"Alyssa Lies" Pop Culture text analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLh5vbBLpxI



"Alyssa Lies"
By: Jason Michael Carroll
My little girl met a new friend just the other day
On the playground at school
Between the tires and the swings
But she came home with tear-filled eyes
And she said to me, "Daddy, Alyssa lies"

Well I just brushed it off at first
'Cause I didn't know how much my little girl had been hurt
Or the things she had seen
I wasn't ready when I said you can tell me
And she said

"Alyssa lies to the classroom
Alyssa lies everyday at school
Alyssa lies to the teachers
As she tries to cover every bruise"

My little girl laid her head down that night to go to sleep
As I stepped out the room I heard her say
A prayer so soft and sweet
"God bless my mom and my dad
And my new friend Alyssa"
Oh I know she needs you bad because

Alyssa lies to the classroom
Alyssa lies everyday at school
Alyssa lies to the teachers
As she tries to cover every bruise

I had the worst night of sleep in years
As I tried to think of a way to calm her fears
I knew exactly what I had to do
But when we got to school on Monday I heard the news

My little girl asked me why everybody looked so sad
The lump in my throat grew bigger
With every question that she asked
Until I felt the tears run down my face
And I told her that Alyssa wouldn't be at school today

'Cause she doesn't lie in the classroom
She doesn't lie anymore at school
Alyssa lies with Jesus
Because there's nothing anyone would do

Tears filled my eyes
When my little girl asked me why
Alyssa lies
Oh daddy, oh daddy tell me why
Alyssa lies




I chose to do this song, "Alyssa Lies"  because it is speaking about child abuse.  Child abuse is a major problem in current time.  There are many children that abuse goes unnoticed and end up dying because of it.  Sometimes it can be stopped if someone knows, but a lot of the time people dont know if they should get into other's business, but just like in this case, if it were brought up sooner, it could have been stopped.  This song was also based on a true story, It really makes me cherish my children so much more!

I would like to research why Jason Michael Carroll wrote this song, did he know this little girl personally? 

I want to know more about child abuse cases, on average how many annually are reported and how many end with homicide.  Are there any cases in South Carolina?

why is there so much child abuse in current time?

final draft of summary and analysis of chapter 5 in the book SWAY

Sarah High

Tasha Thomas

SEGL 101

October 12, 2012

Summary and Analysis of “The Bipolar Epidemic and the Chameleon Effect” Chapter 5 in “Sway”

            In Sway, The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, The Brafman brothers are breaking down many examples of ways people can and are being swayed.  People act irrationally without recognizing what is going on.  Ori and Rom Brafman are even trying to sway their readers into believing that everyone acts irrationally.

            In chapter five the brothers use many examples of the sway diagnosis bias and labeling.  The focus is on the epidemic of bipolar diagnosis in children from 1994 to 2003.  In each example they are saying that whether we label people negative or positive, they are going to take on whatever their label is, and are also saying that people are swayed into how they treat others based on their labels.  The Brafman brothers are calling this the Pygmalion effect, taking on positive traits that others assigned to them, and the Golem effect, which is how we take on negative traits.  In this chapter of Sway, many of the examples they use are clear illustrations of diagnosis bias, while others can be controversial or just don't fit in under this type of sway.

           .

            Using the bipolar example is very impressive.  The authors went into extensive detail with this, showing many examples of research on it.  When things like bipolar came out into the public through media and research, eyebrows were raised and people started to ask more questions about it.  But I’m wondering if these children and adults were already showing symptoms of bipolarism and didn’t want to ask the doctors about it because they felt they would be judged?  Or when the media focused on it, they thought it was ok to question their minds?  “Primed to be on the lookout for bipolar disorder, psychiatrists started seeing it everywhere they looked.”(94)  So, maybe it was that the psychiatrists doing the research that were trying to sway these patients into believing that they suffer from bipolar and other mental disorders because of a little bit of emotion in their lives.  If this is the case, the patients were labeled bipolar and this shows what the Brafman brothers are calling the chameleon effect.

