Family and Government in Chinese Social HIstory Essay

Chen Village, China, gives us a close-up look at the life of majority of China’s population – the villagers – during the era of Communist leadership and policies during the 20th century. It presents an enthralling account of facts on Chinese villages in the throes of Maoist revolution followed by dramatic changes in village life and local politics during the Deng Xiaoping period. The once-backwater village is today a center of China’s export industry, where more than 50,000 workers labor in modern factories, ruled by the village government. This new edition of Chen Village illuminates, in microcosm, the recent history of rural China up to the present time (Chan, Madsen and Ungera). The passage manifests the revolution Chen village, and the whole of China as well, underwent in terms of her industrial aspect alongside with China’s shift from Communist Government to a Peoples’ Republic via a Revolution. Guo Xun, in â€Å"The Evils of the Old Marriage System (1921)†, explained the importance of a happy home. The bitterness of work is not worth the toil if its proceeds are not for something of prime importance for the worker. This emphasizes the oneness of government and people. It is of utmost necessity that the government is by the people; because it is only when it is theirs’ that they will obey whatever the government would command. The analogy of Guo Xun about the effects of forced marriage to a family and to the society to that of the whole country is very precise with what happened in the later parts of the history of China. When marriage is forced, the man and wife will not be committed to work for the family. When the couple does not work, they create a tremendous negative effect on the productivity of the society. When the parents do not do well for the family, they cannot make the children secured so as to develop obedience from them. Rightfully, when a government is not by the people, they will never harbor the passion to obey what the government suggests, instead, the constituents of the country will start to rebel and clash from the government so as to develop a revolution†¦ a revolution that in almost all cases and in almost every country that it existed results to a half-way victory – a new government to look over a barren, bloody land. In contrast to Hu Hanmin’s philosophy where the power to decide for the constituents is in the family head, Guo Xun, believes that there should be mutual understanding between the government and the constituents in order to establish a harmonious nation. If one looks at Chen Village now that China is under a Peoples’ Republic kind of government, it will look ten thousand miles afar better than when it was ruled by communism. A republican would so much likely be happy with what he can see than how a communist would be. And everything happened this sustaining up to this days because China did not continue to live under the power of a single communist leader whom the majority did not choose for them to obey, but asserted their right for a happy family†¦that one that is not forced, but is mutually and wholeheartedly committed to extend public service to an obedient people. Work Cited Anita Chan, Richard Madsen, and Jonathan Ungera. 2009. â€Å"Chen Village†. Revolution to Globalization, Third Edition. 29 May 2010.

Solution to Case Problem Specialty Toys

Solution to Case Problem Specialty Toys 10/24/2012 I. Introduction: The Specialty Toys Company faces a challenge of deciding how many units of a new toy should be purchased to meet anticipated sales demand. If too few are purchased, sales will be lost; if too many are purchased, profits will be reduced because of low prices realized in clearance sales. Here, I will help to analyze an appropriate order quantity for the company. II. Data Analysis: 1. 20,0 00 .025 10,0 00 30,0 00 .025 .95 20,0 00 .025 10,0 00 30,0 00 .025 .95 Since the expected demand is 2000, thus, the mean  µ is 2000.Through Excel, we get the z value given a 95% probability is 1. 96. Thus, we have: z= (x- µ)/ ? =(30000-20000)/ ? =1. 96, so we get the standard deviation ? =(30000-20000)/1. 96=5102. The sketch of distribution is above. 95. 4% of the values of a normal random variable are within plus or minus two standard deviations of its mean. 2. At order quantity of 15,000, z= (15000-20000)/5102=-0. 98, P(stockout ) = 0. 3365 + 0. 5 = 0. 8365 At order quantity of 18,000, z= (18000-20000)/5102=-0. 39, P(stockout) = 0. 1517 + 0. 5= 0. 6517 At order quantity of 24,000, z= (24000-20000)/5102=0. 8, P (stockout) = 0. 5 – 0. 2823 = 0. 2177 At order quantity of 28,000, z= (28000-20000)/5102=1. 57, P (stockout) = 0. 5 – 0. 4418 = 0. 0582 3. Order Quantity = 15,000| Unit Sales| Total Cost| Sales at $24| Sales at $5| Profit| 10,000| 240,000| 240,000| 25,000| 25,000| 20,000| 240,000| 360,000| 0| 120,000| 30,000| 240,000| 360,000| 0| 120,000| Order Quantity = 18,000| Unit Sales| Total Cost| Sales at $24| Sales at $5| Profit| 10,000| 288,000| 240,000| 40,000| -8000| 20,000| 288,000| 432,000| 0| 144,000| 30,000| 288,000| 432,000| 0| 144,000|Order Quantity = 24,000| Unit Sales| Total Cost| Sales at $24| Sales at $5| Profit| 10,000| 384,000| 240,000| 70,000| -74,000| 20,000| 384,000| 480,000| 20,000| 116,000| 30,000| 384,000| 576,000| 0| 192,000| Order Quantity =28,000| Unit Sales| Total Cost| S ales at $24| Sales at $5| Profit| 10,000| 448,000| 240,000| 90,000| -118,000| 20,000| 448,000| 480,000| 40,000| 72,000| 30,000| 448,000| 672,000| 0| 224,000| 4. According to the background information, we get the sketch of distribution above. Since z= (Q-20,000)/5102 =0. 52, so we get Q=20,000+0. 2*5102=22,653. Thus, the quantity would be ordered under this policy is 22,653. The projected profits under the three sales scenarios are below: Order Quantity =22,653| Unit Sales| Total Cost| Sales at $24| Sales at $5| Profit| 10,000| 362,488| 240,000| 63,265| -59,183| 20,000| 362,488| 480,000| 13,265| 130,817| 30,000| 362,488| 543,672| 0| 181,224| 5. From the information we get above, I would recommend an order quantity that can maximize the expected profit, and it can be calculated by the formula below: P(Demand

