Category: Uncategorized

Distracted Parents

 

In “The Dangers of Distracted Parenting,” Erika Christakis argues that parents are becoming so obsessed with their phones which is distracting them from their children. When parents get distracted while trying to watch a toddler, it can be a very dangerous game. Children are unpredictable and often like to run off, and if you are preoccupied with what is happening on your phone it is easy and much more likely for an accident to happen.

Phones and tablets distract people extremely easily with everyday things which include driving, walking, or even watching your child when you go out. When parents stop focusing on the child’s safety and are more worried about notifications on their phone, it is then puts the children in harm’s way and many horrible accidents are open to happening if the child is not being watched. Many people give young children a hard time for playing with electronics at such a young age, but it is the parents that need to be talked to. The reason why children have a tablet or know how to use one is most likely because their parents allow them to use it.  Christakis stated that “more than screen-obsessed young children, we should be concerned about tuned-out parents.” In the beginning of 2010 researchers in Boston watched 55 families in a restaurant to see what the family interacted with more, electronics or the children. As it turns out, 40 out of the 55 parents were so tuned into their phone, that when the children begged for attention, the parents neglected everything they were saying. The more often parents get distracted with notifications or conversations happening on their phone, the more often accidents are going to happen.

Another point Christakis makes in her article is how when parents spend most of their time on a screen, the children are more likely to as well. Studies show that “the average age of onset of “regular” screen use has gone from four years to just four months.” Children should have a chance to be kids, and have an endless imagination instead of being occupied on a screen at as little as less than a year old. Children should be playing outside and exploring fun possibilities with their friends and also learning how to socialize with people face-to-face rather than screen-to-screen. The more parents that become “screen obsessed” the more negative impacts it has on children.

I agree with what the author is expressing and the numerous examples that the author has given causes me to see how big of a problem this is. Time spent on devices is time not spent socializing with other people. Parents have more time with their children today but the quality has decreased because they are physically there, however emotionally they are somewhat detached because their focus is on their phone. Distracted parents are slow to see what the child needs and can then make a negative impact on the children’s cognitive development. The importance of conversation is key so strong language skills for children and if their parents are barely talking to them or paying attention to them, that has a bad impact on the child’s social patterns and abilities.

I can relate to this issue as a gymnastics coach, I can see parents from the viewing window and instead of watching their child do gymnastics they are glued to their phones and they barely ever look up. Many times when a younger child notices their parent is not watching them they get very upset and it soils their mood for the rest of practice. In the article “Kids Feel Unimportant to Cell Phone-Addicted Parents” Ellen Stum Niz says how the kids said they had to compete with technology for their parents’ attention. I also agree with this statement from my own experience and it clearly has a negative impact on the children.

Not only do disconnected parents cause child developmental problems, this can also lead to relationship issues, loss of empathy, sleep disturbances, car fatalities, and sadly the list goes on. Adults spending time on devices is a larger problem than people think and it should be looked at much more seriously.

 

In my peer review Jocelyn mentioned to add a few more details in specific paragraphs and supported her reasoning for it. When I fixed my rough draft with the corrections she gave me my paper looked much better and I am happy with the way it looked. Also, when my professor corrected my paper I got a lot of use out of her ideas for me to enhance my writing which made my paper flow much better. She told me to write more about my stepsister since the essay was mainly about her and when I took that correction my paper looked a thousand times better. I added many details about her and I included flashbacks to make the “story” come alive and have an emotional bond. She also told me to have less detail with the furniture and the rooms in my house and I am very happy she mentioned that because when I looked back I realized I was focusing too much on off-topic things. Also, in “The makers eye” the author talks about connecting to the audience and have an emotion bond which also has me expand my ideas for my essay and try to get emotion from readers. Overall, I am very happy with the way my paper came out and all the corrections from my professor and Jocelyn were very helpful.

