When talking about sex with teens can be tricky and also a bonus if they want to know what influences them. Teens like to watch TV, and if parents try to take it away from them, they can now watch it on their laptops or phones when nobody’s looking . All of this exposure can cause some concerns when it comes to their health. The term “Monkey see monkey do” can be used to describe what teens do when they come across something that seems fun or interesting to do, like sex. Teen sex is something that’s shown a lot in social media, people learn about it in school, but it’s mainly seen on TV. But why ? Why does TV influence or encourage teens to pursue sexual activity?  

         The short and simple answer to this question is yes, but the explain is more complex than a simple yes or no. Most Americans spend about a third of their free time watching television. But not all media influences depict teens having sex. According to researchers from the Rand Corporation,  3 kinds of sexual content involving was shown in the media,. The kinds of sexual contents are teens kissing and other kinds of sexual behavior, the second kind of content is the “talk” about having sex or sex in general, and lastly the third kind is the risk of having sex with someone. They surveyed around 2,000 teens, from ages 12-17 and the results found  that heavy exposure to sexual content led teens to sexual activity.

 Many teenagers think that having sex is cool, and will make the other person want them even more, or at least that’s how it is being shown in tv shows and movies. That is not true in most cases involving a teen. 43% of High school students have said they already had intercourse with someone and 53% of them said they haven’t, which could be a good thing if they are looking at it statistically. Teens that do have sex experience lower grades and the one who do have sex most likely have older friends that do it and pressure them. Because of this they now know that there is no connection between delays of intercourse and TV,  meaning that most of the teens they surveyed did or didn’t have sex because of TV, there was only a connection with that and African American Teenagers. This group is the one who lets media influence them the most. Many are told that the parents of African American children watch TV more than any other race.  Other than African Americans, overall, most teens think about it but intend not to engage in sexual activity.

  Tv doesn’t always have to show teens having sex or talking about it in a bad way. There are shows out there that can influence them to focus more on school work than worrying about bring pleasure to someone else. TV can also be a source for encouraging them to continue with their abstinence. Studies does shows that Teenagers engaging in sexual activity use condoms, 65% of children can recall them using a condom, according to the researchers from Rand Corp. They have done a lot of research for figure whether or not Television influence them but now that they know TV is mostly likely not the reason that teenagers have sex then what influences them not to?

     So, does TV influence teens to have sex? the short answer is no. Although There is proof that the media can play a part in making them want to have sex earlier in life, there is no way that the media is the one to blame for children having sex. Researchers  found out that there isn’t even a connection except among a specific group. Most teens intend to wait because they know that they can do it anytime they want, it’s just not their time.  

What exactly is social media? It basically means interacting with other humans via apps and websites:  adding people as friends or following people, liking other people’s status and/or picture, commenting whatever they want under someone else’s picture, and chatting live. But, is it really safe to put personal information on social media? Even though people have the choice to make their profiles private, do they really know what they are signing up for when they choose “create account”? When people make a new account on any social media, they are asked to agree to the terms and condition, but since most people don’t read that because they are too excited to make that new account, it can lead to something else. People don’t realize that if they don’t fully understand the right way to share their life on the internet, it will result in giving away their privacy unintentionally.

According to netsmartz.org, most public schools are teaching kids about internet safety so that they know what’s safe to share online and what’s not. “Yet along with offering a fascinating, new way to connect with the world, the Internet also offers new risks: Cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate material, online predators and revealing too much personal information.” (Basic Internet Safety) Most children know about internet safety but as they grow up and are becoming more active on social media, do they still remember what they are taught, or are did they just check it off like the “I agree to the term and conditions” box? Internet safety teaches people to rethink their decisions about putting personal information online, such as full name, phone number, social security number, address, etc. One popular social media that’s being used worldwide is Snapchat. It is said that “the app’s 150 million users base to 217 million users by the end of 2017.”(Business Insider) For example, on Snapchat, people have geofilters, which is a filter which shows someone’s location at the moment they take a picture. Using those filters can be a nice thing, but it also gives the location of a person which can also be dangerous. If the user’s account happened to be hacked that one moment, the hacker will know the location of their victim because of the geofilter that he/she used. People often misunderstand that something as small as a geofilter could harm them because they use the geofilters to show their friends on their Snapchat where they are. A lot of people use geofilters when going on a vacation so that others can where they are in the world.

