In my journalism class we debated issues related to press freedoms. The most complicated and difficult issue was obscenity, because while there's a fine line between what is obscure and what isn't, children should really be kept away from things that are vulgar or violent or inappropriate until they are of age. But it's also a matter of how the government can possibly censor every inappropriate thing from the kids.
This difficult issue on obscenity caused me to change my mind the most--at first I agreed that the media should be allowed to decide what is obscene and what is acceptable, but now I think that government interference is necessary to regulate what sort of information is being exposed to children on a daily basis. Children aren't watched all the time--it's impossible to control every little thing they see on television. There are certain issues that they shouldn't be exposed to until they are older. But at the same time, is it the government's responsibility, or is it the parents'?
Obscenity is the most open issue related to press freedoms, and prior restraint is the most settled, closed debate for me. I believe that the government should not be allowed censorship except for in national security issues, because once they are given control of that, the nature of the government would cause it to abuse their right to censor and start censoring every little thing not only for the safety of the public but for their own reputation. They will find loopholes, excuses, reasons to censor things people say that make them look bad.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Breaking down the walls
In the New York Times Magazine, there was a long feature on Jeannette Walls, the author of a few novels that are based on her own personal experiences in her nomadic childhood with her alcoholic father, bipolar mother, and unstable family life. The feature is entitled, "How Jeannette Walls Spun Good Stories Out of Bad Memories," and rightly so, because Jeannette Walls has allowed these experiences to build up her character and morals when they would have torn most people to pieces.
The Walls family changed their address 27 times in a single year and there was hardly time to settle down and spend time with each other. They didn't appreciate one another nor have the ability or time to care about one another. Although it did make her more independent as she grew up, Walls resolved to never have children of her own.
Her relationship with her mother never became as close as the average family's mother-daughter relationship is, but some wounds did heal and Walls does still feel an obligation to care about and protect her. Walls claims she has learned to accept things she cannot change and learn to adapt to the circumstances. This is what allowed her to view her past as something that could shape her and not hold her back. Sure, it sounds easy. But in reality this is a lesson that takes a lifetime to fully embrace.
It's not that easy to let go of a pain from the past. It remains a stain upon our hearts. They say time heals all wounds, but even a slight trigger can take us back to a memory that was particularly painful for us, and even after decades, we still prefer not to think about it because there's still that slight uncomfortable inner pinch.
It really is all about attitude. Walls had optimism when most people in her circumstances wouldn't have had any. She found ways to take matters into her own hands and refuse to give into self-pity. She is a tigress on the inside, a strong, independent, optimistic, bright woman who experienced injustice but chose to let it build her character.
The Walls family changed their address 27 times in a single year and there was hardly time to settle down and spend time with each other. They didn't appreciate one another nor have the ability or time to care about one another. Although it did make her more independent as she grew up, Walls resolved to never have children of her own.
Her relationship with her mother never became as close as the average family's mother-daughter relationship is, but some wounds did heal and Walls does still feel an obligation to care about and protect her. Walls claims she has learned to accept things she cannot change and learn to adapt to the circumstances. This is what allowed her to view her past as something that could shape her and not hold her back. Sure, it sounds easy. But in reality this is a lesson that takes a lifetime to fully embrace.
It's not that easy to let go of a pain from the past. It remains a stain upon our hearts. They say time heals all wounds, but even a slight trigger can take us back to a memory that was particularly painful for us, and even after decades, we still prefer not to think about it because there's still that slight uncomfortable inner pinch.
It really is all about attitude. Walls had optimism when most people in her circumstances wouldn't have had any. She found ways to take matters into her own hands and refuse to give into self-pity. She is a tigress on the inside, a strong, independent, optimistic, bright woman who experienced injustice but chose to let it build her character.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Marilaine, the girl who just wanted an education
I can't imagine a 13-year-old in the 21st century being denied the right to an education and forced into child labor. The New York Times Magazine did a feature on Marilaine, a 13-year-old Haitian girl with an impoverished family and separated parents, who walked all the way to her father's house to ask for money to go to school only to be forced into child labor. Although Marilaine did get more food and was allowed to attend a free afternoon school, her arms and legs were covered with scars from beatings and she was never allowed to see her parents.
It wasn't until an aid group called the Restavek Freedom Foundation stepped in that Marilaine was able to escape and take refuge in a safe house for child laborers. From there she was able to reunite with her family members and relatives, who were all shocked to see her alive but didn't display any sort of relief or gladness. She was just one more mouth to feed if she were to return and stay with them. Marilaine just wanted to return to the safe house and live there so she could get a good education.
The average child in America grumbles about school, complaining about not feeling like doing work and jumping for joy when vacation rolls around. We often complain when we don't feel like a topic is of much use to us, asking, "why do we even need to know this?" But kids like Marilaine have a real hunger for knowledge and they want an education because they want to simply learn. We forget what a blessing it is that we can acquire knowledge about the world around us, even when that knowledge won't be applied on a daily basis in our lives. At least we can fill our brains with facts that make us more knowledgeable people; at least we can know for the sake of knowing.
Every child has a right to education. Children every day are being denied education and sometimes even denied a home and a family because their parents or relatives are too poor to support or feed them. Human trafficking is often linked to poverty. Some families have to sell their children away because they can't support them. As is suggested at the end of this feature article, a solution to this can be to improve birth control methods in these countries so that families can limit the number of children they have. Another solution can be to make education free so that paying a tuition wouldn't be a burden to these families.
It wasn't until an aid group called the Restavek Freedom Foundation stepped in that Marilaine was able to escape and take refuge in a safe house for child laborers. From there she was able to reunite with her family members and relatives, who were all shocked to see her alive but didn't display any sort of relief or gladness. She was just one more mouth to feed if she were to return and stay with them. Marilaine just wanted to return to the safe house and live there so she could get a good education.
The average child in America grumbles about school, complaining about not feeling like doing work and jumping for joy when vacation rolls around. We often complain when we don't feel like a topic is of much use to us, asking, "why do we even need to know this?" But kids like Marilaine have a real hunger for knowledge and they want an education because they want to simply learn. We forget what a blessing it is that we can acquire knowledge about the world around us, even when that knowledge won't be applied on a daily basis in our lives. At least we can fill our brains with facts that make us more knowledgeable people; at least we can know for the sake of knowing.
Every child has a right to education. Children every day are being denied education and sometimes even denied a home and a family because their parents or relatives are too poor to support or feed them. Human trafficking is often linked to poverty. Some families have to sell their children away because they can't support them. As is suggested at the end of this feature article, a solution to this can be to improve birth control methods in these countries so that families can limit the number of children they have. Another solution can be to make education free so that paying a tuition wouldn't be a burden to these families.
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