On Saturday evening I had the opportunity to go to women's conference with my mom at the conference center. I always love when we get tickets and are able to go and actually be there in person.  As I was sitting there waiting for it to start I was thinking about how the media can be used in such great ways and how it makes it so the conference could be broadcast to people all over the world and in different languages. Once the meeting started, the woman sitting in front of us was on her phone the entire time and it was so distracting. She would switch from texting people to checking her email and would take pictures.  It just reinforced to me how much of a blessing and a distraction media can be in out lives and how sometimes it distracts us from what is truly important.

A few blog posts back I talked about wanting to get on and check Facebook less and do something better with my time.  To help me stick to this, I have decided to move the Facebook app from its usual spot on my phone and put the scripture app there instead.  Then when I automatically go to open Facebook, I will open the scriptures instead. I know if is kind of cheesy but I wonder if I will notice a difference in my day by reading a couple scripture verses when I mean to go to Facebook.  This will also prevent me from forgetting about my goal and getting on Facebook without realizing it. I feel like it will be a much better use of those couple of minutes that I would have used to look at something unimportant on Facebook and I know it will have a more positive effect on my day.  

I really liked our discussion in class today about media violence. I was especially interested in the finding on relational aggression and that being exposed to a lot of relational aggression can cause us to be more relationally aggressive.  It made me think about the kind of shows I watch and how they could be affecting me.  I do not enjoy watching violent movies or shows, so I knew that was probably not affecting me much.  However, I realized that most of the shows that I do watch have a lot of relational aggression in them.  I now want to be more conscious of what I watch. I want to try to cut down the amount of relational aggressive shows that I watch and see if it makes a difference.

I just read the chapter in our textbook about the family and media.  There were many things that were eye opening to me about how much families use media, but the thing that I keep thinking about is media use during dinner or family meals.  It made me reflect on what I do while I am eating meals with my husband or even by myself.  I have noticed that when I eat alone, I tend to turn on Netflix or the TV to entertain me.  However, I am now realizing that this is probably not the best thing to do.  I have also noticed that sometimes when my husband and I are eating dinner together, we will be looking at our phones or some other type of media instead of interacting with each other.  I have made it my goal this week to cut out media while I am eating meals, especially with my husband, and see if I notice any differences.  I am sure it will be much better for me and I will not feel like I am wasting so much time.