NASCAR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NASCAR - Essay Example Chicken Soup for the National Association, for Stock Car Auto Racing Soul highlights one hundred and one great narrations of courage, speed, conquering adversity and dedication. NASCAR, the number one spectator sport in United States, brings you this exciting jam packed trivia article that takes the reader around the country to each of the twenty NASCAR Winston Cup Series race tracks. From Pocono to Atlanta speedway, Daytona International Speedway, to the California Speedway, you can test your skill and knowledge of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing facts and lore. This book was tailored particularly meant for National Association for Stock Cars Auto Racing fans by David Poole and Jim McLaurin. This feature goes behind the scene of the all confidential world of the supporters, decision makers and drivers while listen in individual conversations; from colorful typescript to high speed adventures. According to John Roberts and M.B. Roberts with more than seventy five million fans, The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is one of the globals mainly well-liked sports. John Roberts, who is a Racing Broadcaster, finds out the answers to the burning questions, such as who had the highest winning streak in the race? What are the best ever cars on the circuit? Who are the most excellent female participants of all time? Among

Love between Fathers and children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Love between Fathers and children - Essay Example The first similarity is that the two poems have the dad as the main subject. In â€Å"Those Winter Sundays†, the poet states that â€Å"Sundays too My Father got up early/ and put his clothes on in the blueback cold† (1, 2). This line introduces the theme of the poem. In the entire poem, the poet continues to depict the figure and their role in the family setting. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† was the poet also introduces the father figure, â€Å"†¦the whisky on your breath/could make a small boy dizzy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1, 2). In this line, the narrator describes the habitual trait of their father. The same is emulated across the entire poem. The second similarity is that the two poems also depict the responsibility of the father in the family. In â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† the poet asserts that, â€Å"we romped until the pans/ slid from the kitchen shelf† (4, 5). This line introduced the role of the dad depicted in the poem. In addition, the poem also displayed an exceptional responsibility of the father in the poem. In the poem â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† the poet states that, â€Å"who had driven out the cold/and polished my good shoes as well† (11, 12). This line depicts the father’s responsibility in the family setting. In addition, the narrator appreciates and recognizes the efforts of their father. The major difference in the two poems is that the perception of the father figure is represented differently. In â€Å"My Papa’s, Waltz† the narrator is appreciative of the role of the father. The narrator states that, â€Å"†¦then waltzed me off to bed/ still clinging to your shirt†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (15, 16). The narrator appreciated the efforts put by their father to make their night confortable. However ¸ in â€Å"Those Winter Days†, the narrator is fearful of their father; fearing the chronic angers of that house. In the poem, the narrator describes their father as one to be feared for their personality. In addition, the narrator includes

Colonialism and African Culture in 19-20th Centuries Essay

Colonialism and African Culture in 19-20th Centuries - Essay Example Conrad outlines a European perspective on African colonialism in the story Heart of Darkness contained in the book Bedford Anthology of World Literature. The story of Heart of Darkness is based on Charles Marlowe, who spends his life as an ivory transporter in along the Congo River. He is a captain and is saddened when he passes the land areas and from afar, he could see black men working hard while under watch by armed men. He comes to hear of Kutz and thinks he is an icon. Later he realizes that Mr Kutz is a hoax; he is engaged in human treaties as opposed to Marlow’s ivory transporter job. Contrary to Marlow’s expectation, he obtains one of Kutz letters written: â€Å"exterminate the brutes.† Kutz was an agent who was gathering information for Europe. Every time Marlow would come near the shore, the pilgrim would open fire, but with the sound of his steamer and this would make them stop opening fire. (Davis et al, 18). Marlow finds Kutz letters when he dies. H e takes it upon himself to deliver them while still hiding some of the information back to his family and friends. To his fiancà ©e, there was a note written â€Å"to my intended† but he tells her that Kutz last words were her name. The company that employed both Kutz and Marlow had its interest focused on the whereabouts of ivory (Davis et al, 14). On the other hand, African culture and responses are evident in Africa through the story of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe in the book Bedford Anthology of World Literature. The story stars a leader known as Okwonko. He was the well-bodied leader who was the local wrestling champion in the village. The book concentrates on the influence of British colonialism and comparison against the African culture. The text also covers Christianity and the effects it brought to the people of Igbo community.  Okwonko is a leader who tries to cover his weaknesses and at all cost tries to avoid succumbing to his father’s fate.     

