Unit Assessment Reflection: Social Media

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"Social media is changing the way we communicate and the way we are perceived, both positively and negatively. Every time you post a photo, or update your status, you are contributing to your own digital footprint and personal brand" 

- Amy Jo Martin, Speaker and CEO of Digital Royalty

Social Media is one of this generation's greatest burdens and gifts, as it can be used to learn more than what libraries can hold, learn new perspectives one would not even dream of before, or connect with people from all across the world thorough interests or passion. It can also be a burden, as it can be used to harass, spread hateful ideals or distract from everyday life. It can make teenagers feel they are not good enough, or portray ideas or stereotypes. This is not a problem created by social media, however; no matter what form of media we use, print, word of mouth, entertainment or news, there will always be costs and benefits. There will always be challenged perspectives and hateful ideas, but we can use this form of global communication to learn and grow. Throughout the Social Media Unit, I have learned how people use and abuse social media, how to raise awareness for issues through social media, and gain a new perspective about issues that I would not have thought about before. Here are some of the standout accomplishments I have done this unit.

To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird is my favorite novel I have read for school thus far, as it has complex characters, a simple but entertaining and didactic story, and an overall message that can still be used today. The story overall is a Bildungsroman, or coming of age, novel. It is about a young girl named Scout, her brother Jem and their father Atticus, who all live in the deep south in Maycomb County. Racism and sexism are prominent themes in the novel, as Scout struggles to fight against gender roles and the embedded racism in the community. The town's prejudice does not end there, as many key characters, such as Aunt Alexandra, express prejudice against families or individuals, just because they are poor, or have a reputation or have rumors spread about them. Boo Radley is seen as a sadistic monster, and Tom Robinson is seen as a criminal, but they are neither of those things. Each chapter goes into examples of the different ideals and the quick spread of information that takes place in a small town. The ideas expressed in the novel can be used for social media, since news and rumors travel quicker than ever through this platform. It can also still be used in public communities, such as school or work, where rumors can damage a person's reputation and harm the person's ability to interact with others. 

(You can check out discussion notes and sketch notes on my English page)

Social Media Campaign Research

The main takeaway from our social media unit was to create a social media campaign to raise awareness for a given issues that related to one of our four units (Social Media, Environment, Mental Health, Nutrition). I chose to raise awareness for how mental health is portrayed in the media. Mental health disorders, especially schizophrenia and psychosis, are usually treated with lack of compassion. In order to do this project, I had to get first person research to learn what the problem was and how I could try to fix it.

The first thing I did for research was ask my classmates what they thought of the issue. I had my classmates all take this survey to better learn what disorders they knew the most about and saw the most in media. With 77 responses, I was able to gather that psychosis, schizophrenia, autism and OCD were the least known and represented, and they said that books and movies were the most accurate while comics and video games were the least. 

While administering this survey, I interviewed people who knew more about the subject. I sent emails to five college professors about schizophrenia, who responded that schizophrenia is widely misrepresented in media and should not be feared as much as it is. Psychosis and a "psychotic maniac" are not one in the same and just because someone has schizophrenia does not mean they will murder the people around them. 

Black Swan, a movie about eating disorders in dancing

I also had an in-person interview with Paul Kinunen, the local film teacher. He enjoys film and filmmaking, so he was eager to answer my questions about how mental health is portrayed in films. He says that big-budget films will not usually take the time to treat mentally ill characters with compassion, or will simply use them as plot devices or the butts of jokes. Some films do try, but it is very rare, but the film industry is just starting to get caught up with how it portrays women, people of color and people of the LGBT+ community, so it will start to move towards positive representation of mentally ill people as well. One way that we can all take a stance on this issue is to raise awareness and realize that not everything we see in movies or TV is accurate to real life, and to support films that DO portray mental health accurately. 

Another engaging interview I had was with Michelle Covel, who studied psychology at Sonoma State. I have a clip of the interview below. The full interview is on my Soundcloud.

Full Soundcloud Intervew

I also had interviews with Katie Pedgriff and Karen Pihl, a psychiatrist and speech therapist. They also had the same messages of compassion and understanding for those with mental issues. After all this research, I was able to execute my solution: a podcast that cited specific examples of good and bad mental health representation and raise awareness for the issue overall. 

Social Media Campaign - Podcast and Website 

Website for AP Trash Theory

The next step in the social media campaign was to market it by creating a website and twitter account to raise awareness for the issue and teach others about it. As part of my solution, I used the podcast AP Trash Theory that I created with my friends as an outlet to get my message out there. Before we made the podcast, I created a website and a twitter account to market our first episode. 

Twitter Account

After creating the website and twitter account, we recorded the podcast. I then made two videos as promo clips so more people knew about the podcast. The first one is just the first five minutes as a trailer for the first episode.

