Gang Resistance Education and Training Essay

Gang Resistance Education and Training (G. R. E. A. T) is a national program that educates elementary and middle school children how to avoid becoming a gang member. The program is instructed by police officers and is part classroom instruction and other learning activities. â€Å"The goal of the GREAT program is to teach youth how to set goals for themselves, how to resist peer pressure, how to resolve conflicts, and how gangs can affect the quality of their lives. (Ramsey, Rust, & Sobel, 2003) The program also teaches the youth personal empowerment, among other things, that prevent them from getting into any gang activity. Originally the program was based off a nine lesson middle-school curriculum. The beginning of the G. R. E. A. T. program started in early 1992 in Arizona. The program was so successful that in 1993 it ballooned across the nation and was supported by congress as a part of the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm’s project outreach. G. R. E. A. T. became one of the primary prevention programs. In 1995, the G. R. E. A. T. Program underwent a comprehensive five-year longitudinal evaluation and study by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), in conjunction with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, to measure the impact of the program. † (Board, 2011) The report showed that those involved in the program had â€Å"lower rates of victimization, more negative views about gangs, more favorable attitudes toward law enforcement, reduced risk-seeking behaviors, and increased association with peers involved in prosocial activities. (Board, 2011) In 2000 the program underwent a curriculum review as a result of this review the program revised their core curriculum and used a random field trial where classrooms were randomly assigned to be control and test groups. The field test spanned thirty-one schools among seven cities and about four thousand students. The results showed that after one year, students from the test group had lower gang membership as compared to the control group. This was due to the lessons that the program was teaching the students. The lessons that G. E. A. T. mainly focused on provided life skills to student in order to make it possible for them to avoid violence and delinquent behavior. The program consists of thirteen, one hour sessions. The program is also facilitated by a summer program combined with a family training component. The main focus of this program was to keep the youth out of the criminal justice system. One of the benefits of the program was that the youth detention centers received less youth offenders arriving at their facility. This benefit is a result of educating the youth about gangs. Reactions to the term, gang, elicits a mixed response due to the media, music, movies, and personal experience. The questions that remain regarding the recruitment of gang membership are: why is the number of gang members raising when the information is out there about the violent and destructive behavior of the gangs? The other aspect that should be asked is why do prospective members overlook the violence that is required of them during a gang war with rival gangs. These questions can be answered by looking at how the gangs recruit. The success of the gang’s recruitment can also be their undoing. The success of a crime prevention program is higher when they are led by the students or peers. This is also how the gangs recruit, using the prospective members peer group to recruit them to join the gang. The prevention programs are shown to help the community by making the school safer, which ultimately gives the students an advantage in improving their chances to be successful and a contributing member of society. These programs also increase the social bonds like the ones seen in control theories and social learning. Recruiting gang members is a problem in America but this is only the start of the problem. One of the main problems identified in cities across the United States as it’s progressed to the twenty-first century is gang violence. A person can see a link between the individual’s interaction and the social learning theories with regards to gangs. This is why the goals of G. R. E. A. T. are to stop gang involvement, violence, and prevent youth crime. They do this by providing a pathway to develop relationships with their family, other young people, and most importantly law enforcement officials in order to create a safer environment for the youth. In order to make a bigger impact, the program is taught in two different school levels. The G. R. E. A. T. program is taught to the youth starting in elementary and continuing until middle school. The elementary program and middle school program are both skill based learning. The elementary program is designed as an introduction course to the middle school program. The elementary program sets the foundation that begins to teach the youth skills that are needed for the more intensive program that is taught in middle school. All of this is done while they develop the bond between the youth and law enforcement officials. These bonds continue to develop once the students move onto the middle school program. The curriculum of the middle school program is more in depth in an attempt to cement the good behaviors of the students. This is done by enhancing their knowledge of their actions and consequences. These courses are taught to the sixth and seventh grade students. They are based on scenarios in order to show the student how to avoid engaging in violent behavior. At the middle school level the youth should have a good foundation based on the elements of the program. This program would not be possible or successful without the devoted teachers. The classes are taught by specially trained law enforcement officials. These instructors learn how to teach the key skills that they will give the students. These skills help the youth to avoid joining gangs and refrain from getting in trouble with law enforcement. The G. R. E. A. T. rograms success is based on the fact that the officers that are associated with the program still commit time to the youth of the program the semester immediately following the training sessions. The G. R. E. A. T. program requires an enormous amount of obligation from the law enforcement officers. The officer’s commitment begins with a one or two week training program. This training requires the officer to prep heavily for the training out of the classroom environment. In order for the officers to receive their training certificate they much attend all the classroom sessions. The classroom portion of the training requires the officer’s to perform both informal and formal presentations to the class. The officers are also required to maintain standards, failure to maintain these standards are grounds for dismissal from the program. Another requirement of the officer is that their records and work history most be clear of any type of disciplinary incidents. The program is fairly successful, but there are concerns. The concerns about the program are that the youth by the time they are in the program have already been exposed to a lot of the activities that the program teaches to avoid. However, the ones that teach the program feel this is an invaluable program because any action to prevent criminal activity is worth it. This is a valued point, but only if they can get to the youth before they are completely corrupted. It is hard to break a habit that has been part of your life for a long time. That is why the earlier the youth is when entering into the program, the better the chances for change. â€Å"The impact of the intervention must obviously be measured when the delinquent behavior usually appears, that is, no earlier than preadolescence. Clearly, we must expect interventions that aim to change the course of human development will have long-term effects. † (Esbensen, Osgood, Taylor, Peterson, & Freng, 2001) During the program the youth learn that influences in and out of school cause them to do things that are not socially acceptable. It is at this moment when the officers know they can reach the youth and effect change. The program ultimately teaches the youth their good and bad behaviors, giving them an opportunity to identify their behavior and become productive members of their society. The younger youth are oblivious to the fact that their peers are convincing them to commit criminal acts. For this reason, the lessons taught in the elementary program is beneficial to prevent the manipulation of the youth. The youth are exposed to multiple topics that give them the needed skills to resist gang recruitment. The sessions are designed to be interactive which give the youth an opportunity to learn and practice good behaviors that will assist them throughout their lives. Both the elementary and middle school program share the same key aspects. One of the aspects of the G. R. E. A. T. rogram is the teaching of life skills which is what the main structure of the program is based on. â€Å"G. R. E. A. T. instruction focuses on providing life skills to students to help them avoid delinquent behavior and resorting to violence to solve problems. † (What is G. R. E. A. T.? , 2012) This program is designed to prevent youth violence, delinquency, and gang membership. These skills are important to be taught before the youth hits the desired age for the gangs to recruit and to prevent delinquency. The program also benefits communities that do not have gang problems by preventing youth violence and delinquency. The program attempts to stop the bad behavior of the youth by reaching them at an early stage of development. The earlier the interaction with the youth, the easier the transition is going to the middle school program. There are four components to the program which are taught in thirteen sessions. The components are the elementary program, middle school program, summer program, and family training. The elementary and middle school component are both integrated with National English language arts standards and national health education standing and is based on effective research practices. (Elementary School – G.  R. E. A. T. Program – Gang Resistance Education And Training, 2012) (Middle School – G. R. E. A. T. Program – Gang Resistance Education And Training & , 2012) The elementary program is intended for fourth and fifth grade students. This program gives the elementary and middle school students a better chance in preventing behavioral problems. Its success has ballooned over the years making it a national treasure as well as spreading outside of the United States. â€Å"Since the G. R. E. A. T. Program went nationwide in 1992, many law enforcement agencies and schools from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.  S. territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Canada, Central America, England, and military bases in Japan and Germany have implemented the program. † (Organization – G. R. E. A. T. Program – Gang Resistance Education And Training, 2012) The program is now being taught by the dedicated law enforcement officers in over 500 communities across the nation. The continued success of the program depends on the programs ability to maintain its â€Å"strong organizational structure to regulate decisions and program or curricula changes. † (Organization – G. R. E. A. T.  Program – Gang Resistance Education And Training, 2012) Since the program started in 1991, thousands of students have graduated from the program. G. R. E. A. T. has achieved great and expected positive results. â€Å"The evaluation survey was first administered to youths when they were in 7th grade and re-administered annually through 11th grade. Results show that G. R. E. A. T. was able to successfully change several risk factors (e. g. , peer group associations and attitudes about gangs, law enforcement, and risk-seeking behaviors) associated with delinquency and gang membership. (Esbensen, 2004) The reason for the success of this program is the dedication of the program to elicit the change of the students. They do this by teaching the youth the social skills that lead them into feeling confident enough to be able to refuse to participate in their previous delinquent behaviors and become a contributing member of society. The continued success of the program relies on many things. The future of the program depends on the commitment of the law enforcement officials who run it. If the pattern continues since the inception of the program, the program will continue to gain steam and grow stronger. The changes that should be implemented to the program are small tweaks, but would improve its success. The first change that should be implemented is the program should start the youth in the program at a younger age. This would ensure that the youth would gain skills to avoid the gangs before they experience any gang activities. This would ultimately ensure the youths success in gaining the skills to refuse the gangs advances and delinquent behaviors. Other aspects of the program should include ride along programs, jail or prison visits, and make the youth more active in the middle school program. Gaining these aspects will give the youth the feel of responsibility as well as teach them where continuation of their actions could lead them eventually if they do not change their ways. The results from the program show that the students that have gone through the program have shown a more optimistic feeling about law enforcement officials. The kids that are enrolled in the G. R. E. A.  T program develop an understanding that make the gangs less a desirable life and give them skills to reject gang membership. The youth that are enrolled in the program have shown a resistance to the pressures from their peers and are less likely to act out with violence. The youth also find a way to disassociate with the peers that originally led them to begin their delinquent behavior. The youth find themselves exerting less anger and those that graduate from the program have low affiliation to gangs. The G. R. E. A. T. program is very successful at helping youth resist gangs.

