Self-Harm Videos on YouTube: Dangerous or Therapeutic?

You can find almost anything on the internet and YouTube provides you with videos on any topic. There were even videos posted by teens showing them harming themselves or talking about harming themselves, or how they got out of that stage. These poor people deal with their emotional states by harming themselves. They explain that when they harm themselves, then just for a little bit of time they don’t feel the emotional pain and this huge burden on their shoulders. This type of videos, however, created a major debate on whether these videos create more danger or help the ones who are similarly situated and deal with their psychological issues.  What is disturbing is the fact that these videos were one of the most popular and viewed most often out of all of the videos on YouTube.

One side argues that these videos promote self-harming and that outside help is not necessary. It almost is telling the young people that self-harming is so common, it’s like a trend and therefore okay to follow. The other side argues that these videos are more therapeutic to show the teens who are in similar situations that it the state that they are in currently will pass and they will eventually get better. Therefore, they argue, that these videos provide a some sort of a support and are not in any way promoting the self-harming behaviors.

Internet, such a wonderful place to get the information and be connected with the rest of the world, but at the same time, it can be so destructive. I must admit that some websites filter things of that sort better than other ones and I must say that on YouTube pretty much anything goes. This is really disturbing that people would even think about putting such thing online to share with the rest of the world, but then again, when you’re desperate, you want the others to see what you’re going through and hope they’ll understand. I just don’t believe they think as far as what consequences they may really bring out with those videos. They may not think that because of them more teens could start mutilating their bodies to see how it feels and if that would help them deal with their own issues. These people shouldn’t look for help online though, but should seek an outside help. No one will help them get through their problems but can further push them and encourage their behaviors. There were so many tragedies last year, when college students started recording their own deaths of overdose, hanging themselves, etc. For what? Was it a cry for help or just looking for five minutes of fame? Was it to expose their pain or to expose other people to make them hurt? 

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/harm-vids-youtube-dangerous-therapeutic/story?id=12950980&page=4

How One Teacher's Angry Blog Sparked a Viral Debate About the Modern Classroom

Natalie Munroe, a high school teacher was suspending from her job for ‘venting online’. She wrote a blog, which she claims she kept for fun for her husband and friends to read, in which she described her students and lazy, whiners and even that she hated one of the students. She signed the blog with only her first name and the first initial of her last name and posted a picture of herself. Her attorney claims, that nothing she did was illegal and she should not have been suspended for what she’s done, as she didn’t use the names of the school or her students in her blog to give out anyone’s identity. Many of the teachers found this blog distasteful, and although they sympathize with her, as it is unbelievably hard to be a teacher in high school and it takes a lot of patience to survive there, venting online is not the best idea as it is very unprofessional.

I think Ms. Munroe didn’t realize that whatever you put online is never private. This type of information was bound to be read by somebody outside of her ‘circle of trust’. Internet is not a very safe place to post things of that sort as information spreads quicker than we think and many people got burnt that way. Nowadays even potential employers use internet to filer out their potential candidates based on what they post online, if they have any distasteful pictures, comments, etc. We have to be really careful about how we present ourselves online as anyone could be watching. Every small step we make can be viewed by others; strangers as well as people close to us. Although, what Ms. Munroe posted was not overly harmful to anyone, it was very unprofessional and she should have kept her thoughts to herself. All of us have tough days and want to vent, but once you have a professional carrier, you should watch what you say.  

Link : http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2052123,00.html

Researchers Aim to Print Human Skin

            Researchers from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine are working on the development of special printers that would print human skin for soldiers on the battlefield, burn victims, etc. This project is getting $50 million for the Department of Defense and we are supposed to see results in around five years.

            The process works like this: they take a small sample of your skin and put in special solutions so that more skin cells are reproduced. Once that’s done, the skin cells are put in a special cartridge and then ‘printed’ on the patient. The printer is put above the wound and puts layers of skin cells on the wound, depending on the area, this process may take up to few hours. The researchers know they are facing a huge challenge but sound very confident and hope this could be a quick solution for the burn victim and soldiers who suffer on the battlefield. They are even hoping that in the future, they might be able to print human organs as well.

            To be honest, I am not really sure how I feel about this project. On one hand, I am amazed by the technology development and what we are able to do with it. I’m sure, if it works the way it’s planned, it will be a savior to many suffering people, who lost hope not only in rebuilding their bodies but also their lives. On the other hand, although, it sounds like a great solution to many problems, I’m having a really hard time picturing it. I’m sure there will be a lot of complications on the way, as there always are when transfusions and transplants are made. Moreover, what if there is a glitch and something prints wrong and mutates? Also, there is always a risk of the printers getting into wrong hands and people taking advantage of it i.e. selling skin cells or organs on the black market, what would make it worse than it already is. Innovations of that kind are great but always make me take a step back, because there are so many unpredictable situations that can come out of this. Soon enough, the science-fiction movies will start coming true and that doesn’t necessarily creates a better future for us.