Another app that’s being used worldwide is Instagram. On Instagram, people share photos and videos of themselves, and now they also are doing a similar thing like snapchat where people can post up pictures and photos on their story so that people can see where they are. The difference between Snapchat and Instagram with their stories is that, the people who can see other’s snapchat stories are only friends, that are added, but on Instagram, whether or not they are following that person, their stories are public to everyone. Taking pictures of a girls night out, date night, etc, can be risky because of that. Even though people want to share with their social media friends, not everyone is nice. Someone with bad intentions can recognize the area that the picture or video was taken and they can harm the user. That can be a dangerous situation because people take pictures to share with others the beauty that they see or just to show the world something. Even though it’s not intentional to show the web a little privacy about a user, many predators use that as an advantage. Taking a picture of a favorite restaurant or a favorite place can lead to danger. Sometimes it’s not safe to even share a specific spot that’s often visited by family and friends.

It’s best to know that some information should be kept personal and some can be shared with the world. Before sharing and letting the world know the location or the neighborhood, just remember that not everyone online are nice. People that are posting their new house or new car can be in danger because someone out there on the internet can end up stealing or breaking into the new house or car, just because of a simple post. It’s a problem not only for the user but also for the society because that can be an advantage for people who have a purpose to harm others. Sharing favorite locations to go with family and friends can be a way that predators track a user. There are stalkers and predators on the internet, so sharing a picture that shows a neighborhood or a place that’s known can be dangerous to everyone.

Sources:

By Acting as a Resource, Parents and Guardians Can Help Make the Internet a Safer Place for Their Families. As a Parent or Guardian, You Should Stay Well-informed about Current Issues to Understand What Your Children Are Experiencing on and off the Intern. "Basic Internet Safety."Basic Internet Safety. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <http://www.netsmartz.org/InternetSafety>.

Shah, Saqib. "Snapchat Is on Target to Hit 217 Million Users by the End of next Year." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 25 Aug. 2016. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-on-target-for-217-million-users-by-end-of-2017-2016-8>.

Satire is defined by dictionary.com as “the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing,denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.” It is used in shows like Saturday Night Live to make fun of recent events such as presidential debates and celebrities. In mainstream venues like broadcast television, satire is used in a humourous and for the most part in a light hearted way. However, in the Youtube commentary community; people who make videos reacting to other videos and mock and make fun of them using under the umbrella of “satire.” Many YouTube commentary channels are not actually satire, they are just a way for them to get away with bullying and harassing people.

One of the YouTubers who pioneered this fake-satire genre was “Leafyishere”. They have almost 5 million subscribers, and in his channel description it states, “If you don't like satire content, probably not the place for you.”. He made a video called,”THE MOST UPSET FEMINIST GETS 0-100 ANGER TOWARDS ME.” In this video he talked about and watched a video with a person who was talking about all the hate they were getting because of the last video Leafy made on them. The first video he did about her was him making fun of one of the women’s youtube video, talking about her intro and some of the points she made in the video. In the video he said,“So I made a video on her or, or him… she’s trans so I don’t really know which one. Uhhh anyways I made a video on this f****ng creature. Umm *laughter* Okay that was f****ng joke…” In this statement he is blatantly making fun her for being a transexual, comparing her being trans to that of being some “creature.” Since he knew that was an inappropriate comment, he quickly defended himself by saying that it was just a joke, so he doesn’t get backlash for making such poorly taste statement. Since his channel is satire he is basically saying that the statement he just made was “satire”. This seemingly worked for no one made a comment about him making that statement, when it was not satire and just bullying someone over being transgender. So he got off “scot-free” for making that statement. If he were to use actual “satire he could’ve mock her video style or an statement she made that he felt was outlandish, not attack her sexuality.