Religion and spirituality Essay

As Table 4 indicates, the members of admin body (100%) concur that the elderly engaged in religious activities and they did have their own personal devotions. All of them perceived this was a powerful means of coping for the elderly at this point of their life. According to them (67%), the elderly took pride in considering themselves to be religious, and 83% of them observed that prayer or spirituality was a source of strength and peace. The administrators report what the elderly had shared with them at different occasions: The devotion to Mary (the recitation of rosary in the chapel) keeps me busy the whole day†¦I hardly get time to think about the pain on my knees†¦and as pray for all of them†¦my children and grandchildren I know God will keep them safe. Even if I don’t to get to see them it is alright†¦let them be well and happy. I attend mass daily morning and evening†¦if I’m alright. It is there actually we get the strength. Even if I don’t feel alright I go to chapel and spend time there†¦it is so healing†¦after all, all of us (the elderly) have our own burden†¦of the past and the present. So it is a place to unburden all those. God is kind†¦He sees everything. Though life here is comfortable†¦everything is provided†¦we are alone†¦we have only God. Discussion Concept of Subjective Well-Being among the Institutionalized Aged: Administrators’ Viewpoint The findings suggest that the concept of subjective well being among the elderly as perceived by their administrators could be defined as the experience of being at home with their past, at ease with the present and at peace with the future including the inevitable death through a willing surrender to God. It goes with the definition of well-being adopted for the purpose of the present study. Accordingly, well-being is the pervasive sense that life has been and is good. It is an ongoing perception that this time in one’s life, or even life as a whole, is fulfilling, meaningful, and pleasant (Myers, 1993). These findings further ties up with Veenhoven’s (2000) contention that as happiness denotes an ‘overall’ evaluation of life and this appraisal of life can concern different periods in time: how life has been, how life is now, and how life will probably be in future. As perceived by administrators, the elderly at Gladys Spellman believe that when one has no regrets about the past and that they have lived a meaningful life, and having done one’s duties in life, they are at home with the past. This concept of well-being is supported by Butler et al. (1973; 1998), and Knight (1996) that the feeling that one has left undone those things which one ought to have done; and one has done those things which one ought not to have done could lead to sense of guilt, which would negatively affect the sense of well-being. Similarly, when they have satisfaction with the the present stage of life including the acceptance of the pain of growing old and physical decline or to put it differently, when they feel at ease with the present in the given situation, they expereince a sort of contentment and peace in their life. According to Knight (1996) and Butler et al. (1998), the elderly who go through life review and address the unresolved issues in the past (Erickson, 1963) like a righting of old wrongs, making up with enemies, coming to acceptance of mortal life, having a sense of serenity and quietitude, pride in accomplishments, and having a feeling of having done one’s best. And finally, when they are at ease with the future, they experience wellbeing. That is when they are not anxious about what is to come and not distressed about but reconciled with the final reality of death, which primarly comes from their willing surrender to God and absolute trust in Him. According to Westgate (1996), it is the spiritual dimension which is an innate component of human functioning that acts to integrate the other components, and relationship with God forms the foundation of their psychological well-being (Mackenzie et al. , 2000).

OPM300 - Intro. to Operations Mgmt. SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

OPM300 - Intro. to Operations Mgmt. SLP - Essay Example Here the company has provided the customers with an option to pay for the orders online without having to pay by cash. The company has also been noted for entering into an online auction business in China (Binary Bits). The online auctions provide the customers with a chance to buy several different products like consumer electronics, cosmetics and also food items. The company has used the ecommerce solution for the purchases and has also focused on improving the restaurant performance by buying products as well. The company also allows the customers make online orders to save time while picking up the order (Steiner). This is very beneficial considering the fast lifestyle in China. The company has also begun delivery service in China. Ecommerce Competitive Advantage: Ecommerce can provide a wide range of competitive advantage for the company. Firstly, the use of the ecommerce systems will allow the company to effectively streamline the supply chain and also improvise on the current processes to ensure that the purchases are of the highest standards (Steiner). Secondly, using the Ecommerce website allows the company to develop better business to business relations as well as better business to customer relations as well. Here the company reach out to a wider range of audiences and provide the service to them as well.

Disc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Disc - Essay Example 1 book (246), there is a gender bias that exists in virtually every aspect of science instruction This results in the under-representation of women in related industries, including education, which only serves to further the problem. Methods to overcome this issue must therefore be focused on removing the bias from the classroom, rather than attempting to eliminate a non-existent weakness among females. This is no easy task, as inequality has permeated practically all fields of science and math, requiring the evaluation of everything from the delivery of education to the validity of the information that is presented. Removing the gender bias in classroom science can (and should) be addressed in many ways. Including a feminist pedagogy to the instruction approach will help to identify problem areas that need to be altered, while ensuring equal considerations to famous females in the field provides a tactical approach. These methods should help all students by setting the example that they do not need to fit a particular stereotype in order to succeed in science and

Ethical Business Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethical Business Behavior - Essay Example The bottom line is that the conceptual framework in the organization is laid upon the ethical framework. This study would include assessment of two famous organizations called Anglo American and Primark on the basis of their ethical practices. Ethical business practice is like a hot selling cake in the global market, but the question is that how many organizations are following them too. Formulation is easy, but implementation, control, monitoring and evaluation of the same are tough and require knowledge and expertise (Svensson, & Wood, 2011, p. 2-3). The study would begin with a brief overview of business ethics in organization and its significance, further leading to detailed description of the essay structure. In the body, a comprehensive discussion regarding the ethical business behavior has been presented, followed by ethical business practices of Anglo American and Primark. Furthermore, a cost benefit analysis has been drawn to show that how ethical business practices benefit organizations and reduce cost. In order to support the view point, Svennson & Woods’ Model has been utilized to throw light on other facade of ethics and its importance in business. Finally a conclusion has been included to summarize the learning and to highlight the key areas from the study. Ethical Business Behavior of Organizations - Anglo American and Primark Most of the newspapers are filled with the names of those executives or organizations that follow unethical practices. Companies like Tyco International, Global Crossing, Parmalat, Systembolaget, WorldCom, Qwest, Arthur Andersen, Barings Bank, Enron, and Skandia (Carroll and Meeks, 1999) have all come to eminence on immoral grounds. Across the world it has been seen that eminent personalities, highly influential people, etc have faced issues due to their unethical practices. The word ethics has many nuances. It basically deals with the enquiry of morality and setting grounds based on the morality to make judgment, st andards, or code of conduct. Business ethics deals with standards, principles or values which draws the line between wrong and right organizational practices (The Times Newspaper, 2011, p. 1-2). Ethical misconduct has become a major issue in the organization nowadays. The resource center for ethics, National Business Ethical Survey (NBES), has conducted a survey among 3000 US employees in order to collect reliable data on the ethical practices of the organizations. It was found that about 49 percent employees reported to have seen at least one type of misconduct was surely seen in their organization. About 63 percent of the employees reported about such misconduct to the management (Ferrell, & Fraderich, 2012, p. 8). The results depicted that almost all the organization were the victims of unethical practices. Ethical business practices comprises of assuring that the maximum lawful and ethical standards in case of maintaining relationships with the organization and its people (Anglo American, n. d.). Anglo American is an American mining company, who are highly committed to follow the ethical business standards for conducting business. They also include their employees in their campaign of following ethics in business. Even the stakeholders of the company are not exempted from the policy of ethical business practices of the company. The company has independent whistle-blowing facilities for both internal and external stakeholders of t

Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

Business Environment - Essay Example It has Banks, supermarket, local supermarkets, online services and stores. LE-PEST C analysis comprises of legal, environmental, political, economical, social, technological and competitive analysis. It is important to analyse the how Sainsbury Company services are being influenced by all these external features. First of all, it is guided by the need to provide the best services to its customers and to ensure that their shareholders earn high financial returns every year. Moreover, it is employee oriented as its goal is to have well rewarded employees who can have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and abilities on the activities they provide for the company. The company also aims at building a very strong relationship with its suppliers. This will definitely ensure that the needs of the customers are highly satisfied. The total number of stores owned is 301 and 455 supermarkets that serve approximately sixteen million people weekly. It has approximately 148000 employees whose work is to deliver food and other products at a very fair price (Killgre n, 2007, pp.34-75). The LE-PEST C analysis recognises the importance of the legal sector in influencing how companies operate. The legal sector can either reduce the competitive nature of a company or increase it. It lays down strict rules to ensure that the general public is safe from any substandard goods and services. The Sainsbury Company has not been left behind as the government of the UK has had a history of strengthening laws that are linked to drinks and foods. The rules target how products are packaged and labelled. Because food and drinks are very sensitive goods and they can cause a lot of destructions in an economy, then it is very important to package food using the right containers to avoid contamination. This helps in enhancing public health. Labelling laws are made to avoid counterfeit goods thus a

