Angry Letter

Dear Disney Channel Staff Writers,
Like million of others, I have been a fan of your shows for years and appreciate the entertainment you've provided. Your shows have a diverse number of characters with unique and lovable personalities and humorous episodes with deep messages that people have enjoyed.

However, in recent years your shows have taken a turn that doesn't cope with your purpose as not only entertainment but also some education and rating. In your show, "Jessie," you've introduced a more diverse cast which leads to teaching about different cultures. The show takes on a family with four children, three who were adopted from around the world. Although the characters are lovable, they also act stereotypical based on character background or appearance stereotype. For some characters, the way they act doesn't correlate to their progression or their character history. In a review from a Web2Cars Seniors Writer, it states how the youngest, Zuri, "is the adopted daughter from Uganda, now raised by an upper-class white family. She's a sassy eight-year-old with a major attitude problem, whose catchphrases include 'mmmhmmmm' and 'oh no you didn't' - both delivered in a stereotypical black manner, despite the fact that she has little expose to black culture," (Prossnitz). Characters Emma and Luke, the two oldest children of the four, are portrayed as the "standard blonde" and "American boy," being into fashion and less intelligent and a flirt respectively. Ravi, despite having an interest in American culture, doesn't portray this well in the show until very late and in his later role in "Bunk'd." He's garbed in his cultural clothing and speaks of peace and order rather than his character engaging more on studying the American culture he has noted being so fond of.
Speaking of "Bunk'd," the show still retains a stereotypical atmosphere as well as a more adult sort of humor that doesn't cope with kids. The show is basically a summer camp with a variety of children and counselors who form bonds and enjoy the summer as best as possible. The character, Tiffany, is a young Asian girl with a strict mother who wants her to strive for the best and only the best, or she receives unknown consequences. This is based on the Asian stereotype of parents with high expectations. The show also contains humor that is reserved more for a teenagers, which in the channel itself seems to be the direction it's going for. Written by several people on a review several people have stated "some of the jokes were just immature (farting jokes)... they joked about making out... there was also a scene where a girl was acting VERY seductive and asked this, 'I made some hot wings. Wanna bite?' The boy she was talking to then said, 'I don't think she means the hot wings,'" (Common Sense Media). I'd probably suggest to put "Bunk'd" on Disney XD, as that channel is for shows that aim toward pre-teens and teenagers, which the show clearly displays in humor and character behaviors.

These shows are pretty good in humor and story, the characters being witty and clever occasionally that brings a laugh. I do congratulate that, and hope for the better decisions in characters for the children's viewing.


Sincerely,

Chaysen Agcaoili

Social Media Depression (FINAL DRAFT)

    A regular time-passer adolescents of this generation tend to do is log on to social media sites. The sites allow communication from long distances, showing each other what they’ve been doing, and catching up since last time people say each other. However, social media can be a threatening place that leaves most users vulnerable to negative effects: anxiety, stress, jealously, loneliness, and pressure. If any of these negative affect become too hard to handle, it can lead to what's known as "social media depression." Social media depression can be resulted from neglect, misinterpretation, or negative confrontation. However, depression does have its benefits, such as better thinking skills and dealing with certain life events. If someone had a recent break up, depression helps them deal with the event until they feel better. Social media can benefit those for certain situations, but leads to depression as it will worsen a person’s well-being through emotional confrontation, misinterpreting images by others, and a feeling of neglect due to no notifications addressing them.

    Social media does cause depression, but that feeling is a benefit that can help with complicated tasks, deal with certain life events, and better understanding. “Depression can be an adaptive way of dealing with certain problems in life, such as relationship breakdown and illness,” (PsyBlog). If a  person had a terrible break up or is dealing with an illness that brings down the positive outlook on the situation, depression can ease the process. It can help cope with it so it doesn’t seem as bad as it is. “Depressed people process information more deeply, are more accurate at complex tasks, make better judgement on detail-oriented information, and make more accurate cost-benefit analyses,” (PsyBlog). A down feeling increases thinking skills in the event where it’s normally difficult to process. Problems will be solved faster and more correctly with better focus. Social media depression provides advantages in life that make it a bit better to have.

    However, social media holds its major downside. A common one that leads to depression can be as simple as misinterpretation. While on social media, you could end up seeing your friends having fun somewhere you weren’t aware of, and that could lead to thinking that you weren’t invited on purpose, although the photo may be something else. “You friends might be smiling for the camera at a church or sporting event you normally wouldn’t attend. Before you have a chance to obtain a reasonable explanation, your day is already ruined,” (Your Life Your Voice). The photo isn’t always what it seems, leading to a misinterpretation of what’s going on. Explanations for misjudgement isn’t always made on time, so depression takes place first frequently. Judging a picture on what it looks like can make someone depressed to know they weren’t there to have fun.

    Social media is a massive online interaction site, but due to so many users, there’s not many staff members to control it all. That leaves some people vulnerable to cyberbullying. “Bullies can amass mobs of other social media users to swarm you with slander, and there’s often no responsible adult monitoring any of it,” (Your Life Your Voice). Bullies can gather many followers based on what they said about the victim to create slander. It can’t be stopped by staff until they’re notified and actually take the case under their hands. “According to the American College of Pediatricians, 'over half of adolescents state they have been bullied online and over 25 percent of adolescents state they have been bullied repeatedly through internet or on cell phones. However only 1 in 10 teens will tell a parent about the bullying,'” (Liu). People express themselves on social media. If they’re cyber-bullied, that can change how they look at themselves and develop depression, not telling their parents due to it being a personal issue. Bullying is bad enough offline, so people who are hurt in real life never get a break on social medias.

    A majority of people use social media to check their notifications, checking what’s happened and see if their friends have addressed them recently. Should nothing pop up, they’d keep checking in a frequent manner and an feeling of neglect that would increase the more nothing shows. “It may be that people who already are depressed are turning to social media to fill a void,” (Psyblog). Social media fills the awkward offline time, some times having nothing to do. This can lead to frequently checking notifications many times a day, noted as “Social Media OCD.” “People with Social Media OCD feel the urge to constantly check their social media for updates,” (Your Life Your Voice). If nothing pops up for them, they feel neglected as if no one is around to talk to or people are simply ignoring them, even if that isn't the case. “You wake up and check Social Media, and no one’s responded to your hilarious blogs or updates,” (Your Life Your Voice). With no one responding to any humor you put up, it feels like no one read it, since someone should have commented to what’s funny. Thinking no one’s around feels like you’ve been neglected.

    Social media may have its benefits, from enhanced focus to better judgements, but it will have a negative view to those vulnerable to its effects, introducing Social Media depression. Anything can happen on the Internet that would trigger an emotion, whether it be the feeling of neglect, cyberbullying, or mistaking a photo for something that is "purposely making you feel left out." This negative result of Social Media proves its dangers to users, and has to be controlled. Social media is beneficial in certain ways, but the downside affects of it can potentially ruin a person's well-being. This has been an issue since the rise of technology and connecting to other people through screens. Anyone on the Internet can become a victim of depression in so many ways that outnumber its positive effects.