In another one of Leafy’s videos called, “ANGRY UPSET FEMINIST SAYS SHE WANTS TO KILL ALL WHITE PEOPLE.” Which was about leafy commentating about two high school poetry slam students and how he feels that they were just hating on white men. He says, “Time out, you guys see the one on the left. You know the one with the hat; can someone please explain to me why she is wearing f****ng safety goggles.” He also stated, “I feel like these two annoying f****ng monkeys don’t fully understand…” These two quotes aren’t as harsh as the one in the previous paragraph but shows that his content not satire because he is directly attacking their physical appearance. He is not sarcastically saying this or using irony to prove a point about how what they are saying is foolish. He is just plain out attacking them and just labeling what he is saying as “satire” when it actuality it is not.

A YouTuber named “ColossalIsCrazy” who makes similar content to that of “Leafyishere” actually openly admits to using the word satire as a way to not get hate in the disclaimer of his video. Stating, “Please do not attack/harass anyone I discuss[insult] in this video. I hide behind the shield of satire, but I am also a strong believer in strong criticism...”  What this tells me is that the YouTube commentary community are not oblivious to this but still use the word for protection anyway. Collosaliscrazy is not that much of an offender of this because most of his videos are just criticism and not deliberately bashing on somebody. With that said his channel is basically criticizing people which is not satire. So claiming his channel as a satire channel is just called that just in case he needs it for protection against criticism.

If Youtube commentary channels stopped to think about it, they would realize that using satire as a shield does not just involve the misuse of the word “satire”, but it also involves lying to your fans and tampering with the definition of the word satire as well. Many of their fans maybe do not know what the definition of satire is and may get the wrong interpretation of it from their videos.What is needed to prevent this from happening is more YouTubers calling it out to discourage the people doing from using the claim of satire for protection as many such as Idubzzz has. With people doing this they can make the YouTube commentary more respected and honest for their viewers.

When Congress passed The Animal Welfare Act in 1966, its goal was to regulate the treatment of animals in the United States when it came to research and exhibition. However when the Animal Welfare act was written there was no section included in it that talked about the effects of environmental change to animals. It is understandable that a section like this was left out during the 60’s as much less was known about the connection between animals and the environments they  live in. In today's world much more is known about the connection these two hold. A new section has to be added onto the Animal Welfare Act that criminalizes environmental harm or purposeful destruction as a form of animal abuse.  

The animal welfare act was passed in 1966 with its goal being to give animals protections under law from abuse and cruelty. Since the creation of the animal welfare act it hasn't been edited or added too according to the USDA.  “It is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport, and by dealers.” This quote helps show just how much animal rights have been abused. If there is only one law in the united states that regulates and defines the abuse of animals why has it at least not been added too. This shows just how much the government actually cares about animals.

Over the course of earth's history there have has been a total of five mass extinctions with a sixth currently taking place. The first five were caused by natural causes such as asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural climatic shifts. The current one is being caused by none other than humans. Researchers from WWF and the Zoological Society of London say  “Animal populations plummeted by 58% between 1970 and 2012, with losses on track to reach 67% by 2020… The destruction of wild habitats, hunting and pollution were to blame.” This goes to show just how damage humans actually have to the environment itself and how that translates to animals. The destruction of wild habitats and pollution are often not looked at as animal abuse and instead are looked at as just collateral damage.  

This is how these statements supports the thesis. Although Animals rights may only seem important to animal rights activists, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the earth's environment. If one species was to go extant or lose the majority of their population the ecosystem could take a drastic hit from that. Think of it this way if bees were to go extant the plant population would suffer because there would be hardly anyone to polonize them.  

Michael Joseph Jackson was more than a child star; his music career carried into his adulthood. From his greatest hits with the Jackson Five like “ABC” and “I Want You Back” he left his legacy playing in many people’s heads. The story behind such great performances, remains a mystery to some, and surprise to others. Unfortunately, this success did not come without its sacrifices. Due to an overachieving father, isolation of a carefree childhood, Michael Jackson was forced to skip his own. As a result, his actions as an adult all reflect a deep desire to claim that childhood that was never his.

