Entry 8: Enabling Parents

In an earlier post I had talked about parents that are too strict with their children, causing them to become sneaky in their older years. I wanted to acknowledge that this is not the case for all parent/child relationships and that there is another extreme on the other end of the parenting spectrum. 

Enabling parents. 

There are some parents who feel the need to do everything for their child. Enabling them to depend on mommy and daddy for the rest of their lives. While this may seem caring and harmless. It is leaving an everlasting effect on the twenty-somethings of today.

How does this happen?

A parent can become enabling to their child for many reasons. Some of these reasons could be that they are the only child, or that they have lost a loved one. Many time when a child experiences a traumatic event in their young life, parents will coddle them to make up for the hardships for a short time being. This is not being an enabling parent. The problems occur when the behavior continues for a long period of time. What ever the reason may be, there should always be balance and discipline while raising a child. 

Effects of enabled children. 

Children who come from enabling parents are often lacking in initiative or responsibility. This stems from the fact that they don't have to do anything because their parents will do it for them. This starts to have major downsides in the school years. If a student gets in trouble for talking, they will place blame on another student. There will always be an excuse as to why their behavior or actions were not what was expected. 

Working in a restaurant where most of my coworkers are in their early twenties. Throughout every shift I see team members expecting exceptions to rules and special treatment because this is the type of privileges they were given while growing up. There is an omnipresent lack of initiative and responsibility when dealing with young adults who had their every need catered to as a child, teen and young adult. 

Finding balance. 

Too much of even the best things in life will eventually become a bad thing. There is no denying this fact. That is why parents have to monitor their enabling behavior to assure that their child is developing skills necessary for their future. This can be done by having rules and schedules in place. If the rule is broken or the scheduled every once in a while, there is no need to panic, but they should be followed to majority of the time. 

To parents.

When you have rules in place, do not think you are being the bad guy. If you tell your child no, do not think you are the enemy. Children need boundaries and guidelines. Most of all remember, you are the parent. Not them. 

Entry 7: #Hashtag

What the hashtag? 

I loved when the hashtag trend began and my mom kept asking why I put a pound sign next to everything I posted. It was something the majority of teenagers do or have done and its hashtagging. It is a pound sign # next to a word. If you don't know, hashtags make it easy to find posts related to yours or to find your post within a group of posts. 

There are many types of hashtags. Ones with a purpose and ones that are just kinda there. 

Two of these images are popular hashtags that have surfaced over the last few years. One is not. The #blacklivesmatter is a hashtag to bring attention to the way that black people are treated in the United States. Whether you are for it or against it, it has been a popular topic in the news and social media. People are trying to come together and use social media to their advantage. The use of hashtags is to come together with people of the same beliefs as you and show your support. 

People argue that a popular hashtag may not accomplish any sort of change. This is true. But isn't spreading the word and showing support better than dismissing the topic all together. While hashtags may not raise money themselves, it has the potential to reach someone who can afford to donate money to a cause and help in that way. It has the ability to bring issues to the public's attention and educate them, to make a better decision. There may not be an overwhelming amount of financial support coming from a simple hashtag, but there is no harm in it. 

The third picture is of a post that may not be going towards a cost, but to someones self interest. Many people use hashtags to gain followers on social media, get connected with people of similar interests or simply because they feel like it and they can.

Whether you #Love it or #Hate it. Hashtags are a trend that I do not see #dying any time soon. 

Entry 6: Strict Parents Making Sneaky Kids

Growing up I was very fortunate to have very open and understanding parents. I was given independence at a very young age but I was also given the responsibility to do the right thing and keep my parents in the loop. For the most part I would say that I am a very level headed nineteen year old. 

I also know of some people who had parents that were not as easy going. Many of my friends and coworkers had very strict parents growing up. This does not mean that they weren't doing the same things that I was in high school. While they may not have been allowed to date or go out at night. It does not mean that they weren't. I never had to sneak or lie to my parents about where I was going or what I was doing in high school. There are so many kids that sneak out and put themselves in danger because of the fact that they are having to be sneaky about their lives. 

It is important for teens to learn how to make decisions for themselves and be responsible for their actions before they move out and are on their own. 

There are so many kids who grow up with strict parents and go crazy after high school. There needs to be as ease into adulthood instead of teens having to ask permission for every little thing in life then being expected to know how to live for themselves. 

Entry 5: Shorter Classes: Hit or Miss?

In an article by Anne Ryman, the topic of shorter class schedules at ASU is discussed. This doesn't mean shorter class times but shorter semester length. A class can be finished in 8 weeks as opposed to the traditional 15 week semester. This also doesn't mean less work, students get the same amount of work in either class set up. 

Are these classes a hit or miss?