The Different Scial Status for Ancient Chinese Women Research Paper

The Different Scial Status for Ancient Chinese Women - Research Paper Example This essay stresses that the place of women in the society has always been an issue of concern for many decades. It is of crucial significance to note that in earlier days, women were considered less superior in many aspects of life. This consideration built a lot of misconception in the minds of the people, especially men in the society. The chauvinism aspects of the male species majorly reinforced these forms of misconceptions and ill beliefs towards the women. It is of crucial significance to note that male chauvinism as well as the ingrained mental misconceptions and ill beliefs led to several forms of oppressions to the women. It is important to note that these oppressions and sufferings that women underwent were a global ordeal in the ancient times. This paper makes a conclusion that it is critical to note that in the ancient days, the women were only expected to play domestic roles, limited to good mothering as well as performing other domestic chores. However, other roles within the society were preserves for men. Women were never allowed to run the families for this was purposefully a man’s role. In addition, women were not allowed to hold any offices. Moreover, the women were never allowed to take part in any constructive debates, discussions or sharing ideas in the society concerning certain issues. However, it is of crucial significance to note that with revolution as well as modernization, the situation has changed considerably. In the current world, women have been empowered to an extent that they perform same roles as men.

Stress in the Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stress in the Workplace - Research Paper Example They have achieved it on the cost of their personal and social life. The urge to remain employed has caused the employees to endorse the culture of work-life imbalance. The whole effort of the employees is concentrated at increasing the productivity. Since the time is limited, employees have no option but to sacrifice their private life for the work. This is the reason why employees do not find time to spend with the family. While on one hand, this is distorting the employees’ relations with their families, on the other hand, it is also affecting their performance as continued work without breaks and rest declines an individual’s mental and physical efficiency. In addition to that, the ones who have managed to remain employed have been assigned the job responsibilities of the employees that have been terminated, which has essentially increased the work load for the remaining employees manifolds. Since the effects of economic recession are not limited to the workplace, t he employees have to deal with the inflation and increased rates of things of everyday use. There is so much to purchase in a very limited salary, that an employee always runs short of money. Consequences of Stress Stress in the workplace is one of the most important causes of increase in employees’ depression and anxiety. Some employees have been stressed to the point that they have attempted suicide. â€Å"[Employees] come to work and tell a manager or colleague that they are thinking of harming themselves. They are texting, calling, instant-messaging. Or they’ll disclose they’ve made an attempt. Some have even tried to kill themselves at work† (LeBlanc cited in Mirza, 2012). Stress in the workplace has distorted the employees’ relations with the family members, particularly with the spouses. Employees are not able to meet the financial demands of the family, which not only makes them feel derogated in their own eyes, but also makes the family me mbers unhappy with them. Particularly the housewives are not aware of the magnitude of stress the husbands go through, and thus expect them to be spending to much. The increasing tension between many couples because of the workplace-caused stress has led them to the point of divorce. â€Å"The challenges [of mental illness] are enormous to society because of the high cost for both individuals and employees. People suffering from mental health disorders are also having trouble finding and holding onto jobs† (Singh cited in Skrzypinski, 2012). This also has many negative implications for the employers. Productivity of the distressed employees declines which incurs additional costs to the employers. This is termed as â€Å"presenteeism†; a phenomenon wherein employees are present at work but too preoccupied, distressed, and/or lost to display optimal productivity. Ways to Deal with Employees’ Stress Stress among employees in the workplace imparts a need for the man agers to be very prudent and responsible in their interaction and dealing with the employees. Managers can do a lot to regulate the stress in the employees as managers assume top positions in the hierarchy of the organization structure and are thus a source of hope and inspiration for the employees. There are certain measures that a manager needs to take when approaching a worried employee. Rather than asking the

Math - Fractions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Math - Fractions - Essay Example The right side on the other hand processes holistic information: visual input, emotion, artistic & 3-D sense, imagination & creativity and music & rhythm (Sobanski, 2002, p.3). It is known that 75% of what we learn is from the sense of sight (Sobanski, 2002, p.2). Equivalent fractions taught with visual aids, combine image and logical reasoning to get both sides of the brain working at the same time. This facilitates effective learning. Jessika Sobanski (2002) tells us some tips on creating a whole brain learning environment: Active-participant Learning. The class proper operates in a way that learning is active and is propelled by adult guidance and by social influences of group interaction and teamwork (Ben-Avie, Ensign, & Haynes, 2003). Active-participant Learning allows the thinking process to be made visible so teachers can intervene to improve faulty or ineffective patterns in a meaningful way. Ben-Avie et al. (2003) in their book, How Social and Emotional Development Add Up, conducted an evaluation of a certain urban school district. Their findings tell us that higher mean scores in mathematics concepts and application skills can be achieved by the following: Employ the active participant model in the classrooms and engage students in intellectual discourse. Divide your class into groups. Have one group answer the questions on equivalent fractions thrown by the other group. Reverse roles after one round of questioning. Be attentive to their answers and questions. Intervene in a respectful way when mistakes occur. Ask probing questions. You can ask your students â€Å"What makes equivalent fractions the same?† This can be an assignment they can ponder at home. (Answer: When you multiply or divide  both  the numerator and denominator by the same number, the fraction keeps its value.) Personalized Mathematics Lessons. What is relevant is not just math that is connected to students’ lives, but math that

