November 16th
Chapter 9 on Alcohol:
I found this section of chapter 9 most interesting because I can see how college students can relate to the statistics about alcohol usage. However, it’s still surprising to know how much the percentage of teen drinking has dropped. “It is more than popular culture that encourages young people to think drinking is normal”(Sternheimer, 2013, p. 229). I personally do not believe a drink on a special occasion is not normal. I do however agree that the percentages rise with age regardless of popular culture. The majority of young adults living with their parents and under the age of twenty one may not drink as much as desired due to their living situation. Getting home to your parents drunk may not result in a good conversation with them. Especially if you are not twenty one and older.
“The peak age group for binge drinking was twenty-one to twenty- five, and rates only gradually level off for people in their thirties and forties” (Sternheimer, 2013, p. 229). I was surprised at this statistic because I can’t image being a binge drinker. I do have a drink on special occasions and I do not live with my parents, so to fit into this statistic I would have to drink a whole lot more. However, there are those who feel they need to drink to release stress and not only because they don’t live with their parents. In addition, I don’t believe we should blame media for encouraging kids to drink because like mentioned in this chapter parents influence their children the most. Parents who drink often are most likely to encourage their kids to drink heavily. Kids may not drink while their parents drink; however, once these kids are old enough to drink they may drink heavily like their parents once did.
Drinking and driving is another issue I can see related to age. Many people who drink and drive do so because they are most likely at an age to buy alcohol. In my opinion, there needs to be more education on drinking alcohol. We only know what we know about drinking based on what we see or have seen from our parents. Could there be a more positive approach to avoid drinking problems. Why is drinking so popular and why do percentages rise as we get older? Could it be that young adults are more cautious of their surroundings and see how harmful drinking can be compared to older adults.
Street Art:
I enjoyed watching the video on Ron English. Using billboards as an expression for freedom of speech is such an awesome idea. Rather than expressing emotions about corporations and politics in pictures or drawings he expresses himself using words anyone can understand. This method is definitely helpful for media education because the majority of the billboards address many problems in society today. Like Ron English said “Corporations don’t have the right to freedom of speech, people do.” If we can’t stop corporations from selling and advertising harmful products why should someone like Ron English be stopped for advertising how bad some products or politics are.
