Vaccines: Freedom of choice?

As of right now in America, we have a right on whether or not we give ourselves and/or our children vaccines. Vaccines can help prevent many harmful and deadly diseases such as whooping cough, polio, yellow fever, smallpox and much more. The first smallpox vaccine was invented in 1776 by a British Doctor by the name of Edward Jenner. They have saved many lives and prevented debilitating diseases. However, there has been a lot of debate on whether all vaccines are safe or not. Specifically, people are concerned with the MMR vaccine or better know as measles, mumps, and rubella, There seems to be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. There has been several studies done and some say there is no link and others say there is. As of right now it is inconclusive. Furthermore, in 1986 the supreme court set up a special division to handle vaccine lawsuits. Basically it handled compensation for children injured due to vaccines. The fact that this law is in place acknowledges that  injury and death due to vaccines. There are so many stories of children that were developing normally and thriving but within hours of their vaccines, they regressed and developed life altering defects. Now there is a big push to make vaccines mandatory. Should vaccines  be forced or should the parent have freedom of choice to choose what they think is best for their child. And if these vaccines were forced,would that be taking away from our personal freedoms? Is this a matter of public safety or personal choice. Advocates of making parents vaccinate their children argue that immunizing most children in a community or society protects everyone. Those who argue against forcing parents to have their children vaccinated say it is a basic individual right of a person. The question is what is more important, and if we do decide to inforce vaccines what dangers could these vaccines possibly lead to. The pros for getting vaccines is obvious. Vaccines help prevent a individual from getting an illness. The cons of getting vaccines is a different story. In the article "The pros and cons of Vaccinating children," Kristie Jernigan writes "Some vaccines can cause mild or temporary side effects, which include a fever, soreness or a lump underneath the skin of the vaccination site, says the Family Doctor. Since 1990 there have been 30,000 cases of adverse reactions to vaccines and 13 percent of these side effects have resulted in disability, life threatening illness, hospitalization, or even death."  This is one major reason why I think vaccines should be a choice until that can be a better product on the market that can guarantee the safety of the child receiving the vaccine. Safety from not only the disease the vaccine is intended to protect them from but also safety from serious adverse reaction that alters a child's future. Getting a child vaccinated should not be a game of rush and roulette. Why should a parent be forced to vaccinate their child when there is a known danger? Of course, society's safety is important but how does that trump the individual. Can you imagine taking your happy, full of life child in to be vaccinated and what you got in return was a shell of a human being. That sounds devastating to me and many parents have been subjected to just that. Yes, vaccines should be a choice.

Freedom of Speech: Bitter Sweet

The First Amendment of the U.S Constitution reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This Amendment represents America and represents a lot of what we as Americans stand for. This Amendment makes us very different from most countries. Being able to practice your beliefs, have petitions, assemble peacefully, and be able to express your opinion is something Americans are very fortunate to have. One particular freedom in the First Amendment I would like to touch on is, Freedom of Speech. Having Freedom of Speech is beneficial freedom but can also have many downfalls. Freedom of Speech allows us to speak our opinion freely.  If you believe there is wrong going on around the world, Freedom of speech allows you to express your concerns, beliefs, and opinions openly. One benefit of Freedom of Speech is if people do not like what you have to say, you can still speak your mind without being fined or getting jail time as long as your not threatening somebody. I think that us Americans takes this freedom for granted. In other countries, they are not so lucky. people can face jail time or death if they speak against their government or that countries religion. I think Americans have gotten so use to having this freedom that it is now expected rather then appreciated.  Freedom of speech is something that can benefit  everyone. Freedom of Speech means that every person has the same right to say what they are feeling, regardless of how wealthy or improvised they are. However, Freedom of Speech has its cons as well. I can think of several ways Freedom of Speech can be very harmful and hurtful to people. One example is, extremist groups that utilize their Freedom of Speech rights to protect their "right" to say misleading, hateful, and just simply mean words. Social media is a tool that can utilizes this freedom in a negative way. Satire pages are created "just for fun' that are absolutely hateful. One page I came across was a page dedicated to shaming women that have had C-sections. The page stated that a women was not truly a mother if she allowed the doctor to do a C-section. They even went as far as to say that women should of just died along with the child if that was the way it had to be. They even called for the member of the page to call CPS on women that have had C-sections because they were more likely to neglect their children. Obviously this page had a huge out pour of negative feedback and reports to Facebook. The page still remains because of Freedom of Speech. Bullying on social media has gotten out of control all in the name of Freedom of Speech. Of course these bullies attribute their actions to their First Amendment. People have been driven to depression and even suicide because of peoples Freedom of Speech. I think caution and care should be exercised when we decide to use our Freedom of Speech. Our freedoms should not supersede someone else peace of mind. I think here in America it teeters on a thin line of going to far with our freedoms. Freedom of Speech should be something we should never take for granted or take advantage of in a negative way. You never know when these rights will be taken away from you. You never know what you have until you lose it.

