Blogging Around

My first comment is from Sebastian's blog. His blog post was entitled "An Inconvenient Truth: Longer School Days". The post posed the question of whether students should have a say in their education and offered innovative ideas for improving learning.

"This blog post really makes me think about how kids should have more of a say when it comes to deciding how their education goes. If students are complaining about a bad teacher, adults should listen. I have heard people complain about their teachers so many times, and it really makes me think that something should be done. I think that there should be periodic examinations for teachers where students submit reviews saying how a teacher is doing. If a majority of the students are happy with the teacher, he or she is safe until the next examination. If a majority of students is unhappy, however, then the teacher is apprehended in some way, ranging from minor penalizations to even being fired. I can tell from experience that if a student likes their teacher, they are way more likely to learn from the class. If there was more quality control on teachers, students would not need a longer school day."

My second comment is from Eliana's blog. Her blog post was entitled "iMedia: High School Never Ends". Her media of choice was a Bowling For Soup song entitled, of course, "High School Never Ends". What follows is a sobering analysis of the adult world and how, in reality, high school never really ends.

"Before reading this post, I never really thought of the idea that high school never ends. Now, I really agree with this post. However, the part of high school that never ends is the part that nobody wants. The part that everybody wants to last is the fun times you have with your friends. High school encourages you to meet new people, and I have met a lot of new people. In fact, I don't really hang out with anybody from my middle school. I've had so many fun times so far, and I bet I'll have many more fun times with the people I have met.  Unfortunately, they only last until I graduate. Luckily, one part of these times will exist forever: the memories. I think that both of these parts of high school are worth considering, but when it comes to the part that you talk about, this song nails it spot-on."

iMedia: Gangnam Style

(I know that there is an almost limitless amount of choices I could have made for the subject of this blog, but this was begging to be done.)

Upon its release, "Gangnam Style" took the world by storm. Its addictive beat, nonsensical video and cheesy dancing hooked everyone who watched it. I personally enjoy it because it is a huge nonsense-fest and it is extremely fun to dance to the song. When the DJ played "Gangnam Style" at the GBN homecoming dance, it was probably some of the most fun I had all night, and I was not the only one who thought this. Everyone around me began to do the dance that everyone has associated with the song.  The song was even played on the loudspeakers at a few football games.

Northbrook is not the only place that caught Gangnam-fever, however. People around the country and around the world got in on the craze. Many different groups around the world made parody videos, such as a group of lifeguards, a mother and son duo, and even a group of soldiers from the U.S. Navy. The parodies even went political with videos such as "Mitt Romney Style". 

With almost 500 million views on YouTube, it's not a surprise that pretty much everybody knows what "Gangnam Style" is.  During Spanish, we were able to ask a group of exchange students from Spain some questions, and when I asked if they had heard of the song, they said that they had.  If people from multiple countries know what "Gangnam Style" is, it must be big.  

I believe that this song matters to the world because it triggers joy in pretty much any person who watches it.  How does a person not smile when watching a man wearing a suit and shades dancing around in pretty much every place he can? How does a person not laugh when dancing around like they're riding a horse?  I watched two videos of reactions to "Gangnam Style", one of reactions from teens and one of reactions from old men and women.  Both groups reacted positively to the video, saying that they loved the video. Some of the old people were more enthusiastic about the video than the teens. The bottom line is, however, that if "Gangnam Style" makes people of different age groups happy, it must be powerful.

In today's world, happiness is one concept that is rather lacking.  With debt and war and healthcare issues, it's pretty hard to find joy in the world for some people.  Considering the joyous appeal of "Gangnam Style", it's not surprising how popular the song is.

An Inconvenient Truth: Bigotry Will Never Disappear

One truth about the world that really bothers me is the fact that racism and other forms of bigotry will never be completely gone. I am the kind of person who stands against the discrimination caused by such bigots, and this truth does not sit well with me.

There are many reasons why this truth bothers me. I would say the biggest reason is that I generally ignore race, gender, and other characteristics that people use to divide others. This is one of the reasons that I am against organized religion. This organization does not unite people. It actually divides them. By telling people that only the group they are part of is right, it makes them look down on the rest of the population; however, with personal spirituality a person's beliefs only apply to themselves and are not force-fed down people's throats.

Another reason that this truth bothers me is that in some cases, bigots may ignore or distort facts because they believe that only their opinion is right. This bothers me because I only believe something if it is backed up by cold, hard, pure facts. This is one reason I personally hate creationists. They either try to disprove evolution by ignoring fact or blatantly twisting it beyond recognition. The truth really should not be thrown out the door just because your opinion does not match it.

I believe that I can come to terms with this truth by realizing that not everybody can have a large worldview. Many people live in small towns and are not very concerned with what happens outside where they live. Another way that I can accept this truth is by remembering that people have the right to their own opinions, and that I can feel good about my own opinions. Bigotry may never leave the face of the Earth, but that doesn't mean that I have to let it ruin my day.