            When the authors talked about the medication usage to treat bipolar, and it showed that research proved that the medication only worked a minimal amount of time, I think this was brilliantly put into this chapter.  “It turned out that when all the studies were aggregated and all the data meticulously analyzed, SSRIs were no more clinically effective than placebos in making patients-either kids or adults-feel better"(96-97)  This really showed me that patients were truly being swayed to believe they were bipolar.  The majority were not actually chemically and hormonally bipolar.  In the end, they were diagnosed and started acting the part.

            Another example they used was putting military members from Israel into “command potential” categories versus them taking their comprehensive tests and comparing their scores with the categories they were put into.   The commanders were trying to prove that once labeled something, you will start acting it.  Yes, this is true.  But when it came time for the soldiers to take this written test to acquire their new knowledge on what they learned while at training, the military members tested on what they were labeled. It is quoted, “Without realizing it, the trainees had taken on the characteristics of the diagnoses ascribed to them.”(99)  Is it because the training officers didn’t want to waste their time giving quality and equal training to those who they were told didn’t already show major potential, or is this just how the soldiers really were?  Had the soldiers not been diagnosed certain ways, maybe all of them would have gotten equal training and tested to their true potential.

            The most interesting example is when researchers had men call women with only given a bio and a fake picture of them.  The conversations went as well as what the men thought the women would be based on the picture.  I don’t understand why men think because a woman is beautiful she would be more outgoing and easy to talk to, or because a woman is just ordinary she would be somewhat dull.  But this shows me true labeling.  “Once the men formed this opinion, it affected every aspect of how they interacted with the women.”(103)  When people have certain opinions of others that’s how they start to be treated.  The way you treat others, is the way they will start to feel and begin to interact.  People feed off another’s feelings towards them.  So, of course if a man calls a woman and is short with her and not very engaged in the conversation, the woman won’t be either.  This section in the chapter is perfect for showing that when labels are put on people, because of the actions of others, those being labeled will become what others think they are.

            However, when senior citizens were given a test to see if the way they felt about old age would actually affect them later on in life, I am not seeing how this example is good for this type of sway.  “Negative and external feelings about old age, in other words, can actually make people physically age faster.”(105)  I understand that if you constantly are speaking negative about things, that’s the way life will turn out, but when you find something positive in every situation, there will be more positive outcomes.  The more stress you bring into your life, more stress is to follow.  But how is this being swayed by labeling or diagnosis bias?  Maybe these elderly people just aged well or aged a little more quickly.  I can see this being swayed by their emotions, in that their emotions have affected their overall internal being.  If you say it, it will be, but not labeling.  I feel like the authors should have gone into more detail with this example to help the audience understand where they were coming from.

            The “Love Bridge” is a section that I found very interesting.  It is showing a different side of the sway being portrayed.  Is it merely saying that the men crossing the shaky bridge are more adventurous than others?  And by saying this, they are being labeled as go getters and risk takers.  But by saying the only reason the men called the woman was because their adrenaline and heart rate were elevated, because of the rush, I don’t necessarily agree with. “Physiologically speaking, the adrenaline rush you experience in such a situation is the same feeling of excitement you experience when you develop a crush on someone.”(108)  These men have already been said to be risk takers, so I believe most risk takers would take a chance at a phone conversation with a woman, regardless of walking across this enormously high bridge or not.

