My Letter to the President

Dear President Donald Trump,

Hello, my name is Julie McClellan and I am a student at Brigham Young University. I have been enrolled in a Family and Media class this past semester and several concerns have been brought to my attention. I appreciate all that you do to keep our Country running efficiently and have a proposal that will heighten the efficiency and raise up a generation that will succeed greater than ever.

Media has a great impact on our world today. Many viewers are struggling with addiction, body image, violence, disrespect of traditional values, and deviating from their life goals as a result. Although media also has positive domains, I believe that there are specific changes that should be implemented to enhance the nature of media. 

The Motion Picture Association of America has developed a voluntary system of ratings for viewers and parents to decide what is appropriate. This system is helpful to audiences but would be more beneficial if it was a system mandated by law with strict criteria to determine ratings. With the susceptibility of the human mind, it is important that viewers are not subject to detrimental material without prior knowledge of the damage that could potentially ensure due to pre-mature exposure.

Just as medication, foods, and rides at your local amusement park post a safety message to address health concerns, I believe that along with stricter rating criteria, television and movie producers should be mandated to include a message that addresses the emotional health concerns that viewers could potentially be subject to. Of course, experiencing physical and emotional effects of media is generally associated with a great amount of exposure, with rising rates it is important that we take precautions today.

Media is becoming increasingly more important and prevalent, the world of technology is expanding at a massive rate, and science is revealing more about human development than ever before. It is vital that we take the precautions necessary to protect our rising generation to the detrimental effects of media. I propose that we create stricter laws around media and strive to inform audiences of how our media is affecting them both mentally and physically. After all, knowledge is power, and the rising generation is in need of all the power and protection the world has to offer. Thank you for your time and consideration― together, “let’s make America great again”!

Best Regards,

Julie McClellan

My Favorite Type of Media

Pretty much every single type of media I can think of has its pros and cons but there is only one type of media that is all positive... THE SCRIPTURES! As I have been preparing for the last few weeks of the semester and Christmas I have really been trying to focus on making scripture study a priority. I have noticed that when I make this a priority everything else in my life seems to get done as well. This week while I was studying the scriptures I came across a verse in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This scripture is such a great reminder to me, especially during this next month. Although it may seem like I have way too much on my plate it will be attainable with the Lord on my side. I am SO thankful for this perfect media source. It is so amazing to me that the Lord has provided the scriptures to be a guide in these days. The scriptures are EASILY my very favorite form of media!!!!

Family Time

Every Thanksgiving my family has the tradition of going to see a family friendly movie in the theaters after finishing Thanksgiving dinner. As funny as it sounds, this is one of my families very favorite traditions! This year on Thanksgiving my family went to see Frozen 2 (for the grand-kids sake). All of my brothers were complaining about how big of a waste of time this would be and trying to convince my parents to get different tickets but we stuck with it and I am so glad that we did! It is so cool to me how close watching a movie with people can bring you! It provides great conversation for hours, and for my family seeing this movie came with a bunch of new inside jokes! We have all been quoting the movie since that day haha! This particular movie had an interesting plot that left my whole family with a great sense of how important each and every member of my family is. I love media for this reason and a so glad my parents pushed to see this particular movie! It was great!

Midnight Traveler

THIS MOVIE!!!

I have not watched many international films in my life time, but after watching this movie for our class assignment I am definitely going to change that. MEDIA IS SO COOL! This movie is made up of footage captured on three different mobile phones of a families journey across several different countries to reach safety. It was so interesting for me to see real life footage of refuge camps and the different obstacles this family had to overcome to reach safety.

This movie helped me to gain a better prospective of how different cultures and ethnicities are from one another. While this family traveled they were bullied and rejected in nearly every single country. It was also interesting for me to note the different living situations across the world.

I am so thankful for media and the messages it can convey from all the way across the country. This film helped me to see how blessed I am to live where I do.

The Bar Code

I'm not sure why this post was not publicly published last week so I am submitting it again.

Reading has not always been a passion of mine. In fact, this is probably the type of media I use the very least (as sad as that is). Throughout grade school I always told myself that I needed to find a series I was interested in so that I could make reading a passion. While in high school I came across a book called "The Bar Code Tattoo". I think this is one of the very first books that really got my attention. I have read this book several times and decided to re-read it this weekend just for fun! The book is about how a future society uses a bar code tattooed on their wrist as their identification. This bar code held every member of societies confidential information.

This book was so interesting to read this last time because so many aspects of how the author predicted the future to be based on fantasy are ACTUALLY coming true today!!

It is so interesting to me how ideas written in a book can actually come true. Does anyone have any futuristic novels that they love?? I would love to find a novel similar to this one!

Children's Programs

I currently work as a nanny and it is one of my very favorite things in the world. I feel like I have watched every single baby and child program made up to this point haha! I find it so interesting to see what programs are interesting to the kids and love to watch them for myself....I'm not going to lie, some of them are pretty captivating! The little 2 year old girl has been watching the show "Jungle Junction" and it has quickly become one of my very favorites. I have noticed that a lot of television programs made for kids are extra whiney and have more scenes of the characters bickering than anything else! I don't know why this bothers me so much but I feel like there is no way it doesn't rub off at least a little bit on the viewers. Jungle Junction has become one of my favorites because I feel like it has much less of this content than other shows. There is nothing better than a child program full of prosocial content! What are your favorite little kid shows??? 

