Chandra Costley

English 2010-419

Brandon Alva

4 May 2020

Reflection

This semester we have been talking a lot about the media and I have learned to think

more critically about it then just watching it and maybe believing what is being said by the

“media” instead of what is truth. I have learned that the media likes to use fear to get us to pay

attention more to what is going on in the news. I have seen that a lot more since this COVID-19

pandemic has started and there is a lot of fear mongering going on then there should be. I have a

sister who is an RN and she said the hospitals are not as bad as the news says it is and that they

are just trying to scare everyone saying its much worse than it really is.

In the media journal/media journal analysis assignments I learned how to better pay

attention to what I was viewing and having specific things to look for did help me to focus on

that more. Looking back at my media journal analysis I realized that I do watch more tv/movies

then I do the news which sometimes is a good thing and sometimes a bad thing because watching

movies can help you avoid all the negative things that are on the news but it can also be bad

when avoiding them because you may be unaware of what’s going on around you and I have also

realized that since this pandemic started I have been watching more of the news then I have

movies. Granted I still watch movies but I also try to at least watch the press conferences they

give on a daily basis so that I can be informed on what’s going on currently with this virus. Also,
I like to know what the current numbers are and what the government has planned so I know if I

need to where a mask or not when I go outside.

In my PEAR paper I wanted to get a better understanding of Gun safety and how others

feel about whether or not children should be educated about firearms or not. My stance is that

children should be educated on how to use them and also what to do if they come across them

and are unsure what they are supposed to do. In doing research and interviewing some local gun

owners I have come to find many different perspectives on that and I still stand by my stance of

that they should be educated about it. I don’t have anything against those who choose not to

educate their children about the safety of firearms but I do want my future children to at least

have basic knowledge of firearms and that they are they for protection and not a toy to play with.

At first when I was thinking about this topic I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go about doing

this but as I did research a lot of the research I found was about educating families and children

about the use of them and whether or not there should be firearms in the home I didn’t realize

how much controversy there was about it. And also, the government how they want to get rid of

them all together but if they do that, they will be going against our constitution which is a very

important piece of our history. I know that there is so much more I can research about this topic

and maybe as I continue to research it, I will be able to learn even more then I already have.