Family

The clock ticks so slow… my excitement builds. Not only because it is the last day of school, but today is moving day! Finally the bell rings and I sprint down the hallway and out of the doors and I find a seat on the bus next to my best friend Ross. As the bus pulls into my neighborhood I sit up quickly. I can not control my happiness! As the bus creeps toward my house I can see my mom and brother, Zach, waiting in the driveway for me. The bus door lashes open and I quickly yell bye to Ross and I run down the bus stairs and up the driveway. My mom quickly opens the car door and tells me to hop in. It was finally time! As I jump inside the car I pause and ask my mom if I can take one last look around the house. “Okay, but you need to hurry we need to be on our way soon”, said my mom.
As I walk inside the empty house one last time I can hear my echo, everything is so still. I turn towards the dining room and all of a sudden I have a flashback to when my dad was still here with us. My mind trails back to about a year ago when my dad and I just got home from pumpkin picking. He had all the tools setup along the dining room table ready to carve our pumpkins together, I will always miss that. I turn around and stare at the door when another memory flashes into my mind. It was the last day my father was in the house. He was walking out the doorway and my mother was crying so hard. As I managed to snap out of it I wiped a tear that was making its way down my cheek. The house was different now and I was ready to start newer and happier memories at my new house. Without looking back I slowly shut the door and run to the car. I have had multiple houses growing up and I have never had one that felt like home since my father left. However, this time it was different because my biggest dream as a child was about to come true and I could not believe it… A house I can finally call home and a sister!
We pull into the quiet Mattapoisett neighborhood and there it is, my new home. I am a little unsure about the situation, I even have some butterflies in my stomach. It seems cozy with the off-white farmers porch in the front, and the two little rocking chairs are a nice touch. The house is a bright yellow color and my two new siblings are jumping up and down in the doorway squabbling about who would get to show me and my older brother Zach around the house first. I see Alex pushing her long blonde wavy hair out of her face. She is only five months younger than me but I am about two inches taller than her. The minute I step out of the car I was overwhelmed with excitement. As I step up onto the porch my step sister, Alex, gives me a huge hug and takes me by the hand and pulls me inside. As Alex and jacob bring me and Zach upstairs, all I can think of is how when I was younger I always wanted to have a little sister and now I finally do!
As we make our way upstairs Alex tells me to close my eyes and grab her hand. As she pulls me into our room I open my eyes and it is a little girl’s dream room with pink and purple walls. I am so happy it is ours! Our chestnut closet has a side for her stuff and a side for my stuff. Her side is filled with a bag of barbie dolls. I am overjoyed with happiness and have not stopped smiling. As Alex takes out her dolls we both imagine a town that the dolls are living in. As I look up I see how big Alex’s smile is. This felt like the first bonding moment and I smile! My comforter is a light purple color and it has pink flowers and hearts in a pattern on it and my pillows match. Alex’s comforter is pink with purple swirls all over it and her pillows are white with little blue squares on them. Her nightstand has a picture of her and her friend Alexis on it and her favorite stuffed animal named Aku. Alex continues to giggle as we play with the barbies and the day flies by. My mom enters our room and tells us we have to go to bed. Me and Alex quickly hop into bed, shut the light and pretend to sleep. As soon as my mom shut her bedroom door I flick on my flashlight and point it at Alex. ”you up?”, I asked her. As soon as she sees my flashlight and hears me talk to her she leaps off her bed without hesitation and hops into mine. I flip the covers over our heads and we use the flashlight as a light so we can see. I let her borrow one of my stuffed animals to play with and we begin to plan out tomorrow’s adventure. The fact that I have a new built in best friend is indescribable. Even though I have lived in many houses, there is only one that I have had a chance to call home, and I could never ask for anything better. Life is full of disappointments and trials. Where sadness and loss once lived, a glimmer of hope shines. Two broken families become one and a new chapter of life begins. Where there was once brokenness there is now a sense of completeness. With an added bonus, a sister for life.

In “How to Save a Marriage in America”, Richard V. Reeves goes into detail about how many successful marriages are accomplished when both of the parents are looking out for the best in their children. When the parents become a “team” and come together as a family, it is very healthy for the kid(s) and the marriage shows positive, long-lasting results. In fact, studies show that the marriages that happen to be most successful are the ones with three important qualities; traditional, romantic, and parental.

When parents are invested in building their relationship to be healthy and happy, it not only makes the adults happy, it makes the child happy as well. Studies and graphs show that happy marriages lead to happy kids. When parents have been able to make their relationship better each day, their marriage lasts longer.