Chasing Che Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Chasing Che - Research Paper Example Another theme well presented in the book and one which will be focused on in the paper is the theme of poverty that is very widespread from the text and brings itself out on many occasions. Coming back from medical school, Che had had a very great life and enjoyed each day that he had spent studying. This was not only because he was very steadfast but also from the fact that everything that he had needed and was using was availed to him readily1. There was water in abundance and he used to have a very reputable and diet food. This was sure to keep him healthy and delighted all the time. However, the situation changed as soon as he was through with his education and went back to his home town. The area was a mess and he found it very hard to cope with the conditions there. The change was rather drastic for him and his friend and thus they sat down and devised a plan on how to get the conditions back on track. Che thought it through as he carried on his day to day activities back at ho me and with the help of his close friend decided to take a trip across the country in an effort to bring back the so much required revolution. The essence of the revolution was so as to get the economic condition of the country stable so that the adverse conditions of his village could reduce significantly if not come to an end2. The poverty in the country is brought to focus when the effects of having the fuel for the journey as quite a large hustle. This is clearly defined in the manner through which Che complains of lack of enough money to travel throughout the country. Che was a very instrumental man and had decided to give up everything for the success of his journey. The fact that as trained doctor he was having problems with finances was a clear indication of how deplorable the conditions of the country were. When he had left the hometown, he was very sure that with proper education he would gain employment but this was not the subsequent case. Fidel Castro was the leader of Cuba at the time. He was a very corrupt head and did not play by the book but rather went on his own way as he continued ruling the country3. His corruption was witnessed from the manner through which people from his country varied greatly economically. A section of people dwelt in palaces and expensive mansions while another section of the people actually survived in areas that were overcome by poverty and did not have all the resources that they required. The corruption was as much as he did not actually care anymore what the people thought but rather went on to live his life in a fancy manner. The people stated to be living lavish lives were close friends and family of the leader. The uneven spread of resources made other places become poorer than others and this was the major reason as to why Che set out on the journey in an effort to change this. Che decided to take a motorcycle ride all around the country without caring a lot of whether he would succeed or not but rather all t hat he wanted was to have in mind that he had tried his best. The theme of poverty clearly shapes itself from the first few kilometers that Che and his friend took while navigating the country. This was because of the vast amount of problems they had with

Assignment week 3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Week 3 - Assignment Example A defendant is overwhelmed by his attorney s references to legal code numbers and statute paragraphs. He does not understand what these terms mean. The communication between these two parties suffers from __________. After reading the articles entitled, â€Å"Read, At Rilers, a Roadblock to Reform† and â€Å"Experience NIC’s Blended Leadership for Captains† as well as watching the video â€Å"Roselinde Torres: What it takes to be a great leader†, what leadership issues do you envision addressing as senior management of a correctional facility? What steps would you endorse and implement to address those chosen issues? Do not forget to provide applicable examples from the articles and video in your response.----- The leadership issue that should be envisioned is that the senior manahgement should be bold in order to avoid compromising their authenticity. They should exercise their full authority in order to obtain the desired goals. During the course of a raid, communication between SWAT team members suffered as excessive static overwhelmed radios. Within the communication process, this static can be viewed as ________ since it interfered with the communication. A correctional officer is upset with the way shifts are scheduled. He decides to air a grievance with the correctional sergeant and provide feedback about the way the sergeant is scheduling work. The officers communication is best considered ________. A training academy instructors trains new recruits on the legal code by communicating to them the relevant laws/statutes that they should be aware of. The training academy instructor, in this example, is the ________ in the communication process. A prison warden regularly consults with her staff regarding key policy decisions, soliciting their input and asking them to vote on major changes. This

Howard Gardner Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Howard Gardner - Research Paper Example As a result of further research Gardener and his colleagues have stated that there could be an addition of another 3 possible intelligences to the initial list of seven (Smith, 2002, 2008). The presence of one kind of intelligence is determined from several perspectives or criteria which were drawn from several fields such as biology, logical reasoning and various psychological factors. With this he concluded that every child whether normal, mentally or physically challenged will have their unique set of intelligences in which they will shine and both teachers and parents will have to employ a broad range of learning methods in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a child. Thus with his research on multiple intelligences Gardener sought to bring about a change in the system of learning with focus on the inherent abilities and interest of a child so that they will be able to pursue their interests and not succumb to external factors such as peer pressure (What are Multipl e Intelligences? n.d). ... e candidate intelligences in an individual include: the potential for brain isolation by brain damage, presence of an evolutionary history or possibility, a set of identifiable core operations, susceptibility to encoding, distinct developmental progression in which there is a defined end-state performance, the existence of idiot-savants, prodigies and other such unique individual, and aided with suitable support from psychological experiments and other psychometric findings (Gilman, 2001; Smith, 2002, 2008). The seven intelligences initially included in the MI theory are linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Of the seven the first two intelligences namely linguistic and logical have been used in the school curriculum to assess the language and reasoning skills of the students. The linguistic intelligence is the ability to read, write and effectively communicate in a language. Through this an individual should be able to express themselves and accomplish their set goals. The logical-mathematical reasoning is the ability to reason and analyze scientific issues and mathematical problems. The next three intelligences are associated with performing arts as they involve a coordination of the mind and the body. The musical intelligence includes performance, composition or listening skills in music. Understanding the musical pattern will enable an individual to compose pitches, rhythms and tones. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence involves the effective use of bodily parts to perform an action. For example athletes, dancers and medical surgeons and craftsman have a high capacity for this intelligence. According to Gardener, this intelligence includes both the mind and the physical body as activities are performed

