TED Community » Kelly Eagles

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  A reply on Conversation: If you have chance to perform a TED talk , what topic you will choose?

  Apr 23 2012: Hi Mathilda,
  Since you posted this, I've been thinking about ideas and how to translate them. Emotions, and how to put them into words.
  I had my oldest daughter extremely young, and this topic is very close to my heart, as myself I am still struggling to meet my dreams, and I struggle daily to keep them alive.
  I think after these reality shows have been produced exploiting teen moms and their family, an odd sense of entertainment has come from these unfortunately situations, and is disillusioning girls in believing that it's easy to have a child, and keep their goals and dreams alive. Honestly, teenage pregnancy isn't going any where's. We may just call it by a different name; right now its a "fad," in the 1990's it was an "epidemic," in he 60's and 70's it was "freelove," from the 30's-50's it was a "secret."
  
  I would speak, or discuss how teenage pregnancy isn't on the rise on an international scale, but it has stayed very steady over the past century. I would want to point out that we only really pay attention to these teen mom stories for the 9 months of pregnancy, the hours of labor and maybe 6 months-a year after. Then the entertainment is gone, so we move on. I would want to pose the question, what next? What happens to the mother next? How can we as a society help them finish high school, and realize their goals after high school? How can we help them keep their dreams alive, without giving them a reality show? What do people need when they have children, and what special resources do girls need between the ages of 13-19 need to have children and maintain their education and dreams?
  
  These ideas and questions are important issues that society needs to tackle. In our world now, how can we act as a community to help a child raise a child, and allow both of them grow.

• A comment on Conversation: Cannabis legalization; Are we in the middle of a global paradigm shift?

  Apr 23 2012: I'm actually reading a great book on the distribution of weed and the prohibition and the negative side of it called Reefer Madness (read it if You haven't yet, great book).
  I'm on the side of Legalization. I used to be a heavy smoker, until somehow, some way, my freak of nature body developed an allergy/sensitivity to it. Try explaining to your doctor and parents this...not a fun thing to do in my situation.
  Anyways, I was a heavy smoker, and I'm a heavy social drinker with an annual serious holy cow party(meaning I enjoy to have a serious party/bender once a year). Marijuana is no where's close as dangerous as alcohol. I'm also in the process of quitting smoking cigarettes. To know that cigarettes have more chemicals in them then hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of marijuana, and they are completely legal disturbs me.
  My biggest issue though is the economy, though. If you look at the numbers, next to corn, marijuana is the single biggest cash crop in North America for one reason: the hundreds of uses for Cannabis and Hemp products. Beyond smoking it you can cook with it, you can weave, you can make paper, certain strains when the get big enough you can build with it. It's also the fastest growing cash crop currently, faster than corn, but it's completely black market. The amount of money that marijuana, hemp and cannabis plants could bring in alone, I truly believe within 5 years, our economy may see brighter days.
  If you don't believe the economic value, then I always push on the medical side. I personal see everyday a friend with MS go from completely immobile, to fully functional within minutes of her first puff. He symptoms are too severe to treat with standard medication, so she was convinced to try it, and it works. She still is unable to walk well, but to go from wheelchair to a walker just by smoking 1 joint, it's a surprising, miraculous event. I strongly urge everyone to read up on the changes it has made to peoples lives.
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  A comment on Conversation: How have you benefited from TED?

  Apr 22 2012: 1. How TED helps you
  
  I'm still fairly new to TED. I'm still discovering the rich ideas that people are so wonderful to share. TED has helped me in many ways though. Solving boredom, writers block, and my own emotional obstacles. It has helped me look at topics in different lights. It has even shown me that emotional, ideological and morality struggles that I am faced with every day as a career minded, business/IT minded woman + an activist/occupier is faced with every day are struggles that cross not only cultures but species (which was probably the most entertaining speech I've seen in a long time). TED has opened my eyes and my mind to new things that I knew in my gut were out there, but I wasn't articulate enough to find them!
  
  2. Why
  
  The creativity, the knowledge and the courage that people share amazes me. I think TED is part of the reason why I'm even more open to this. But not only that, I just found it at the right time in my life!
  
  
  3. What are the industries that we can change by TED Talks and contribution of TED Community.
  
  I think there are a lot of industries or communities you can change with TED. Activism is something I could see that could STRONGLY benefit from having TEDTalks (We do it every once in a while here; Stew, Wine and TED nights!). But I also see large corporations and government departments benefiting as well. It would be a great outlet and input for them to understand how public perception and even internal perception of their practices are.
  
  
  This isa wonderful question that I've actually been asking myself for the past couple of days. TED has become such a large part of my life(I'm worried almost) over the past couple of days. It's great to see others responses....If you haven't answered yet, how about yourself? And would your answer change on a daily basis/video basis?
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  A comment on Conversation: If you have chance to perform a TED talk , what topic you will choose?

  Apr 22 2012: I would discuss why being a teenage mom isn't the end of the road, and while you may struggle for some time to reach the goals you've always wanted to, why its important to stay true to those goals. I would speak with some personal accounts to have this message intertwined and hidden.