what are they thinking???

I was shocked to hear this story. At first I didnt want to believe it because i like chris brown, but then we really dont know his true personality we only see how he is portrayed by the media. I believe that it is wrong if a guy or a girl hits someone or is abusive in a relationship. First off, it shows a lack of respect and it also shows a lack of control. I dont understand why some people in society believe that its acceptable to inflict any sort of physical harm. The fact that the girls did not blame chris brown for his actions shows that something is not clicking in their heads. i believe that this has something to do with their upbringing or their environment in which they live. I just think that its completely unacceptable to blame the victim in this situation.

NOT acceptable!!

I cant even explain how appalled i was when i finished reading this article. I can not believe that so many teenage girls think it is acceptable for Chris Brown to beat his girlfriend like this. Even worse they feel that Rhianna deserved what happened!!!! Honestly?? No woman no matter what she did to her boyfriend ever deserves to be beaten they way she was. There is NEVER a good excuse for abuse in a relationship. This year I witnessed this sort of thing with one of my closest friends. She did nothing to deserve what happened to her, yet most of her friends were sympathetic toward the boy who put his hands on her. This makes me angry still thinking about it now. I feel that no matter the environment someone grew up in and no matter the circumstances of the relationship, physically abusing someone can never be justified! Many teenage girls in our society today suffer poor self confidence and believe that everything that happens to them in a relationship is because of something they did. This makes me very upset. Our society needs to change the ideas it portrays about women. We need to work with teenage girls to change their perceptions of themselves and other girls so when something like this happens there is no question as to whether Chris Brown should be punished or not!

Abusive Relationships

I was appalled after I read the article about young girls' reactions to Chris Brown and Rihanna. It was crazy to learn that 40 percent of the girls surveyed felt that it was Rihanna's fault that Chris beat her. These results are scary because they show us that young girls believe it's okay to be in an abusive relationship as long as you provoke the abuse. The thing that girls need to understand is that there is nothing that you can do to deserve a beating from your boyfriend.
I think what bothers me the most about this entire scandal is that abusive relationships and domestic violence are real issues that are taking place everyday in this country, but yet it took the abuse of one celebrity at the hands of another to spark widespread attention. I think it's really sad how obsessed America is with celebrities because if this was any other couple there would never be this much news coverage on the story.

Young Girls

   When I read this article I was shocked to such a high precentage of teenage girls thinking it was her fault.  Even when you hear this topic discussed on the radio and places, a lot of women place the blame on her.  It is such a shame to think that so many women think she deserved it.  When does anyone ever deserved to be beat?

     I agree with April that some of these girls are just jealous.  I think a lot of people idolized Chris Brown before this and they still want to take his side.  He has no excuses, even if he came from an abusive home.  I imagine it must have been hard for him and probably still is, but that doesn't make it okay.

     The news says she is back with Chris and it made me so angry.  She needs to set an example for young women.  They need to know that it isn't their fault if their boyfriend hits them.  And they need to know that if he does, you need to leave the relationship because it is unhealthy.

Little girls... confused or jealous?

This article was very shocking to me.  I could not believe the outcome of the 200 girls that 40 something percent thought it Rihanna's fault.  However, I think there was a very interesting point made in the article.  That point is that many girls could just be jealous of Rihanna.  At that age, I think many girls may not understand the seriousness behind this and just say that Rihanna deserves it because they are jealous and wish Chris Brown was with them instead of Rihanna.

On the other hand, I think that abuse in adolescent relationships really needs to be addressed and further looked at, maybe even taken a little more seriously in high schools.  I know that when I was in high school, a girl's boyfriend pushed her up against the locker and someone reported it.  Immediately after, she was questioned, offered to press charges, get a restraining order, and offered counseling.  In my high school, this was taken very seriously and by the sounds of this article, maybe they need to start educating children on this stuff at an even younger age.