Richard V. Reeves put the article together very well and the way everything was formatted made sense. I really enjoyed how he separated each part because to made it a lot easier to read and I did not space out because of the little breakers he used. I would definitely recommend this article to classmates or anyone having trouble with their relationship.

 

Passing On Anxiety

Author: Erin Morrison-Fortunato

• The main point of this article was to help readers understand where exactly the author was coming from and what she was feeling. The very beginning grabbed the readers interest because it was suspenseful and detailed which made the story interesting. As she continued her writing, the reader learned about her anxiety and how she had to deal with it throughout her life and how nervous she was that her anxiety would be passed down to her children.
• I thought it was very interesting how much her father had an impact on her anxiety, especially at such a young age. I also thought it was interesting how her mother was a comfort zone because that was exactly what it was like for me as a child. My mother was my safe area and if I was around her I automatically felt a million times better.
• One thing I noticed about the authors style was how in the very beginning of her story she did not tell exactly what was happening until the second paragraph. It instantly got me hooked on what I was reading and I felt like I needed to know what was happening/going to happen. I also liked how she gave a background of what caused her anxiety and then linked it to her main issue/worry about if her kids would get it because it helped the reader have an “inside scoop” of how she felt and why.
• If you can relate to family issues or anxiety I would definitely read this article because it is very interesting. As of for me, I was very into it because I could relate to some of the things the author was saying which was sorta cool because I understood completely how she felt at times.

“Come over here! We will give you a tour. Oh my gosh im SO EXCITED!” I will never forget how great it was to hear that come out of my brand new brother and sister’s mouth. I have had multiple houses growing up because my parents are split and I have never had one that felt like home… but this time it was different. My biggest dream as a child was about to come true and i could not believe it… I finally got to have a sister!

When we pulled into the quiet mattapoisett house that was somehow all of a sudden my house, I was a little unsure about the situation. It seemed cozy with the off-white porch in the front; in fact the two little rocking chairs were a nice touch. The house was a bright yellow color and my two new siblings were falling out of the doorway fighting about who would get to show me and my older brother Zach around the house first. The minute I stepped out of the car I was overwhelmed with excitement. TWO new siblings! How often can someone say that? As I stepped up onto the off-white porch steps and into the house my step sister, Alex, gave me a huge hug and dragged me inside. I quickly took my shoes off and we both ran into the kitchen. It was beautiful! The kitchen had white tile floors with little square patterns that were black. All around the walls of the kitchen were cabinets that were chestnut and they were built into the wall and a black fridge that was covered in magnets from ski trips. Off to the side of the kitchen was a cute dining room table that was covered in all of Alex’s Soccer gear. I did not know what to think or where to tour next. The living room was connected to the kitchen and it was very cute. There was a tan couch that covered one wall and it was across from the TV. Alex and Jacob had Spongebob playing on it and there was a small juice stain on the white rug. On the closet door there was a basketball hoop hanging from it with two mini basketballs on the floor waiting to be played with. As Alex and jacob brought me and Zach upstairs, all I could think of was how awesome it was that I was given the privilege of having a sister. When I was younger I always wanted to have a sister and now I finally do!

As we all made our way up the last couple steps upstairs Alex pulled me into our room and I was in shock. It was a little girl’s dream room. As I looked around our room I noticed the pink and purple walls. I was so happy it was ours! When I turned to my right I discovered our chestnut closet that had a side for her stuff and a side for my stuff. Her side was filled with American Girl Doll clothes, Bratz dolls, and a bag filled with barbie dolls. I was so ecstatic! I was filled with happiness and did not stop smiling the rest of the day. We had so much in common and we got along right away it really was a dream come true. Our rug was green and it was covered with all of her toys she had ready to play with. My bed was on the left side of the room and hers was on the right. We both had nightstand to the sides of our beds and it looked amazing. My comforter was a light purple color and it had pink flowers and hearts in a pattern on it and my pillows matched. Alex’s comforter was pink with purple swirls all over it and her pillows were white with little blue squares on them. Her nightstand had a picture of her and her friend Alexis on it and her favorite stuffed animal named Aku. She loved nothing more than that stuffed animal dog. I could not think of a moment in my life that I have ever been happier. Even though I was only seven and it was a little hectic moving, the fact that I had a new built in best friend was indescribable. Alex is still my best friend to this day and I am so happy to be able to call her my sister.

