Archive for date: October 14th, 2015

It is difficult to prove that violent media causes violence. Sternheimer makes this valid point. After reading Chapter 5, it was difficult to value the Levin article, though poverty, neighborhood and friends are tied to behaviors.

I was struck, however, by the “Bobo doll” experiment results on p 111. Kids who watched adults pummel a doll, also hit the doll. Children mimic behaviors they see. Parents who pattern kind behavior often have children who are kind. Soft-spoken parents often have soft-spoken children. Parents with keen senses of humor, often have children who know how to laugh. Tragically, child abuse is often passed down, generation after generation.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/11766010/.

Another point: practice makes perfect. The way we spend our time determines what we become. As a piano teacher, I know that pianists are created from daily, quality piano practice. What do hours of violent video games produce? What do hours of TV produce? What do hours of reading produce? Increased vocabulary, greater proficiency in writing, a higher IQ.  Common sense tell us that we are what we do.

When I visited Ronald Reagan Presidency Library this past Friday, it gave me a great understanding of who President Reagan was. I know President Reagan was a president but I never actually took time to learn about him. The whole aspect of the museum is to give a good expression of who Reagan was. In my opinion he was a good president but as usual when someone passes away only the good deeds they did are remembered. The museum portrays him as a great leader and a great president. Maybe it’ just to show respect or because he has passed and they want the audience to remember him as a great person.

There were quite a few objects that caught my attention at the library. One of them was the video of when they attempted to murder him. He had just finished addressing the Building and Construction workers. It was really scary just by watching the explicit footage. I tried to it myself in his shoes and I couldn’t even bare to imagine myself in that situation. I thought about what his wife was thinking at the moment and how she reacted.

Another objects that also caught my attention was the Air Force One and the Marina One aircraft. It was amazing getting inside the same aircraft that President Reagan once was in. I liked how we were able to get inside and get the experience of having a closer look of his personal life. When I stepped in the aircraft it made me feel like I was one of the people who were in the aircraft while he was there. I felt Important.

In the Air Force One aircraft one of the people who worked there told us a story of President Reagan. She told us that every time President Reagan got in Air Force One he always ordered for the worker in the kitchen to have a chocolate cake. The reason for that was that just in case there might be someone’s birthday while on board. He would personally walk up to the birthday person and sing them happy birthday. I thought that was really nice and humble about him.

The last object that interested me was that everywhere in the museum there were jellybeans. At first I thought they were just used as decoration. But as I continue to see them I grew curious to ask why they were everywhere in the museum. I asked the tourist in Air Force one why were jellybeans everywhere in the museum. She told me that it was because President Reagan wanted to stop smoking so he used the jellybeans as a distraction from smoking