BoNNer LovvvvE

Aprilll

homelessness

After reading the article on homelessness I was shocked by what I read. I cannot believe that instead of focusing on the great deed that Mrs Obama was partaking it, we were too busy wondering why a "homeless" man had a cell phone. First of all, no one ever confirmed that he was, in fact homeless, and second of all whose business is it really if he IS homeless and has a cell phone. Just because someone is homeless does not mean they should be able to have access to a phone. How can we expect the homeless to "do something with themselves" if we expect them not to have constant access to a telephone, something crucial in communicating with a potential job network. I think this article truly shows that America's focus has been shifted and skewed, and we no longer realize the good in things. I wish that as a country we could realize that the First Lady was trying to bring attention to a growing need in communities throughout the country, something that more people need to be aware of. If we want to solve hunger and homelessness we need to realize what is really important and, quite frankly, a homeless man having a cell phone is not.

What are we teaching our little girls?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/fashion/19brown.html

I cannot believe this...

-N

If i were President

Sorry this is a little late!...

This post is probably the hardest one for me. Im not exactly sure what i would do if i became president. I would probably:

Change the welfare system
Promote patriotism (i feel like everyone always focuses on all the flaws our country has and completely forgets the positives)
tax cuts
education programs to help underprivileged children get a good education
social programs to help pull people out of debt and stay out
Work with the Iraqi military to train their soldiers how to handle terrorist guerrilla warfare so our soldiers can come home

Homelessness

When i first saw the picture or the homeless man with a cellphone i had the same close minded reaction as that of the reporters. I could not understand why a man that could not afford a house, could afford to buy a cellphone and pay the bill. However, as i continued to read i began to change my mind. After reading this article and hannah, meg and mel's blog i realized that my notion of homeless people was nothing but a misconception. I had the tendency to look at homeless people as a group instead of as individuals. I ignored the fact that each person is an individual and has a unique story about how they ended up where they were in life.
My sociology class with dr johnson this semester has helped me to realize that there are inequalities built into the social structures of our society. Homelessness along with many other negative factors, is the result of this inequality. Sometimes people end up in a position because of circumstances that were completely out of their hands.

video project

Hey guys
I didn't mention it at the meeting but if anyone wants to do a 1-2 minute video about/of their service site that would be awesome. There is a form that needs to be filled out by everyone that appears in the movie for us to be eligible to submit it to Bonner. Let me know if you are interested!!

Homelessness

Just like Mel and Meghan said, perfect article. I would have probably thought along the lines of why does he have a cell phone before I attended the two workshops this weekend. The Homelessness Panel was what really opened my eyes. Only one of the people on the panel was the stereotypical homeless person. The other three had stories that really opened me up to the diversity of stories among the homeless. A home is a huge investment and some people just can't make ends meet if they have to pay rent or a mortgage. For some making rent or not falling behind in mortgage payments will mean not being able to afford meals. Also employers need to have a way to reach you so if you are working your way out of homelessness then a cell phone may be more of a necessity than meals. I think it would be really great if all of the Bonners could attend the Homelessness Panel when it's in the area.

Homelessness

Like Mel mentioned this is the perfect article to blog about after the conference that we attended. I can understand why people would be shocked about that man having a cell phone because they automatically think that if your poor you should be taking care of your needs over your wants. Today in this society though, a cell phone has become a necessity. I know I couldn't imagine my life without mine. If you think about it, someone who is homeless needs that phone more than any one of use because they have no permanent residence where people can find them so this is a way others can get in contact with them.
With my experience with going on midnight runs and hearing the panel of homeless people speak to us this past weekend I can't stress enough that homeless people are not crazy or just lazy. They each have their own individual story of why they are on the streets and unfortunately some are just down on their luck. Over the years I have had countless conversations with those who are homeless and I have enjoyed each one of them. Despite what many people think they are intelligent and interesting individuals. It's time that people start realizing that they are human beings just like us and the thing they want more than food or shelter is conversation. They no longer want to be treated as if they were invisible, but rather with some decency and respect!

Celebrities and Service

I don't think that celebrities are obligated to back certain causes, but I think they should because they have more power and money than most people. They should use that to their advantage to bring change and awareness to their issue. Unfortunately many people will pay attention to an issue just because their favorite celebrity is supporting it, which isn't right. If someone is going to help out a cause they should do it because they want not because their favorite singer or actress is supporting it. I personally do not pay attention to what celebrities support nowadays because I pay attention to what I think is important. I do community service because I want to not because someone else is telling me to do it.

volunteerism

My first reaction to the picture was "oh my gosh, how could this man afford this phone but not food" which i found consistent with other viewers of the picture. But i never really thought about the other situations this person could be in until i read further. So my opinion was very closed minded but it changed once i was given time to process and think about other possibilities. I believe in todays society a cell phone is essential because its not only a means of communication but for others it could be a life line in case of an emergency or a way to stay in contact with loved ones. There are many agencies that will recycle used phones and give them to those in need, such as women who have been assaulted.