            Although throughout this chapter, I would have liked to have seen more detail about the studies done, I believe that Ori and Rom Brafman have proven that the sway of labeling and diagnosis bias exists.  Ori understands the mind and how people think, while Rom is a deep thinker and can pick apart other’s thoughts.  They both have the background to do the research, and by the end of this chapter, they have given enough evidence to say that “we’re all psychological chameleons,” (109) who are always swaying and being swayed.

struggling

I have been looking all weekend for a song choice!  I am sturggling so much with this.  I have thought of a few options, but I just cant decide on what to do!!! 

summary and analysis of chapter 5

Summary and Analysis of “The Bipolar epidemic and the Chameleon Effect” Chapter 5 in “Sway”

            In SWAY, The irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, The Brafman brothers are breaking down many examples of ways people can and are being swayed.  People act irrationally without recognizing what is going on.  Ori and Rom Brafman are even trying to sway their readers into believing that everyone acts irrationally by being swayed. 

            In chapter five, the brothers, use many examples of the sway of diagnosis and labeling.    The focus is on the epidemic of bipolar diagnosis in children from 1994 to 2003.  More examples they use are putting Military members into “command potential” categories versus them taking their comprehensive test and comparing the scores with the categories they were put into; another test was given when researchers had men call woman with only given a bio of them and a fake picture.  The conversations went as well as what the men thought the women would be based the picture.  Senior citizens were also given a test to see if the way they felt about old age would actually affect them later on in life.  And then there was the research of the “love bridge.”  They are saying that weather we label people negative or positive, they are going to take on whatever their label is.  The Brafman brothers are calling this the Pygmalion and Golem effects.  Each example they give they are trying to prove that people are swayed in how they treat others based on their labels and that people start acting the part once they are labeled.

            I do believe if you are told that a person acts or is a certain way, you are going to treat them that way and not form your own opinion of them, and as far as being diagnosed with something, if you are told it, you will start acting it.  There are many instances in life to justify this.  If a woman is told they are beautiful every day, and details of a woman’s beauty are pointed out, she is going to be swayed to do everything she can to be beautiful.  If a teacher is told nothing but negative things about a student they will be getting, that teacher will already have an opinion that this student has nothing positive about them.   In this chapter of Sway, they give many more examples of this, but some that they use are great, while others can be controversial or just don’t fit in under this type of sway.

            Using the bipolar example is great.  The authors went into great detail with this, showing many examples of research on it.  When things like bipolar came out into the public through media or research, eyebrows were raised and people started to ask more questions about it.  But I’m wondering, Is it that these children and adults were already showing signs of bipolar and didn’t want to ask the doctors about it because they were too scared to be different and judged, but when the media focused on it, they now thought it was ok to question their minds, or did they read about the signs and think they now have bipolar?  Or is it that the Psychiatrist doing the research was trying to sway these patients that they suffer from bipolar and other mental disorders because of a little bit of emotion in their lives?  If this is the case, the patients were labeled bipolar and now show the symptoms of being bipolar.

             When the authors talked about the medication usage to treat bipolar, and it showed that research proved that the medication only worked a minimal amount of time, I think this was brilliantly put in this chapter.  This really shows me that patients were truly being swayed to believe they were bipolar.  The majority were not actually chemically and hormonally bipolar.  In the end, they were diagnosed and started acting the part.

            During the military testing, the commanders were proving that once labeled something, you will start acting the part.  Yes, this is true.  But when it came time for the soldiers to take this written test to acquire their new knowledge on what they learned while at training, the military members tested on how they were labeled.  It is quoted, “Without realizing it, the trainees had taken on the characteristics of the diagnoses ascribed to them.”(pg. 99)  Is it because the training officers didn’t want to waste their time giving quality and equal training to those who they were told didn’t already show major potential, or is this just how the soldiers really were?   Had the soldiers not been diagnosed certain ways, maybe all of them would have gotten equal training and tested to their true potential.

            The most interesting example used is the test where the men are given a bio and a fake picture on a woman and asked to call them.  The phone call was based purely on this picture.  I don’t understand why men think because a woman is beautiful she would be more outgoing and easy to talk to, or because a woman is just ordinary she would be somewhat dull.   But this shows me true labeling.  When people have certain opinions of others that’s how they start to be treated.  The way you treat others, is the way they will start to feel and begin to interact. People feed off of one another’s feelings towards them.  So, of course if a man calls a woman and is short with her and not very engaged in the conversation, the woman won’t be either.  This section in the chapter is perfect for showing that when labels are put on people, because of the actions of others, those being labeled will become what others think they are.