NSPCC

This ad was founded by NSPCC , which stands for National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Children. When you look at this ad, you see the statement that says "One day a dog dug up a yummy bone. He didn't chase my cat Fred." At face value, it just seems like a simple cute child writing about his/her dog and cat. However, in the writing you see a hidden message. The secret message reads, "Daddy hits me. As soon as you read the message you know exactly what the Ad is trying to convey. This ad is very simple yet effective. At the moment a reader uncovers the secret message, I would imagine a sadness creeps over them. The thought of innocence being lost at the hand of a father is heartbreaking. The thought that the person a child trust to protect them is the one hurting them is gut wrenching. Even though the ad is simple, I think there are images that flashes through the readers head. What images do you have going through your head right now? Maybe a sad child emotionally broken with his head hung low. Maybe he is looking up at you with tears in his black and blue eyes. Those images ran through my head. It enticed me to look up child abuse. I found that every 10 seconds a report of child abuse is reported. That is just the reported abuse. Think about how many go unnoticed. The amount of child abuse reported in 2012 was an estimated 686,000. That would fill a football stadium 10 times. That is  staggering numbers. Again, that is only reported abuse. Our most vulnerable citizens are being abused. citizens that might not be able to speak for them selves or might be to scared. I think that is why the statement on the bottom of the ad is important. It reads,"If you don't listen, you wont hear them." This is huge. I would imagine that the reader's thoughts are provoked. Hopefully they are thinking what they can do to hear the little voices or notice the signs of child abuse. Hopefully, it invoked a sense of responsibility that it is their problem too. That message implies that as adults we should pay attention to the signs of a child being abused. It is a responsibility of a community. Overall, I think the ad was powerful through imagery that provoked emotion.

Eyes Plead What Words Can't

This ad  is very impactful for many different reasons. First, I think it is important to go into some background information about this ad. This ad was created in April of 2013. This was Saudi Arabia's first ever campaign against domestic abuse. This ad was launched by the King Khalid Foundation. The fact that this ad was launched by the King of Saudi Arabia is already very powerful since domestic abuse has been a taboo topic to consider talking about. In the link below,  it talks about how a law  made towards domestic violence in Saudi Arabia gets turned into a joke by men in Saudi Arabia. It talks about how the men in Saudi Arabia believe it is "men's nature" to beat a woman. This is just a small insight on how domestic violence is often viewed in Saudi. This ad was so impactful that Saudi Arabia passed a new law to criminalize domestic abuse in 2013.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2014/04/20/Saudi-introduces-penalities-for-men-who-beat-their-wives.html
  Now let's discuss in more detail as to why this ad is so effective. Looking at this ad , you see a woman wearing a tradition mid eastern veil or hijab. This traditional veil is meant to cover a women completely. It is considered to be against God for a women to show herself to a man she is not married to nor not related to. The only part of this women you can see are her eyes. One of her eyes appears to be bruised. I wonder what the rest of her looks like? Whatever your first impression is, this ad gets you thinking. I saw this ad and automatically knew it would be about domestic violence because of her bruised eye but what caught my attention the most was the cloth she was wearing which usually symbolizes woman in the middle east. Women in the middle east are extremely oppressed. Men view them as their objects that they can do what they wish to  rather then a equal companion. This is normal practice in the middle east and would be frowned upon here in the united states. A man would be considered to be a monster if he hit his wife here in the good ol' US of A. In the middle east, they are just practicing their God given rights. As you can see from the link above, women are not viewed as human being the same way men are.  This ad compelled me to search more information about women's rights in Saudi Arabia. It angered me and I felt sympathy for the women that I was looking in the eyes. The eyes are one of the most powerful tools of communication we have. It is the window to the soul. I think the fact that all you can see is her eyes conveys  multitudes of emotion.   Another aspect of this ad to notice is the text near the bottom that reads " some things cant be covered" "fighting woman's abuse together". The text may be short but the meaning sure isn't. Those words hit to the core of human emotion. The audience is forced to take think about domestic violence in a whole new way. With the main audience being the people of Saudi Arabia, I believe that this picture of a women bruised under her veil really hits home for many of them. Obviously it did if they passed domestic violence laws based on this ad campaign. The campaign allowed for the citizens in Saudi Arabia to be aware of domestic abuse that happens in their country and question whether it was truly right.  

Contray to popular believe,Woman and Men are not Equal...but that's okay

   
 Woman and men are not entirely equal,but you know what , that's perfectly fine. Actually it is a good thing we are not equal. Now don't get me wrong, men nor women should never face discrimination, They should be treated as human beings and be treated with respect . That is not the type of "equal" I am talking about. I'm simply talking about how both male and female are different physically, emotionally, and even mentally. Our differences work together. Where one falls short the other may excel. It is like the perfect partnership.

For instance, men are proven to be stronger then woman. Their bodies have more lean muscle then women and women are composed of more fat then men. It tends to play on each others natural desire. Women tend to want a man that is strong and of a certain build while men like women that are soft and curvy. It is the basics of our unconscious attraction for each other. Obviously there is always the exception to the rule. It is also important to point out that just because men are stronger does not make men better then woman .This just makes us different from one another.

