Where are MY Comments, You Ask?

iPhone Crazy... or Not?
Check out my comment on Kaylan's Blog

Paparazzi :  Scandalous 
Check out my comment on Kathreena's Blog

Twitter Trouble
Check out my comment on Kaycee's Blog

Social Media:  The Good, The Bad, and the 'Not-So-Private'
Check out my comment on Kaitlyn's Blog

On a Tweet and a Prayer
Check out my comment on Shannon's Blog

Hey! You can't wear that!
Check out my comment on Wendy's Blog

Thanks for checking out my comments!

Abercrombie and Fitch; Apparel for the Homeless

Michael Jeffrie's view on who should wear Abercrombie and Fitch clothing is completely outrageous.  Whatever happen to the ideas of equality, justice, and beauty? Who's to say that I'm not beautiful enough to wear your clothes? Who's the say I'm not cool enough to buy from Abercrombie and Fitch? Who made Michael Jeffrie the CEO of beauty? No one.

Jeffrie speaks for Abercrombie and Fitch:

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids ... Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong in our clothes, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

XL sizes should be forever accepted, no matter the store

I think Michael Jeffries ideals about popularity and the 'right' people for certain clothing is insane.  It shouldn't be up to him to decide who can buy certain clothes.  It isn't right for him to just stand there and say, "You are too fat to shop at my stores."  Even though, he is not directly saying this to his customers, he kind of is.  Clothing shouldn't affect your popularity, yet it does to some extend already. Unfortunately, the ideals of being cool that Jeffries is trying to implement is an example of what isn't cool.  People should go along with that guy from the video; make Abercrombie and Fitch the apparel for homeless people, because if they are too 'cool' for the poor, the 'fat' or the so-called non-cool people, then they are not 'cool' enough for us to wear.  They are not cool enough to demean our self-respect.  They are not cool enough for us to say we want to wear their inequitable brand.

It is not fair to target a particular group of teens because in theory it is basically discrimination, and inequality.  They are changing their niche market based on the number they see on the weighing scale.  Teenagers are already insecure about their bodies, and to hear this from a clothing store that they are not the right kind of body image to be able to shop at specific stores is confidence crushing.  Targeting a particular group of teens is unrighteous because it is like a form of bullying, to show the abuse of power within a society, considering you are not being accepted by a CLOTHING STORE.  If Jeffrie experienced this throughout high school, why is he encouraging eating disorders so one can 'fit in' with the crowd by qualifying for a particular targeted group?

This contributes to our already biased perception of what beauty is because throughout the media, we are told that beauty is about popularity, being skinny, and having a perfect face.  Well honestly, which person fits that description.  Models? Actors? HAHA. What about REAL people?  Michael Jeffrie straight up tells us that beauty is about the skinny, cool people.  He immediately excludes everyone else, based on the outer appearance.  Society perceives beauty based on looks.  Its all about the perfect clothes, the perfect body, the perfect face and the perfect everything.  And Michael Jeffrie just enhances that perspective by excluded people with the 'not-so-perfect' features.  Beauty is about what is inside, and no matter what anyone says, no one is allow to change your internal beauty. Outer beauty is something that is a part of everyone's life, but inner beauty is what defines your life.

To learn more about the single man who is trying to send a message about Abercrombie and Fitch, read this article and the accompanying video: Click here

Holy Tweet, The Pope's on Twitter!

In the recent news, Pope Francis, our new leader has made a twitter account.  He has been tweeting regularly to the public as a method to attract youth to have a greater role in the life of the church.  Unfortunately, it is sad that having a twitter account will not necessarily attract people to have a greater role, let alone youth.  With twitter, one needs to follow in order to receive the inspirational messages from the Church's teachings.  The twitter account and tweets will only be effective once individuals follow the Pope, and unfortunately, if the youth already refuses the church, what makes you think they will suddenly follow a religious leader?  In my eyes, the lack of youth participation will not motivate them to click that follow button!

#TweetToPope to connect religion with the Internet!