Terrorism Study Essay Example for Free

Terrorism Study Essay What do you think of when you hear the word terrorism? Most people will refer to the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Of course, these were horrific attacks especially considering over 3,000 people lost their lives that day. There was no precedent like that before. Unfortunately, though, that is not the only terrorist attack in history. Terrorism has existed in the world for quite a long time. Terrorism hits home for many people who were or shall I say are in some way involved with the effects of terrorist activity. As you continue to read my paper I will talk about what terrorism is, why terrorism matters to me, and why it affects me. What exactly is terrorism? Well, there are many different definitions out there. However, these definitions have certain things in common. Terrorism involves extraordinary violence. It is intended to create massive fear and involves a planned attack for a purpose, often against something or someone. While terrorism is meant to be an act of violence to bring about change, it is usually not committed by those officially in the government. Usually, terrorist groups have fewer members than you would think. They want to be dramatic and attract attention by carrying out a bloody act. They hope to gain power and influence due to their act. Terrorism has become a huge matter in my life. It has caused sadness not only to me but to hundreds of people around the world, but the number one reason it matters so much to me is due to having my dad serving with the United State Marine Corp. My dad just as other dads and mothers has served three tours since this war began. So many families have been broken up and we have also lost so many men and women at war due to terrorism. After seeing so many of our close friends and families lose a loved one at war has not only allowed me to become more educated with the war by also with different changes that have occurred due to the terrorism that happene d since September 11, 2001. For example we have so many people complain about our security policies that we go through at airports. I can understand how going through and x-ray machine, being padded down at times, and people going through your belongings can be somewhat humiliating to some people. But, lets focus on the big picture here. The better security we have here in the US the less chance we have for terrorism attacks. That in the long run will also bring our loved ones back home and eventually stop us from being at war. Having my dad serve three tours had been a huge concern to me and my family. It has made me look at life differently and has allowed me to realize how important or freedom is and how much I have learned to admire and appreciate all our troops. Finally I will share a few reason on why terrorism has affected me. Due to terrorism my dad has had to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq. Ever since his first tour my dad has not been the same dad I was used to having. Traumatic events experienced while at war has caused him to suffer from PTSD ( Post Dramatic Syndrome Disorder). The absence of the military parent, and other stresses are common for military families, but the deployment of a parent to a combat zone represent a challenge of a different magnitude. Since I am the oldest and a male at that I have had to grow up faster than normal kids my age so that I could help my mom with my brother and sister. I have also been there to help my sister and brother understand where our dad was at why he was there. There hardest part of it all was trying to answer them when they would ask me is dad dead or alive. Me being the oldest I knew that was and answer that was out of my control but always found someway and somehow to assure them that he was ok. Till this day our family deals and struggles with challenges my making sure my dad is getting the proper medical care and the challenge of us learning how to cope with his disorder. Terrorism is a horrible act of violence that causes so many changes and challenges in life. The mental health of the returning service member also affects us children as well as family functioning and relationship satisfaction. Therefore, it is important that the needs of the entire family are considered. Now let’s all join together to fight towards making the US a safe place to be at.