Link : http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/02/19/bioprinting.wounded.soldiers/index.html#

When the Internet Actually Helps Dictators

Eygeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion, in the interview with CNN talked about how dictators use the internet to control their societies. He indicated that many authoritarian rulers use the internet to their advantage to keep everyone under their regime. The rulers in countries, such as Russia and China, utilize the online tools to promote propaganda in support of the government or to show how the bloggers promoting democracy are ‘the advocates of the West’ or ‘CIA employees’. All of the discussions online are regularly monitored and under strict censorship. Morozov also indicated that people generally tend to believe the online bloggers and various other online sources than the media, as people speak up and are not as corrupted as the media is. Little do they know, however, that in China, for example, the government pays the bloggers to post propaganda blocks in favor of the government to keep people on their side. What is more, the government in the countries which currently deal with protests, use facebook and different facial recognition tools to decipher the people who posted the pictures of themselves during the protests, so that they can find them and ‘handle the situation’.

He agrees that internet can definitely be used to promote democratic views, spread the information and news to other communities; however, it is not possible in the countries with such high censorship as in Russia and China.

It is very troubling to know that people in those countries cannot have freedom even online. It is also somewhat amazing, however, how such underdeveloped countries can have so much technological power over their people and control them in every aspect of their lives. Those poor people cannot do anything without fearing that somebody might be watching and hunt them down for them speaking up their minds. Looking at all the protests and governments fighting its people, I realized how much we don’t appreciate all the freedoms we have and we just take everything for granted. I’m not saying that we live in a perfect country, as we are obligated to live ‘under certain internet rules’ as well, however, they are not nearly as strict in China or Russia. We definitely do not leave in a country, which supports freedom of speech as much as it says it does, but I’ll take that over leaving in a propaganda-type country any time.

It leaves me wondering, however, what will come first- democracy, so that people are free to speak up, or people need to speak up more so that democracy can be installed and promote the freedoms? Is that even possible in the countries, where the regime is so strict and everyone is under such control? I’m still hopefull…

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/22/authoritarian.internet.morozov/index.html#

Gadhafi appears on Libyan TV

Today, Gadhafi, Libyan dictator who ruled now for over 30 years, has appeared on public Libyan TV causing an outrage among the protesters. He wanted to ensure everyone that he is still in charge and that he did not fled Tripoli. The demonstrations are growing stronger and so is the opposition resulting in violent episodes throughout Libya. Gadhafi is not planning to resign anytime soon and his son is ready to take over the country as the new leader. The pro-Gadhafi militia is scaring the people by opening fire near them, and is also violently trying to put an end to the protests, which don't seem to subside.
There is surely a lot of violent turmoil going on lately  in Libya right now as well as in other surrounding African and Middle Eastern nations. What is setting up here? Another war maybe?
Besides, the TV media played an important role in strengthening the dictator's position and sending a threatening message to the public of Libya that he is not giving in and will stay in power as long as possible. Gadhafi used the TV as a tool to diminish people's hopes and to boost his image, which he hopes will slowly stop the protests. I don't think that is happening anytime soon, however.
What are your thoughts on this topic, and how the TV can have an impact on a nation on a brink of civil war?

How One Teacher's Angry Blog Sparked a Viral Debate About the Modern Classroom

Natalie Munroe, a high school teacher was suspending from her job for ‘venting online’. She wrote a blog, which she claims she kept for fun for her husband and friends to read, in which she described her students and lazy, whiners and even that she hated one of the students. She signed the blog with only her first name and the first initial of her last name and posted a picture of herself. Her attorney claims, that nothing she did was illegal and she should not have been suspended for what she’s done, as she didn’t use the names of the school or her students in her blog to give out anyone’s identity. Many of the teachers found this blog distasteful, and although they sympathize with her, as it is unbelievably hard to be a teacher in high school and it takes a lot of patience to survive there, venting online is not the best idea as it is very unprofessional.

I think Ms. Munroe didn’t realize that whatever you put online is never private. This type of information was bound to be read by somebody outside of her ‘circle of trust’. Internet is not a very safe place to post things of that sort as information spreads quicker than we think and many people got burnt that way. Nowadays even potential employers use internet to filer out their potential candidates based on what they post online, if they have any distasteful pictures, comments, etc. We have to be really careful about how we present ourselves online as anyone could be watching. Every small step we make can be viewed by others; strangers as well as people close to us. Although, what Ms. Munroe posted was not overly harmful to anyone, it was very unprofessional and she should have kept her thoughts to herself. All of us have tough days and want to vent, but once you have a professional carrier, you should watch what you say.

Link : http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2052123,00.html

Bye Bye Valentine

       A recent article explained that there is actually somewhere in this country where the people have gone completely insane and decided to cancel Valentine’s Day for the kids.  The town is Golden, Colorado, and it left 100 preschoolers and kindergarteners very upset.  The reason for this apparent cancellation was due to a “cultural conflict” with other students that attended the school.  To me, this is just ridiculous. How can giving a valentine to somebody be offensive?  The last time I checked we were all living in America, and this country has accepted many cultures, so why other cultures accept America?  To add to the insanity, the school proposed an alternative by celebrating Literacy Day, which is a Canadian holiday where kids share something with someone they love.  Despite the installment of this rule, parents still snack their kids’ valentines in with them.  The school tried to enforce a separation by only allowing the older grades to bring valentines.  This didn’t go over well, as it was in the hands of the teachers who voted against keeping the tradition.  They are currently working on a solution with principal.

Link:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26889412/detail.html