The benefits, say we did follow, of having our Church leader tweet would be our exposure to the teachings of the Church in an inspirational way.  Many youth, and people in general, find it troublesome to make the time to attend Church on a weekly basis to learn about the gospel's teachings.  By connecting to social media, the Church is making an attempt to make the spreading of the values in a method that is most convenient and easy for everyone to access.  It will help people who do not have the time, or feel bored in Church to experience the inspirational message and life-giving ideas that religious leaders express.  Signing onto the internet and connecting the Church to the social network, also helps people understand that they Church is no longer an outdated source of knowledge that should be ignored.  Considering twitter is a new method of communication, it shows that the Church is trying to keep up-to-date with the trends so that they can send the positive messages in ways that the people prefer.  There are some disadvantages considering it is now easiest to talk to the religious leader about messages we do not believe in and harass him about things that we feel are more important.  People might feel that reading about the disagreements would be more appealing than reading the religious content.  On a side note, hackers, viruses and negative publicity are all associated with the online world, and people could find their way into the Pope's account and post inappropriate, non-religious information from the Pope's 'perspective' that could lead to incorrect knowledge for the people, from their leader. 

However, my parish is very old school, without the ideas of taking a step forward to enter the 21st century along with the public.  But I personally feel, Churches are working hard to encourage youth to get involved.  Some churches offer programs such as Altar Serving, Youth Programs, and opportunities for volunteering which guarantee both a fun time and volunteer hours; the best of both worlds for teens! Churches could also associate with homilies and sermons that youth can actually relate to and understand, making church less boring.  At my parish, the priest sometimes makes jokes and holds parties with specific groups; e.g. the choir, altar servers, etc. so that he, personally can get to know you by name and encourage you that Church is a fun place, but a serious place as well.  By personal experiences in my parish that stands out the most is volunteering my time to hold fundraisers with my parish.  I've been involved with it since I was seven, and have some wonderful friends and memories about it.  My parish got me involved at a very young age, and it kind of stuck.  It is amazing what kind of difference, a little time can make when you are with your Church. 

Social Media: How Did You Know About That?

Let's face it. Our parents, teachers, police officers, etc. had that talk with us when we were in grade 5-8.  They gather us as a group and explain to us the dangers, what to do, what not to do, and how to avoid trouble.  Yes, that talk.  The social media talk. 

Make sure you check your privacy settings for ALL social
media accounts!

They are always trying to watch our back. And when it came time that we decided, let me get a Facebook/Twitter account, they explained to us a huge set of warnings.  Because, the truth is, social media is a very dangerous place.  Everything we post, tweet, or publicize is placed online forever, and forever means we can't erase it.  It also means, we can't erase mistakes, and the same mistakes can take our whole life a spiraling downwards. So, our 'advisers' try to teach us how to avoid making mistakes with the internet.  And most learn to watch for what we say and do online, however there is always that one kid who doesn't think, and in the spur of a moment, does something that inappropriate, and at 22, is facing the consequences.  That one kid could have had a bright future. That one kid could have been really successful. That one kid made one mistake.  That one kid, could be YOU.

The message teachers try to tell us at a young age, isn't to not get a social networking account.  Hey, I have ... a few. It's fun, entertaining, and it helps you keep in touch with family and friends, close or far away.  It's basically a tool for communication. There's no harm in having an account, right?  It just keeps you in the loop, and makes it easier for you to talk to people you know when you can't see them face-to-face.  My privacy settings for my accounts are set for 'friends only' or 'protected' which basically means that only people I've approved can see what I post.  Nothing is made public for the whole world to see.  I have exactly thought about what information I'm providing access for others too see though.  Basically, they can only see what I post.  So whatever I post about, is what they can know about.  Also the simple details I provide to complete my profile is accessible including my name and birthday.  However, all this information they have access to is pretty much useless as long as I choose my words wisely.

What I post has a huge impact on what my 'friends' or 'followers' can know about. Posting things about how tough this unit is, or my new dog or even a simple happy birthday are safe posts, simply because no personal information that could ultimately put my life in danger is being provided. Some unsafe posts could include the school I go to, my bank account number, where I am right now, my home address, etc. These are considered unsafe posts because I'm basically publicizing information that bad people could use and put my life in danger.