Education Environment Essay Example for Free

Education Environment Essay 1.Access the following policies on the Department of Education Training WA website, http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/ Staff Conduct: The purpose of this policy is to outline the Department of Education’s expectation requirements for the standard of behaviour of staff at work. It provides instruction direction for the appropriate behaviour in ethical risk situations and areas. It provides information for staff to recognise their rights, where to go for help in resolving breeches or complaints, their legal obligations and expectations within the code of ethics. It also provides a statement of public accountability for staff. Child Protection: The purpose of this policy is to state that all staff employed by the Department of Education is committed to the care, safety and protection of children, including factors such as possible sexual, emotional, physical and/or psychological abuse or neglect of a child. Provides guidelines to aide staff in the correct response to a situation where concern has arisen for the safety well being of a child or the need for the disclosure of abuse and the actions to take where allegations of child abuse have been made against the staff member. Duty of Care for Students: The purpose is to provide information to staff of the duty of care imposed by law, to take care to minimise the risk of harm to students. It provides an explanation to what the duty of care means how staff may act to fulfil their duty of care. It also outlines the situations where non-teaching staff, volunteers or external providers must provide a duty of care. The policy also states the need for staff to have a balance between ensuring safety without interfering with a student’s independence and learning opportunities. Occupational Health Safety: The purpose of this policy is to state the Department of Education is committed to providing and promoting a safe and healthy working environment for staff and students. It provides guidelines to the occupational health safety requirements within the Department of Education. Contains procedures to identify report manage hazards, accident or incident investigation and training. It outlines the responsibilities functions of health safety representatives committees. Please see attached printouts of each policy accessed. 2.Visit the Equal Opportunity Commission WA website http://www.equalopportunity.wa.gov.au/ write a summary of the 1984 Equal Opportunity Act. The Equal Opportunity act was set in 1984 and updated in 2002. The Equal Opportunity act is designed to outline the course of action to eliminate discrimination in the work place, accommodation, education or the provision of goods services or the membership to clubs and to eliminate sexual and/or racial harassment in the workplace, education environments or accommodation. The act promotes the recognition acceptance of equality of persons of all races gender. 3.Source a copy of or your job description. Write a summary paragraph of your role and explain how your role will change as you gain more experience. Level 1 Employees are to work under direct supervision of a teacher performing basic routine tasks. They are to assist in the delivery of planned education programs to small groups or individuals. They are to prepare and maintain the learning environment by maintaining resources , displays, equipment and demonstrations, also to assist the teacher with storage of equipment, resources and displays, as well as the management of resources, including inventory lists and stock levels. Assist the teacher with the care and general wellbeing of students both in and out of the classroom. In the Pre-Primary and Pre-School areas, assist with the preparation and distribution of food at morning tea time. Assist with the arrival and departure of students travelling to and from school on busses. Assists students undressing, bathing, dressing, toileting and, where necessary, cleans soiled clothing and areas. Provide administration support in accordance with the school policy and collect monies from s tudents where appropriate. 4.As an Education Assistant, should you have any queries relating to legislation, policies or role, who would you go to for support? The following people can provide information support in relation to queries regarding legislation, policies or role: Principal, Deputy Principal, Heads of Department, Registrar, Supervising Teacher, Guidance Officers, Teacher Librarian or other Specialist teachers. 5.What is the Industrial Award / Certified Agreement related to Education Assistants / Teachers Assistants? The Teachers Aide’s Award 1979 is a document outlining the the laws in relation to remuneration, working hours leave for a Teachers Aide. The Education Assistants’ (Government) General Agreement 2010 is a document that outlines core employment conditions and wage increases for employees bound by the general agreement. 6.Source and read a copy of the Industrial Award / Certified Agreement. Submit the first page and a summary paragraph of the award / agreement. The parties bound by the General Agreement are the Director General, Department of Education and the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, Western Australian Branch. The agreement applies to all employees, who are members or eligible members of the Union. The purpose of the agreement is to provide core employment conditions (general terms of employment, leave of absence, hours of work) and together with the awards (Teachers’ Aides’ Award 1979 for Education Assistants, Miscellaneous Government Conditions and Allowances Award 1992, Western Australian Government/Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union Redeployment, Redundancy and Retraining Certified Agreement 2004) to provide wage increases for all employees bound by the agreement. 7.Give an example of when you have adhered to the legislation or policies of the school An example of where I have adhered to legislation or polices of the school would be in the classroom where a student has been repetitively showing disruptive and bad behaviour. Under the guidance of the teacher I have followed through the School Behaviour Management plan and implemented the required steps with the student. 8.Give an example of when you have reviewed your own performance and compliance with legislation / policies and how you got feedback from others. While completing the practical side of the assessment for this module I have had to review my performance in relation to maintaining my duty or care and child protection. I have then sat with my supervising teacher and discussed my rating and received feedback. 9.Give an example of when you have reported an incident or occurrence in line with school policy. An example of when I have reported an incident or occurrence in line with school policy was during a lunchtime break in the Kindy/ Pre-Primary was a duty of care incident. A leak or spillage had occurred in the toilet area. I reported the occurrence to the supervising teacher. I had identified this occurrence as a hazard as the children had the potential to slip in the â€Å"water† and injure themselves. 10. What changes to your personal details should you report to your Principal or line manager? All changes to personal details must be reported to your Principal or Line Manager. My personal details include (but are not limited to): Name, Address, banking details, Criminal History check, Health details, home address, postal address, next of kin. 11. Consider this scenario: You are an Education Assistant working in a Kindergarten, you and your teacher have been advised that in two weeks time, a new student will join the class. The student has a physical disability and requires personal care support. This will require you as the Education Assistant to undertake some manual handling (lifting, reposition of the student, moving the student from the wheelchair to the toilet etc). You currently have no training in manual handling. Consider you role in terms of Duty of Care and Occupational Health and Safety. What actions would you take? I would discuss with the teacher the needed changes in the room to ensure the student felt comfortable and welcome. I would also speak to the teacher about how I have not undergone any manual handling training and would ask the principal if there were any courses available. I would speak to the principal about the possibility of a meeting involving the student’s parents, the teacher, principal and myself. This meeting would then ensure we have a full understanding of the requirements of the student and any necessary changes we may need to make within the classroom to ensure a smooth integration of the student into our class. 12. Describe the curriculum your school uses. The curriculum my school uses is called Years K – 10 Curriculum. It sets out the knowledge, understandings, skills, values and attitudes that students are expected to acquire during the students education. These requirements are described as a series of learning outcomes. These learning outcomes consist of the mandatory element of curriculum. They also include overarching outcomes and learning area outcomes. As of 2011 the school will be following the national curriculum.

