the-sciencey-twenty-something:

postpostirony:

(via thegothicalice)

profeminist:

Women abused on Twitter every 30 seconds - new study

1.1 million abusive or problematic tweets were sent to women last year

amnesty.org.uk

“1.1 million abusive or problematic tweets were sent to women last year - an average of one every 30 seconds - Amnesty International revealed today (17 December), as it as it released a ground-breaking study into abuse against women politicians and journalists from the UK and US on Twitter.

More than 6,500 volunteers from 150 countries signed up to take part in Amnesty’s ’Troll Patrol’, a unique crowdsourcing project designed to process large-scale data about online abuse. Volunteers sorted through 228,000 tweets sent to 778 women politicians and journalists in the UK and USA in 2017. Using this information, machine learning techniques were then used to extrapolate data about the scale of abuse that women face on Twitter.

The study, conducted with Element AI - a global artificial intelligence software product company - found that of the 778 women surveyed:

• black women were disproportionately targeted, being 84% more likely than white women to be mentioned in abusive or problematic tweets. One in ten tweets mentioning black women was abusive or problematic, compared to one in fifteen for white women;
• 7.1% of tweets sent to the women in the study were problematic or abusive. This amounts to 1.1 million tweets;
• black and minority ethnic women were 34% more likely to be mentioned in abusive or problematic tweets than white women;
• online abuse against women cuts across the political spectrum. Politicians and journalists faced similar levels of online abuse and we observed both liberals and conservatives alike, as well as left and right leaning media organisations, were affected.

Read the full piece here

simonalkenmayer:

drst:

scaryterryj:

pandasrawesomest:

thundergrace:

My sister, who I live with, thought she couldn’t get the vaccine because she doesn’t have insurance.

We’re not really used to “free”…. spread the word.

It depends where you go too. I tried to sign up at CVS and it said “free with insurance”

In the US they are not allowed to charge an individual for this vaccine. They are allowed to bill your insurance. Whether you have insurance or not, you will not pay anything.

THERE WILL BE A QUESTION ON THE REGISTRATION ABOUT INSURANCE YOU DO NOT NEED TO FILL IT OUT.

When I registered there was a page for insurance information. We were instructed just to put “no insurance” and keep going.

And for people who have covid, many treatments exist to help reduce suffering and critical situations, so long as you know to ask for them. Also care for covid can be very minimal in some states. Check with your state’s insurance providers. It’s as easy as googling how to get treatment for covid if you have been diagnosed.

(via tacticaltaxonomist)

silver-tongues-blog:

lazulimav:

zarekarstudio:

branchesofyggdrasil:

manifestingdestiel:

moony-moons-world:

imagitory:

midwesternlikeope:

aromantic-goldfish:

zediina:

rowark:

bisexual-boredom:

moonlighteduniverse:

silver-tongues-blog:

opalescentdragon:

lunarcanine:

dragon-in-a-fez:

consider: teenagers aren’t apathetic about everything they’re just used to you shitting all over whatever they show excitement about

Teen: *gets a job*

“I GOT THE JOB!”

Parents: Well, when I was your age, I already had 5 jobs and was supporting my family

Teen: *gets all A’s*

“I worked really hard!”

Parents: Well, of course you did, this is the expectation, not a celebration.

probably why so many teens take to social media where they can enthusiastically share their interests and achievements and get positive feedback that their parents never gave

A LITTLE LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

This hit hard

I remember once, when I was in my early 20s, I was an afternoon supervisor at my job, and I worked with mostly teenagers, and the one day this one kid, who was like 15, was bored so I suggested he could clean out the fridge. He did and when he was done I said he did a good job.

After that, this kid was cleaning out the fridge at least once a week, and I was like, “why are you always cleaning the fridge?” Like, I didn’t mind, but it seemed odd. And he said, “one time I cleaned the fridge and you said I did a good job. I wanted to make you proud of me again.”

Literally, I changed the entire way I interacted with teenagers after that. I actually got a package of glitter stars and I would stick them on their nametags when they did a good job, and they loved it.

My manager had commented on how hard these kids work and I said, “they’re starved for positive feedback. They go to school all day then come to work all evening and no one appreciates it because it’s expected of them, but they’re still kids. They need positive feedback from adults in their lives.”