Health and Safety in the Workplace Essay Example for Free

Health and Safety in the Workplace Essay Health and Safety play a very important role in the workplace today. Many organizations take the responsibility of their employees’ safety and health seriously due to the various affects that could stem from a lack of providing a safe work environment. During the 20th century our nation has become a world leader in setting an example for the world involving the workers right to a safe and healthy environment. Because of the various laws and research conducted in the United States, there have been countless number of accidents that have been prevented and thousands of lives saved because of awareness. I, being a Safety Coordinator and a workplace accident survivor, know firsthand the importance of safety in the workplace and the negative outcome for employees and organizations that do not practice a safe work environment. I would like to take this time to give a little information on my personal experience on workplace accidents and the importance of safety in that environment. In 2007 I was employed as a bridge carpenter working for a large construction company in Biloxi, MS. As a bridge carpenter is was exposed to many dangerous and high risk situations that put my life at risk on an everyday basis. I felt this company actually cared about the safety of their employees. We were provided with every piece of safety equipment that was needed to perform our job as safely as possible. The equipment was fairly new and OSHA approved. If it was found to be inadequate, it was immediately removed out of service and either fixed or replaced. Not to mention every morning we conducted toolbox safety meeting and equipment inspections. This particular day of my near fatal accident, we were setting rebar cages for columns maybe 30 to 40 feet in height. It was my responsibility to climb the cage, after it was set on the footer with a crane, to unhook the rigging from the crane. I had all the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) on and the cage had been secured at th e bottom by come along rigging devices. As I climbed the cage and Unhooked the rigging from the crane, the cage began to sway from side to side. Before I could start my descent, the cage and myself still attached to it with three different positioning, fell in the water, which by the way was the Gulf of Mexico. As my feet touched the bottom I began to panic and fight to free myself by unhooking myself from the cage. Several of my co workers jumped in the water to rescue me, but they were unable to locate my body. But they were able to locate the cage I was attached to. Thanks to quick thinking they were able to hook the crane cables back to the cage and hoist the cage and I out of the water successfully. But by this time I was not breathing and had no pulse. They lowered me on a crew boat and began to perform CPR. The CPR was unsuccessful so they began to take me to the dock where the ambulance was awaiting my arrival. During the time of the boat ride, I suddenly began to cough up water and slowly came to my senses. I was taken to the hospital and was blessed that I did not sustain any major injuries. During the accident investigation it was found that the cage we were setting was not the correct one for that particular footing and one of the come along holding it in place was functioning properly to catch the cage as it began to fall. This is when I actually began to take workplace safety seriously and start my career in that field. During the course of this paper it is my intent to present key components of workplace safety and health and provide new insight and personal experience that has and will affect my career and personal life and lives of those around me. The Role of Safety and Health in the Workplace Workplace safety is the practice of an employer using preventative measures to prevent hazards to the employees health and personal safety. This practice includes creating plans and procedures for employees and managers in the workplace. In addition, workplace safety involves creating policies and keeping emergency materials available for employee and manager use while at a work site. Workplace safety has caused strikes, contract negotiations and concerns among the different labor unions. These groups have negotiated union contracts and initiated lawsuits on behalf of workers who have an unsafe workplace. The Union Auto Workers created Workers Memorial Day as a day to honor workers who are killed on the job in the United States. David Micheals, the new head of OSHA, made this profound statement â€Å"these catastrophic events are powerful reminders of the risks faced by workers across the country every day. Fourteen workers die on the job each day, far from the headlines, often noted only by their families, friends, and co-workers.† (Markowitz Rosner, 2011, p.26) Manufacturing jobs are heavily mentioned on this day due to the dangers of operating machinery or equipment. Workplace safety in many businesses requires additional training for the employees and management. This can include a lecture by an expert, hand-on training or a tour of the grounds and materials. For example, an employee whose job requires the use of a machine is not only trained to use the machine, but he is typically trained on how to operate machinery to avoid injury, dismemberment or death. The employee can also be trained on what to do if a co-worker injures herself on the job. As I stated in the introduction of this paper, I know firsthand the importance of safety and health in the workplace. By understanding the role of workplace safety and its history, employers and employees are able to apply these safety concepts to their everyday work related routines. I have learned that workplace safety and health reach far beyond the OSHA Act of 1970. Safety involves adopting a way of thinking and a way of functioning in all environments. Organizations such as unions have fought for workers right to a safety and healthy work environment. The campaigns they have fought so diligently to win have proven to be effective in fighting diseases like tuberculosis, typhoid, and smallpox that not only for the workplace but also for the general public. (Markowitz Rosner, 2011, p.27) Occupational Safety and Health Administration In 1970 Congress passed into law The Occupational Safety and Health Act which formed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or (OSHA). This act â€Å"declared that every worker is entitled to safe and healthful working conditions, and that employers are responsible for work being free from all recognized hazards†.(Silverstein, 2008, p.416) Even forty years later, many people still do not believe that OSHA is up holding the standard in workplace safety and health for which it was designed to do. Today a worker still becomes injured or sick from a dangerous job every 2.5 seconds plus a worker dies from a workplace injury or illness every 8 minutes. The National Institute for Occupational Safety, also known as NIOSH, has authority for workplace safety and health matters at federal workplace locations. In the federal workplace environment, NIOSH has an enforcement authority that corresponds to the authority OSHA exercises over workplaces operated by private sector emplo yers. In some instances, state-run programs supersede OSHA authority, and the Occupational and Safety and Health Act of 1970 encourages the development and operation by individual states of workplace safety and health programs. However, to qualify for this exemption to OSHA authority, a state-run program must establish standards and enforcement criteria that match or exceed the effectiveness of the federal OSHA program. As of April 2010, 26 states and U.S. territories have such programs in place with 23 of those 26 covering state and local government workplaces as well as workplaces operated by private sector employers. The Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 established mandatory health and safety standards and directed the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Secretary of Labor to create improved health and safety standards to protect the health and welfare of coal miners in the U.S. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) established a national minimum wage, guaranteed time-and-a-half for overtime in certain types of jobs, and prohibited employers from hiring minors. Today the FLSA helps to enforce and protect the rights and wages of non-exempt employees. I do not have much experience working directly with OSHA but as an OSHA outreach trainer, I have become accustom to understand the importance and impact they can and do have in a workplace environment. Working as a safety coordinator for several different contractors has given me an insight as to how some organizations adhere to OSHA regulations and how other organizations do not. With this insight and from knowledge gained from this course, I see that we still need stay focused on continuous safety awareness and to ensure OSHA enforces the laws and regulations for violators. By understanding the history and the need for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in our society, I have a greater enthusiasm to perform my job functions as a safety coordinator at a higher level and expect the people around me to adhere to the same level of faithfulness. Safety Issues In The Workplace Safety issues are an important topic in todays workplace, especially with the rise in accidents in places of work and business. Accidents may often be small, but they can also lead to life-altering results such as mutilation and even death. The most common type of safety issue in workplaces relates to tripping and falling, however, there are many other causes to be considered. An organization with a superior policy for dealing with safety issues should be considering topics such as ergonomics and the arrangement of the space so that the tasks best fit the people who complete them. In this discussion the focus will be on three in particular which are repetitive stress injuries, workplace stress, and substance abuse. In today’s society, there are many jobs that require sitting at a work station all day. Employees that perform these types of jobs run a higher risk of being injured by chronic and repetitive motion task, like typing on a keyboard, eyestrains, lifting or movement in juries, poor ergonomics or workstation accidents. (Lowe, 2012, p.104) Majority of musculoskeletal injuries and pain affecting office workers are a result of sitting for long periods in the same position performing the same or repetitive motions. I have learned that the key to prevention and treatment of these problems is reducing muscle and tendon overuse. A great method to reduce these injuries from happening would be massage therapy. Massage therapy allows the tendons to release pressure that has built up throughout the day or work hours. Another treatment method would be employees do daily stretches at their workstation. When I began working as a carpenter, every morning we would start the day out by doing a series of stretches to loosen our muscle the same way an individual would if they were preparing to exercise. Work related stress is another major safety issue that affects the workplace. Workplace stressors like interpersonal conflict and work overload can have a profound effect on the health of an organization’s employees. â€Å"Findings indicate that work overload and interpersonal conflict mediate the impact of role stress on emotional exhaustion, job attitudes, and behaviors.† (Boles, Jaramillo, Mulki, 2011, p.329) Interpersonal conflict happens due to the negative social interactions between co-workers in the workplace. Also interpersonal conflict is one of the most important stressors at work due to the effect it has on employees’ emotions and their ability to work as a team. Work overload is the employees’ perception that the job is placing excessive work demands on them. In today’s workforce employees are pressured to deliver greater output while using fewer resources. Overloaded individuals often experience feelings of impatience and being rushed, which in turn affects the quality of their interactions with co-workers. â€Å"Because of rising unemployment rates, layoff survivors are more likely to experience larger workloads because they now perform both their former workload and that of those who left.† (Boles, Jaramillo, Mulki, 2011, p.329) From my experience interpersonal conflict and work overload can have a big impact on the health of all employees with no regard to title, pay grade, or seniority. These stressors can cause emotional, mental, and physical health issues for all they affect. Through newly found knowledge, I have gained a greater understanding of the effects that workplace stress can have on an organization’s employees and how they interact with one another. Organizations can counteract these stressors by providing additional support to individuals who are being affected by these workplace stressors and conducting workload/interpersonal conflict evaluations bi annually. â€Å"Handling problems of substance use and abuse at work are some of the most challenging issue s confronting employers.† (Dwoskin, 2012, p. 32) The law requires employers to provide a safe, healthy and productive work environment to employees, but it also requires employers accommodate the needs of substance abusing employees. This could cause a conflict, because the substance abusing employees may be causing the health and safety issues in the workplace. Employers have the right to insist on a drug and alcohol free workplace and to take disciplinary action against individuals who violate the zero tolerance rules. Under the law â€Å"employers may hold alcoholics and recovering addicts to the same performance standards as other employees.† (Dwoskin, 2012, p.32) This means that employees that abuse drugs and alcohol may be discharged or held to disciplinary action based on tardiness, absenteeism, and poor job performance. But on the other hand, the ADA says they cannot be discriminated against if they are found to be disabled. The ADA defines discrimination as â€Å"not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability† (Dwoskin, 2012, p.34) During the course of my research of this particular issue, I learned effect that substance abuse in the workplace can have on the safety of that individual and the people around them. I also learned that in certain situations that a person abusing drugs and alcohol can be protected by the ADA if they are found to be disabled and the employer must accommodate their disability in the workplace. I have known several instances where employees have failed random drug screens and have been able to keep their jobs. But in those instances the employer required the employee to seek professional help in dealing with their addiction. Safety Programs â€Å"A safety program can best be described as a dynamic set of intervention activities implemented at a worksite where the aim is to prevent incidents and accidents at the workplace† (Bjerkan, Olsen, Naevestad, 2009, p.391) These safety programs are usually comprised of activities such as safety training, equipment and housekeeping inspections, safety meetings, and safe behavior observations. There are five key components to a properly structured safety incentive program. The first component involves using an entire campaign to promote your program by building teamwork thru interaction with the employees. The next component is establishing an award vehicle that should be handed out weekly. The third component states to award employees with merchandise rather than money. Usually when employees receive money as a reward they tend to forget the reward and wee the money went to. But when an employee is rewarded with merchandise, they can recall how they received it and this enco urages them to win again. The fourth component says to promote the program using items such as posters, caps, balloons, newsletters, flyers, parties, and company drawings. The last component states to make everyone a winner. It might seem to cost more, but it will pay off in the long run by promoting the idea that everyone that practices safety in the workplace is a winner. Wellness is a lifestyle that encourages good physical and mental health. It is a balanced lifestyle that includes an emphasis on the body, mind and spirit. Wellness Programs were created to encourage all faculty, staff, and retirees to live healthier lifestyles and create a culture of health throughout the organization. Workplace wellness includes organizational policies designed to facilitate employee health including allowing flex time for exercise, providing on-site kitchen and eating areas, offering healthy food options in vending machines, holding â€Å"walk and talk† meetings, and offering financial and other incentives for pa rticipation, among many other options. In the course of researching safety programs, I have learned new techniques that will enhance my knowledge in designing safety programs in the future. Working of several different companies has allowed me to be exposed to different types of safety incentive programs. I have seen what does work and also what does not work. During the course of this paper it was my intention to present key components of workplace safety and health and provide new insight and personal experience that has and will affect my career and personal life and lives of those around me. By exploring the role of safety and health in the workplace I have gained greater understanding of its history. I can now assist employers and employees to apply these safety concepts to their everyday work related routines. In researching OSHA, I discovered a greater knowledge of the importance of the OSHA Act of 1970 and the administrative offices that have developed from the Act. Offices such as OSHA and NIOSH were established to up hold the laws and standards set by the OSHA Act in the workplace. My knowledge has grown during the development of this paper which has allowed me to view different aspects of safety and health that I previously did not have knowledge of. References Dwoskin, L.L. (2012). Substance Abuse in the Workplace: ADA and FMLA Issues to Consider, Part II. Employee Benefit Plan Review, 66(8), 32-38 Jaramillo, F., Mulki, J., Boles, J. S. (2011). WORKPLACE STRESSORS, JOB ATTITUDE, AND JOB BEHAVIORS: IS INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT THE MISSING LINK? Journal of Personal Selling Sales Management, 31(3), 339-356 Lowe, W. (2012). Keying Into Office Worker Injuries. Massage Bodywork, 27(4), 104-107 Markowitz, G., Rosner, D. (20110. FROM THE TRIANGLE FIRE TO THE BP EXPLOSION: A Short History of the Century-Long Movement for Safety and Health. New Labor Forum (Murphy Institute), 20(1), 26-32. Doi10.4179/NLF.201.0000005 Moran, R.E. (2012). WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH: Better OSHA Guidance Needed On Safety Incentive Programs. GAO Reports, 1-46 Olsen, E., Bjerkan, A., Naevestad, T. (2009). Modeling the effects of a large-scale safety Culture programme: a combined qualitative and quantitative approach. Journal Of Risk research, 12 Silverstein, M. (2008). Getting Home Safe and Sound: Occupational Safety and Health Administration at 38: American Journal Of Public Health, 98(3), 416-423 Stanley, J. (2012). Osha’s Warning on Safety Incentive Programs Are Wide of the Mark. EHS Today; Vol. 5 Issue 10, p. 63-64