Men and woman are also very different emotionally and mentally . Woman tend to base their decision making on emotions, while men tend to base their decision making on logic . Both of these decision making processes can have there own pros and cons. Think about the endless jokes about relationships. A man ask a women what is wrong and her statement back is " I am fine!" We all know that there is a lot more meaning to those words then the Webster Dictionary version. On the other hand. If a man says he is 'fine' then he is really "fine." Think about making decisions in regards to child rearing. For example, if a couple's child is being bullied at school, the parents are going to responded differently. A women is going to be more nurturing and comforting. It is more likely that the women is even going to feel empathy and relate to the pain. The man is going to want to figure out how to correct this problem logically. They are going to want to figure out steps to take to end the problem. This is were the man and woman can come together in their difference to have a balanced outcome.
  
There are several researchers that show how men and women are different mentally. Men are mentally stronger in some area and women are stronger is others. It is said that Woman tend to be better multitaskers then men.  Men generally have better depth perception then woman. Women can notices slight differences in color. Men have a better sense of direction then women. The research show that these difference actually date back to the beginning of time. Women and men had to work together to survive. Men were responsible for hunting and they had to protect the family. This is why they have a better sense of direction and depth perception. These attributes helped in survival. Women would take care of the family and be responsible for gathering some food like berries. this is were noticing the slight differences in color comes in handy. This would help in determining if certain berries were deadly. Does this mean one sex is better then the other? Absolutely not! It our differences working together.

Can you imagine if everybody thought like a woman or if everybody thought like a man . Now some of you might be thinking, "well that would be great!" But when it comes down to it, both men and woman need each other .What one gender lacks the other gender can usually pick up the slack.  We need to realize that we are not "equal" and  that is a beautiful thing. If we could embrace that and stop having the "battle of the sexes" maybe we could find a mutual respect. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. It would be to simple if we all just got along. We all know there is always going to be sexism, feminism, chauvinism, disrespect and inequality. However, one can wish for a more perfect world. 

Objectification: It Takes Two to Tango

 Woman have been objectified since the beginning of society. Objectification even dates all the way back to Greek mythology. Lets take Aphrodite for example. She was all things "woman" or so what men say a women is suppose to be. She represented love, beauty, sexuality, lust and she even wore a girdle that compelled woman to be like her and men to desire her. In China, woman used to bind their feet in order to fit an almost impossible shoe size in order to get a husband. It would literally curl their toes up and break their feet. A lot of them had to be carried because they could no longer walk. They did all of this in the name of outrageous beauty standards set by men.  In the 1950s, Pinup girls were type of women that men desired and dreamed of. They were sexualized in poster and art work by enhancing their assets. Even a pinup girl being pictured simply vacuuming was somehow a sexual suggestion. In current times women are probably more objectified then they ever have been before. Woman in music videos have all their lady bits showing for all to be witness to. I highly doubt that men would enjoy watching these videos if it was an average women fully clothed doing the dishes. Victoria Secrets models posing in their underwear seductively staring into the camera with that come hither gaze is another example at how objectified women are. Even something as simple as a fast food commercial can be objectifying to women. Carl's Junior is famous for featuring "new and up coming talent" in their fast food commercials. How many ketchup stain breast have been featured in their commercials? I lost count a long time ago. Regardless, one is one too many. Honestly, do you really need some ketchup doused boobs to sell a hamburger? Shouldn't it be the taste that sells it? Exotic dancers making a living by showing off every bit of what God gave them; but they are just working their way through college right. They wouldn't be able to "work their way through college if objectification didn't exist. You know men wouldn't go to club to watch a stage full of intelligent  women take college final exams. Plastic surgery is another hot topic when it comes to objectification. Women get booties and boobies enhanced along with a little nip and tuck here and there to live up to undermining standards of what a woman should be. Women under the age of eighteen are now going under the knife to try to be the picture perfect woman. The list could go on and on .

So who is to blame for the objectification of woman of today in America ? Men right?  In America , woman have fought for their rights to be seen as a person . Woman are able to wear what they want , marry who they want, and choose whichever career they would like to pursue. Woman do not have to dress provocatively, become promiscuous, or even "sell " their beauty. But that's just it, woman do not have to do these things yet there are still plenty of woman who are willing to be objectified and even enjoy that type of power. Yes, men should respect woman and  they should see a woman as a person. They should not view women as an object, but I believe as woman, it is also a woman's job to see herself as a person. Women should stop allowing themselves to be objectified. I think it is popular belief to blame men for the objectification of woman in todays society. However, I think woman have a responsibility to not allow it to happen. Remember, it takes two to tango. Women need to respect themselves and in return demand respect from men. Society as a whole, men and women alike, need to revaluate their priorities and put an end to objectification. We all would be happier and live a more fulfilled lives.

More issues in Education

Another issue that came to mind was having elementary schools start to early .  I remember as a child having to take tests at 7am in the morning and being way to tired to focus. There have even been study's done on students who start school around 6 to 7am verses 9am. Here are some links that I found that have interesting findings .  http://educationnext.org/do-schools-begin-too-early/  http://time.com/3162265/school-should-start-later-so-teens-can-sleep-urge-doctors/