I still remember the confusion, anger, and frustration I felt the first week of school when I tried to watch "Evolution of Dance" on YouTube, only to find it was blocked by the BYU Network. Outrage seeped through me even more, when I tried to log on to MySpace, and realized that, also, had been unfairly taken away from me. What was going on with this school? After cooling off from those first terrible experiences, I started to think about why they were blocked, and slowly came to the realization that maybe BYU knew what they were doing. I remember back home, I would spend mindless hours on YouTube watching monkeys throwing their own feces, and people popping zits in mirrors. Is this a valuable way to spend your time at college? This also applies to MySpace; the amount of time lost on this site can be significant. Now, the question still remains, should MySpace and YouTube be unblocked? Are we mature enough to be able to choose which websites we would like to spend our time on, and strong enough to resist the temptations of those websites?
When thinking of YouTube, one might think of funny accidents, amazing feats, or disgusting videos. What people usually fail to think of is the time wasted watching these videos. Even watching only ten minutes a day will add up to over an hour of watching these videos in one week. That is being conservative; usually a YouTube session will go longer than ten minutes. Your time here at college is precious, and far too important to be spending time on this mind-numbing activity. Putting this into perspective, here is a quote by President Spencer W. Kimball:
“Jesus also taught us how important it is to use our time wisely. This does not mean there can never be any leisure, for there must be time for contemplation and for renewal, but there must be no waste of time. How we manage time matters so very much, and we can be good managers of time without being frantic or officious. Time cannot be recycled. When a moment has gone, it is really gone. Wise time management is really the wise management of ourselves.”
MySpace also applies to this quote, we all know hours can be lost on this site, and also bad habits can be formed, which brings up my next point. We, or at least I, have been warned by our Stake Presidents and Bishops to delete our MySpace accounts. The reason for this warning is due largely to the rabid plague of pornography that is sweeping through our youth. We have been warned countless times about this filthy addiction, especially by our beloved Prophet, the late Gordon B. Hinckley. Here is a quote from him on the matter:
“Pornography is like a raging storm, destroying individuals and families, utterly ruining what was once wholesome and beautiful… We do not have to sit at the computer and play with pornographic material found on the Internet.”
YouTube and MySpace are both sanctuaries for pornographic material, and BYU is heeding the Prophet’s warning by keeping these sites off limits to students. Some students might be under the impression that they are being treated like children. After all, college students should make their own decisions in regards to the websites they visit, right? Does BYU not trust us enough to let us surf the web at our leisure? Let me answer with a quote from a High Priest from my old ward: “We trust you. It’s the people on the other side who we can’t trust.”
This relates to pornography, and also to the evil men who track young girls through this website. I have heard of more than one instance where older men have been able to find out more about a young girl then they ever thought was possible.
Are we, as college students, not in danger of the risks of these websites? Do we have enough willpower, and resolve to avoid the pitfalls and addictions these websites may cause? As quoted earlier, we can be trusted, but it’s the people on the other side who can’t be. BYU is doing the right thing by keeping these websites blocked, and students should observe the Prophet’s words as well. I know it can be a pain not being able to see kids flying off trampolines, or a college kid stapling a paper to his forehead, but hey, worse things have happened right?
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6 comments:
I think your quote from President Hinckley would be a lot more powerful if you introduced it more smoothly. Instead of saying, "Here is a quote: ", you could maybe say, "President Gordon B. Hinckley, a constant warning voice of the dangers of pornography once said: "
1.I understood the thesis to be that BYU should keep the websites, Youtube and Myspace blocked.
2.The audience seemed to be directed to the students of BYU. The arguments pointed out all the dangers of these websites, telling the students, it might be necessary for the website to be blocked.
3. I liked how you used quotes from the prophets to talk about the issues at hand. It is a powerful way to discuss the problem. I also liked the examples of videos you used that indicates what a waste of time they are and mentioning the predator aspect was good. I think that thought would concern a lot of people reading your paper. Although, the predator problem was good, i think you should expound on that argument. Right now it seems a little out of place.
Three good things
1. Relavent quotes which add to authenticity.
2. Excellent reasons behind the blocking of these websites.
3. Included a personal story which also helped add credibility to your argument.
Three things needing improvement
1. Make your stance clear. I couldn't tell whether you were happy that these sites are blocked or whether you wanted that decision left up to the students.
2. Describe what the fear of the people on the other side actually is.
3. You asked several questions at the end of your first paragraph but to me those questions were never fully answered.
I enjoy your argument but having a roommate that suffers with a major pornography problem right now, i think that the block should remain because it would keep more people safe without it. I also enjoy the use of quotes, it strengthens your argument.
I had a hard time figuring out whether or not you were for or against having youtube and myspace blocked. Perhaps you could make it a little more clear. A counter argument you may want to consider is the fact that other websites such as facebook and bebo are not blocked and many times can be just as dangerous as myspace. Should these websites also be blocked?
I think one thing that might help the flow of your paper is rearranging your paragraphs. An example of this could be you setting the paragraph that starts with, "When thinking of YouTube, one might think..." at the beginning of your editorial.
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