A Teacher | An Educational Experience

A Teacher | An Educational Experience Many times, when we are young, we are faced with decisions that we can only understand as we grow older. I can still remember that game, where my parents chose different things each representing a different job, and I had to pick one of them. This was supposed to indicate the road I was going to take as an adult and the work I was going to deal with. The one thing I chose that time was a stethoscope, which meant I was going to study to become a doctor. As I grew older, many things changed and even my ideas became different from time to time. Now I find myself reading a four year course in teaching, and I would definately have never imagined myself as a teacher. Discussion Our professional life is something, which I think, cannot be decided when we are still young and without any experience. It is often affected by factors which are out of our control, and shaped by different experiences we go through in our life. Way back through my secondary years, I used to imagine myself as a pilot or becoming an air-hostess, following my fathers footsteps. I always loved planes and I remember telling my friends that once I finish school, I was going to work on a plane and start flying often. It all changed when I had to chose the subjects I wanted to broaden my studies on. We had a good variety of choices, amongst which sciences, maths, languages, and an option including physical education and home economics. This option was new to the school and it was introduced to the students of our year, so we were the first to experiment in this. I was quite undecided on what to choose as sciences and maths were not my favourite, and I was left with languages and the other option of physical education. Obviously I seeked my parents advice, and they were not quite keen on me choosing physical education, so they encouraged me to take the option regarding languages. Despite this, I opted in choosing physical education. At the beginning of the scholastic year, when I was in Form 2, the school employed a new physical education teacher, who was very young, fresh and enthusiastic on teaching new students. My life at school was very sedentary and I rarely used to attend to physical education lessons, because the teacher we had was very traditional. She used to give us a ball and let us experiment on our own each and every lesson. Otherwise, she also used to prepare lessons with about four (4) or five (5) different exercises and we had to spend the whole lesson practising the given skills. This new teacher was different, I remember the very first lesson where I told her I was not going to take part because I did not want to, and she insisted on me helping her out throughout the lesson. The lesson was an introduction to football, something which I previously had never done. She literally caught my attention, as without even realising, I was taking part in the lesson with the whole class. It was so interesting and challenging, using games in order to make us think and experience the skill, rather than just giving it out. This teacher believed a lot in learning through experience, in order to help the students think and arrive to a conclusion. From that day onwards, my view on the physical education lessons totally changed, and there was not one lesson I did not fully participate in. As Dewey (1897) claims I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. Agreeing to what Dewey states, learning and education are social and interactive processes, where the school is the institution which helps the child interact with the curriculum and learn through real, guided experiences. He compares two (2) extremes, that are the traditional method against the progressive method of teaching. The first one (traditional) is more of an authoritarian and strict approach, where the teacher focuses on delivering the curriculum, with not enough understanding of the students experiences. The second method (progressive) is free, student-directed and uses the students experiences to enable them to learn. Going back to my primary years, I remember how I used to hate physical education because the teacher was very traditional and used to gives us a ball and kind of dictate the skills that had to be practised, in order to stick to the syllabus content. This used to get annoying, with very minimal learning, and for this reason I always used to opt out in taking part and stay wandering around. This was only until the school employed the new teacher, and with her the lessons were so different. They were fun, progressive, and educational at the same time, introducing a variety of sports to us and teaching us numerous skills and games which we had never done in years. Recalling these years made me understand how I wanted to become that teacher who makes the students love the subject and guide them to learn through their own experience, being able to understand the skills. I did not want to become the traditional teacher, as Dewey claims, who gives a ball to the students and its like sending a clear message I do not care in doing the lesson. The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences. (Dewey, 1987). In physical education, students tend to ask for playing games rather than having a lesson focused on drills and skill practise. A very good method I have been introduced to at University is the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), and our lecturers emphasize its use in schools. Throughout my teaching practice I realised it is very effective and endorses students in a thinking process, because rather than focusing on how to do it (main importance is given to the techniques practised), it addresses the why and the what if (students have to think of skils and strategies for better play). As Griffin and colleagues (1997) suggest, it helps in encouraging the students to respond with a range of creative actions, being able to critically think and make their own decisions. Students are thus able to develop a deeper meaning and understanding of what they are being taught, and be able to decide and use information in a variety of situations. Concording to Dewey: the true centre of correlation of the school subjects is not science, nor literature, nor history, nor geography, but the childs own social activities. (Dewey, 1987). Applying this method in my teaching practice, turned out very well and also made me realise that teaching is a drawing forth rather than a telling. Teaching does not have to be a dictatorship, or else giving only importance to what lies within the curriculum. If students prefer learning through games, than use games to deliver the content, but in a way that encourages students to learn and not push them away in disliking the subject. For example, taking physical education again and focusing the lesson on basketball; if the aim of the lesson is introduce passing, I would start the lesson by a ball possession game, where the students have to make five (5) consecutive passes to be able to score a point. In this manner, students are playing a game, practising passing between each other, and also being able to think and understand that in order to score a point they need to move about and create open spaces. Obviously, in contrast to the I want you to stay in pairs and pass the ball to each other traditional method, this progressive approach allows the students to think and experience the skills. As a future educator, I also believe that students need to be guided in order to be able to discover new knowledge. Socrates established a very important notion of philosophy, that is arriving at truth through a series of questions. He used to question man in the street himself to arrive at political and ethical truths. He also questioned his students, as a means of instruction to engage them in thinking a problem and arriving at a critical conclusion. Nowadays, this so called Socratic Method, is very much used by teachers to stimulate learning in students. It focuses on the students knowledge to address a given problem, and learning is through a process of critical thinking and discovery, and not by having the teacher telling the student the proper answer. It is through the use of questioning methods, that students are encouraged to think and analyse a given situation. In teaching this is what is known to be as the guided-discovery method, where the process is triggered off by a series of stimuli. These can range from small statements to questions that elicit discovery. The questions might then proceed in small steps, until the student discovers the wanted target or concept through own knowledge and experience. An example drawn from a particular lesson I had during my teaching practice last year, where a student was finding it difficult to hit the ball, as the lesson was about softball (very similar to the baseball game). Instead of just teling her she had to swing the bat earlier, I started to ask her a series of questions to make her think about what she was doing wrong. The first question First I asked her why wasnt she able to hit the ball, and her answer was that she was swinging earlier than the ball. To this I then invited her to think why she was swinging early, and she came to a conclusion that it was happening because she was not timing the ball correctly. Thus, automatically she realised that she needed to wait a bit more before swinging the bat. After a couple of times practising the swing, she managed to hit the ball. I could have easily told her to wait for the ball before swinging, but in this manner the student managed to arrive to the conclusion through her own experience a nd by critically thinking and analysing the problem. Conclusion In a learning community, learners construct their own knowledge, and then share it with the whole society through: collaboration as an act of shared creation/and or shared discovery. (Schrage, 1990). This is important, as in a world where technology is prevailing: it is not possible for the individual to understand the complexities of this modern age without drawing on and accepting the contribution of others. (Schrage, 1990). A teacher is definately essential in helping the learner construct his or her own knowledge. Undoubtedly, a teacher also has great responsibility in preparing the students well for their careers and lives, and it is important to note that without the teacher, jobs such as those of a doctor, lawyer, auditor and so on, could not be taken as one needs to be taught before taking up a career. Many people have been helpful and important in helping me become what I am today, but a person which has been an important role-model and inspired me to take this road, is my secondary physical education teacher. She is what I define a successful and efficient teacher, and one day I would like to be defined in that manner by my students. An analysis of the Selfie: A new unconscious illness An analysis of the Selfie: A new unconscious illness Title: Selfie: A new unconscious illness 1.0 Introduction People have been taking selfie as a trend that is ongoing. The word ‘selfie’ is officially named by the Oxford Dictionaries World of the Year in 2013. ‘Selfie’ is define as a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website (Oxford University Press, 2014).Moreover, selfie is often associated with social networks like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. People take selfie wherever they are and whatever they are doing. These days, people snap pictures of themselves wherever they are. For example, selfies taken at funerals, presidential selfies, and even a selfie from space (The Daily Hit, 2013). The popularity of selfies has dramatically increased and had become a social media phenomenon. So, should this be seen as an issues? According to Doctor Pamela Rutledge (2013), selfies can be damaging to a person’s mental health and that indulging in them is indicative of narcissism, low self-esteem, attention seeking behaviour and self-indulgence. Even Thailand’s Department of Mental Health come to a conclusion that the ‘selfie culture’ bring a potential negative impact and claiming that young people are suffering from emotional problem when their selfies is not underappreciated by others. The public does not concern about this issue [L1]because they are not conscious of the illness that selfie can bring. 2.0 Sickness of selfie 2.1 Narcissism The meaning of narcissism is excessive self-love (Acocella Joan, 2005). Due to the improvement of the technology, taking selfie now is much more convenient. Camera are now being placed on our phones with high mega pixel, we get to edit the picture that we just snap with a touch and we can share it to everyone with a click. The more shots that are taken, the danger you are. You might feel each of the photos of you are so pretty due to the effect that make your skin smooth, fair and make you look younger. This thought may be the platform of the sickness – Narcissism. Narcissism can be also defined as a personality disorder that cause by behaviour like exploiting others, envy, lack of empathy and an insatiable hunger for attention (Acocella Joan, 2005). It is a pretty judgmental label to string up on someone who might be happy with him or herself. According to Doctor Pamela Rutledge (2013), the growing selfie trend is today being connected to a lot of psychological disorders that can be damaging to the overall psyche of the users. Psychologists and psychiatrists are reporting rising numbers of patients who are suffering from narcissism, body dysmorphic and dramatically low self-esteem, all thanks to selfie-nation. According to Doctor David Verle (2014) â€Å"Two out of three of all the patients who arrive to examine him with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since the cost increase of camera phones have a compulsion to repeatedly read and post selfies on the social media sites.† This indicates that too much selfie can actually lead to Narcissism. 2.2 Addiction Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry (ASAM, 2011). Selfie can be an addiction to everyone, not only youngsters, elderly may also addicted to the selfie phenomenon. It seems that some people cant stop turning the camera their way for that perfect shot, and now psychologists say taking selfie can turn an addiction for people already affected by certain psychological disorders. Research found that UK’s first selfie addict is the teen and has had therapy to treat his technology addiction (Fiona Keating, 2014). They believe that the addiction toward selfie is because Selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence that raises narcissism or low self-esteem, (Pamela Rutledge, 2013). Someone that who are addicted to selfie can snap more than 200 times selfie per day. The first case is of Danny Bowman who is 19, a British teen diagnosed with selfie addiction. He reportedly spen t 10 hours daily with 200 photos of himself, but the numerous shots cannot still satisfy his desires. He eventually tried to commit suicide to break free from addiction (Aldridge Gemma; Harden Kerry, 2014). Due to the addiction of selfie, he quit school to have more time for selfie, shutting himself in the house for six month, lost 13 kg just to get a better feature from the camera and become aggressive with his parents when they tried to stop him from selfie. Danny says that he constantly search for the perfect selfie and when he realise the he couldn’t he wanted to suicide. Because of the addiction of selfie, he lost his friends, disappoint his family, giving up his education, health and almost scarifies his own life. The addiction of selfie is most likely to the addiction of drugs, alcohol or gambling which require a lot of efforts to be recover. 