"Noah: A Short Film on a Computer Screen"

Technology today is so advanced that you can look up almost anything you want at any given moment, no matter where you are.  You can be connected with someone across the world through social media.  I feel that social media can be good and bad at the same time.  Social media has become such a big part of most people’s lives because it’s always at a person’s fingertips and can be seen in a blink of an eye.

In the video about Noah, a lot of different things go on at one time.  He is looking at many different web pages, talking to many different people, and texting all at one time.  In my opinion internet activity has a negative effect on people’s attention span.  I know personally it’s hard to text and hold a conversation with someone at the same time.  Most people have to stop talking completely to text someone.  It’s hard to think of one thing to search on the internet and then think and talk in a conversation at the same time.  People are so focused on getting caught up on everyone’s lives that they might be ignoring some of their own relationships.

I feel that my personal internet use hasn’t really effected my relationships with people off line.  I try to be respectful when talking to people and not use my phone.  It’s kind of like treat people the way you want to be treated.  Would you want someone to give you half of their attention because the internet is more important than the conversation they are having with you?  Obviously not because you feel what you are saying is important just like another person does.  I do think that some people relationships off line do suffer though.  Some people are so focused on social media and internet because they want to know what is going on with everyone else that they don’t focus on themselves and their relationships.

I think that this short film is a truthful example of how most young people use the internet and social media.  People do so many things on the internet at one time.  It’s also so easy to pretend to be someone you’re not on the internet.  You can also so easily go onto someone else’s account just like Noah did.  I’m sure there are many people that go and ‘creep’ or ‘stalk’ other people’s accounts to figure out if one is talking to someone else behinds one back.  People use social media to hide and get information without actually confronting someone about it.  It’s easier to talk to someone over the internet because you have time to think of a response, but if your in person you can’t necessarily ‘hide’.

The internet and social media can be positive because it keeps people connected.  People can keep in touch with friends and family much easier with social media.  It also helps you get information you need as quick as you need.  But on the other hand, it can hinder relationships.  Some people can’t even get through dinner or a class without looking at their phone.

The Town Where The Mentally Ill Get A Warm Welcome

“The Town Where The Mentally Ill Get A Warm Welcome,” is the title of an article written by, Mike Jay.  It makes me think though.  Shouldn’t every town welcome the mentally ill?  Shouldn’t every person welcome the mentally ill?  To me, there shouldn’t be one town in specific that only welcomes the mentally ill.  These people are just like everyone else and they shouldn’t be treated differently just because they are mentally ill.  They didn’t choose to be how they are, but rather they usually were born like that or went through a traumatic incident.  That could’ve happened to anyone so no one should be discriminated against for it.  People should be helping them through their hard times or disabilities that they have.  This is the case for a town in Belgium called Geel.  Here they help, welcome, and encourage those that are mentally ill to come to the town and get better.  In Geel, the words ‘mentally ill’, ‘psychiatric’, and ‘patient’ are never used.  Rather, the words ‘special’ or possibly ‘different’ are used instead.  These words give a more positive outlook on these people, instead of looking down on them.  Usually just the word ‘boarder’ is used to describe the people that live there.  This characterizes them by their social condition rather than their mental condition.

Geel is a town where it doesn’t matter what a person’s diagnosis is, but they go there because they can’t cope with what is wrong on their own and they also don’t have anyone to look after them.  In this town a boarder is treated just like they are part of the family.  They are “involved in everything, and particularly encouraged to form a strong bond with the children, a relationship that is seen as beneficial to both parties”.  These families provide the boarders with a normal life to help them cope with what is wrong, rather than stuck inside a hospital.  I feel that this is a positive way to help someone because it shows them that they are just like everyone else.  In other places where people are placed in hospitals with white, plain walls dressed in the same clothes, of course they are going to feel different and not be able to get better.  The hospitals in Geel are seen as a punishment.  By being in Geel, they are living normal lives just like everyone else dealing with their own problems.  No one there has to say what is exactly wrong with them so no one is judging them on their exact condition.  They are getting “treatment” by living life like everyone else.

By forming positive relationships, it’s helping both the boarders and the host families.  It’s helping the boarders to help them be okay with themselves and their problems, but it also helps the host families show that it’s okay to be ‘different’.  Different doesn’t always mean bad.  The host families are showing their children never to judge anyone, but rather to help them when they are in need.