Media Affects your Attitude

It's hard to live without media in our homes. We listen to music while we do chores, after that we watch TV or hop on our Xbox. We talk with friends via email, texting, and cell phone. all of these require electronic devices. These things are good and a privilege, but they also can become bad things.
A few examples are:

- The Internet.
The Internet is easy to access and is a helpful tool, but your mind may wander. you may end up were your parents might not want you to be, or see things that are not for the eyes of teens.

- The music we listen to.
Do you listen to up-beat music? This could affect your attitude towards your friends or your family. It may make you angry just because the music is loud, fast, or violent. I love to listen to country music. I listen to it when I do my chores, it helps me sleep, I listen to it when I do certain subjects in school(I'm home schooled.) As you can see, it involved in most of the things I do during the day. Country music can also be dangerous. You may listen to some "love" songs and become addicted and desire to have a girlfriend of boyfriend. Or worse.

- TV.
Televison is very entertaining and an easy way to kill time. There may be some shows or movies on that are not "clean" vocally, visually, and physically. Like the internet, you may see things that you should never have seen. you have to be careful.

-Video games.
Violence seen in video game may change your attitude towards people. First person shooters are one of the main games played in America. War violence is not the best thing to do much of. Just like like TV, seeing thing that are not healthy or good to see.

Please understand that I am not saying that you should stop using the internet or listening to music or playing video games. What I'm saying is that you should pay close attention to your attitude and see if what you're doing is affecting it. Just be careful about how you use these privileges.

Do you find any of the things you do on a daily basis affect your mood? Tell us about it in the comments below.
~ Randy

Just Five More Minutes...

"Just five more minutes..." 
As a teenager, I find myself saying this or something similar while on social media. You get on just to check your messages and end up staying on for hours, time you could spend actually hanging out with friends, doing homework, or even chores your parents told you to do before you got on. 

Can't seem to kick twitter to the curb? Here are some things that help me.

Do what you need to before you get on.

If you have a lot of homework or maybe just need to feed your dog, do it first. Chances are you'll get wrapped up in something and forget about it until you have barely enough time to get everything done. Putting the more important things first pays off in the long run because you will (or should) end up spending more time on it, raising your grades, having a happier pet, and above all, happier parents. This all still takes determination. Since looking at your science book longer won't necessarily give you better grades, you have to work at it.

 Set a time limit.

It's just what it sounds like. Set a time you need to get off or ask someone to set a time for you. The benefit of having someone else set one is when the time comes, they can kick you off.

 Get off when you need to, not in five minutes.

Most of the times that I find myself saying this, I have said it four times already. When I get off, I'm disgusted by the time I wasted. So when you catch yourself saying this, (that is, if you do) put the phone or laptop down and get to work/sleep/life. 

 Don't get on.

Seems easy enough, right? Wrong. If you have a lot of stuff to do, but a laundry list of social medias is calling your name, don't log on. To silence the social medias, you could give your electronics to your parents (turning them off doesn't seem to work for me when all you have to do is turn them back on), go to the library and study, or there are websites that you can use to block you off of social media for a while.

 I hope you find one or more of these helped you. Chances are you already know of these methods but being reminded of them can help too. Let me know of any other methods you use, or if this helped you!

Teens Making a Difference

Part of our problem as teens is that we are caught up in ourselves. Having a few troubles: friends, 

parents, money, bullies, peer pressure?

I have found it helpful to focus on other people’s troubles instead of my own when I feel like things are getting tough. As teens, we can make a difference by volunteering and serving others. 

The possibilities are endless. A teen named Katie Stagliano is a fine example of a teen focusing on others. She has developed a program called Katie's Krops which provides grants to help teens up to age sixteen start vegetable gardens across the United States to help fight hunger. Find your own way to focus on others and get your friends to join you in this effort.

According to Youth Helping America, on average, teens volunteer about 29 hours a year. By volunteering, we can take the focus off of ourselves, learn new skills, and bring joy to others. As teens we can make a difference! So next time you’re having some struggles of your own, notice the needs of others and you’ll soon find yourself feeling better. 

~Jag