“Things Are Seldom What They Seem.”(William S. Gilbert, 1836-1911)Virtually Twenty-five Years Have Passed Considering That I Was

“Things are seldom what they appear.”(William S. Gilbert, 1836-1911)Almost twenty-five years have passed given that I was first introduced to Sir William’s cautionary and somewhat wistful quote. Despite the fact that I learned of it early in my graduate study of the mass media, it remains one of the most pertinent pieces of wisdom I’ve ever encountered, often in methods I hadn’t anticipated. Here’s a telling example, starting with the back-story:Because the decade from the 80′s came to a close, a scholarly debate raged across University Schools of Communication. Right now the subject appears nearly quaint: My professors, a generation of social scientists informed by the written word (i.e., newspapers), was performing it is level best to convince students raised on – and by – tv that there was a lot more to the “Big Picture” than what we had been watching on the “small screen”. Of course, inside the strictest sense, they were correct. For a lot of causes, televised depictions paint the planet close to us in rapid, broad, stereotypical strokes, bereft of almost any measured, in-depth, analysis. But what stuck with me most was the clear sense that these learned, “older” males and girls did not very like the way my generation as well as the media had been headed. Of course, all of this was well prior to cable and satellite television had penetrated almost 90% of American homes, a time when personal computer systems and “mobile” phones had been tiny a lot more than a novelty, years prior to the web really enveloped the globe, and just in regards to the time Mark Zuckerberg, inventor of Facebook, was completing the initial grade.Fast-forward for the present, and also the irony tends to make me cringe: Two decades into a career as a television producer, erstwhile writer, and public relations expert, I gradually discover myself “not really liking the direction in which issues are headed”, particularly with regard for the nation’s youth and their strong affinity for social media. In spite of my very best efforts to refrain from the identical type of “generationalism” I perceived among my professors all those years ago, I cannot support but wonder – significantly as they should have: “What’s with young people today?” As an instance, I’ve observed that my ten-year-old nephew would rather game remotely with some faceless kid halfway across the country than go outside and play stickball with all the neighborhood kids, most of whom, no doubt, are engaged in some type of digital diversion of their very own!Obviously it’s not just kids who seem to have been swept away by the technological tsunami. Careful not to ask a digital native who Norman Rockwell was, but had been he to capture a portrait with the American household nowadays, it may possibly not seem so idyllic: Here’s Junior texting a buddy at the dinner table, little Missy dying to get back to her Facebook, and oh yes, Mom too, with one eye on a TiVo’d soap opera or Dad last towards the table, checking on the internet, 1 last time, the value of his stock portfolio. We rightly can and should bemoan such a phenomenon, a household physically below exactly the same roof, nevertheless miles away from any correct, human, face-to-face interaction.Recently even so, I’ve learned of a really special group of young men and women for whom I cannot begrudge the internet, or Facebook, or any of the other myriad types of electronic communication. In their certain case, I’ve been reminded that “things are undoubtedly not as they may well appear.”The truth is, even the aforementioned portrait with the American loved ones, troubling because it could appear, is something of a fantasy. Difficult economic times, broken properties, latchkey youngsters…a single struggles to conceive of an “average” American household in this day and age. The predicament becomes infinitely much more complicated, in even the “healthiest” residence, when a not-so-healthy loved ones member is added to the mix.For the final seven months, I’ve had the privilege of volunteering together with the American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY) in an outreach/media relations capability. However, should you haven’t heard of AACY, you’re not alone. Not only is this modest, upstart organization the only one particular of its kind within the U.S., the youngsters for whom it advocates bear no apparent, outward indicators from the challenges they face. They come each and every race, every ethnicity, and each socio-economic stratum. Yet with regard to the public discourse on healthcare, they stay largely voiceless. How else could far more than 1.4 million American kids, ages eight to eighteen, caring for chronically ill, injured, disabled, or aged household members go unnoticed? These usually are not basically children helping with chores, or cooking and cleaning, but children administering medicines, consistently monitoring a loved ones health, often even acting as breadwinners…in the expense of their educations, their social selves, and frequently their very own well being.AACY’s Boca Raton, FL-based model system, the Caregiving Youth Project (CYP), provides a number of services in school, out of school and at house to assist and assistance student caregivers in the state’s third most populous county. Operating in partnership with all the School District of Palm Beach County, the CYP currently serves nearly 400 caregiving youth and their families in eight region middle schools and 17 high schools: a promising start off, but modest in the face of an estimated ten,000 