Analysis of Human Resources (HR) Department

Analysis of Human Resources (HR) Department We have chosen Al Futtaim group as the subject of our research. The aim of our research is to review the HR department and point out the weaknesses. To achieve this goal we will review the background and history will give us an idea about the achievements and/or obstacles that faces the company. Also, we will look at the organizational structure of the group and the key people who are managing it. It is important for our research to have a complete idea about the managerial practices and the HRM role in accordance with the other departments. We will evaluate the strength and weaknesses of the HRM and we will end our research with recommendations with for possible improvements. HISTORY AND BACKGROUND Al Futtaim group is a family business which was established in the 1930s as a trading company. The owners of the group hold the upper management positions headed by Majid Al Futtaim as the chairman of the board of directors. The companies working within the group have developed quickly and became a regional integrated commercial, industrial and services business located in the Gulf Area. Currently, the group consists of more than 40 companies dominating many market segments in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Egypt and Pakistan. The group has four subsidiaries which are Majid Al Futtaim Properties, Trust, Retail, and Ventures. The group was created with a purpose of managing its subsidiaries and supervising the work in order to develop the business and achieve unified goals. The managements promise is to respond quickly to the customers need and satisfy the groups shareholders. Moreover the management gives its word to provide challenging opportunities for the employees in orde r to enhance their performance. Another promise is to serve the community, protect the environment and achieve a notable corporate social responsibility. (companys official website) MANAGEMENT PRACTICES The Group consists of several core businesses that complement each other, however they are separately managed. This strategy provides higher flexibility and better potentials because the separate operating divisions can grasp different opportunities. At the same time, different divisions work together on key projects and contribute, as a group, to the achievements and the profit. There are business agreements of cooperation and management within the group. The management relies on the differentiation of the retail brands in order to gain customer loyalty which in turn will enhance the sales growth and business development. (companys official website) To face the market challenges, and because the group has large companies and diverse employees which serves diverse customer segments, the management has continually brought innovations and change to a conventional industry. The group declares that they are both; socially and environmentally responsible which has positive consequences such as increasing employees loyalty, ensuring growth and increasing profit. Moreover, the groups strategy is built on creating a win-win situation for the organization, main stakeholders (such as employees and customers), and the communities where they are functioning. To achieve this strategy, the group has a well established HR department responsible for a large number of employees and workers. With its objectives and goals in mind, Majid Al Futtaim group cares about the human resources working for the group. As an example, we can look at one important division which is Al-Futtaim Electronics Sanyo. In this department, the management has laid down the ground for its human recourses to take ownership of the initiative called Customer 2000. This initiative calls for a change in the staff attitude and approach as well as a change in the working environment as a whole. In other words it is a call for a change in the way business is conducted. This initiative is a mean to enhance productivity and effectiveness of the employees. They are trained to become more alert and aware of the Internal Customers and at the same time they should have the ability to focus on the External Customers. By taking this step, and to be able to coordinate the efforts and expertise of their staff, the management formed a core committee whose role is to open the communication channels between the mana gement and the employees. The committee performs as a forum to convey and formalize the concepts and ideas that will eventually lead to the objective of total customer satisfaction. The committee organizes open sessions and ensures the participation of all the managers and department heads of profit-centers. These sessions provide a chance for healthy discussions and exchange of ideas and points of views. The group functions according to the philosophy of Prosperity through Customer Satisfaction. To face the new challenges and to maintain the growing thrust, the core committee holds its sessions on a weekly basis and ensures through one on one meeting that the information is absorbed by all the staff. (companys official website) THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE Strategy and planning process need a powerful management to transfer the perspectives into reality. Al Futtaim is a diversified group and a large organization managed by the owner, Majid Al Futtaim, as the president and the head of the management hierarchy. The chairman is Sir Michael Rake, an international expert who is an asset for the group because of his long experience and professional background. The board consists of a group of members who have particular expertise in certain areas and who can contribute to the decisions and the prosperity of the group. The CEO is Mr. Iyad Malas a young Arab who earned his education in one of the American universities in the region. Mr. Iyad and his executive team are responsible for the strategy for the whole group which includes what the businesses are in addition to the whole financial performance of the group. At this level of the management planning includes anticipation of change in all the functions of the group. The CEO Deputy is Mr. Ahmad Bin Brek, who is also a competent manager who has the ability to lead the group to its goals. The next level is the business executive team which consists of several young and well educated employees who implement the plans and run the business according to the agreed upon and well thought out strategy. Based on the bottom-up input, the business executive managers report to Mr. Iyad and contribute to the business strategy process. The following level in the hierarchy consists of the department heads and their assistants. Their roles are to orient, empower and manage their staff in order to contribute to the general performance of the company. The line managers report to their managers and they in turn report