The issue of Privacy

I would say that there are certain ways we have lost our privacy in the world today and that which we have given up to feel "safe". When I am emailing someone, different advertisements pop up on the side of the screen that deal with what I'm talking about. Yeah they might just be looking for key words, but that still means they can read what I'm sending. I'm not freaking out that some government sight is reading everything I send, but sometimes I wonder if a stalker would hack in and read all my stuff. I'm not giving that freely, well it most likely says something along those lines in the fine print of the "I agree to these Terms" that no one ever reads. Yet beyond that we have knowingly and freely given up some of our privacy to make sure we are safe. For example, cameras in the mall. They could potentially catch different really embarassing things. For example the girl who was texting and walked/fell right into the Berkshire Mall's fountain. Yet that's not what those cameras are for. They are there so if there is a physical fight they can send police to stop it or if a child is kidnapped while in the mall they might be able to catch the criminal. Those sorts of things. We have given up our privacy in those cases to make sure that we are protected. That kind of protection I am fine with, as long as no one goes overboard with it.

Silence, beautiful Silence.

My name is Alana. I’m stuck in this hospital with Titus and Violet. As I’m Violet’s older sister, I didn’t receive the Feed till I was 12; we both got it at the same time. When I first got it, I didn’t know what to do! There was so much to look through! But it got bothersome fast; all those images and items bombarding me all the time. I had gotten used to it, but now after what that old man did, they turned it off. Now it’s blissful peace and silence, just my thoughts. It was a little odd at first not having the constant buzz in my head. Now there is only silence.
I’m sitting on my bed observing the paining on the wall. I remember my mother teaching me how to paint, before she left. She wasn’t a master painter, but she had dealt with many pieces of art. I noticed the different shades of the ocean. The darker versus the lighter shades made the ocean look choppy. The brush strokes of the ocean were large and smooth, while the boat’s strokes were thinner and less noticeable. It was beautiful, something I only wish I could create. Nothing like this is ever created anymore. It’s such a loss to society. Then Titus interrupted my thoughts by mentioning that he couldn’t see why someone would paint a picture like that and that it was meaningless. I honestly don’t understand how I got stuck with these kids.

The first one is a picture of a smore we created :) The second image is of us at the top of the mountains after taking the deer trail. From the left it is Mary and Caronline (kids our age from the family we camp with) then it is Mike, Sarah, and Me (my siblings). The third picture is of Mary and Me who tied up my brothers tent because he would sleep in till 11. Also that week he had tried to play some tricks on us and they all failed, but we were getting back at him :D

No more Technology?

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan- like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…” Henry Thoreau.
When my class was asked the questions, if we were able to live without technology and would we give it up completely for a whole year (and go live in the woods), I had to think about this. I would gladly give up technology, but no one else would be. My parents would try to call me to find my phone turned off. I wouldn’t be able to get the majority of my school work done. Half of my free time is spent of the computer which I sometimes tend to regret. Yet I have lived without technology and without want of it. Not for a whole year like Henry Thoreau did, but for a week at a time. I’ve done this on many occasions. My youth group had a rule that on our retreats we would not have any cell phones, mp3 players, or any sort of technology like that. I’ve also been on camping trips with my family where we had no cell phone service and we brought along no other technologies of that sort. I have to say that those were some of the best weeks of my life. When camping we did so much. We were in the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and it is the most beautiful place ever. During storms we would listen to the thunder almost literally roll down the valley. It was the most amazing sound ever. While tubing down the creek we saw two otter once and every year we see two bald eagles flying up and down the creek. We’ve had a bear walk through our campsite and down across the creek. Deer have bounded out in front of us while biking and if we hadn’t stopped we would have hit them they were that close to us. My brother found and took the rest of us up a deer trail that lead up the side of the mountains. It took so long to get there and at times we weren’t really following a path at all, but at the clearing at the top, the sight was beautiful. On the way down we found a patch of wild blueberry’s that were amazing. As Thoreau says “I did not wish to live what was not life…” Outside those woods I feel like I’m just going through the motions, following the trends, and sort of living life. Yet when I’m there with my family (I couldn’t do it by myself) I can feel nothing but wonder and awe. If I could spend my life like that, I would. Yet I would only do it with my family. I would miss them and my friends too much.

“The Dumbest Generation”

Mark Bauerlein wrote a book on my generation or in his words “the dumbest generation”. I disagree with many of his points. He claims that we are “recklessly distracted” and constantly filled with “impatience”. What about all the other teen generations? What did flappers parents say about them? What about the teens at Woodstock? My generation isn’t the only or the first to be labeled under these terms. Even I am looking at the kids in middle school saying I never acted that way when I was their age!
“America’s youth know virtually nothing about history and politics.” Bauerlein said. As if everyone his age knows all about history. Plus, they have had more time on this earth to hear and learn about these events. On top of that he needs to take into consideration that different people learn differently. We see this more today than when our great grandparents were in school. Three generations back they didn’t have the opportunities we have today. Some didn’t stay in school long enough to graduate high school and very few of those who did went on to college. If they weren’t on the top they didn’t keep going. Their families needed them to help. How much did they have to learn compared to what we learn? How advanced are we in science today? History is only slim pickings in comparison to what other things we have to learn. We have Science, Math, English, History, Geography, Art, and Music. The same sorts of genre of classes but get into today’s high school classes. You can take Biology 2 or 3. There is physics, agriculture, chemistry, English, French, German, Latin, Chinese, Shakespeare, Literature, World History, American History, European History, and so many more. I didn’t even get into the new technology classes. Did our great grandparents have these classes? I don’t think so. Our brain capacity is just as much as theirs was. Yet the expectations for us just keep rising and it’s hard to keep up. Yes, we should be pushed. The world needs to remember that even though we have so much new technology it doesn’t mean that our brains are just as large as a motherboard.
That is only the tip of the iceberg. Bauerlein claims that “social life is a powerful temptation.” As if he didn’t have a social life when he was a teen?! Ok, maybe he didn’t, but we have more access to each other through the web and all the new technology. Since when did having friends become looked down upon? He also pointed out during a lecture to a body of students that “You are six times more likely to know who the latest American Idol is than you are to know who the Speaker of the House is.” Personally, I know neither the Speaker nor the latest American Idol. I can shoot out a fair number of politician’s names, but not their official position or party. I can name even fewer American Idols. Does this mean I’m a failure?! I believe my talents and ideas lie elsewhere.
I believe that Mark Bauerlein is over exaggerating his point. I don’t think that he’s completely wrong. I’m pretty confident that some of my generations are that dumb. Yet when he points his finger at the entire generation, I get offended. I can’t sit around and let him mar our names. I do not fit the description he paints nor do any of my friends. I won’t stand for someone who doesn’t know me to label me.

"Some people you can never please
You might as well just let them be
They mock everything not their own
From their imaginary throne
But I won't bow down,
even if the whole world thinks I'm crazy" ~Superchick