To begin with, Michael’s father had very high expectations of his kids in which he enforced very strongly. As manager and father, responsibility of being a manager often clashed with responsibility of being a father. In an interview by Martin Bashir titled, “Living with Michael Jackson,” Michael stated, “He didn’t allow us to call him daddy, and I wanted to call him daddy so bad. He said ‘I’m not daddy, I’m Joseph to you.’” (Michael Jackson) Due to the parenting, Michael grew up to slowly lose his relationship with his father. The relationship between Michael and his father was more on professional terms than personal. In the interview, Michael also went on to say how he was scared of his dad, and how he would faint or vomit due to his presence.In result of the constant beatings to discipline him, Michael suffered from anxiety.

Consequently, Michael Jackson did not have the time on his hands to do what the other children did at his age. Being in the studios all the time, he couldn't play with other kids. He was always in the spotlight, so he couldn't go anywhere that he wanted to due to the common issue of paparazzi. Girls fell over him, and the world slowly did too. In Michael’s words, "I wasn't aware that the world thought I was so weird and bizarre. But when you grow up, like I did, in front of 100 million people since the age of 5, you're automatically different." (Michael Jackson - Grammy Legend Award speech, 35th Annual Grammy Awards, 1993). He grew up as a hollywood pop star which prevented him from being a normal kid. His life was constantly publicized to the world in which he had zero privacy provided. As child music star, he was going on many tours, which resulted in cameras constantly on him and the world watching his every move.As he got older, papparrazi only increased more, putting Michael into the position to seek more privacy.

Furthermore, as his life went on the issues he dealt with not having a childhood began to come to light. He went on to buy 19.5 million dollars worth of land located in Santa Barbara County, California, and named it the “Neverland Ranch.” Neverland consisted of the same characteristics of an amusement park. It had a ferris wheel, merry go around, and other rides found in places like amusement parks.  After he built his dream home, his life began to derail. Neverland was Michael’s way of giving children the childhood experiences that he was prevented from having.

Above all, many factors including his father, Neverland Ranch, and life in front cameras shaped the man that Michael Jackson grew up to be.  His adulthood was an attempted reflection of how he wanted his childhood to look like. Failing to do so, resulted in many issues that led up to the death of the King of Pop.  As a pop star that made well over a million dollars in record sales, he was loved by many and hated by many. His legacy will continue to live on, and the issues he faced growing up as a kid will be forgotten.

Works CIted

Woods, Raven. "The Truth About What Michael Jackson Had (And Didn’t Have) In His Bedroom." The Huffington Post. N.p., 14 July 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/no-child-porn-found-at-neverland-thenor-now-the_us_577fdfbce4b0f06648f4a3f8>.

Michael Jackson Documentary "living with Michael Jackson" Dir. Padronlful. Perf. Michael Jackson and Martin Bashir. YouTube. YouTube, 27 May 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqqipytDeuM>.

"Michael Jackson Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.biography.com/people/michael-jackson-38211#early-life (Links to an external site.)>.

"Childhood." :: True Michael Jackson. N.p., 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.truemichaeljackson.com/childhood/>.

Kawthar Hasan

Ms. Pahomov

English 3

26 September 2016

People have to make difficult decisions to help them get through their life, especially with education. For example, getting a high school education is extremely hard for many people because of stress like life’s certain events such as finance, lack of interest in school, and failing to succeed school. Those are some of the reasons why it is causing some to drop out. Many adults strongly cast down students from doing this, going off  to the long-term issues of not having a high school diploma to have more open doors opportunities in the workforce. Regardless of the individual struggles and tribulations, those who drop out of high school do it with their best interest in mind. For teens who do drop out, their action is justifiable because they are doing what is best for them in that moment of time to work on themselves. That way these people can find a positive path to make the right decisions without any stress of school work being put on them.

According to the Colorado Department of Education, There are three main factors of why these teens drop out of high school: school related, family related, and employment related reasons, for many high school dropouts. The article also stated that, “Students who fail to succeed in school and attend schools that fail to provide them with the environments and supports they need to succeed.” In other words, the majority of the people who drop out had trouble with others helping them in and out of school to allow them to stay at their school. When there is no moral support, a student gets tired and believes that leaving would be best. Relating to the argument about the moment in time, teens need some support at times with their education before having them making the decision of dropping out.Therefore, it is not necessarily the kids fault if an adult does not try to help out avoiding them from dropping out, it should always be a place where these people can reach out and get support.

