Paid Parental Leave

     I'm doing my solo presentation over the paid parental leave for families in America. This issue is special to me because when i was a baby, my mom was not able to stay home with me longer than 10 weeks. Her and my dad's financial situation required her to return to work as soon as possible. I can just remember my mom telling me she wished she got a longer time, like six months, to be with me. She explained that it was very hard for her to leave me at daycare all day because i had been with her in her stomach for nine months, and then i was with her the first three months of my life nonstop. She said she had just gotten so close to me and didn't want to leave me. I just think about how something like paid leave would have really helped my parents.
     At that time my mom was the highest earner in between her and my dad, so she really had no choice but to return to work. I also feel like my mother having to back to work early effected my dad negatively as well. I think he wanted to give my mother the opportunity to stay home with me longer, but he knew we could not afford it. Many parents in America suffer from the same issues. The cost of living along with the cost of raising a child has gotten so out of hand. Many moms just choose to stay at home indefinitely because it saves more money in the long run.
     I've done a lot of reading on this subject, and the program would not cost employees a lot of money. In California it costs employees about $30 a year. That amount over the course of one year is not a lot of money, and i think most americans would be happy to give back to the new families in america. We are one of the only developed nations that does not have a program like this for new families, and i think we need it now more than ever.

The other groups

     Since my group had the conclusion chapter, we pretty much summed up what everyone else had to say. I think obesity is one of the biggest problems in america. Sure, we have terrorists out to kill us, but at this rate we're killing ourselves through poor eating habits and lack of exercise. People just aren't as active since the age of technology has progressed.
     I'll walk around campus and see kids riding around on those little hover boards. I hadn't seen them until i came to UNT, but i thought it was completely ridiculous. How do you get any physical activity if you cut the majority of your walking out of your day? When i walk campus for a day of classes i can usually reach my step goal which is 10,000. I can't even imagine cutting that much physical exercise from my day.
     Obesity is a tricky subject though. How do we sensitively tell someone they're "too fat"? what is "too fat"? Some people believe the government should stay out of the physical health issue, but i don't see the private sector fixing the problem. They continue to lure customers in with their sugary, fattening products for pure profit.
     As far as other groups performance goes, you have some groups that did an awesome job of communicating the information, and you have your groups that just stood up there and read straight from the powerpoint slide (personal pet peeve). I wish my powerpoint would have worked because i had a couple of really interesting, visual charts about bmi. I also wish my group would have put in more effort, but this is why they say group assignments suck, right?

Group Presentation: Weighing in

     My group had the conclusion chapter of weighing in. The thing that stood out to me about it the most was the costs of organic foods. So many people including the first family have been advocating for a healthier, organic lifestyle. The huge problem with this is the lack of accessibility of these foods for all classes of americans. The high costs of the organic foods keep americans dependent on the unhealthier food options.
     Many americans are also limited to their environment. In the wealthier parts of America you get the nicer stores, fitness clubs, and the overall status quo of body image and a healthy lifestyle is usually very different than in poorer parts of the country.
     Misleading advertisements also mislead many americans. The most commonly advertised foods are also the most unhealthy. Low price and heavy advertising practically pushes unhealthy food onto many Americans. So not only are the organic food prices too high, cheap, innutritious food is pushed onto us by the advertising companies.
     Many people claim educating the public on issues like eating habits is the path to turning our nation's health around, but many people choose not to be educated. General practitioners inform overweight patients of the risks, info is readily available through books and the internet, but people still choose to buy the cheap, unhealthy foods.