to their presidents who are responsible for the specific business strategy. At the end of the management hierarchy come the line and office managers and their assistants who work in the field with the staff and monitor the implementation of the plans and report to their superiors in the same business unit. At this organizational level the unit executive managers are responsible for the strategy. Part of the groups business planning scenario is the industrial context; economy, government, territories, existing market cultures. The other part is of the planning is the goals and targets which are specified in the groups strategy and the strategic group model. In the second level come the department managers then the line managers then the supervisors who report to their direct managers. In each department there are the employees with different jobs and responsibilities. If the whole working team does not work together, no goals will be achieved. And if the human resources are not satisfied by the working environment in general they will not be able to perform well. (companys official website) At this point, HRM has a main role to play. Without the human resources, none of the aforementioned strategies would be achieved without having efficient employees. These employees must be managed effectively in order to gain their loyalty and ensure that they will perform t the best of their abilities and lead the company to meet the vision, mission, and goals of the company. HRM has several functions all of them are related to the human resources in the group. Some of the functions are the following: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION One of the most important functions of HRM is the staffing process. This process is costly and time and effort consuming. The HR professionals know that this process should be well planned to save the group the continuous expenses of advertisements, legal procedures, and training the new employees. HRM is responsible for analyzing the jobs, generating job descriptions, advertising the openings, analyzing the applicants CVs, interviewing the candidates, selecting the best candidates and closing the deal by offering the new employees the contract. All these processes are completed in cooperation with the managers of the different departments After signing the contract, the HRM is always ready with an orientation program delivered by the direct managers. The orientation includes the policies and procedures, group culture, security and safety issues, work practices and other related issues to help the new employee to get acquainted with others, place and the new tasks he/she will perform. Later on, when the new employee starts the job, the HRM is responsible, in cooperation with the managers, for the appraisal process. The result of the appraisal helps the HR professionals to set the training plan in order to empower the employee with any required skills. Majid Al Futtaim group has a strategic vision concerning its employees. The strategy recommends that employees be chosen based on fixed criteria. The staffing process, to an extent, ensures recruiting the experienced and efficient employees. As a private LLC, the management worries about the shareholders value and prosperity and the strategies and plans revolve around increasing sales, profit and expansion of business. These reasons are behind hiring effective people who can contribute to the groups success. HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING Also, HRM controls the number of employees and keep it in the appropriate range; too much employees is costly and wasteful of resources. On the other hand, too little employees is a barrier to meet the goals and affects the overall performance of the group. Staffing in Al Futtaim group is affected by many factors such as the budget, the need of expertise and the turn over of employees. Also, the need to control the staffing process depends on the yearly appraisals, business outcomes, and the efficiency of current employees in relation to the change and development. Government regulations and changes in business trend are important factors in terms of increasing or decreasing the number of staff. The role of HRM goes beyond the planning role to implement the plans and take decisions about what is better for the organization. HRM in AL Futtaim Group are seen as reactive rather than being proactive because they are doing the minimum expected from a big and rich group. The reason is not the inefficiency of the HR professionals or in the plans and documentation. The issue is that the group is owned by a family and the last decision is for the owner. Usually in this type of company what really matter is decreasing the expenses and increasing the profit. In this case the HRM cannot implement the change nor can they function according to the international high standard and ideal practices. EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION Empowering and motivating employees to complete their tasks efficiently is an HRM responsibility. Employees must be rewarded for their efforts or else they will transfer to another company and the company will lose their experience and knowledge of the ideal work practices. As mentioned before, recruiting new staff member will cost the company money, effort and time. Moreover, a company with high retention is never the choice of professionals who look for job security. AL Futtaim group care about its human resources. The HRM has a training plan and it was implemented for many years in the past. Now things are changed. The world financial crisis affected the business in general and the extra benefits for the employees are reduced to the minimum and the new workers are getting lower salaries and zero benefits. According to one of the groups employees, the workers are complaining in regards to their salaries and the overall standard of living. As everyone knows, the rents have risen tremendously in the last year. This issue has put a burden on the foreign employees and some of them left the work to another job for less then AED 300 raise in their salaries. This would not happen if the HR management in accordance with the financial department adjusts the pay rate and implement a plan to offer financial reward to the good employees so that the group will gain their loyalty. The employees need to be motivated in order to increase their efforts and work to the best of their abilities. In AL Futtaim Group, Bonuses as incentives are offered to the managers and they are excluding the workers. The common way to encourage the workers is choosing one of the good workers as the employee of the month. This will influence the workers appraisal at the end of the year and the chance of getting a raise becomes higher. More incentives are required if the group wants to attain the loyalty of all the employees. EMPLOYEES APPRAISAL