            When the elderly were asked their opinions on what old age meant to them, I am not seeing how this example is good for this type of sway.  I understand that if you constantly are speaking negative about things, that’s the way life will turn out, but when you find something positive in every situation, there will be more positive outcomes.  The more stress you bring into your life, more stress is to follow.  But how is this being swayed by labeling or diagnosis?  Maybe these elderly people just aged well or aged a little more quickly.  I can see this being swayed by their emotions, in that their emotions have affected their overall internal being.  If you say it, it will be, but not labeling.  I feel like the authors should have gone into more detail with this example to help the audience understand where they were coming from.

            The “Love Bridge” is a section that I found very interesting.  It is showing a different side of the sway being portrayed.  Is it merely saying that the men crossing the shaky bridge are more adventurous than others?  And by saying this, they are being labeled as go getters and risk takers.  But by saying the only reason the men called the woman was because their adrenaline and heart rate were elevated because of the rush, I don’t necessarily agree with.  These men have already been said to be risk takers, so I believe most risk takers would take a chance at a phone conversation with a woman, regardless of walking across this enormously high bridge or not. 

            Although throughout this chapter, I would have liked to have seen more detail about the studies done, I believe that Ori and Rom Brafman have proven than the sway of labeling and diagnosis exist.  Ori understands the mind and how people think, while Rom is a deep thinker and can pick apart other’s thoughts.  They both have the background to do the research, and by the end of this chapter, they have given enough evidence to say that “we’re all psychological chameleons,” who are always swaying and being swayed. (pg.109)

Digital story

response on my narrative

As I wrote my narrative, I realized how emotional I was about my life.  I enjoyed writing it, and it meant a lot to me to be able to reflect on my past.  My past has made me what I am today, and I take pride in knowing that I came from a very hard life, and am going to break the cycle of the unknown. I take pride in my children, and in the fact that my grandmother's influence has made me determined to teach my children.  I really mean it, if it weren't for my grandmother, I dont know where my children would be today, for that matter, I don't know where I would be today.  I feel very blessed to say that I have her as a mentor so to speak.  I believe I elaborated on my experience and showed how much my grandmother means to me.  I do feel though, that I could have described my feelings while my grandmother read to me, I didnt think about that until now, but feel like it would have made more sense if I would have connected my feelings as she read to me to the feelings of me wanting to change.   But over all, I feel like I met the assignment and that my voice and passion came through in my narrative.

What I learned in life..

While growing up, I never thought I would learn from my children.  But once I looked into the eyes of my first child, I knew I wanted him to go far and be more than I ever was.  I wanted him to work hard in life and never give up.  I started teaching him those strong values from the moment I brought him home from the hospital.  And I have worked very hard to instill this in each of my children. 

            Some say that all mothers want and strive for their children to go far, and don’t want them to ever give up.  Mothers want their children to learn and be intelligent members of society.  But for me, it goes deeper than that.  My determination for my children’s success derives from my childhood.  It comes from what I didn’t have, but always wanted.  It comes from my lack of self-motivation as a child.  Because of my lack of interest in reading and learning as a child, I struggled all through school, just too barely make it.  I was determined, no matter what, that my children were going to be different. 

            As an adolescent, I felt very lonely and I guess you could say a bit depressed.  My father left what I was seven with giving no explanation as to why.  I went from having my mom home, to her having to work two jobs to support us.  I never got to see her.  My brother and I were always at the baby sitters house.  Even though I knew my mom couldn’t help the situation, it got very lonely.  I started to act out.  Instead of reading, coloring, or playing board games like my neighbors, my brother and I would run the streets.  We would always play on the railroad tracks and throw rocks at one another and even the other children in the neighborhood.  One day, we thought it would be a lot of fun to catch the woods on fire.  After the fire department and my mother were called, we no longer thought it was fun!  Being rebellious children and grounded were not a great combination.  The worst part was seeing how dissapointed my mother was.   As a child, I didn’t think about how this behavior would affect me. When I got older, I realized what a mistake I was making of my life.