In the memoir “Profit and Loss’ Betsy Sharp starts out by talking about a check that is being given to her family because her childhood house has been sold. She was very sad and uneasy about her childhood house being sold because it has so much history inside of it that is special to her and her family. As years pass and she grows up she still thinks about the house because those memories are unique to her and will always be cherished. However, she realizes that the neighborhood is filled with newer, younger people and the houses, including her childhood home, are only being looked at as a check in peoples eyes but to Betsy she thinks of the house with much more meaning.

I liked this essay because as a child my parents got divorced when I was around four and I got to stay with my mother which was inside my childhood home in Plymouth. Growing up that house was so special to me and I have so many memories that will never be forgotten. When I was about seven years old we had to move to a different town because my mom was getting re-married and moving away from that house was so hard for me and whenever I drive past it I always miss it and my mind is flushed with memories. I can relate to what Betsy describes as her childhood home very much and I thought it was cool that she feels the same way I do. When I drive through the neighborhood now it is completely different families that I’ve there and my old house looks very different from when I lived there.

This essay could definitely connect to others because at some point in life, nearly everyone has to move out of their childhood home and watch a brand new family that are complete strangers move into your house and take over what used to be your room. This can be very difficult for people because it is understandable that a childhood house would be something to get attached to.

link: https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/192/profit-and-loss

1. My hometown was a small, fun, cozy place where everyone was so kind to one another… it was a great place to grow up.
2. Laci had a unique style of her own which was a true reflection of her personality,  her bright pink hair ties that always matched her skirts defined the happiness portion of her.
3. Mr. Brown assumes everyone automatically knows everything about the class, he never explains the lessons and refuses to help us when we ask.
4. The room surrounded us with bland gray walls with nothing on them except for the empty, unappealing chalkboard.

She watches the sun slowly set by the ocean, the light fall breeze blowing her dirty blonde hair around. The dark green grass she sits on is slightly cold but the sunset takes her mind off of it. The water twinkles from the sun and it reflects a light pinkish/orange color. Addison slowly forgets all her worries about college and making friends while her mind is gazing into the view. All of her thoughts are relaxed and she has finally found her happy place.

For me writing has always been a “safe haven”. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their thoughts, anger, or emotions and my way of doing so is getting it all out on paper. When I have a paper or an essay to complete I do not follow the typical “rules of writing” because the only way I can get everything out of my mind and onto the paper is to keep writing. Sometimes I will make little side notes or ideas, and other times I will write everything that I am thinking down on the paper and then fix things after.

After reading Metaphoric Musings for College it helped me realize that there are some rules that you do not need to follow while writing. Throughout junior high and high school many teachers have taught me different rules for writing. My eighth grade english teacher always gave us very specific “rules” and it made me hate writing more than anything in the world. She had a requirement of five to seven sentences in each paragraph and each sentence had to have at least eight words in it or we would get points off. Another teacher used to make her students avoid certain words. When teachers put many restraints on essays it has an impact on the way the students write. They then feel pressured to get a certain grade, or to focus on how many words are in the essay and then the students are taught to utilize writing only when it has a grade attached to it. That stressed me out so much and I stopped focusing on what I was supposed to be writing about, and started to only focus on how many words in a sentence I had. It wasn’t until high school that I realized I am a better writer if I write all my ideas and sentences down first, and then go back and fix things. That helped me out a lot because I then realized that there isn’t really a set rule on writing because you could have an amazing piece of writing without applying some of the rules that teachers have had us follow.

Also, another great point that the author made was explaining why the writers need to go into detail while explaining an object. I am a very visual learner and reader, for example when I am reading something I always have a mental image in my head of everything that is being read. The author mentioned to “show, don’t just tell” because for example, if I say “the little girl wore a coat”, it would be better to explain in detail what exactly that coat looks like because everybody reading that sentence is most likely picturing a completely different image in their head. However, if I say “the little girl wore a red and blue striped raincoat with black buttons going down the middle” the readers have the same mental image of what they are reading to themselves. Just as this author gave very helpful tips, I believe that by the end of this semester I will become a better writer and I will adapt new skills to enhance what I already apply to my work.