3.0 Dealing with selfie 3.1 How parents can help to reduce this issues Most of us do practice selfie, but how to deal with it, how to prevent from getting any illness but still enjoying selfie. First, parent’s education is most important. Knowing what is your children going through and having a better example of selfie phenomena. Some of the children go through rebellious period, they tend to do the opposite thing when their parents say not to (Rutledge Pamela, 2013). So due to this, parent should know their kids well and have a good communication between them to solve this issue. Next, parents should keep the habits of taking selfie when their children is not around because the behaviour of a parent’s influence their children because children tends to modify what their parents doing. Furthermore, parents should also educate their children on what negative effect can selfie bring. Parents play an important role in a child’s life and what they have made changes what they think. 3.2 Time limitations on phone Other than having the parents educate, time limitation on the phone also helps in dealing with selfie. The lesser the time you spend on your mobile phone, the lesser your addiction towards selfie. Most of us search for photo perfection for example Danny Bowman. After selfie, we spend most of the time on choosing the perfect picture and spend time on editing. Due to the advance technology, there are now thousands of applications for you to edit your picture. From the case of Danny Bowman, there is a cure toward the addiction of selfie which is to limit his time on his mobile phones. Danny claimed that the doctor confiscate his phone from him for ten minutes, then half an hour, then an hour (Aldridge Gemma; Harden Kerry, 2014). It was tough for him at first, but the idea of living keeps him motivated. According to Doctor Veal, the usual treatment for selfie is where a patient gradually learns to work for a longer period of time without satisfying the urge to submit pictures. There is not much worried because there is a cure for addiction and narcissism. 4.0 Conclusion Selfie addiction is so new there are, as yet, no statistics on it (Aldridge Gemma; Harden Kerry, 2014) so it causes people to be unconscious about it. How can the society help to improve the selfie phenomena is to spread the word and inform about what illness can bring when they having too much of selfie. Other than that, self-conscious is also important as we. Always control yourself on the number of selfie and the time spent on selfie, make sure you are not addicted to it. If you were addicted, find someone to talk to, get some opinion or seek for a further medical check-up if you can’t manage to get out from the illness that you are having. Lastly, we can make the selfie phenomena a better world by reminding each other not to take too much shots to avoid all the illness and educate them on how to deal with selfie. Reference List Acocella Joan. (2014) Selfie.New Yorker, 0028792X, 5/12/2014, Vol. 90, Issue 12. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/[emailprotected]vid=1hid=4202bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ==#db=a9hAN=96140839 Addiction. (2011). American Society of Addiction Medicine. Retrieved form http://www.asam.org/for-the-public/definition-of-addiction Aldridge, G., Harden, K. (2014). Selfie addict took Two Hundred a day – and tried to kill himself when he couldn’t take perfect photo. Retrieved from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/selfie-addict-took-two-hundred-3273819 Martino Joe. (2014). Scientists Link Selfies to Narcissism, Addiction Mental Illness. Retrieved from http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/04/07/scientists-link-selfies-to-narcissism-addiction-mental-illness/ Rutledge Pamela. (2013). Making Sense of Selfies. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-media/201307/making-sense-selfies Rutledge Pamela. (2013). The psychology of the selfie. Airtalk. Retrieved from http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2014/02/11/35997/the-psychology-of-the-selfie/ Selfie. (2012). In Oxford dictionaries. Retrieved from http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-2013/ The Daily Hit. (2013). The Selfie Addiction  ¼Ã… ¡ Top 16 worst types of selfies. Retrieved from http://www.dailyhiit.com/hiit-blog/hiit-life/selfie-addiction-top-16-worst-types-selfies/ The Huffington Post. (2014), ‘Selfie Addiction’ is No Laughing Matter, Psychiatrists Say (VIDEO). Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/selfie-addiction-mental-illness_n_5022090.html [L1]Informal tone. Please rephrase. Concepts of Evils: Reflective Essay Concepts of Evils: Reflective Essay CONCEPT OF EVILS : I doubt that anyone thinks that we live in a perfect world. Although famine, war, earthquakes, disease and crime are common occurrences, I am sure that most people would be happy to live without them. In fact, I would expect that most people would say that these things are an indication that all is not well with the world. Types of Evils : There are basically two types of evil viz. Moral evil:  Suffering caused by humans. Natural Evil:  Suffering due to non-human agents. Those who argue that God does not exist, will often suggest that the presence of evil and suffering in the world is evidence that there is no God. Their argument can be set out in the following way; If God exists then surely God would want to, and could, deal with the problem of evil and suffering. Evil and suffering continues to occur in the world. Therefore, God cannot exist. So there is no perfect confirmation on the presence of God or absence of evil and vice versa. That means if God exist then evil too exist. The tact is to reformulate the argument from evil so that this criticism does not apply; for example, by replacing the term evil with suffering, or what is more cumbersome, state of affairs that orthodox theists would agree are properly called evil. MORAL EVIL : Moral evil is violence, slavery, dishonesty and so on which is basically out of our moral values and ethics. For example; If a girl gets raped then it is not her fault, it is one who does that. But society in which we live always blames the girl starts spoiling her name and starts gossiping about her activities that she does or did in his life like about her clothing’s, friends and the list doesn’t stops. Already the girl in the immense pain they she might be going through on the other hand such gossips hurts her more. On the other hand the media, newspapers tell something other story with all the emotions, drama, extra knowledge all that stuff just to increase their trp rate and for the fame. People in the society should ashamed that if they always tell girls to live but why can’t they teach their boys how to behave with girls In this example we can say that everyone has freedom to do what they want to. We always say that we live in a free country but the fact is that we are miles away from the freedom. It is not acceptable i.e. violence against women nor any type of harassment. That’s what our moral value says not to do harm anyone and also one should have some kind of humanity within them but do people nowadays really have it. If they have so then they might not gossip or do such kind of things with girls. The problem with our judiciary system is that there procedure of making judgement is so slow that victims can make hundreds of crime within that period. So fast trails should be made so that the victims can know their faults and anyone should not dare to repeat the mistake again. NATURAL EVILS : Natural evils are those which are done by non- human agents like people believe in superstitions, spirits, etc. For example; I heard this one from one of my friend who actually experienced it, one of their relative who was close with their family died some 2 years back who met with an accident and after few months everyday some or the other things happens in their house like sometimes there is health problems, sometimes my friend would go crazy like laughing like ghost and starts speaking to himself about that uncle’s family all that stuff. Then they went to many doctors for treatment but all that was of no use then some people told them that u go to religious places and do pooja and perform some kind of rituals it will be fine because all these is happening because of wicked spirits that is in my friend so their family did all rituals and then things became as normal it was. But now I can’t understand that one side it is said that wicked things are all fake and it is superstition but in the other side its true that my friend got cured because of all that rituals. But I personall y believe that there is no such kind of wicked spirits present in this world. All this rituals are performed so that one can earn money, fame and so on. The best part is that how they fool people in and around them by telling all the stupid things and people to fall pray. We all have noticed all these poster in the train which tell the same thing but the phone number in it is different. In this people are given wrong information about it due to which a fear is built inside them about their own problem. All this builds up stress in their mind and causes mental illness. I don’t believe that how people started using the name of the God for earning. But its true that if people believe in God then they must believe in spirits too. One more example of natural evil is blackmagic. The article down is taken from http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-08/india/41873071_1_kerala-village-kalari-black-magic KOCHI: For Peringottukara is best known for the practice of black magic, especially one involving chathan or kuttichathan. This figure is a dark avatar of Vishnu who rides a buffalo, and whose mastery in removing, or placing, hurdles in mortal life is never questioned by believers. The chathan could blight your love life, business dealings or general prosperity but could also set things right if placated.The families of Avanangattil Kalari and Kanadi are the resident experts in this trade. They are at pains to explain that, rumours of black arts notwithstanding, they are harmless folk.The treatment is often elaborate tantric pujas that involve ornate symbolism, much mumbo-jumbo, trances, communion with saturnine powers and the like. If you are here, it is hard to remain untouched by the rituals. There are more worldly matters to be dealt with as well. Even as this correspondent was chatting up a priest at Avanangattil Kalari, an NRI nonchalantly placed a fat bundle of notes as advanc e for the chathans intervention in his business empire. A couple of minutes later, a poor, halfblind lottery ticket vendor too lands up to lament business losses. All he has to placate the mischievous chathan is a one rupee coin. The priest seems to show no particular interest in the money being offered. Those in the know, however, will tell you how easily and seamlessly these priests shuttle between the spiritual and temporal worlds. Many of them have got incredibly rich and run petrol pumps and cinema theatres. They have also put in place a fairly well-oiled structure to run the faith industry, including staff to woo devotees from far and wide.According to advertising industry circles, the Kanadi groups spend lakhs on publicity every year. Some of the Malayalam newspapers which were reluctant to carry advertisements of such dispensers of divine blessings have now changed tack. Nowadays people are feared about their life and they are not interested in their moral values and ethics. I too believe that sometimes something depends upon circumstances but there are something that is not acceptable under any circumstances like harassment, inequality, racism, etc. It is common in all the trucks there is some kind of picture is drawn and it is said that it will save it from all kinds of accidents and damage that may occur. All this things are only to up come our fear that have been put into our mind or taken by us through some instance that they have been known. Today’s youth is tomorrow’s adult generation. Now we may take any big step to eradicate social evil but we can prepare our minds that when we will be adults we will not support social evil. At this moment we can orally fight with the social criminals, put up posters in the neighbouring to decrease social evil such as rape, child labour, black magic, etc. Thats all we can do now later we all be not this generation as it is now. So one should prepare their mind that in our generation there would be no evil nor any issue.!!!!! So lastly I conclude that moral evils can be eradicated from our society but natural evils (spiritual or wicked) can’t be easily removed from our society. I too didn’t understood that do really natural evils exit in the world because I don’t believe in God!!! Nursing Leaders in Afghanistan: Competency and Challenges Nursing Leaders in Afghanistan: Competency and Challenges Wais Mohammad Qarani Significance The objective of this topic is in line with the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) priority program on human resource development as indicated that MoPH supports â€Å"research at all levels†¦and capacity building of nursing and midwifery department† (MoPH-National Priority Program, 2012, p. 95). Moreover, understanding of the competency of nursing leaders in Afghanistan would provide evidence to maintain equity in the provision of learning opportunities, serve as an advocate for allocation of resources through the MoPH for the capacity development, and facilitate donor attraction for the development of nursing profession to create carrier development opportunities. Subsequently, this would be a foundation to increase awareness, build on knowledge, facilitate advocacy, improve professional image, improve quality, and enhance patient outcome. Therefore, it is important to explore that what is the competency level of nursing leaders who are working in the public h ospitals in Kabul, Afghanistan and what challenges they face that hinder their practice and subsequently affect