Diary of a Working Housewife

Wednesday July 25, 2018 9:30 AM:

As I scroll through my daily feed of social media I can't help but feel a bit confused 😕... What has happened to raising children with family values, empathy, gratitude, and selflessness? What has happened to the adults? Are human beings evolving into ungrateful, self-centered, unfeeling, attention-seeking, drug-using robots? From drawing on thicker eyebrows to plumping lips with a suction device... individuals become copies of what they see on a screen. Being different and unique becomes weird. What used to be frowned upon becomes accepted. And in the end, we wonder: what is happening to the world today?

Shows like Teen Mom that celebrate babies raising babies hit our tv 📺screens and encourage other teens to reproduce by giving them the insane idea that if they get pregnant they will achieve celebrity status and get millions of followers, not to mention get paid for it. It's disgusting to see these girls, now women, have baby after baby with multiple men, and this show becomes even more popular. The disrespect some of these girls show their parents is unbelievable! This behavior is rewarded while the show goes on and their bank accounts increase.

Teenagers challenging each other to do the stupidest of acts and record them for social media for likes and followers and what's worst, actually seeing adults follow through with these challenges also. From the “gallon challenge” which was the act of consuming a large amount of milk within an hour, which can potentially cause brain damage or death since most people who attempt to drink a gallon of milk in one hour end up vomiting (One of the reasons may be because of the lactose, a milk sugar that the human body can only handle in certain amounts). To the “cinnamon challenge” which is eating a spoonful of ground cinnamon in under 60 seconds without drinking anything. The videos showed kids and adults alike choking on this powder to the point of almost passing out. This stunt may lead to aspiration of the powder into your upper airways and small passages of your lungs. One of the challenge-takers, a 12-year-old girl, was rushed to the hospital as reported on a CBS station in Pittsburgh. It has been reported that this young lady has been to the hospital multiple times since she tried this challenge in early March 2012. In the report, they state that a 21-year-old dared her to try it. Seriously?! Not long ago, I saw videos on Facebook showing kids biting into Tide laundry detergent pods or cooking them in frying pans, then chewing them up before spitting up the soap. Maybe it's time to show these children how to do their own laundry so they don't feel the need to eat the pods???

Now a new challenge has taken social media by storm. It is called the "In My Feelings" challenge or what some people are calling it the "Kiki challenge." People recording themselves dancing to rapper Drake's new hit song. The dance challenge was started by online personality Shiggy, who on June 29 posted a video to Instagram showing himself dancing in the street to this song. The video went viral. People posted their own homemade videos dancing to "In My Feelings," including celebrities! But now it has escalated to a dangerous level, with some folks recording themselves jumping out of moving cars to dance. It has gotten so out of hand that police around the world are warning against the trend. Even the Abu Dhabi police have issued arrest warrants for three people after they posted videos of themselves doing the Kiki challenge. They were charged with endangering the lives of others according to Khalid Al Ameri, a gentleman I follow on Facebook. He talks about how people these days are doing anything for views, likes, and popularity because that gives out a dopamine high. In this video, he explains how an experiment on lab rats given dopamine made them so addicted that the rats would later choose dopamine over food and eventually starve to death. He goes on, asking his viewers, "What is it going to take for us to stop pushing the limits? Does a child have to die jumping out of a moving car?"

It is time to talk more to our children and grandchildren about being leaders and not followers. It is time to lead by example because everything we do influences someone. Like I always say, "Be a goat in a world full of sheep."

May the Goddess bless you all and surround you with her divine white light.

Venus