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Underage drinking is a very serious problem in our culture that is affecting our world. In fact, there have been numerous deaths associated with underage drinking, which include driving under the influence, binge drinking, rapes, hazing, and simply poor judgment. Alcohol is a serious drug that impairs vision, motor skills, slows reaction time, and disables a person's ability to think clearly. Thus, it forces people to react in ways they would not normally and take risks that people usually regret the next day. Alcohol turns people into something they are not, something they do not aspire to be, yet those who start drinking underage usually do it to fit in with the "cool" crowd. Peer pressure has major influences in teenager's lives and why they turn to alcohol. There are many other influences other than peer pressure that influence underage drinking and those include stress, addictions in the family, the media, and freedom from not being under parental constraints.

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So the question still stands; why is Attention Deficit Disorder most common in the United States than anywhere else in the world? The biggest reason is that our nation's eating habits are completely different from other countries. Our nation's diet contains massive amounts of sugar and caffeine. For example, the nation's children consume all of this sugar and caffeine in massive amounts and are then expected to sit down and do their homework or pay attention in class. Sure, there is sugar and caffeine in other countries, but they are not consumed in such large amounts as they are in the United States.

TV violence

If domestic violence really is the main cause for aggression in kids, then the rules for what can be shown on tv have no merit. The ratings, the bleeping of cuss words, etc. would be completely pointless and should be removed. However, if tv violence would no longer be an issue, they would have to remove the bleeping on the radio aswell. Although I agree that all the bleeping they do these days, and all of the ratings for tv is midly silly, I still think that it plays some part in aggressive behavior in children. Yes, it is silly to bleep the word "drugs." Yes it is silly to bleep out the word "suicide." But the other vulgar words should continue to be cut out from tv and radio, to encourage children to not use these words. The same goes for TV violence. Although it may not be the main cause of aggression in kids, it still plays a part.

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One possible trend that may be causing the increasing tendencies of drug use among youth is that marijuana is more readily available to teens than it has been in the past. According to an article in the Washington Post, "availability is the mother of use" (Califano). As a result of the increase in availability, teenage use will also increase. To demonstrate, a CASA survey found that forty percent of twelve to seventeen-year-olds reported that they could purchase marijuana within one day. Increasingly, twenty-one percent of teens reported that they could have access within one hour (Califano). However, while these rates seem surprisingly high, they are not necessarily a large enough increase to cause the sudden jump in teenage drug use.

Response for Wednesday: Transition Paragraph

For Wednesday, do the following:

Choose one paragraph from your group's essay #4. Identify any places where transitions could be included, and revise to include them. Post the revised paragraph here. (More info on transitions is in your Simon and Schuster Handbook, p. 94-95.) No replies are necessary.

TV Violence

If Curtis' research and conclusion is correct, then the debate about television violence is totally discredited and doesn't even have a basis anymore. Laws and policies would have to be changed to be less restrictive about what kids can watch, and ratings would be less harsh regarding violence. While I do agree with Curtis that domestic violence probably has a bigger effect on whether or not kids grow up to be violent, I think that what kids see on tv does impact the way they think. Parents have the responsibility to know what their kids are watching and control the level of violence that they are allowed to watch.

Barbie

I do believe the causal analysis still does hold true, but not to the same extent it did in 1996. American Culture does change over time, but Barbie is still quite an icon. I believe that in todays society, the media has the most effect of girls with their body image. They see pictures of celebrites and are suppposedly supposed to look like that.

Barbie-Tim Fisher

This is one theory that I have never put much stock in, and never will. The thought of women ruining their lives through eating disorders just so that they can look like a doll is laughable. Any women who really believes that men are comparing her appearence to that of a Barbie doll are nuts. Most men have just grown to accept the fact that celebrities have better lives and better bodies than any woman they are ever going to find. We men merely are just looking for a girl who makes us happy, not who resembles our little sister's dolls.

American culture hasnt changed but has stayed true to Angelea Cains theory, becausse the society still portrays the curvacious anorexic body of Barbie. It is displayed all over the media in music videos where the only women in them are skinny curvacious women that the men are all over, or displayed in magazines and billboards. This body size of barbie is idealized by our society for every women to have, and to achieve that scores of women unfortunatley take the anorexic or bulimic route.

The Barbie doll has remained the ideal model for women to look for years. Even to this day, women are obsessed with how they look. And although Barbie may not be the culprit of this physical shallowness, that mentality still exists. Women today are still obsessed about their appearance and strive to get that perfect body. Barbie may have been replaced by celebrities and models, but what she represents still exists in today's society and will for a long time.

Barbie

Cain's article is still very true today. Although things seem to be improving with models having to have a weight limit, and plus size ad campaigns, the issue is still there. There is still a craze to obtain the perfect body. Everyday when you turn on the television there is am add for a dieting pill, or a new new make-up, or a fitness commercial. All these things are feeding into the thought that young girls could be better looking. In today's day and age, no one is ever happy with where they are at, and the same was true in 1996 when this article was written. I believe that the only thinking that has changed between now and then is that people are more aware of this problem and are doing more things to help try and fix it.