We all need to become responsible users of social media.  We need to watch what we post.  Is this something I want my friends to know about? Is this something that could get me into trouble? Would I want my parents to see this? If someone said this about me, would I like it? Could people do something with this information that could endanger me? These are all questions we should ask ourselves before we post something.  We should also change our privacy settings; make sure only people you know can view your profile, your posts, and your information.  For all you know, a stranger could be stalking your information right now, waiting for that one stupid post that could led them right to your front door. Finally, just remember that what you post stays there forever, even if you press that 'delete' button.  Once you press that 'post' button there's no way you can backspace the post off the whole world wide web.  It's important to be a responsible social media user because basically, irresponsibility will endanger yourself.  It might impact your friend or family's life too, but ultimately, one wrong post with just a bit more extra information needed, could put yourself in danger, or ruin your entire life. Is 140 characters, really worth it?

All of this comes back to that day we were sitting in that classroom, thinking, "this is such a waste of time, things like this only happen on T.V."  We were probably half asleep, barely paying attention.  WELL WAKE UP! BECAUSE THIS CAN ACTUALLY HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE! And this is basically your second chance to avoid getting caught into a mix that will ruin your life.

Twitter Tweets = Suspension?

"Guess what?! I tweeted about my teacher last night.  Said some bad stuff, and now I'm suspended.  But I learned by lesson and won't do it ever again."

Join twitter to connect with people across the globe, but be careful with what you tweet!

Saying bad things about your teacher is one thing.  Saying bad things about your teacher online is a whole different story. The same meaningless words that were said just for the heck of it, and not for a real purpose, posted online can lead to serious punishments.  Khadijah learned this lesson up close and personal when she tweeted about her teacher in mid-November. Her post went something like this: 

"He lives at home with his mother, eats fish sticks for dinner, and all he talks about is Star Wars."

Unfortunately, this tweet was seen as inappropriate, and I agree.  Its not that the tweet was a lie, and made the teacher look like something he wasn't.  It was the fact that it was a comment about the teacher, and maybe he didn't want to make public.  The tweet makes the teacher look like a stereotypical single guy living his mother.  And hey, that may be the truth, but it isn't exactly the most appropriate message to be telling the whole wide world. Each person is untitled to their individual rights in terms of what they wish to keep private.  Maybe the teacher didn't feel the need to tell the whole world he was single. Let alone, have a student announce it for him. It's just inappropriate.

In my opinion, the school board enforced a reasonable punishment.  I mean you really got to think about it; they only got suspended.  It's not like they went to jail or had to pay a fine.  Nothing went on their permanent records, but for a school kid to get suspended it sends the same kind of message. The school board is trying to help the students realize their mistakes before things end up worse and impact their entire future.  The board is enforcing such a punishment, to let the students know that what they did was ultimately wrong, and it should not happen again.  Think about how the teacher's feels.  His personal life was just made public in less than 20 words.  The school board is just trying to tell the students that such comments and remarks, may seem "cool" at the moment, but they hurt feelings in the long run. Luckily, this post wasn't too harmful, but the ideology behind the punishment is to prevent more harmful posts.

I get it.  The students want to have the freedom to share their opinions freely. Because after all, we do live in a free country right? But freedom doesn't mean the right to abuse powers.  You are given the freedom to post comments.  There is no filter on the "Share" or "Tweet" button that will reject a comment you want to publicize because its 'mean'.  The things is, sharing your opinion should be respectful. Words aren't just words that come out of your mouth; five words can easily impact a person's feelings.  Yeah sure, we are allowed to share our opinions freely, but we got to remember that what we say has just a bad impact as what we do.  And when we post things on a social media website like Twitter, the words and feelings become public, and unfortunately a simple sorry, can't erase them, because they are permanently there, for the rest of eternity.

There's that saying you learn when your little, think before you act/speak.  Well social media and twitter can be applied to this principle, and asks you to think before you post.