The second video is five minutes from the middle of the episode, as the hosts comment on the mishandled representation in 13 reasons why, a new Netflix show. 

After creating these two videos, there was a short time before the full podcast was published to YouTube. The full podcast is thirty minutes, but still only covers the surface of this issue. It does get across the main message; mental health needs to be taught and represented with compassion and empathy. Always remember that a person is more than their mental health issue, and just because media portrays them in a certain way, does not mean that that's how it is in real life. 

Concluding the Year

Screenshot from the TKAM movie

To wrap this unit and my final year of NEW school, both my project and the novel To Kill A Mockingbird have the same message: See the world from another perspective before you judge the people who live from that perspective. Whether it be because they grew up as a different ethnicity, a different gender, a different mind or anything else, we cannot change who we already are, but we can decide who we can be. A person is not the traits assigned to them, they are the traits they choose to be. Social Media, entertainment and rumors can make or break our perception of people; it is our job to take initiative and learn the truth behind these faces and profiles. You can choose to live with the truth you have made, or you can find the truth that exists. 

To Kill a Mockingbird - Mr. Underwood Perspective Narrative

I was looking out the window of my house on the second floor, sippin’ down a drink to get ready for a fraction of a good night’s rest. Yawning, I look out at the Victorian jailhouse, the most well known landmark and eyesore of Maycomb County. I cracked my knuckles and wiped the ink off my fingers.

Things didn’t get interesting till the autos came. One by one, they filled up the lot, then the men came spilling out. They slammed their doors but didn’t bother to lock ‘em and they adjusted their collars with anger boiling underneath. Their hats were pulled down to their ears, their scowls more foul than any I’d ever seen, their intentions clear. They must be after Atticus and the negro. I remembered Finch coming to the jailhouse earlier, and a wave was all I needed to know why he was there. Didn’t expect the mob to come this early, could have waited a few days.

I sighed, watching them walk into the eyesore. I could hear them, clear as day, “He in there, Mr. Finch?” Of course he was in there, why else would they come at this time of night? I look at my typewriter, wondering if I should be taking notes. The Tribune had enough, the public didn’t care about these types of things. They’d tell me it was too late, the damage been done, no point in publicizing a party that already happened! If I could report with the minute, the mob would be bigger.

I heard one more of them, a wallowing whisper compared to the shout earlier, “You know what we want. Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.” They wouldn’t back down today, no, they’d have Tom’s head or both of them heads. They kept on debating, Atticus wouldn’t back down either. He didn’t know what was good for him. My eyes darted to the shotgun resting by my bed.

Didn’t get tense till I hear Atticus say, “Do you really think so?” Movement broke out. I see Finch’s damn girl, running towards her father like a dog to its owner. A damn stupid dog. What did she think she was doin’ this late at night? I see she isn’t alone. Her brother and friend are right behind her, too late to stop her. What good was an older brother if he couldn’t keep his sister out of trouble? Should be the other way around? Finches’ kids are something else.

I walked towards my shotgun, looking for a shot to reload it with, as I heard Atticus say, “Go home.” I headed back to the window and panicked when I saw Finch’s boy get grappled by the neck. I got my shotgun ready to fire, but calmed as I saw they let him go. Finch was adamant in his children going home, but none would budge.

I heard the sweet, innocent voice of the Finch’s girl, “Hey, Mr. Cunningham?” I look down at the mob again, and indeed see Mr. Cunningham in the smack dab middle of it. Her voice was strong but quiet, so I couldn’t catch her speech. Just hearing Cunningham’s name made me lower my gun for some strange, mysterious reason. Whatever she said, it worked. The men moved back to their cars, shuffling out the landmark.

“They’re gone,” I heard Atticus say. “Get some sleep, Tom. They won’t bother you any more.”

I guffawed, “You’re damn tootin, they won’t. Had you covered all the time, Atticus,” I leaned out the window, revealing my shotgun. Atticus walked up to my house, then asked me how much I’d hear and how much I’d report. I told him the truth, no point in hiding it. We could go on talking ‘bout the incident all night, but I had some work to do, some sleep to catch. I yawned, and watched Atticus, his old tired soul, walk back towards his kids.

Those kids must be a blessing, they saved his life. I sighed, knowing not many would appreciate the story as much as I. At least I got to experience it myself.

A.P. Trash Theory - Mental Health Representation in Entertainment Progress

The N.E.W. Social Media Campaign has been moving along rather quickly, but that doesn't mean we haven't made significant process. I have had several differing responses from my survey (here).

I have discussed the project with Mr. Kinunen, a teacher at my high school.
We had a very interesting discussion about how representation in entertainment is lacking but has been significantly improving as time passes.

Check out the website for the upcoming A.P. Trash Theory podcast project, and sign up for bi-monthly podcasts. As part of the Social Media Campaign, I will also be hosting a blog that looks at different books, movies, TV shows, comics etc and rates them depending on how well they represent characters' mental illnesses depending on research conducted through primary interactions. You should also follow our twitter @APTrashTheory.

