.    

Pregnacy Pact?

I was on Facebook the other day and I came across a post that really bothered me. It was a picture of a girl’s pregnant stomach that I went to school with and under the picture were comments. The comments were what really bothered me. There was three other girls who commented on it, one who is also pregnant and is her best friend from my class, one was her sister who is a sophomore in high school that just has a miscarriage, and the last one was a girl who is in eighth grade and pregnant. They commented on how cute their tummies are, how they are so excited to have their baby, and what they hope to have, girl or boy. I realize that teen pregnancies are not uncommon and many are accidents. I am not saying that these girls should be ashamed or had an abortion. My sister had twins at nineteen so I understand how hard it is and that if she could have changed it she would. The difference in this case is that these girls planned their pregnancies. The two girls from my class said, “I am ready to start my family.” The problem with this is they both dropped out of high school as sophomores, have no jobs, have boyfriends that are not very reliable, and have sisters that had children as teens. The girl in eighth grade is fourteen years old; how is she going to finish school? How will she pay for all the expenses of a baby? Will her young boyfriend stay around? And does she really know how to take care of another human being? I am from a small town and these girls also live where I do. I do not understand how they think they are ready to be mothers at such a young age. If all of these were accidents I would understand more, but these were planned. All of these girls know how to use birth control, condoms, and other contraceptives so they are not in this position from lack of knowledge. They could have stayed in school, went to college, had a career, and then had a family. Instead this is what they chose. Is this a pregnancy pact? If it is, I hope that these girls are prepared for how hard their lives are going to become. When they decided to get pregnant they thought about the positives; the beautiful baby, having a family, cute stuffed animals and blankets. What about the negatives at this age; sleepless nights, money troubles, fathers running off, and no longer having a life that was just for you. I wish the best for these girls; I just do not understand why now, and why so young?