patient care. Search Strategy This literature review consists of the data from the CINAHL, PubMed databases and Google Scholar. The data about nursing in Afghanistan were limited to the opinion articles and were searched as an entire through the term â€Å"Nursing AND Afghanistan† without filtering and only six relevant articles were found. Other search terms were conducted in combination of the keywords including; leadership, nursing, capacity, competency, development, building, challenges, and assessment. Afghanistan national strategic plans and reports were also taken into consideration through the search from Google Scholar and web pages. The searches were filtered to recent data according to the number of available articles accordingly. Majority of the search terms were searched without any filter as the total number of articles were limited. (Refer annexure A for more detail). Introduction Attention to the nursing in Afghanistan peaked in the mid to late 1970s through the establishment of nursing schools for both male and female (Furnia, 1978, p. 94). Likewise other systems of the country, nursing education and practice started to deteriorate after the initiation of war which continued for decades. From the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union and the fall of Taliban, the Afghan education and health systems have drastically damaged. Since the late 2001 the flow of international agencies and contributions to participate in the reconstruction of health sector have increased which have positively contributed in the health of Afghan population (Ministry of Public Health-National Strategy on Healthcare financing and Sustainability, 2009-2013, Forward section, para. 1). International agencies have made to contribute in majority of the health branches and brought remarkable improvements in the health system both at the knowledge and skills level. The nursing education has improved during the past decade. There are some improvements in the curriculum, learning resource package, teaching methodologies, capacity of the instructors, and supervision skills since 2002 and a lot more is needed (Herberg, 2005, p.132). The first four year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program was established and launched just in 2007 at the Kabul Medical University (KMU) under the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE). Despite improvements in nursing education, nursing services/practice and leadership at the point of practice have not been addressed through any mechanism to improve patient outcome, which needs to be explored and design programs for improvements. The purpose of this literature review is to explore available data and researches conducted on the competency of nursing leaders in Afghanistan. The review also covers literature from the neighboring and other developed countries. The review includes both theoretical and empirical literature focusing on the concepts of competency and leadership. Critical Review and Analysis Robbins et al. (2001) defined competent person as â€Å"one who has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform a job adequately† (p. 192). Robbins et al. have also concluded that competency is divided into four main domains which include â€Å"technical skills, industry knowledge, analytic and conceptual reasoning, and interpersonal and emotional intelligence† (p. 193). Furthermore, 25 participants of a conference attendees in Texas who were leaders reported competency as â€Å"the ability to think in action, have confidence and clarity in decision making, and retrieve information throughout the career trajectory† (Allen et al., 2008, p. 81). In addition, political skill to understand and manage every stakeholder’s conflicting behaviors and external awareness of laws, policies, and decisions are the two important characteristics of effective leadership and management (Blaney, 2012, p. 44) which all together outline competency based leadership and mana gement. Indeed, these domains and components of competency and leadership are distinct from individual to individual, hence have diverse outcomes. Kang et al. (2012) have compared managerial competencies among nursing administrators (n=330) from 16 hospitals in Taiwan through a cross-sectional survey and found that more than 50% of the Head Nurses (HNs) and more than 35% of the high level management had never received any administrative training (p.942). The findings also revealed that HNs and Nurse Executives (NEs) both rated themselves highest in integrity and lowest in financial management followed by clinical skills and knowledge, and interpersonal relationship skills for HNs, whereas; collaboration and team skills and human resource and labor relations were rated by NEs (pp. 942-943). Although organizational outcome is relied on effective leadership and management, it has been given less importance to fulfill capacity development needs of the nursing leaders. Furthermore, considering diverse technological and resources accessibility, competency also differs from person to person in different contexts. Therefore, it is reas onable to explore nursing leaders’ competencies on the context of Afghanistan to enable us in planning programs for the capacity development of nursing leaders accordingly. The development of nursing in China is associated with one of the key factor which is medical orientation of the health system (Wong, 2010, p. 526), while the most troubleshooting challenge of the American nurses is distinct to â€Å"absence of adequate pipeline for nursing leaders† (Thompson, 2008, p. 914). A descriptive qualitative study on the perception of the Community Health Nursing (CHN) Assistant Manager role in Pakistan indicated confusion of the role which needed role clarity (Gulzar, Mistry, Upvall, 2011, p. 389). The same study reported existence of tension between CHN assistant manager and Lady Health Visitors (LHVs) and expected to be the result of the lack of understanding of their roles and expectations (p. 390). This conflict is further exaggerated where the role of one discipline (nursing) is taken by the other discipline (medical) and vice versa particularly in Afghanistan. A quantitative exploratory study by Essani and Ali (2011) conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi Pakistan about knowledge and practice gaps among pediatric nurses revealed that incompetency of the participants had a great impact on the level of care provided to the patients. The gaps were categorized in five areas where knowledge and skills were ranked second and third highest respectively (p.1). The competency of low level staff is dependent on the managerial skills and leadership competencies of high level staff of a particular entity which in turn has its impact on patient outcome. Therefore, capacity development of nursing leaders must be a priority which plays a vital role in organizational outcome. Scarcity of research in Afghanistan hinders any step forward; and due to decades of conflicts, Afghanistan faces greater challenges in terms of leadership than any other country. The issues and practices of nursing in Afghanistan have not been published to guide nursing practice in the country or plan for improvements. Majority of the published articles are on the missions and personal experiences of the international armed forces nursing personnel who worked in Afghanistan. Cameron (2008) described Afghans as â€Å"extremely intelligent and bright† but, decades of war have destroyed the health system of the country and the emotional wellbeing of the population (p. 30). Cameron claimed that despite the role of supervision in maintaining standard of care, majority of the managers do not turn to the wards and do not know about the patient’s condition (p. 30). This claim is needed to be explored through the nursing research to discover leadership incompetence as a contribu ting factor. It appears that nursing leaders could best identify and describe their need for capacity development to design programs which would enable them to avail international knowledge and technology. The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has valued to develop evidence based public health programs (MoPH, Strategic Plan, 2011-2015, p. 20). Besides, the MoPH strategic plan has determined the human resources management and development (pp. 24-25) which is in line with the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS, 2008-2013, p. 62). Although evidence based programs and human resource development are the focus of MoPH, nursing profession has disadvantaged in this regard. This fact is supported by Forsyth (2013) that â€Å"Health Services professionals shifted their focus from caring for sick and injured coalition personnel to mentoring and capacity building with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)† (p. 32). Although international nurses are posted within ANSF for mentorship and training, this opportunity is much limited within the public hospitals. The MoPH strategic direction on increasing equitable access to quality health services (strategic objective -5) to impr ove patient safety (MoPH, Strategic Plan, 2011-2015, p. 30) is purely dependent on effective nursing care through effective leadership and management. Strategic direction on governance in the health sector (MoPH, Strategic Plan, 2011-2015, pp. 31-32) is an important consideration for fulfilling the objectives. Therefore, identification of the nursing governance competency limitations and evidences which hinder effective nursing leadership require an in-depth research. Conclusion Competency of the nursing leader plays a vital role in the organizational outcome. Global Nursing Leadership Institute (GNLI) under the International Confederation of Nurses (ICN), designs annual leadership development programs for nurses at the executive level. The objectives of the institute focused to develop capacity of the nursing leadership and build international network at the global level (Blaney, 2012, p. 47). On the other hand, Afghan nurses have disadvantaged from such opportunities. Efficiency of a health industry is associated with the better workplace and workforce management and also connected with clinical supervision and effective leadership and management which is compromised component in diverse settings. Therefore, it is vital to develop the capacity of the nursing leaders on the bases of evidence to enhance productivity. Administrators play a central role in the provision of high quality health services to the patients. They are the one who train his/her designe e what to do, when to do and how to do and above all why to do which is more significant for patient outcome. Thus, the finding of this literature review indicates a need to explore the capacity of nursing leaders to plan developmental programs accordingly. The purpose of the research would be to explore competency level of the nursing leaders in public hospitals in Kabul, Afghanistan and also identify challenges they face in the workplace. References Allen, P., Lauchner, K., Bridges, R., Francis-Johnson, P., McBride, S., Olivarez, A. (2008). Evaluating continuing competency: a challenge for nursing.Journal Of Continuing Education In Nursing,39(2), 81-85. doi:10.3928/00220124-20080201-02 ANDS – Afghanistan National Development Strategy (2008-2013). Retrieved from http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/IMG/pdf/Afghanistan_National_Development_Strateg y_eng.pdf Blaney, P. P. (2012). Senior nursing leadership capacity building at the global level. International Nursing Review, 59(1), 40-47. doi:10.1111/j.1466-7657.2011.00953.x Cameron, A. (2008). Planting seeds of hope nursing in Afghanistan. Australian Nursing Journal, 16(5), 30. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=83dab417-8198-4e8d-b006- ca398eb9f9b9%40sessionmgr113vid=1hid=113 Essani, R., Ali, T. (2011). Knowledge and Practice Gaps among Pediatric Nurses at a Tertiary Care Hospital Karachi Pakistan. ISRN Pediatrics, doi:10.5402/2011/460818 Forsyth, J. (2013). Building capacity in Afghanistan. Canadian Nurse, 109(9), 32-33. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5af86ac0-ed52-42e7- b821-aef93fea8df3%40sessionmgr114vid=1hid=113 Furnia, A. H. (1978). Syncrisis: The dynamics of health. XXIV: Afghanistan. Washington, D.C.: US Department of Health, Education and Welfare Public Health Service (DHEW 78-50056). Retrieved from http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAH120.pdf Gulzar, S. A., Mistry, R. R., Upvall, M. J. (2011). Capacity development for Community Health Nurses in Pakistan: the assistant manager role. International Nursing Review, 58(3), 386-391. doi:10.1111/j.1466-7657.2011.00896.x Herberg, P. (2005). Nursing, midwifery, and allied health education programmes in Afghanistan. International Nursing Review, 52(2), 123-133. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a63c682f-0b1b-410f-a19e-4d991fd96aa5%40sessionmgr114vid=1hid=113 Kang, C., Chiu, H., Hu, Y., Chen, H., Lee, P., Chang, W. (2012). Comparisons of self-ratings on managerial competencies, research capability, time management, executive power, workload and work stress among nurse administrators. Journal of Nursing Management, 20(7), 938-947. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2012.01383.x Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) National Strategy on Healthcare financing and Sustainability (2009- 2013). Retrieved from http://moph.gov.af/Content/Media/Documents/NationalStrategyonHealthFinancingandSu stainability20092013English1742013132843116553325325.pdf MoPH, National Priority Program, (2012). Health for All Afghans. Retrieved from http://moph.gov.af/Content/Media/Documents/NPPEnglishVersionNarrative29July20122 752013125750126553325325.pdf MoPH, Strategic Plan, 2011-2015. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.pk/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=sfrm=1source=webcd=1cad =rjaved=0CCcQFjAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmoph.gov.af%2FContent%2FMedia%2F Documents%2FMoPHStrategicPlan2011Final2882011115859177553325325.docei=6r 8IU7yqDIir0gWSloDoBwusg=AFQjCNHy730DBrvhFbHBqDFOd7UtpTS- 1gsig2=JJnlggylJ5mHxP2DlfKRSwbvm=bv.61725948,d.Yms Robbins, C., Bradley, E., Spicer, M. (2001). Developing leadership in healthcare administration: a competency assessment tool. Journal of Healthcare Management, 46(3), 188. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ad517ba7-0311-433a-bd10- 40f4819cf245%40sessionmgr198vid=1hid=126 Thompson, P. (2008). Key challenges facing American nurse leaders.Journal of Nursing Management,16(8), 912-914. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2008.00951.x Wong, F. (2010). Challenges for nurse managers in China.Journal of Nursing Management,18(5), 526-530. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01115.x Annexure – A: (detail of search strategies) Annexure B: (List of Acronyms used in the paper)