Homelessness Article

This article was really well stated. I like how the writer broke down what other news articles said about this picture. After this weekend at Impact, this was a great article to blog about. Meghan, Hannah, and I all attended the conference at UMUC this weekend. We attended two separate workshops about homelessness. The first one was more about homelessness awareness. It was meant to have students dicuss what they do on campus to make students aware of the issue of homelessness. Some students dicussed how their campus would put homeless "scare crows" around campus with statistics somewhere on them. Students would be drawn in.
The second homelessness thing we attended was a homelessness panel. There were three people who were formerly homeless and one that still is homeless. They each told their stories and they tugged at each of our hearts. The people were all homeless for different reasons. It broke down all of the stereotypes about homeless people. They are doing this panel at Saint Rose at the end of the month and the guy said we should all come. I think it would be a great thing for Bonners to attend.

Homelessness?

Read this article:

http://homelessness.change.org/blog/view/michelle_obama_serves_soup_nation_misses_the_point

What do you REALLY think about the homeless? Remember this is a place to be honest but respectful.

DISCUSS

celebs

   I totally agree with what Steph said.  Celebrities have a lot of affect on our generation.  Many times they can tell us something is cool and half of the generation will suddenly agree.  Getting celebs to fight for a cause is always going to attract attention to a problem, which is good.  But people need to fight a cause because they want to.  Not just because their favorite celebrities are doing it.

celeb opinions

I think the idea of celebs backing up certain campaign or political ideas can have both positive and negative aspects. I think that that on the positive side celebrities have the power, money and resources to really raise awareness about an idea or movement. Many people idolize certain celebrities an will really give to a cause if they are associated with it.
However this idolization can always be a negative thing. People may become involved or support something simply for the reason that their favorite celebrities are telling them to do so. They may not be aware of any aspects of the campaign or movement. They lose the ability to think for themselves and instead are motivated to do something not for those in need, but because they will be associated with cool famous people.

celebrites

I agree with Keri, in that I believe that celebrities should not use their fame to endorse a certain candidate in an election. I think it is unfair, because a lot of the time the candidate with more endorsements wins elections simply because the people who don't follow politics but follow Hollywood might end up simply voting for the candidate their favorite celeb endorses. When it gets down to it, a celebrity is using their fame to get the person they want elected.
I saw it occur somewhat in the last election, examples being when many musicians told McCain that he couldn't play their music at his rallies, and when many celebrities came forward in bashing McCain (P.Diddy in his online blog) and rallying for their favorite candidate (Jason Mraz). These are just a few of the examples I have seen, I know that there have been countless others.
In other cases, I think it is good for celebrities to use their fame to bring attention to social issues. It is beneficial, in my mind, for them to call people to action in working for community (and global) service. Endorsements of this type I completely agree with, and see as 100% beneficial for all of those involved. A cause that needs attention is getting it, and the celebrity gets to see their cause being helped out by the fans who follow this celebrity. If it takes a celebrity endorsement to get some people to do service, so be it! I think that if that's the type of call to action that they need, let it happen! Everyone should be involved in service, its a great experience and everyone comes out of it for the better!

celeb views

I have a mixed opinion...I feel that a celebrity can use their fame to promote certain causes such as Bono did. I feel it was a very non invasive approach because he did a lot of work through product red. I also think that celebrities should not endorse certain people as in the presidential elections. I feel that this masks what the candidate does and certain people, not all, will only vote a particular way because their favorite movie star also likes the candidate. I feel that elections should be an individual choice and have nothing to do with what other people think other then you and the candidate.

Celebrities and Service

What are your thoughts about celebrities backing particular causes? Do you think it's effective? Do you think they should be obligated to use their fame to bring attention to important social issues? Does a celebrity being involved in a cause make you more interested in it?

Discuss!