Later on, I will discuss more about autism, depression, and anxiety with other experts in these topics. I hope to better learn about Mental Health as a whole to help me educate others who have misconceptions on the topic.

Blood Typing Lab

Depending on the blood type you have, you will have a different antigen.
O: No antigens
A: A antigens
B: B antigens
AB: A and B antigens

If you get a blood transfusion and you have O blood, you couldn't mix with A because the A antigens would attack the O blood. You could give O to anything, it is a universal donor since O has no antigens. AB is a universal recipient because it can use both A antigens and B antigens.

Mrs. Neto did a demo for us to show how the different blood types can or cannot be mixed. For example, the clear water (O) can't have A or B added to it, but it can add to A or B. Think of the colors as the antigens, so the AB can take everything in because it has both blue and yellow to create green.

Rh is a type of protein on the outside of red blood cells. If there is Rh present, it is positive blood. If Rh is not present, it is negative blood.

Here is a table of the different blood types and the antigens and Rh need to be present:

Blood Type	Antigen A (Present)	Antigen B (Present)	Rh (Present)
O+	No	No	Yes
A+	Yes	No	Yes
B+	No	Yes	Yes
O-	No	No	No
A-	Yes	No	No
AB+	Yes	Yes	Yes
B-	No	Yes	No
AB-	Yes	Yes	No

The next thing we did was test our own blood to find out what type it is. If the blood has a reaction to the Anti-antigen, then it means that antigen is present.


After getting my finger pricked, Mrs. Neto put one drop of blood in each anti-antigen, and we stirred the mixture to see if there was a reaction.



Here is the table of how my blood reacted to the anti-antigens. 

Trial	Reaction with Anti-A (Y/N)	Reaction with Anti-B (Y/N)	Reaction with Anti-Rh	Determined Blood Type
Emily	Yes	No	Yes	A+

According to the results, I have an A+ blood type. This means that I can donate to other people with A+ blood and other people with A+, A-, O+ and O- blood can give me blood.

Planning a Solution - Social Media Campaign

Every problem has more than one solution, and every problem is a set of smaller problems each with their own solutions. That's why Mrs. Neto had the people in the Social Science Groups devise a plan to tackle their large problem by having us go through a Design Thinking process. We had to write out all the problems that lead into the larger problem on an easel, then group them together to see how many we could tackle with the same solution. My easel looked like this:

My problem is how mental health issues are represented in entertainment such as movies or TV shows. I came up with several reasons why storytellers decide to portray their characters in this way, and later discussed it specifically about movies with the film teacher here at my high school. 

Mental Health Representation in Media Survey

In N.E.W. school we are starting our final project, a social media campaign. All of us have to pick one of our four unit topics, nutrition, mental health, environment or social media, and do research and come up with a solution for a problem in one of those fields.

Here is the link to a Google Survey to conduct research on my topic which is mental health disorders and how they are presented in the media, more specifically entertainment. If you have any more comments or want to be personally interviewed, add contact info at the end of the survey.

These responses will be used for my project and as part of a discussion on my podcast A.P. Trash Theory. On our first episode we will discuss how mental health issues are portrayed in entertainment. It's a comedy series talking about 'trash' or our interests, and we will continue to update with new episodes every month or so. It will continue onto my junior year as my Junior Project.

What is a virus?

What is a virus? 

Avian Flu Virus

A virus is a complex collection of living matter that is able to self-replicate.

What is the structure of a virus?

Structure of a Virus

Virus infecting a cell

They are mostly a shell of protein that encases either DNA or RNA with enzymes for replication. They are a structure of genetic material, either DNA or RNA, called a genome.

How do viruses work?

The genome uses the power of other molecular machines to replicate itself but it cannot do this without infecting another cell. The virus uses its protein shell to bond with the membrane of the cell. This step affects which cells it can enter. Once it enters, it can hijack the protein-making system of the cell and use the cell’s DNA replication process to create viral proteins. These fill up the cell until it bursts, releasing the thousands of viral proteins to infect other hosts.

Viruses are everywhere and can be inhaled, ingested or can generally enter through any entrance into the body.

If a bacteria had eyes, even it would not be able to see a virus. 

Viral Tag 

In N.E.W. Science class, we played a game called Viral Tag to see how this process would look like to scale. The game was that one team was viruses, one team were blood cells and one group was regular cells. The viruses had to infect everyone in the group, so they had to tag the healthy cells. If no blood cell came to heal the cell, they would become a virus. This displayed how if a cell was infected by a virus, it would produce and release thousands of viruses that would infect other healthy cells. It could easily be seen that the more viruses there were compared to blood cells, the harder it was for the immune system to keep up.