The Impact Of TV Shows On My Life

I love watching TV shows. I probably do it more than I should, but it's a habit that cannot be changed easily. Most of the TV shows, or at least the ones I watch, have hidden messages for us. They try to teach us something through characters and their experiences and I find this both entertaining and interesting. Another great thing about TV shows is that there is usually a character that I can relate to due to many similarities between us. This is why I will use this blog to talk about what I've learned from TV shows and how these ideas helped me through my life and also explain how and why I could relate to some of the characters.

Forced To Hand Write

I was told to hand write about the experience of writing. One sentence in and I was already hating it. I was basically forced to use the simplest words I know because I was not sure if I could spell the more complicated words correctly. I was two sentences in before making a mistake which then I had to scratch over/erase. This only lead to one messy-looking assignment and that made me sad. It's not that I'm unable to hand write, I just didn't do it in a long time, meaning I've lost my "touch".

I think that hand writing is like riding a bicycle. When I was younger, I'd ride a bike everyday so I was really good at it and I could do some tricks occasionally. If I was to ride a bike today, I would be able to do it, but I wouldn't be as good and confident and I most definitely wouldn't be able to do any stunts. I am sure that if I was hand writing regularly, I'd be way better at it.

What I find really interesting is the fact that Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, wrote so well. She had so many disadvantages but she didn't let that stop her. She would take much longer to learn a word and I'm not even going to mention the way she had to proof read what she wrote. She was definitely a very unique individual.

At the end of my hand writing assignment, I was very disappointed by the fact that I used so many simple sentences. I also repeated many words which also shows my lack of skill.

The Downside of Anonymity

        The number of websites where people can be anonymous is increasing nowadays. Websites like 4chan, where anyone can say anything they want without any consequences. There are many people who enjoy this additional privacy and the opportunity to express themselves. They enjoy it so much that they do not see the downside of it. The power of anonymity causes us to behave in a way we normally wouldn't and this leads to problems like racism and sexism. When we are anonymous, we feel like no one can stop us and therefore bullying is easier. There are also situations where people pretend to be different race or gender, while being anonymous,  just so they are not picked on.

Many people tend to abuse the power of anonymity once it is in their hands. For example, there was a tragic case regarding the website Ask.fm. A fourteen year old girl committed suicide because she was being bullied by anonymous users there. They were saying things like "go die" and "do us all a favor and kill yourself" and so on. Does the fact that we can be anonymous give us the right to say such things? No. Not when people can end up taking their own lives because of it. This was one of the more extreme cases, but the truth is that there are many bullies out there and most of them are very racist and sexist. Because they know that their identities are hidden, they don't think twice about what they are saying and therefore end up mentally hurting other people. These examples only prove that cyberbullying is easier to do while being anonymous.

Anonymity also affects our identities.  For example, there are many girl gamers that pretend to be boys online just so they are not the targets of sexist jokes. I have a girl friend that does exactly this. She was sick and tired of hearing "go make me a sandwich" comments that she now pretends to be a guy to avoid it. But by doing this, isn't she losing a part of her identity? She can't be her true self while gaming without getting harassed or mocked. Pretending to be someone else just to be accepted and left alone sounds ridiculous, but it is the current situation unfortunately.

Being anonymous gives us additional freedom, but it also has the downside of causing people to behave differently, mostly in a bad way,  leading to problems like bullying, racism and sexism. It is easier to be a bully and say hurtful things when your identity is hidden. Anonymity also leads to people pretending to be someone they are not and by doing so, it affects identities. If we are to allow such level of privacy and freedom, we must learn to be more careful of what we say online. Although you may not care what some anonymous person said about you online, there are people that do. After all, lives have been lost because of this.


Sources:

Girl committed suicide because of anonymous bullies
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/askfm-bosses-could-reveal-names-2143278
Cyberbullying and anonymity
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-taran/cyberbullying-apps_b_3941599.html