Brazzy Ben's Blogs

Teenagers today have a big problem. It's the amount of sleep they get. Teenagers are supposed to get between 9 - 9 1/2 hours of sleep. However most of us, me included get around 6 hours every night. This is a big problem because it affects our mood the next day, our ability to function, and our overall health. Even though there are many factors that contribute to this issue, in my opinion the main issue is media. Media is everywhere we go, there is no escaping it. Even just going on your phone for a few minutes before bed can turn into a 2 hour session of scrolling through your Instagram feed. It's amazing to think about how intrigued we get to different types of media. Youtube is an example of this. In my own experiences I will stay up past 2 am watching random videos on Youtube simply because they popped up in my "Up Next" tab.  As time has gone on and I started to face the consequences of getting less sleep, I try to limit my phone use around bed time because ...

Recently during high school I got really into running. And not just running itself, but watching all kinds of different videos on youtube that had to do with running. Whether it was what was the newest shoe, how to improve running form, the best diets, race vlogs, documentaries and much more. Since summer going into freshman year, I've been obsessed. And of course, for me to be obsessed with running documentaries, I had to have watched the Breaking 2 project from Nike. This documentary was centered around a group of scientists and three of the most elite runners in the world. Nike who was sponsoring this documentary was attempting to have all three of these runners run a marathon under two hours. This is by no means an easy goal. They would have to shave a couple minutes off the world record. One of the factors that Nike branded was the shoes. They came up with a new shoe that was supposedly supposed to give back 4% of energy or "energy return." Nike probably spent...

In the tragic recent terrorist bombing in Sri Lanka I sought out one source more skewed to the left (The Los Angeles Times), and another more skewed to the right (Fox News). The responses to this event were very different in approach. Beginning LA Times is pathos with the story of child which gives a description of the event from someone at the scene. It also describes the mourning process and the white and grief associated with it. An example of political speech is “gravest crisis since the end of a brutal civil war a decade ago.” Another example is “at least” … we’re killed etc; the writer wants to show severity instead of saying around or about say at least. It also uses lots of numbers gives people sense of how serious and puts an image which can be seen as logos. There are lots of personal stories about people and how it affected them which gives the article authenticity. It also says Islamists are suspected but not proven which doesn't directly blame a certain group of p...

South Park. What seemingly looks like a harmless cartoon will permanently damage your six year old's mind. South Park creates the appeal of a kids show with its cheery theme songs and animated appearance, however the show covers a number of controversial issues in a bad way. These include the issues of race, religion, gun control and sexuality just to name a few. One of the main characters Kyle, is bullied by his friends for being Jewish. This occurs in every single episode. What message are we sending to our youth by installing these beliefs into a TV show? Are we really going to let our youth believe that one certain race is above the rest and gives them entitlement to bully another person based on their religion? Another example of a controversial topic is the school cook that goes by the name of "Chef." He seduces women by singing a song and the show portrays women as if they are objects often with the male character telling them that they need food to be cooked. Dur...

           My relationship with media summed up is complicated. I go through phases when it comes to media. Sometimes I will distance myself from it which usually includes me not spending as much time on my phone, and other times I will be addicted to my phone going on Snapchat or whatever grabs my attention first.            For me, I have been surrounded by media for my entire life. I can remember watching my favorite TV shows as a little kid. The first time that I was introduced to social media I was in sixth grade. My parents tried to hold back on me having social media for as long as possible, but looking back I can definitely see why. When I first got Instagram and Snapchat (the two main forms of media I use to communicate with people), I was in a word addicted. I was always on Instagram seeing what the latest meme was or who posted what. I've had these types of media for a while now and I recognize that it takes up a l...