On the ‘National Dropout Prevention Center/Network’ website it shows many percentages such as, missed school days, overall the percentages for males are at “44.1” and females are at “42.7”. These percentages are high for the school related issues for teens to drop out. It could be possible that teens missed so many school days to deal with personal issues like financial or family problems that they have to face at home. Therefore, they must do what is best for them to take care of themselves so that education will not be in the way. There are times when adults are not in the picture to help support these kids to assist them with their personal needs to do better in high school to get their diploma. To be their in there true time of need of help.

Another reason dropping out can make sense is that it doesn’t actually cut a person off from education in the long run. A man named Kenny Buchanan who is in his late 40’s was a high school dropout. In ninth grade at the age of 18, he flunked twice and chose to give up, and decided to work at Burger King full time. He mentioned in an interview, "Back then, I could get a job anywhere," he says. "I could work at Burger King, quit that job and have a job the next day without an education." However, now he feels that it is hard to get a job because the job applications require a high school diploma. From the author Claudio Sanchez in the NPR article quoted, “Buchanan is one of 40 million Americans who never graduated from high school. Most of these people, about 60 percent, are between 40 and 70 years old, according to the ‘American Council on Education.’ About 9 in 10 have never earned more than $40,000. Buchanan falls into that majority.” Therefore, he decided to go to a place called Career Link, which is a place for job training and education for unemployed adults like Buchanan. There, then he realized the closest requirement that he needed was, a GED. GED stands for General Education Diploma, to get this a person must pass a test to earn a certificate. The certificate is proof of getting some sort of education. A person can take it at any place to get hired by their employer if there is no diploma with the job application. "When you get that GED book and you see the math that's required — algebra, trig — I think that scares a lot of people. Especially if they haven't been in school for 30 years," Career Link Director Sharon Angle says. Nonetheless, it is worth getting a job since nowaday many career places are accepting them with the applications. Which is great for others to get a job without a diploma and still be financially stable for themselves and their family.

People are going to make the best or the worst choice at certain points in life, but no matter what happens they will learn from their actions. Life is not all about making the perfect decision for a person and it will always indicate on someone whatever or wherever especially with education. If a person decides to put a hold on getting a diploma and need to get themselves together first, why not give them a chance? If high schoolers stopped to think about it, they would realize that their diploma is not just about graduation, it's about their long-term job prospects as well. Leaving school will allow them to be independent and get a view of what the future may hold. While getting an education is quite important in life, that one piece of paper known as a high school diploma can change so much in a person’s future life. Getting that job or raise that was wanted. While life can make getting a high school diploma hard for a good amount of people with personal issues. All of that has to be understandable, because sometimes life puts a person in a spot where one does not always wish for but that person has to find a way to fix it.

Works CIted (MLA format):

• http://www.npr.org/2011/07/28/138741367/a-high-school-dropouts-mid-life-hardships

"A High School Dropout's Midlife Hardships." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

• https://www.cde.state.co.us/dropoutprevention/bestpractices/overview-who

"Why Do Students Drop Out of School?" Colorado Department of Education Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

• http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/3/4/2158244013503834

By Far, the National Longitudinal Study That Offered the Most Comprehensive Analysis of Dropout Causes and Received Well-diversified Scholarship Was the NELS:88. Conducted on a Representative Panel of 24,599 Eighth Graders, the NELS:88 Study Lasted 12 Yea. "Understanding Why Students Drop Out of High School, According to Their Own Reports."Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

• http://settlement.org/ontario/education/adult-education/get-a-high-school-diploma-adults/what-is-ged-high-school-equivalency-certificate/

"What Is GED/High School Equivalency Certificate?" What Is GED/High School Equivalency Certificate? N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

• http://dropoutprevention.org/resources/statistics/quick-facts/why-students-drop-out/

"Why Students Drop Out." National Dropout Prevention Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

Alexander Khan

English 3

10/17/16

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines folklore as “ideas or stories that are not true but that many people have heard or read,” while lore on its own is defined as “knowledge gained through study or experience; a particular body of knowledge or tradition.” In the modern day, lore appears most commonly throughout digital universes crafted by video game designers. Video games have very open ended stories, which gives people room to make their own conclusions. These video games begin conjuring followers, and eventually a community of people begin to piece together stories, essentially creating modern day folklore overtime.