            Despite all of my negative emotions and behaviors, there were also many happy moments.  I remember sitting down with my grandma when she came to visit, listening to her read to me.  Although I couldn’t remember anything about the books when she was done, because I wasn’t really listening, I still enjoyed the fact that she read to me.  I enjoyed the loving attention that came from those times.  My grandma is the type of person that believes in rewarding with books.  Her philosophy is that reading encourages more reading.  So, every birthday, my brother and I would get a book or two. In the third grade, she passed to me my aunt’s full collection of the “Bobbsey Twins”, expecting me to read every single one of them.  They sat in the bottom of my closet, in the same box she shipped them in, for about eight years. At that time, I passed them to my niece for her first birthday.  I had hoped that one day she could get some use from them.  She is now eleven and has read all of them.  She claims they were wonderful books!  I always did think about picking them up and reading, but I never could get passed the first chapter of any book without getting discouraged.  I just didn’t understand reading, and wouldn’t go back.       Because of my being lonely as a child and choosing to focus on the more negative things in life, I struggled all through school.  I chose to not push myself to learn more than the basics and chose to not read or write passed the must have assignments.  I would see others around me truly succeed, while I barely passed by.  My peers made great grades, had an extensive vocabulary, and wrote awesome stories.  I was discouraged because I made average grades.  I always wanted to succeed and to be more, but never had the drive to do what it took to actually be better.  By the time I realized what I needed to do for my future, it was too late.  I was having my first child.

    

     

            When I brought my first child home, I already had a bookshelf full of books ready to be used.  And that’s faithfully what I did.  I made sure I read to him every day.  I used every moment as a teaching experience.  During every bath, I had magnetic letters that I would practice the alphabet with him.  We counted everything from acorns in the yard, to tiles in the bathroom.  I sang to him, ask him every question under the sun, like “why do you think the grass is green?”, or “Have you ever saw a fish swim so fast, how does it do that?”.  I wanted to tell him about everything in his surroundings.  In return, he realized how much there was to learn, and was eager to know.  I was determined that he was going to have that drive in life that I didn’t.  With each of my children, I have showed them the importance of education, and they have taught me that I do have that determination needed for success in life.  I have been eager to teach them, and they have been driven to learn.

           Even though I didn’t respond as a child through my grandma, she showed me the importance of reading, and I now am able to show my children who do respond.  Because of her, I now reward my children with a new book instead of a toy or piece of candy.  We sit down as a family to read, instead of watching television. The amazing thing is that my children look forward to this.  They look forward to the Saturday trips to the library and to the outings to Ollie’s, which is the best place to buy inexpensive children’s books.  My children are full of knowledge, that as a child I thought was useless, but my boys want more.

     

            Because of my determination for my children to be more, they are more!  By the time my oldest was two, he could write his name and tell you what every letter was, and he could say and identify numbers 1 through 10 in English and Spanish.  Now he is nine years old and can spell just about every word you ask him to.  My middle son, Dakota, is currently in the second grade and reading sixth grade chapter books.  We are not allowed to go to the library and pick up anything less than a big book.  He is adding a subtracting like a wiz. And he is very adamant about visiting Europe.  My youngest, Jacob, is in kindergarten and starting to read and spell.  I must say, it makes me proud that his favorite words to spell are, mom and dad.  Their intelligence shows me that no matter where you come from, as long as you are determined, you will go far. I want to thank my grandma for my determination.  If it weren’t for her introducing me to literature and always being consistent with reading, where would my children be today?