Without doing research I would say yeah these classes are a hit, same amount of credit hours in half the time? Sign me up. The article makes these classes seem like a great alternative to traditional classes. The idea of finishing college a year early would be very appealing to most students. The article also skims over the fact that these short courses are a lot of work and are very time consuming. Which is a huge deciding factor for students. College students do not have a lot of free time on their hands as it is and I think using this article solely to decide to enroll in 8 week courses would be very misleading. 

Overall this article is a great overview of the courses but I would not recommend it for a student looking to do research on wether or not they would be successful in a non-traditional course set up. 

Entry 4: Discount Makeup Apps You'd Wish You'd Known About Sooner

It is no lie that makeup is an expensive habit to have. Growing up with a cosmetologist step mother, makeup is always something that I have been very passionate about. But being a broke college student has really put a damper on my favorite hobby. One of my favorite eyeshadow pallets alone was $50. That is $50 to cover just your eyelids. I figured there had to be a cheaper way to get quality makeup. So I took to youtube to find some discount makeup apps and reviews of them. 

App one: CUTE 

This is an app to purchase discount makeup, skincare makeup tools and much more. 
Some products are dupes made to look like high end products while some are unknown brands. They range in selection and quality but are generally very low cost. 


One brand that has gotten high reviews on the app is "The balm". They offer many different eyeshadow and face pallets at a very low price.

The Pallets Shown Here Are:

• Smoke Balm
• The Manizer Sisters
• Nude Dude
• Balmsai

Other popular brands I have seen are Anastasia Beverly Hills, Lorac, Kat Von D, and Too Faced.

I have had luck with this app, but again the products are not real. They are products made to look like the name brand ones, which is why they are cheaper. That being said this can be a hit and miss method to building your makeup collection. 

App Two: Shop Miss A 

Shop Miss A is very similar to Cute in that they are discount makeup apps. What is different about Shop Miss A is that everything is only $1. Shop Miss A doesn't carry nearly as many large pallets as Cute but it is very cost effective for single items.

I placed an order for a few things from the web app recently but they have not arrived yet so I will leave a youtube review done by Emily Noel of products from Shop Miss A below. 

If watching a 14 minute youtube video of someone talking about makeup isn't for you, she bought 33 products and of them she liked all but 3. 

Judging from Emily Noel's Review and reviews from other popular youtubers, I do not have any doubts in purchases made from Shop Miss A and I am excited to receive mine. 

Always do your research and look at reviews of products before purchasing. 

The Cute app and Shop Miss A offer a very wide range of products at an inexpensive cost which makes it ideal for makeup beginners and/or people on a budget. The apps are also useful if you are wanting to try a new look but don't want to go broke on something that you are unsure about. Buying knock off makeup is a good place to test the waters, buy dupes of high end makeup products and if you love the dupe, take a leap a splurge on the real deal. 

There is no shame in not wanting to spend a lot of money on something you are unsure about. 

Entry 3: Slants in the Media

As a young college student, I am beginning to take an interest in politics and news. I want to be informed about what is going on in the world around me. To do this, I began watching the news and noticed a pattern. This pattern being that the information presented was not true facts, but in most cases, a small fact surrounded by very large opinions either for or against something. 

This is called a slant. 

A slant is the modification of the truth to make it better suit the authors stance. This could be a minor offense such as leaving out a small detail or a major offense such as blatant lying. Slanted media is something that we as Americans encounter everyday through broadcast news, print news and social media.   

Is slanting avoidable? 

Yes, there are ways to get information without any biased and that would be through a reference book that is purely facts. Every editorialized piece of news media is going to have some level of slant or opinion. It is the audience's job to be aware of this and to be able to recognize the distinction between fact and opinion. 

To dissect some slant news media, I chose a very slanted news media station, Fox News. The video below is a compilation of fox anchors talking about marriage equality over the last ten years.

*Disclaimer- This video was chosen for the sole purpose of analyzing rhetoric. This video is not a representation of my views on the topic of marriage equality* 

Here is a list of some of the non-factual statements used in the video. 

• If gay marriage is legal "other groups will want the same treatment" 
• "Why stop there, why can't polygamists get married?" 
• "Can you marry a duck?" 
• "This case is about...attacking churches" 
• "...a dad, seven moms and thirty five children...'

While each clip in the video is only an excerpt from a whole segment or story, these non-factual arguments are still apparent. Whether the reader or viewer agrees or disagrees with the news, there needs to be a conscious understanding that there are slants in the media. 

The statements that I pulled from the video are to play pull at the audience's heart strings and to push them into agreeing with them. In the instance comparing gay marriage to polygamy or beastiality, two things that hold negative connotations, suggest that gay marriage is unethical or wrong. 

Next time you are watching the news or reading a magazine, I challenge you to find these slants and make a conscious decision of whether or not you agree with what the piece is saying.