Autism Rate on the Rise

The number of children in America who are diagnosed with autism has been increasing significantly each year. This year, the number of children diagnosed with autism was 1 in every 68, which was marked as an increase of 30% from 2 years ago when it was 1 in every 88. The CDC has also reported that the number of people in color who are diagnosed with autism is on the rise.

The definition of autism is known to have changed in the past couple years. The CDC states that the autism we see now is not similar to what was diagnosed as autism 20 years ago when the number first shot up. In the past, autism had been considered as an intellectual disability but now research shows that kids with average or above average IQs could be diagnosed with autism. (Read the article
here)
What is considered important now is to recognize that autism is not a rare disorder anymore and that each individual gets the best help they can get. Autism is a lifelong disorder and the family must give the best environment for people with autism to live in. The problem is, compared to the number of autism rising, there aren't enough trained professionals for the disorder especially in poor areas where there is still disparity for the knowledge of disease itself. I believe  New Trier gives a first class support to kids who have autism or any other mental disabilities but the majority of high schools in America is not even close to where they should be. With the number surely increasing each year, it will be a matter of time before this becomes a grave issue in the country unless a solution is proposed soon.

X-Rated Films

As I was researching about the film rating system (CARA) for my Junior Theme topic during class today, I came across a very interesting article. The article talked about a rating system that once existed in the past but is gone now. Once famous in society for it's unique name as a rating system back then, the X-rating has completely vanished lately.

When the original film rating system was launched in 1968, there were only four ratings: G, M, R, and X. Off course, X-rated movies were meant for adults only because it contained extreme sexual or violent content. It was originally aimed at viewers over the age eighteen but it later got lowered to seventeen. We now recognize X-rated films as NC-17 rated films. When I asked Mr.Bolos about it, he said that X-rated movies were a common thing when he was a teenager. He also said that not many people bothered to watch X-rated movies in the theaters because they wouldn't want to be judged by people around them.

So what was the reason behind the X-rated film's disappearance? The poor industry booms in the 70's played some role in it but the main reason for it's demise was the failure of trademark. When creating the X-rating system, the MPAA didn't copyright it. Because of this, the pornography industry exploited the X. Adults films started to use multiple X's to promise it's increase in the adult material. Soon the X became tied with the meaning "hardcore", and mainstream film industries distanced themselves from the X. Shortly after the X-rating got changed to NC-17.

The irony that the name of a system created solely for the purpose of warning the viewers of adult content is now used to represent modern pornography is incredible.  

The Film Rating System

Why do we have the film movie rating system(CARA)? As a big movie guy myself, I believe this is a fundamental question in the cinema world that gets overlooked a lot. However, this might be because when you think about it, the asnwer is just too obvious and yes, it is. Today's film rating system was established to give the parents a general information they need to decide if the film is appopriate for the family. Many people believe that the PG-13 rating was created for a specific age group like the Rated-R rating. It was actually created to simply warn the parents that PG-13 movies have elements more extreme than PG or G movies and that they should look into the contents of the movie more to make sure their children can watch it.
 
What I thought was the most interesting thing was the fact that the CARA is continuously evolving so that it fits the current sensitivities of the family. It is said that elements in movies such as violence, drug use, language, sexuality are periodically re-evaluated through surveys. I question how sensitivities towards these elements could change over time. Are people becoming numb to these elements by being exposed to them so much? How extreme will these elements become in the future? The ultimate purpose of CARA is for films to be connected to the appopraite audiences but I feel like this fundamental rule is slowly being compromised.

Read the full article here.