Facebook for Suicide Prevention

Facebook has released a new tool on the social media site to help prevent suicides. Many people who feel suicidal drop hints to their friends in conversations and some even post alarming statuses. So now, if you're concerned about a friend, you can flag the status as alarming and Facebook will check it and contact the poster, similar to how you report a negative post. 

Obama signed the Suicide Prevention Act into law recently. It's good to see our society and government finally recognizing mental illness in our world.

For me, seeing our society recognize suicidal thoughts as a real problem is a sigh of relief. It is so common in teenagers and often ignored. You never know if ignoring someone's status because you think they're being dramatic is actually you ignoring a life threatening issue. If you see someone struggling, reach out to them or let Facebook do it, but don't let them go through this alone.


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Obama's Response to Chapel HIll Shooting

Obama referred to the shooting of three Muslims at Chapel Hill as "brutal and outrageous" but did not state that it was a hate crime. The president's remarks came after Turkey's president commented on the White House's silence. Turkey's president asked, " I ask Mr.Obama, where are you, Mr.President?"

As a North Carolinian, I have to ask myself, wasw this a hate crime? There's been so many lately, so how is our government going to fix this? Our country relies on our government officials, such as cops, to keep us safe. In a country likes ours, where we are granted so many freedoms, why can't we be safe? Why are we threatened for being ourselves? 

I think it's great that Obama is finally commneting on this incident. Now since he's addressed it, what will he do to attempt to fix it? We can't ignore the amount of hate in our country. Racist, sexist, homophobic people are, unfortunately, out there and we have no way to stop that. But can we maybe change their standpoint a little? Only one way to find out. 


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ISIS

Moaz al- Kasasbeh was burned alive by terrorist group ISIS after being held captive for a month. Kasasbeh was a Jordanian air force pilot who was captured. It has been stated that before being burned alive, Kasasbeh was sedated and that his "'sensory centres' burned quickly, leaving him unable to feel the pain of the inferno." The twenty-two minute video titled "Healing the Believers' Chests'" was posted February 3rd, 2015. 

After the video was posted, many countries, including the U.S, have been striking ISIS by air. Our government constantly gets involved with foreign affairs and whether that's a good idea or not is a matter of opinion. Our troops are risking their lives for an issue that is not our own.

In my opinion, I believe that the U.S helping Jordan is a two sided situation. The fact that we are helping ocuntries that are in such horrible circumstances is great, but would they do the same for us. If the tables turned, and our country was under duress, would Jordan fight back for us? And thats the problem, our country gives, but will other countries do the same? If ISIS were in the U.S, would Jordan cross seas to come to our aide? And is the U.S even really aiding the countries under attack, or is our society just tweeting "#prayforjordan"? In the end, we are almost all left to fight our own battles, so lets say an officer from our airforce is burned alive. Will you be there Jordan? I doubt it.


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Eating Disorders and our Culture

In this article, Dr. Yellowlees addressed the fact that selfies-which are consistently evident in today's culture-may be fueling the rise of eating disorders. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge disorder are all forms of eating disorders. These disorders are harmful and unhealthy.

Eating disorders are just another sign that political culture is everywhere. Everyone talks about the one "fat" president we've had in our nation because it's uncommon. People are affected by the word "fat" as if it's toxic. Our culture tells us that bigger is wrong and that's the problem. 

Eating disorders are an issue that is commonly ignored because no one wants to face the fact that our peers struggle. We, as a society, like to pretend that everything is just fine because it's easier to accept than the truth. As a member of multiple social media accounts, I personally agree with Dr. Yellowlees. The "selfie" trend is often used to post pictures of our bodies, which to many young girls and boys, can be toxic. We are still too young to accept our bodies and we are constantly bullied at school so any little thing can persuade us.



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