youth caregivers countywide. Services offered by the CYP incorporate those one may frequently associate having a charitable, human services organization: residence visits, tutoring, abilities constructing, group activities, respite services, and so on. I was on-board with all of those even though “not so much” when informed by AACY’s founder and President, Dr. Connie Siskowski, of one of many organization’s crowning achievements: the acquisition of computer systems, printers, supplies, and yes – the bane of our existence – a year of Net service for seventy-five from the organization’s most affected students.No doubt, a donation valued at $100,000 in today’s lean economic climate can be a generous and laudable act. But some portion of me couldn’t assist but wonder if the donor, AT&T, along with the fiscal agent, the Palm Beach County Education Commission, hadn’t somehow got it wrong. Quietly, I wondered, “Wouldn’t that money have been better spent somewhere else?” As Dr. Siskowski explained how the challenge had presently become maintaining Net service beyond the underwritten year, my mind went somewhere else immediately. I envisioned a group of already socially challenged children retreating to their rooms, ignoring their daunting responsibilities and spending endless hours on Facebook. Because it turns out, nothing could be farther from the truth.Yes, Dr. Siskowski assured me, caregiving kids in the CYP do engage Facebook, at times heavily. And why wouldn’t they? After all, these are youngsters who, because of their adult-size responsibilities, can not engage in after-school actions with their peers, can’t play sports or join clubs, usually hurrying home immediately after the final bell to care for a household member. Perhaps the single psychosocial consequence most consistently articulated by caregiving children in the system is the feeling of being utterly alone in their responsibilities. They feel like pariahs, ashamed of their predicament and unaware of its prevalence. Facebooking other caregiving kids helps dispel that erroneous and damaging notion, provides them the means for significantly needed interaction – indeed, any interaction with their peers – and teaches young caregivers they are portion of a community.Oh yes, and let’s remember that a child hurrying property to monitor grandma’s blood sugar cannot casually drop by the library after school to research a homework assignment. If that child is economically disadvantaged, as are a lot of with the CYP’s children, the assignment may never be completed. Home computers and Internet service are beyond the economic means of a lot of of AACY’s children, even in Palm Beach County, an ostensibly affluent community which also happens to have an inordinately high number of elderly, disabled, and immigrant populations. So while several of AACY’s caregiving kids are of modest economic means, their schools do not qualify for Title One particular entitlements which might otherwise offer improved curriculum, instructional activities, counseling, parental involvement, or increased staff and plan improvement.Were all of this not enough, Dr. Siskowski’s internal research indicates “connected” caregiving kids routinely use the Web to find information about their care-recipients’ medical conditions and search for economically priced medication, food and other household supplies. Adults too, in these caregiving households have used their newly provided connectivity to uncover community resources or employment. And AACY itself sees its personal monthly e-newsletter “Treasure Talk” and its websites, as an integral means of communicating with its dual role youth. The sites provide information on and for youth caregivers, forums for youth, household and professionals, and information about medical conditions and community resources.Once again, I’ve been reminded, “things are seldom what they appear.” As several of us typically do, a preconceived set of notions about a complex cultural phenomenon prevented me from seeing a highly relevant truth about technology and kids nowadays. Far from a curse, at least with regard to the unique situation of student caregivers and their households, connectivity must be considered a blessing. Let caregiving youngsters have their Facebook; let them also have a chance to overcome their loneliness and social isolation, perform in school, better care for their chronically infirm loved ones; and while we’re at it, let’s give adults within the household a chance to obtain ahead as effectively. Maybe its time we gave them not merely our blessing…but also, our support.To learn much more in regards to the American Association of Caregiving Youth, go to http://www.aacy.org, or contact the organization at 1-800-725-2512.

The Internet Job Posting

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American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell- part 1

Norman Rockwell Tall Coffee Mugs …

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Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding [Explicit] $9.99 …

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Live Adventures of Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield [Vinyl] $11.50 In the wake of the success of their seminal 1968 Super Session album, blues-steeped guitar hero Mike Bloomfield (formerly of the Butterfield Blues Band and the Electric Flag) and multi-talented keyboardist/singer Al Kooper (ex-Blues Project and Blood, Sweat and Tears) teamed up again for a historic series of joint performances at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore West, which are documented on Th…

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