Like, everyone likes feeling appreciated. Everyone likes being complimented and having their efforts be noticed. Another coworker (who was a mother of teenage children), hated that I did this, and said they were too old to be rewarded with stickers, but like… it wasn’t about the stickers. The stickers were just a symbol that their effort was noticed and appreciated. I was just lucky that I learned this at a time when I was still young enough to remember what it was like to be a teenager. I was only 2 years out of highschool at that point and highschool is fucking hard. People forget this as they get older, but ask anyone and almost no one would ever want to go back and do it again, but they expect kids to suck it up because they’re young so they should be able to do school full time, plus homework, and work, and maintain a healthy social life, and sleep, and spend time with family, and do chores and help out at home, and worry about college and relationships and everything else, and then just get shit on all the time and treated like they’re lazy and entitled. And then they wonder why teenagers are apathetic.

For a german exam I had to argue against an article that was essentially „kids these days, they don’t care about anything and are constantly on their phones“ and really it was the easiest essay I‘ve ever written.

Teens don’t talk to adults bc adults only ask „so, how‘s school“ to then interrupt them two sentences in. And because they can’t engage in a conversation about buying houses and working in a bank. I would’ve loved to talk about philosophy and politics and history with family the way I did with friends and in class but because I was young no one took what I had to say seriously.

And no, teens aren’t always on their phone. They’re on their phone when they’re bored. You think I‘m on social media when I‘m with my friends? When I‘m talking about something I‘m interested in?

Maybe the reason kids are so distant and always on their phone during family parties and the like is because you‘re failing to engage and include them.

Whoop there it is

When you respect kids, they really respond and learn from you. But if you treat kids like “theyre just a kid, what do they know??” then you’ll never find out.

As a Disneyland Cast Member, I’ll add my own experience onto this –

Very frequently, when I first speak to a child while I’m at work, they’ll kind of withdraw and act uncomfortable and shy. Their parents will then rather frequently tell them to not be shy and try to coax them to talk to me – whenever that happens, I always, without fail, politely dissuade the parents from pressuring them.

“I’m a stranger,” I’ll tell the kid’s parents. “I don’t blame them for not talking to me – if they were anywhere else, they’d have the right idea, to not immediately trust me.”

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen that same kid – simply after hearing their initial reaction being validated, instead of reproached – immediately open up to me after that. I also cannot tell you how many times that child and I would go on to start a friggin’ marathon conversation, and I got to hear all about how great their day was or what their favorite Disney movies were or what rides they liked and didn’t like or how much they like a certain Disney character or song…all from me validating that initial feeling and showing genuine interest in what they had to say.

This isn’t just young children, either. I will always remember being positioned outside the Animation Academy one day and starting up a conversation with a young lady, perhaps 12 or 13, who joined the line with her father a full 25 minutes before the class was supposed to start. Now keep in mind, we do a drawing class every 30 minutes: there was no one else in line at that point, and no one else joined the girl and her father in line for a full fifteen minutes. So I could tell pretty quickly that this girl was very emotionally invested in getting a good spot for the drawing class: a conclusion all the more bolstered by the fact that she had a notebook under her arm. I asked her if she was an artist – she said yes, but seemed uncomfortable at the question, so I skipped even asking her if I could see her work, instead admitting that I myself wasn’t very good at art, but that I’m trying to get better and that I love the history of Disney animation. On the screens around us was video footage of different Disney concept art and animation reels, so I pointed one of them out (for Snow White) and asked if she knew the story behind the making of the movie. Upon confirming that she didn’t, I proceeded to get down on the floor so I could sit next to her and her father and dramatically tell the whole story of how “Uncle Walt” created the first full-length animated motion picture, even though everyone and their mother thought he was an idiot for even trying, and how the film ended up becoming the first Hollywood blockbuster. After the story was over, the girl’s father said that his daughter really wanted to be an animator when she grew up, and she finally felt comfortable enough to open her notebook and show me some of her artwork. It was wonderful! Every sketch had such character and you could tell how much work she put into it! And I could tell how much telling her that – and sharing that moment with her, where we got to connect over something we both really enjoyed – had meant. And after the class was over, she sought me out to show me what she and her father had drawn – and sure enough, hers was great! (Her father’s was too, really. XD)

People, kids and teens included, love sharing what they love and how they feel with others. You just have to give them the chance to show it.

A LITTLE LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!

-~-

I feel like I am obliged to add one more thing: don’t ever think that the kids won’t feel your unspoken judgements cause they do!

I felt always like a ‘problem’ in my family, until I was about sixteen, I got this teacher who was litterally the first to tell I was worthy. He changed my life up till this day.

Also how do grown ups imagine how ‘we’ will ever learn to engage in conversations with adults properly if you don’t teach us?

This post is

Everything

I told one of my new coworkers (who is 26) that he was doing really well and that I was proud of him and his progress. I thought he was going to start crying for how quietly he said “really?”. 