The Effects of Technology on Society Essay -- Papers Computers Modern

Today we swim in a sea of ever-changing technology that affects us as much as our thoughts and actions shape it. The technology we have chosen, either by the preferences of those who use it, or the agendas of those who own and benefit from it, has had its own influence on us from gross examples such as increased pollution, or a higher Western-style standard of living, to the way one person perceives another. Some people who resist using some, or even all technology; they are often called Luddites by those who embrace all things new; another type calls themselves Neo-Luddites, such as Kirkpatrick Sale. In his book Human scale, Sale describes the slow rotting of the stones of the Parthenon and other ancient monuments to civilization from the acid pollution developed by our present Industrial civilization and compares it to the slow disintegration our industrialized society has seemed to have undergone. He identifies effects of technology which have been harmful to the human condition and the environment, but seems to not quite "get it" about the Luddites: they were not fighting the machines themselves; they were struggling against powers of society that, for the past century, through enclosure and the abolishment of commonality [and the subsequent arisal of a class of people who lived by renting their labor: the working class] (Laslett, 195), had been seeking to disempower and disenfranch ise the mass of people, and were now striking anew with the latest, and most powerful manifestation of their social policies, the Industrial Factory. The men of Nottinghamshire who died as Luddites were fighting a system, not a technology, a system whose intentions were not to cut costs and increase efficiency, but to increase the co... ... Bibliography: References Black, Bob (1987). The abolition of work. In Sylvere Lotringer and Jim Fleming (Eds.), Semiotext[e] USA (pp. 15-26). Browning, J. (1996, July). New stars for a new media. Scientific American, p. 31. Laslett, Peter (1984). The world we have lost. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Law, John, Ed. (1991) A sociology of monsters: essays on power, technology and domination. London: Routledge. Martinez, E. (1996, April). You call this service? Technology Review, pp. 64-65. Noble, David F. (1984). Forces of production. New York: Alfred A, Knopf. O'Malley, C. (1995, June). Drowning in the net. Popular Science, pp. 78-88. Sale, Kirkpatrick (1980). Human scale. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan. Stix, G. (1994, December). The speed of write. Scientific American, pp. 106-111.