Music and Media

The music I listen to has never been consistent. I feel like through the different stages and phases of my life the genre I choose to listen to on the radio is completely different. I had my early high school days where Justin Bieber was my man, my late high school days where I thought it was cool to listen to rap and dirty music, my come-to-Jesus days when I chose to listen to David Archuleta church hymns, and have recently fallen into a country music obsession. I have always had a bias towards country music for no reason other than my friends and family did not listen to it. As I have gotten married this last year and started to not have a care in the world about what anyone thinks of me, I have found my self drawn towards country music. As lame as it sounds, country music is the most relaxing thing in the world to me (depending on the artist of course). There is something about a good country love song that really gets me in my feels...

I find it so interesting how different types of music genres resonate with different people. Music is such a powerful media that has the ability to send messages across society. It is so cool to me that every one has their own musical preferences. The way one song speaks to me and relaxes me will not have the exact effect on the next person. I have recently started to really enjoy music and the benefits it has on my life!

Midterms and Media

This semester's work load has been absolutely brutal! It feels like I can never catch a break. This last week, and my next two weeks are going to be chalked full of homework, studying for midterms, and writing papers. I have learned with time that one of my very favorite things to do when I need time away from school is to take a hot bath and listen to a podcast or general conference talk. This week I was talking to my mother- in- law and she told me about a podcast so I decided to set aside an hour on Thursday night and take care of my self.

The podcast titled "don't be defined by your mistakes" was by a Christian speaker named Joel Osteen. I loved the message Joel shared, and felt stress lofted off of my shoulders as I was reminded that God is forgiving and has a plan for me. I am so thankful for media and specifically podcasts for the way that they speak to me and make me feel. I love gaining knowledge through this type of media.

Video Games

I grew up in a home with brothers who were not all that interested in video games. We had them in our house but were always doing extracurricular activities or playing with the neighbors outside. I got married this last year and have now been exposed to the world of video games haha! My husband and his friends love playing together and will "hop online" every few days to play with each other. If I'm being completely honest my husband and I always joke that I don't have a very good relationship with his X Box. I have never enjoyed playing video games so I have never quite understood what is so enticing about them to my husband!

Tonight we went to my husbands cousin dinner and played an X Box game after we ate. At first I told everyone that I was happy watching and did not care to participate but I quickly got sucked in. We played a game called "Gang Beasts" and I have to admit, it was so much fun! I was impressed with how much fun every single person was having playing the game. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time! It is always so interesting to me how the different types of media can bring people so close together!

It is one of my VERY favorite weekends of the entire year (GENERAL CONFERENCE)! There is nothing better than listening to the the beloved Prophets words in the comfort of my own home. One of my favorite family traditions is homemade cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning so I have been looking forward to this all week haha! I am always blown away by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and their preparation for this broadcast around the world. There is nothing more amazing to me than the entire church coming together two weekends of the year to hear our Heavenly Father's thoughts though his mouth pieces on this earth. I am so thankful for media and the opportunity that I have to be a part of this conference, and to feel the spirit while at my own home.
I have loved listening to the Saturday sessions of conference and cannot wait to be inspired tomorrow also!

Art and Media

A few weeks ago one of my good friends and her husband had a Bob Ross painting date night and my husband and I have been talking about doing it ever since! This week we decided to head over to Michaels Craft store and buy all of the supplies we could possibly need to paint as well as Bob Ross... On Wednesday night we got on YouTube and found a video that we could follow to attempt painting a landscape. We quickly realized that we were missing many supplies, and were just as clueless as you would think when it comes to painting haha! Three and a half hours later we finally finished painting based off of the video and I have to say, the pictures turned out much better than I imagined! I think it is so cool that my husband and I were able to use media to bring us together and learn a new skill! I highly recommend this date night, one of my very favorites :).

This week I had the opportunity to listen to the beloved Prophet's words through a live broadcast on my lap top! My husband and I work until 12 every day but decided to get off early and try to make it to the Marriot Center in time to hear the devotional. We made it all the way to school with plenty of time to spare, but quickly realized that there were absolutely no seats left in the room. After trying to make something work we decided to go outside and watch a live stream of the devotional on the grass. The entire meeting was nothing short of amazing. There is nothing better than listening to the Prophet's words and feeling the joy and peace that are associated with them. Although attending the devotional did not go exactly as planned, I have a great appreciation for the fact that we have media, and a way to listen to the Prophet without being in the same room. It is incredible to me that you can feel the spirt no matter where you are.

Jane, Jane & more Jane

Finding a TV show that interests me has always been hard. My family had televisions growing up, but we were always more interested in being outdoors or busy attending all of the different events that come with having a big family. A couple of months ago one of my roommates recommended that I start Jane the Virgin on Netflix and let me tell you this is one of the first shows that I have ever been hooked on. Jane the Virgin would not usually be my husbands cup of tea but I think he was so excited that I would finally watch something with him so he was all in also. This week we watched FINALE of the series and it did not disappoint. As funny as it sounds, something about this series makes me feel so at peace with life. I often find my self caught up in the trials that life brings and lose sight of the fact that it's all part of the plan. This show is based on a family who just can't seem to escape the hardships of life. Deaths, Divorce, cancer, losing a job, and being forced to make difficult decisions are only a few things this family is faced with. This show helped me to realize that life can be hard but SO worth it. I need to find a new show with a similar effect. Any recommendations??????

About Me

My name is Julie McClellan Tannyhill and I grew up in a small city in Southern California called Simi Valley. I moved to Provo Utah to attend BYU in 2016. During my junior year I met my amazing husband and fell head over heels in love! I grew up playing tennis and lacrosse and continue to play these sports any free second that I have. I plan to graduate with a degree in human development this April which I will use to become a pediatric counselor following grad school!