The past two years have introduced the internet gaming communities to many new gaming phenomena, such as the indie horror series Five Nights at Freddy’s by Scott Cawthon, and Overwatch by the Blizzard franchise. Both of these games have amassed large followings, not only for their gameplay and overall story, but for the lore behind the game.

Five Nights at Freddy’s lore follows a story of multiple restaurant locations, different animatronic robots, and a series of injured children. Many followers of the game series spend days, even weeks, trying to piece together the six game long series of mixed up stories. Players are never told anything that’s really going on within the game, just given hints that there are dangerous things happening around the player. This makes it nearly impossible to really figure out the game’s true story, and therefore sends its fans into a frenzy of decoding and detective work. This game, having been highly anticipated by its Steam Greenlight page months before its release, brought in record high views for certain gaming youtubers who made videos on the game. One youtuber, Markiplier, had his first video on the game reach over 53 million views. Another youtuber, under the channel The Game Theorists, dedicated his time to figuring out the lore behind Five Nights at Freddy’s. As the newest game in the series was released, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, countless blogs and forums dedicated to piecing together the lore of this single game have sprouted in addition to the remaining active forums for the previous five games. All of this devoted energy shows that people are looking for more information to this ever growing story; they’re dedicated to this game franchise and the story behind it.

Many people have tried to explain the phenomena that is the FNAF series. One article at Kotaku starts with; “It has racked up millions and millions of views (and screams) on YouTube. It has hundreds of earnest fan games, and dozens of rabid fan theories. The Five Nights at Freddy's hype train is incredible.” However, many games have seen the same lore hype like this series, such as Dishonored or even the Pokémon games at times, so why do people keep talking about FNAF? The lore is so quickly produced and twisted, each game being released only months after the other, that people keep bringing it back up, trying to understand it, much like old folklore. The game, while called overhyped by many, is still drawing attention to itself with how many people have gathered to discuss the lore behind it.

In the Overwatch side of things, fans of the game have been watching a webpage for the last two months, lying in wait for a counter to reach 100% and trigger the release of a mysterious character. A website called amomentincrime has been counting up from zero since late August after a few fans dug into an alternate game reality of Overwatch, which showed a shadowy ghost figure that resembled what they’d seen of this new character. Blogs have been dedicated to watching the percentage, and the source code of the website, for hints as to when it’ll reach 100%. The only real hint given is the text on the website that says “Initiating protocol Sombra” in Spanish, which leads every fan in radius of the website to believe 100% means the ultimate release of Sombra, a character known for her association with the games “bad guys.” Blizzard has said very little about the game’s origin itself, but through the brief descriptions of the 22 playable characters’ backstories, fans have built up their own versions of the origin story.  No story is ever the same, much like the way folklore stories are passed down through generations and changed to fit individual morals. People are creating individual versions of video game lore to fit the things they seek out in a good lore-based game.

Unlike FNAF, Overwatch has used the characters they have to make real world connections, such as the animated short The Last Bastion showing a robot with signs of PTSD from the war he fought in, or the short Dragons showing family problems in a different light than usually seen. This lore being canon ties back strongly to the notion that video game lore is becoming the modern day folklore; real world problems being shown in a light where things can get better, stories told in ways meant to be relatable to anyone who reads them. In the words of Blizzard; “We poured a lot of effort into creating a game—and a new universe—that anyone could enjoy.”

Video games with lore like these two have hit the internet gaming communities by storm; millions of players have taken to forums and blogs to figuring out detailed stories worked within the games they’ve come to know and love. These stories have begun to spread, and be passed around different groups of people, essentially creating a system of modern day folklore. Although many gaming communities outside of these two might not fully see the impact of modern folklore, overtime it will begin influencing other game developers. When these new developers see the success of lore-based games like Five Night’s At Freddy’s and Overwatch, they’ll be more likely to follow that format, eventually creating a completely new genre of folklore games.

