Neighborhood Safety and Children

When first deciding where to find a legitimate source, I knew from the library session to visit the TAMU library website and look under "Databases". From there, I typed in EBSCO, the academic and scholarly-based journal mentioned by our guest speaker. He said that in order to identify whether its a proper scholarly source, the a page symbol with "Academic Journal" written below states its scholarly and peer-reviewed. Before I had gotten to the page of professional journals, I typed in "violence" and "peer pressure".

 The article I chose written from the University of Tennessee, presents a case study that talks about the influence of neighborhood safety on proactive and reactive aggression. Proactive aggression is the calculated aggression typically seen in children from external factors, while reactive is the aggression in response to being threatened. A sample of 89 children ranging from ages 9-12 were taken for conducting the experiment on their parents', neighbors, and peers influences on their aggression. The study highly stressed the significance of maintaining a safe neighborhood with proper communication with the young generation. If a neighborhood is consumed with high crime and low safety, it can effect an individual's mental health. The researchers and statisticians concluded that these external factors contribute to higher levels of aggression and depression in children at school or other public facilities. Based on the statistics, peer pressure can increase and appear more frequently in a number of settings. As a point of intervention, its best to improve the social atmosphere of your neighborhood and internal factors including parental monitoring.


From reading this scholarly journal, I was given concise and factual information throughout the article along with statistics and data. This form of speech implies that its directed to a well-educated audience such as students, professors, and scientists. The study is very well-written and reviewed by a number of professionals to publish. The rhetoric appears to show a solid form of dialect that pertains to an academic audience.

If you would like to read more on the study, here's the link! :)
http://web.ebscohost.com.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e271bf3c-e136-4000-b046-25d4a5206689%40sessionmgr4&vid=4&hid=17

Fite, Paula, Michael Vitulano, Porche Wynn, Amber Wimsatt, Alden Gaertner, and Jamie Rathert. "Influence of Perceived Neighborhood Safety on Proactive and Reactive Aggression."   EBSCOhost. 38.6 (2010):757-768. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e271bf3c-e136-4000-b046-25d4a5206689@sessionmgr4&vid=10&hid=17>.

Black and White

So for this week, I wanted to discuss an article that I found on the front page of CNN. As I continued to read it, I was completely shocked as to how much I wasn't aware of our society's views.  The title of the article "Teen murder suspect carried backpack of hatred", focuses on two cities in Mississippi, Brandon and Jackson, and their racist atmosphere. The whites in Brandon show severe hatred for the blacks in Jackson, specifically being portrayed by a 19 year old boy named Deryl Dedmon. He was charged for killing a black man after he was beaten and run over by a truck (Bronstein, and Griffin). Definitely being a case of unjust violence, I seemed to noticed the social and environmental pressures that led to this tragedy. The tension between whites and blacks in this area influenced Dedmon to pursue such a hateful act. Doing the crime with his friends, they all laughed and commended one another for committing a murder. This article shows that racism still continues to persist in people's lives, which also provides a connection to peer pressure. This is because racist views are typically influenced by your friends, family, and peers you spend time with. For Dedmon, his peers participated in this crime, which psychologically motivated him to kill the man and carry on the act of racism.

If you would like to read more on this issue, check out the link!
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/22/us/mississippi-hate-crime-teens/index.html

Bronstein, Scott, and Drew Griffin. "Teen murder suspect carried 'backpack of hatred' ." CNN. (2011): n. page. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/22/us/mississippi-hate-crime-teens/index.html>.

Until next time, good luck on exams!
-Sara Malik

Audience Analysis

The New York Times blog under the Health called "Well" by Tara Parker-Pope, discusses a study that was conducted on how much peers influence one another on different levels. An experiment was conducted that focused on bad influencing, such as uncontrollable video-gaming. Teenagers were given fMRIs to test their brain wave activity when they played video games alone and when they were aware of their friends watching. The results showed that other people's presence encourage them to play longer and violently, finding every way to defeat the game. This blog by Parker-Pope gives two side: factual and emotional statements. She shows the viewers, who are typically adults who read The New York Times, the statistical side of the dangerous habits their children face and then additional comments to create more pathos.

The next blog called "Dont Suffer in Silence, Enough is Enough", gets attention of young teens and adults based on the same website as this blog. The information presented is also very short and simplistic, providing an image to support the topic. On October 6th, the writer of the blog (anonymous) discusses the risky behaviors that peers can lead one another too. Specifically, this case would be hazing in fraternities/sororities as the picture shows a few fraternity brothers sitting next to each other. When trying to get accepted into such groups, they fall into many dangerous situations and behaviors. These risky behaviors include risk drinking, illicit drug use and dangerous driving with some of the potential consequences: being charged with criminal offences, being involved in an accident or violence; hospitalization and, in some cases, death. Including an image adds more depth to the topic and helps the audience get a better understanding of these situations.


Both audiences differ in the readings were participate in class by the level of seriousness. When watching the movie "Team America", we were able to see how much satire was presented in the film, whereas these blogs give off a serious tone to be informative while also appealing to different ages.

Parker-Pope, Tara. "Teenagers, Friends and Bad Decisions." Health. The New York Times, 03 Feb 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/teenagers-friends-and-bad-decisions/>.

"Peer Pressure and Risk Taking." Don't Suffer in Silence. Enough is Enough Blog.. Blogspot, 06 Oct 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. <http://enoughisenoughau.blogspot.com/2011/10/peer-pressure-and-risk-taking.html>. 

 

Visual Rhetoric

I chose a cartoon for my specific genre of interest focusing on a illustrated side to peer pressure's life-threatening effects. The image shows a small conversation between what appears to be a chicken and grim reaper. The chicken says "I don't want to die!", while the grim reaper replies "Come on. Everybody else is doing it. Eventually." This visualization is a perfect representation of the people that face peer pressure, their characteristics, and responses.

The illustrator shows the audience hints of symbolism, personification, and simple dialect through the understanding of the cartoon. One can infer that the two characters in this image are randomly selected just for laughs, however they have significance to the meaning, basically showing personification. A chicken represents a scared individual who typically refuses to participate in an activity that peers force them to do. Once they deny such a thing, many times they are called "chicken" for not joining their spontaneous and troublesome  friends. The grim reaper, which is a symbol of death, tries to persuade the pressured chicken by saying that "everybody else is doing it." This is also a typical phrase used in situations like these. The dialect of these two are very direct and simple, easy to understand for any audience. People are able to easier interpret and analyze the visual because of the language.

Pertaining this to violence, we can see that the grim reaper is connected to death. The cartoon implies that peer pressure can often times lead to harmful experiences that can lead someone to their death. Whether it may be through words or actions, the effects can either way be a burden on someone innocent.

Here's the link to the visual! Enjoy! http://www.savagechickens.com/2008/03/peer-pressure.html

Savage, Doug. Peer Pressure. 2008. Graphic. Savage Chickens