Poor Kids

The movie we watched was extremely interesting, yet disturbing.  I never really realized how much the media gears their products towards kids.  And it ends up that these products help make us who we are.  There are no longer just movies or TV shows, there are items that come along with them.  Kids are easily accessible to their favorite TV show's clothing, toys, lunch boxes, and snacks.  The marketing industry has realized that if kids really love a certain show, the kids will want anything associated with that show.  Kids want the stuff that is expense as well because they value expensive things such as designer clothes and high-end toys.  The Industry also is getting information about kids in a very creepy way.  They would film and observe children with their friends, in grocery stores, and while in the bathroom (shower and toilet).  I think this was morally wrong to basically stalk a kid just so you can take their money.   This really upset me.  And at one point in the movie, an interviewer was filming a  bunch of girls hanging out.  She told one of them about what she was doing and told the girl not to inform her friends about it.  This is teaching this poor girl at an early age to lie to her friends and not tell them everything.  Which in the end leads to being a bad and untrustworthy friend.  Another terrible thing about all this advertising for children is the images they feel they must portray.  For girls, they are to be sexy and pretty like the girls from Bratz.  This image leads to young girls wearing inappropriate attire and thinking at an early age that that IS how they are supposed to look.  For boys, they need to be tough and violent.  Boys are into their video games with tons of violence and think that is how they are supposed to act.  These images of boys and girls are making our youth conform in the exact same ways creating essentially violent and "slutty" girls. The marketing industry should not be so interested in these kids, it is wrong and creepy how serious about their jobs get.  They are supposed to be child experts, so why do they need to give them bad role models and essentially stalk them?

I'm Me

My family, mainly my mom and dad have socialized me.  What I have found out not only about myself but my family is something that I do not think about on a daily basis.  Right off the bat of me being born my parents, especially my dad, had high expectations for me. They wanted for me to live a happy and healthy life.  To be honest, I never really knew why as a child I was always participating in new sports/activities. I just thought it was normal to have gymnastics, softball, soccer, ice-skating, basketball, dance, reading programs, story time, park district classes once a week.  The real reason behind all of these activities was that my parents wanted me to find my niche.  They wanted me to figure out what I had a passion for and made me happy.  My dad wanted me to be an athlete, while my mom would prefer a more girly route like a dancer or skater.  Either way, they wanted me to learn what it was like to enjoy what I was doing.  Now that I look back at those years of my life, I am extremely happy I got to try basically every sport and I found the one I love- basketball.  They also really pushed the core values of my family onto me as well.  As I was interviewing my mom, I was shocked about some things she said.  I never really thought I looked or acted like my parents.  I always thought I was on my own boat doing my own thing.  As it turns out, my mom sees a lot of not only herself but my dad also in me.  This shocked me because I've never saw any of these qualities until she pointed them out.  She says I am like her by being stubborn and having a warm heart.  I am like my dad by having high expectations of myself and those close to me and being high maintenance.  Even though this was quite shocking to find out, it made me happy  that I have both my parents' characteristics.  My parents have made me, me.  In my family,  we do not have a lot of family traditions, but my mom would love for me to carry them on once I have a family.  All of traditions have to do with holidays.  One thing within only my family is that we have an "elf village."  After thanksgiving my mom, brother, and I set up our village.  Each year we get a new edition whether it is a house or accessory.  We have been doing this since I was a little girl, and I can not wait to "auction" off our collection between my brother and I, so we can start our own villages with our families.  Every Christmas eve, we celebrate with our immediate family and all gather together.  My mom really wants for me to stay close with my family and continue this tradition on.  The last thing my mom would love for me to carry on is my grandma's cookies.  On Christmas eve, my grandma gives us five coffee cans filled with her delicious cookies.  These cookies are made with "grandma love" and no one makes better cookies.  If you ask her to make them any other time of the year, she will automatically respond with no because they are for Christmas time only!  My mom wants me to start making them once I am older, and to keep the tradition going.  Overall, it is true that family is the most important socializing agent to making someone who they are.  If it was not for my parents, I would not have the passion I do for basketball, the personality I have, or the traditions my family carries.