Works CIted

@GeekAnthro. "Contemporary Folklore in the Digital Age." The Geek Anthropologist. N.p., 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

https://thegeekanthropologist.com/2014/10/03/contemporary-folklore-in-the-digital-age/

By Lola at Monday, June 06, 2016 12:10:00 PM. "A Few Important Words from Blizzard about the Overwatch Phenomenon." Gamezone. N.p., 06 June 2016. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

http://www.mweb.co.za/games/view/tabid/4210/Article/26067/A-few-important-words-from-Blizzard-about-the-Overwatch-phenomenon.aspx

Hernandez, Patricia. "Why Five Nights at Freddy's Is So Popular." Kotaku. N.p., 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

http://kotaku.com/why-five-nights-at-freddys-is-so-popular-explained-1684275687

In the United States, same race relationships have been more common than interracial relationships. The reason for this is the limits people set themselves at by being hesitant to be involved seriously with another from a different race. It's all about comfort in a relationship, having things in common. Growing up it's a better chance to relate to people of the same race rather than another race because many people find comfort and reliability in partners who share physical characteristics as well as cultural and racial backgrounds.

Because of the intensity regarding black and white history, society has made interracial relationships focused more on these two races rather than others. The evil era of slavery and racism is what really separates these two races and makes black people feel intimidated to date a white person, Being comfortable is key in a relationship. It gives off a state of belief and ease that everything in the relationship will work out for the good.  has showed it’s easier to be around like minded individuals. For most people, it’s easier to communicate and be around people who have many similarities and most of the time them people are the same race. Every race comes from different backgrounds and sometimes different beliefs plays a big factor on the ability for people from different races to unite.

Location plays a factor on same race relationships being more common than interracial relationships too. Indeed everyone is raised differently depending on the lifestyle one can afford to live, however lots of races have a tendency to live fairly close to one another. For example, African Americans are minority and many grow up similar by being raised in a more ghetto neighborhood surrounded by poverty. Many blacks believe that only the African American race understands the struggle and that’s what relates the many people throughout the race. This is apart of the reason for the continuous awareness of the Black Lives Matter Movement with black people feeling their race aren’t getting the  equal amount of respect compared to white people. With this being said, black people along with other races can tend to limit themselves to only date people throughout their race because of the belief that only their race understands where they come from and can have a better chance to have a long, successful, relationship.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that socio-economic status significantly affects someone's choice with regards of relationships. Socio-economic status consists of one’s income, education, social class, profession and more. These researchers at University of Birmingham also did a survey that showed white people have a lower chance to find a partner outside their race because of their advanced social status compared to other races. There are more white people involved in essential aspects of the world such as politics, presidential candidates, and more compared to other races like African Americans and Asian Americans. In 2008, Jennifer Bratter and Rosalind King used the National Survey of Family Growth to investigate the likelihood of divorce for interracial couples compared to same race couples. The comparisons across different marriages showed that interracial couples have higher rates of divorce. Furthermore, these statistics showed that white/black marriages are twice as likely to divorce compared to white/white couples and white/asian marriages are 59% more likely to divorce compared to white/white marriages. The core reason for this stems from people’s contentedness of being with the same race and the inability to develop the needed when involved in an interracial relationship which makes it difficult for an interracial couple to last.

If couples and researchers stopped to think about it, they would realize that same race relationships are more common compared to interracial relationships not only because of being raised closely to people of the same race, but also the lack of desire and ability to develop comfort with another race, and because of prior history that may have separated the many different races. The barriers are not just psychological -- they are geographic and economic as well.

Works Cited:

Gladstone, Sarah. ""Swirling" vs. Same Race Relationships." Ravishly. Ravishly Organization, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <http://www.ravishly.com/2015/09/07/swirling-vs-same-race-relationships-%E2%80%94-will-we-ever-reach-post-race-america>.

Wang, Wendy. "Interracial Marriage: Who Is ‘marrying Out’?" Pew Research Center RSS. FactTank, 12 June 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/12/interracial-marriage-who-is-marrying-out/>.