Adapting in the Digital Age

For a friend's birthday gift, I bought the new Skrillex EP album Bangarang. When I was purchasing it at Best Buy, I found it surprising how long it has been since I have physically bought a CD. Now-a-days, everyone buys albums off of iTunes or downloads them off websites. A CD? Psh, what's that?

When I gave him the gift, we started talking about the technological age we live in and how depressing it is that everything is becoming digitalized. For example, Netflix has taken over the film industry, forcing Blockbuster (a chain of stores that holds physical DVDs) to go out of business. You can no longer go out and browse the shelves to find an interesting looking movie to watch on your Friday night. Instead you can sit on your couch and scroll through different movie titles until you find one that looks appealing.

It appears that this trend is continuing with everything--from tv shows to music to even books. In America, we encourage the continuous development of technology, but is there a certain point where we should leave society the way it is? Or should we embrace the change that Netflix, iTunes, the Kindle, and other sources of technology offer?

The Post of Meta Reflection

After I started to read the entries I have created the past semester for a reflective blog post, I got very excited. I had forgot about all the topics I have analyzed and and questioned these past few months. I first came to the conclusion that AIS has really triggered some thoughts that I don't think would have crossed my mind before I started the course. This is because I believe I was encouraged to really take a look at American society in a variety of perspectives and inquire why American society is this way.
During the first semester of school, I have noticed that I basically only discuss topics that interest me on a philosophical level. I like to choose blog post subjects that I find relatable (and usually controversial) in society. 24 Hours of Reality, for example, was a huge deal in my household. My family is very environmentally active and "is on a mission to save the world", so I came to the conclusion that a great way to inform my peers is to create a blog post about the event. 
The titles of my posts also have had a constant theme where I question the principles and morals of the topic I write about--particularly referencing the hardships adolescents go through due to the way society treats them. For example, in Curfew: Considerate or Controlling, I question the necessity of a curfew. "Why is the government allowed to dictate what time a teenager needs to be at their house?" I accuse the government of "dictating" their power over myself and my peers (the youth of the nation). By using this word choice, I create a really personal connection between myself and the argument instead of maintaining a neutral position on the analysis. This influences the reader to sympathize for me, taking my side.
Although I do make some convincing claims, I had a major problem during my first quarter of blogging: I used virtually no external evidence backing up my statements. In the blog post Raising the Standard in Standardized Testing, I scrutinize the ethics of the standardized by asking the question "How can [ACT] be considered a standardized tests when there are thousands of kids that aren't getting the extra  preparation that other students are?" Although this is an inspiring ethical argument that questions a generally accepted practice, I don't have a quote from an external source. After creating this post and receiving a helpful comment from Bo'Connor, I stopped creating posts without any evidence as backbone and have continuously created blog posts with evidence.
After this reflection, I have come to see that I have slowly evolved from exclusively ethical arguments and have created more and more posts that relate more strongly to our curriculum. During second semester, I plan to work on both analyzing my quotes in my blog posts in greater detail and choosing topics that have a greater relation to historical topics opposed to exclusively American society. I would also like to become more technologically savvy and learn how to crop video clips for posts, but I won't try to bite off more than I can chew. 
"American society idolize[s] individuals and supports those who actively fight for what they believe in" (A Stronger Voice). Hopefully through this next semester, I will hold true to these words I wrote and actively attempt and pursue improvement  in my blogging, in my expression of opinions, and my newfound ability to ask questions. 

A Little Perspective For the Leaders of Tomorrow

Last year, I participated in a program called The Harper New Trier Leadership Program. This program selected thirty kids from NT and thirty kids from Harper Township High School (an inner-city school on the south side of Chicago) and took us all on excursions in neutral areas, letting us get to know each other over a few months. Even after the program ended, I continued to stay in contact and maintain friendships with these kids, despite the different backgrounds we come from. I have become very good friends with a girl named Mayneatha who lives in Englewood (a neighborhood on the south side that is considered the most dangerous area in Chicago). When meeting up with her last weekend downtown, she told me about how there has been more shooting around her house than usual and that more people have been killed this past year than she can remember.
After hearing this, I came home and tried to do a little research. I found an article published four days ago talking about a 15 year old boy named Mark who was fatally shot on a porch when visiting his family. I read more about this kid to learn that he had a seven month year old daughter and was not associated in any gang violence, but unfortunately had friends who were. His dream was "playing football, [but] as a young father, his goals were more grounded, hoping to become a mechanic as an adult". To read the full article, click here.
Living on the Northshore, it's easy to forget about what is going on outside our community and to put our lives in perspective. Most of us have never left our "Northshore bubbles," and similarly even fewer have left "the hood" from Englewood. The article stated that Mark Watts is the 32nd person under the age of 20 to be murdered in Englewood since 2008. Mark Watts was added to this number when returning to his old home from Riverdale just visit his loved ones--and by doing so was brutally shot to death. It hit me when I read this that all the kids from Harper don't hear this as an elaborate story, but a reality in their community.


The Harper New Trier Leadership Program offered both groups of kids opportunities to meet people different from each other. Americans values being the land of opportunity--a place that anyone can go from rags to riches in just a heartbeat or through long, hard work. Could have Watts' death been prevented if more interactive programs, such as the Harper Leadership Program, existed in his community? Do you think that programs like the Harper Leadership Program has potential to change living conditions in Englewood for the better?


Also, consider this idea of mixing of socioeconomic classes. Is this strategy the "American" thing to do? Or is it more inappropriate for the American ideals that idolize social class ?