This week I was very busy with school work and have appreciated Pandora radio to lift my spirits and help me focus on my home work. I tuned in to my favorite study music station, piano radio, and went to work. I have not been very social this week, but my mood is great and I believe that listening to music helped me cope with the heavy load I had this week.  I also love this form of media because I get to listen to new music I haven't heard before and love how this inspires me!!!!

Letter to the MPAA Requesting Rating Clarification

Dear Mr. Dodd,

            My name is Casey and I am a current student at Brigham Young University studying human development.  I am an active media consumer and am passionate about the film industry’s influence.  I am writing today to gather some more information about the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) rating system and to offer a few adjustments to ensure the protection of vulnerable young people from explicit material that may be used as the only resource in the child’s decision making. 

            Children are vulnerable and need guidance in making choices that will help them be good citizens, however some children turn to media to make big decisions concerning risky behavior such as sexual relationships and drug use.  Studies show evidence of harmful effects that movies with explicit material have on young children, which can alter an individual’s life for the worse.  In addition, children receive social behaviors from media and there is evidence to prove that watching violent acts perpetuate violent behavior.  Because children are developing cognitively I do believe it is societies responsibility to protect them from unnecessary exposure to explicit content. 

            Although I am writing in hope to protect children, I am not advocating for more regulation as I see the importance in self-expression and freedom of speech. Movies have unique was of influencing individuals and I want to preserve the filmmakers creativity and right to convey ideas.  With this in mind I have decided to propose some adjustments to the MPAA’s current rating system and I am open to discuss any of these with you in the future.

            The current system from my understanding is a voluntary system constructed of average citizens with some parental experience.  This is good to have a board of people responsible for rating various movies, but what would be even better is if these people were media experts with special concern for human life. This will give more credibility to the MPAA and movies will be accurately rated.  The consumer will enjoy more security in knowing that the board responsible for rating explicit material is concerned for the wellbeing of people and society as a whole. 

             Another concern I have is about the actual ratings themselves.  There are five rating codes to categorize millions of movies of different content and the ratings seem very broad.  Due to the loose lines between ratings there is little consistency in what the consumer can expect to see.  Having more detailed and specific rating categories will help the media consumer make the best choice and the MPAA will be credited by accurately displaying film details instead of leaving the task up to random websites.  I suggest adding more ratings in between the already established system such as: rated T for toddlers (ages 2-4), K for kids (ages 5-7), P for preteen (ages 8-11), T for teen (ages 12-17), and only allow 18 years and older to purchase or view rated R movies.  These more specified ratings would help consumers know exactly what content is in the film.  This will also allow the film industry to continue to exercise freedom of speech.

            As you can see my hope is not to put regulation over freedom of speech or to inhibit filmmakers to express themselves through movies, I just would like to know what is in the movies I see so that I can avoid having to walk out of a theatre, return a video, and avoid exposing my family to harmful material.  I hope my suggestions will be carefully reviewed and that we can both help and benefit society by making the consumer more aware. 

Sincerely,

Casey Ford

This was an awesome video I saw in my social work class about service! I love that media can be used to send a positive message. Enjoy!

Last night I watched a new show called Vampire Diaries on Hulu! Very interesting to say the least.  Talk about relational agression, this show was an intense drama with lots of blood/ neck biting.  I enjoyed the suspenseful nature, however contemplating the lectures in class I wondered how many high school age kids watch this and are influenced by the agression or violence.  We learned that violence only makes one more violent.

 The recurring thought this week is, "should we regulate media or just become better consumers and educate children?" With shows like this I wanted to say "ban it, regulate media", but as I think deeper I thought, yes shows are influential, but how awesome it is to use it as a tool to help kids become strong.  Sheltering people will backlash, but helping kids to see why some media is wrong is far more empowering. So thank you to the producer who put this out, so that I can tell my nieces and nephews how to "be nice and not bite!"

Last night my boyfriend and I watched The Lucky One. This is a really romantic movie by Nicholas Sparks and I really enjoyed it.  I found myself saying, "I want someone to look for me!" as if these things really happen in real life and my boyfriend leans over and says, "I found you!". This gave me my sappy romantic media a reality check and I felt all better knowing I had someone in my life who loves me and cares for me, and that alone can be difficult to find in real life sometimes.  

Why does media induce feelings like this? This reminded me of the Sex and Media lecture we recently had and how producers find that sex induces feelings from the audience to cause them to act in their favor.  A tip for any sappy romantics out there: understand that media is there to cause us to feel in some way and that not all feelings are found within reality.  Enjoy romantic media, but don't get carried away like I often do : ) Also if you haven't seen The Lucky One! Do!

MY SOCIAL MEDIA USE

I made an interesting connection during our social media lecture and my personality. Learning about the uses and gratifications of social media made me think about why I don't really post or use Facebook other than the occasional update once a month.  I have significantly less friends than most people and I thought wow I must be behind the game, when in fact it's more about my personality as to why I have little activity on Facebook compared to my other social friends.

I am slightly more introverted and I prefer to be in a small group setting as opposed to a large party setting.  I consider myself social, however the extroverted social butterflies have me beat by a long shot.  I no longer feel bad about avoiding useless time on Facebook, although now I would like to start a blog to feel connected somehow and the fill the void to contribute to the world.

I just finished reading the chapter for today's lecture on Internet exposure and how to combat explicit material for underage children and adolescence.  The Internet is a unique tool, (in which I am writing this post)  that has proven to have many benefits to society. I know in my life I use the Internet as my primary form of media.  The medium is also attractive because we have the ability to connect and send messages all around the world.  Children and adolescence are especially attracted to the Internet to help form relationships and connect.  With this in mind, there are important components to keep in mind in order to ensure safety from unwanted explicit material that may have damaging effects.

The largest component is to teach our children media literacy and how to appropriately handle situations of the Web.  In the text discussion of blocking software was discussed, but this technology is not full proof. With this in mind we must educate our children to be blockers of their own virtue.  Help them realize how they can help in the fight against unwanted explicit material and become an example of integrity.  Teaching them to think critically and responsibly is the only full-proof way to ensure their safety from harmful media interactions.