Positive feedback makes the biggest difference to everything.

i’m extremely lucky that i’ve always gotten positive feedback and proper attention + engagement from my parents.

i can count on one hand the times i’ve gotten it from anyone else.

teenagers are so attached to their phones at school because it’s one of the only things we have all day that makes us feel vaguely alright

Zare why would you hide this nugget of glorious truth in the tags this is literally everything I want to say but couldn’t figure out words for it

the majority of the worlds “best” is average. Thats just how statistics work. you cant expect every single person to be above average because then the average would shft to be more difficult. we saw this in real time with the job market and education system. our generation has to learn so much more and jump through significantly more hoops to get ahead in life than the generation before us. so when the generation who could just walk into a store and get a job, a generation that had significantly less things to know about in terms of history and science, dismiss all the effort we put into our lives because “when i was your age i already did all that” its like. no. no you did not. its alienating and dismissive.

(via nubianamy)

Anonymous asked:

I’m depressed a lot how do you stay happy ?

reneestjohn:

Hello Dear Friend .

I do not .

When you suppress or neglect your feelings , I have found depression often occurs .

This summer I was in the hardware store looking at plants . The store owner asked me was I ok(he meant looking at the plants).

All of a sudden I began to cry. I mean really sob . I turned and hugged him and he hugged me back . His little son…maybe 6years old? hugged me too🌹.

(This is how I was living my summer life , receiving comfort from strangers at the hardware store during a pandemic 😂🤭. I am still embarrassed that this happened , that I did not practice social distancing, etc , etc ).

I reflected while looking at the plants that the previous summer I had been at the beach .

During that time , We were still in a pandemic (that I thought would have passed by then/and now ) The stress of the pandemic, riots , my work load etc . was just to much for me to think about 😶😥

Currently, I acknowledge my sadness . Generally, not to worry my loved ones irl, I post these feelings to Tumblr💡

Dear Friend , We live in a society that celebrates enlightenment and success. This can make us feel that this is the only barometer to measure happiness .

Sadness and unhappiness is a part of life . Once that is acknowledged, we will not see them as personal failures💡 .

We are not broken , just human .

Give yourself a hug everyday , and tell yourself you a doing a great job , because you are.❤️

The light in me honors the light in you🌹 .

Best Wishes💫

bonepocket:

Something that’s not often mentioned in regards to mindfulness is, in my opinion, one of the most important parts of mindfulness. Practicing mindfulness is about being in the present moment without passing judgement. For me, that means not passing judgement on my intrusive and impulsive thoughts, and just letting them pass by. Practicing mindfulness like so was one of the big tenets of the psych facility I was hospitilized in, and it has honestly helped me so much in just the short time since I’ve really tried to apply it to my life.

lost-mind-of-a-schizophrenic:

Here are some coping skills that everyone can use!! ❤️❤️ love all of you guys! Stay strong!

mostofmylifeisnotthere:

Sometimes what you think is, “you being whiny,” is actually you doing the necessary work to grieve for & accept what happened to you.

fatalplants:

i’m not sure who needs to hear this right now, but i’m happy that you’ve made it this far. that you’ve come this far and that you’ve pushed yourself this far. you are strong and ethereal. and most importantly, you are more than your downfalls. keep your head held high, your bad days don’t define you

the-barefoot-hatter:

hopefulmisanthrope:

amanda-bakes:

another-bondi-blonde:

Everyone should know the international sign for Help Me. Let’s make this famous!!

Interesting; I didn’t know this was a thing.

It’s apparently a thing, but it’s a very new thing, so it may need some help being known.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_for_Help

The Signal for Help (or the Violence at Home Signal for Help) is a single-handed gesture that can be used by an individual to alert others that they feel threatened and need help over a video call, or in-person. It was originally created as a tool to combat the rise in domestic violence cases around the world as a result of the self-isolation measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic…

The Signal for Help was first introduced in Canada by the Canadian Women’s Foundation on April 14, 2020, and on April 28, 2020 in the United States by the Women’s Funding Network (WFN). It received widespread praise from local, national, and international news organizations for helping provide a modern solution to the issue of a rise in domestic violence cases.

The signal has been recognized by over 40 organizations across Canada and the United States as a useful tool to help combat domestic violence.

Addressing concerns that abusers may become aware of such a widespread online initiative, the Canadian Women’s Foundation and other organizations clarified that this signal is not “something that’s going to save the day,” but rather a tool someone could use to get help.

(via your-senpai-noticed-you-and-she)

did-you-know:

Millennials are a well-behaved generation.

Studies show substance abuse disorders are 49% lower, delinquent behavior (like stealing and assault) is 34% lower, and teen pregnancy is 40% lower than in previous generations.

(Source, Source 2, Source 3)

(via tsuki-chibi)