HRM has a main role in assessing the performance of the employees. It is a very important process because the decision makers will have a full picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the staff. Based on the appraisal decisions will be taken to improve the performance of individuals and to point out the potentials within the company. Al Futtaim group HRM pays a special attention to the assessment process. The employees are assessed formally and informally through the year. The main appraisal is conducted on yearly basis and based on the results, some changes are made. Based on the result of the appraisal HRM sets a training plan to enhance the performance of the staff members. Another importance of the yearly appraisals is to link the payments to the competency of the employee. What is happening now is that due to the recession, the group did not give a pay raise to the majority of the staff which has a negative impact on their performance of the individuals. Yet, the appraisal is used efficiently to make use of the talents which already exist in the group. When openings are posted internally, the chance is given to the employees to apply and they are chosen based on their performances, yet not for the upper management posts. The weakness in this process is the results of the appraisal are not used to give the employees the incentives they deserve. The raise in the salaries and wages, if decided, is based on the market situation not on the performance and achievement of the individual. EMPLOYEE RELATIONS Among the HRM roles is to manage the complex employee (industrial relations) between the following parties: Workers and their official and unofficial representatives. Workers and their managers Government, organizations and related agencies. The UAE is shifting to a service based industry. The business requires qualified and skillful people to do the jobs which make the influence of workers more influential. The wise management of the group is aware of this issue and has built, to an extent a relationship with the employees and to maintain the psychological contract with them. HRM in Al Futtaim Group have an industrial relations program. The employees do have a voice and it is reflected in the management actions. A good example is the (customer 2000) project where workers can express themselves while developing their skills. It gives them a chance to get involved in the planning for offering better services to the customers. There are several evidences demonstrating that HRM policies demonstrate groups concern of the individuals performance. As a result we expect to see these policies are well implemented for the benefit of these individuals. Cost based barriers could be responsible for not taking the right actions. Workers are still considered as machines and no margin for mistakes is allowed. The work time is calculated by minutes and the overtime payments are less than the working hours wage. In al Futtaim group there is no win-win situation because the main concern as we have mentioned before is the customer. Satisfying the customer means more profit tor the shareholders. The only benefit for the workers is that they keep their jobs. There are hard workers in the company who were never acknowledged or took any bonus as an appreciation for their achievements. It is true that HRM in A Futtaim Group is effective in terms of generating all the documents which govern the relationship with the employees. HR professionals prepared the job specification, job appraisal, induction programs, training courses, performance management and reward management, malpractice policy, etc. But in general all these documents are for the benefit of the business first and none of them demonstrates the importance of the employee as an individual. So we can say that the importance of the psychological contract is not fully considered. For example, competent employees in Al Futtaim group are offered opportunities to upgrade their positions and their income but these chances are never open to reach to the upper management positions. Such actions affect the relationship with the employees and reduce their loyalty and level of job satisfaction. Another issue is that the cost based management implemented in Al Futtaims private companies affects the psychological contracts with the staff members. Employees lose trust in their management and it would be impossible to retain them. The minute they find a new job they will leave taking with them their experience and their relationships with the customers. A part of the HRM is that the employee relations professionals prepare reports for the management to keep them updated about the current situation, changes or new trends. The mangers/ owners use this information in negotiations, conferences and press releases. The staff interprets and administers the contract in terms of problems, salaries, insurance, safety, management practices etc. in AL Futtaim Group as there are no labor unions or employee association representatives, and this is done with individuals who have no power over the management of the group. So, the real purpose of these negotiations is not achieved. PROVISION OF EMPLOYEE SERVICES Caring about the employees well-being functions is one of the HRM functions which aim to retain good staff and attracting others to work with the company. Services that can be offered to the employees are many. They vary between understanding the personal circumstances of the employee such as extended sick leaves, allowing emergency leaves, and offering loans to the employee in need. Another service is to help the employees to resolve personal issues, to move them to an easier work in case they have special medical needs, and assisting the sick people to benefit from better treatment in better hospitals. In Al Futtaim group HRM has a plan for the provision of employee services but it is not fully amended. The following points can be seen as weaknesses: Number of the disabled people working in the company. Lack of financial and other activities conditions such as sports and hobbies related to the work Offering financial aids to workers in need or maybe having a fund program to help workers in difficulty. On the other hand the group has good safety and security practices. They have a good safety manual with clear policies and procedure. The employees are trained on first aid and evacuation in case of fire. SO we can say that HRM in Al Futtaim group care about their employees in terms of maintaining safety by raising the workers awareness and training them on the policies and procedures. EMPLOYEES TRAINING AND EDUCATION Training the employees to develop their skills and to raise their awareness is one of the HRM functions. Also the training courses are necessary to prepare some of the employees to acquire higher positions. Training and empowering the employees in Al Futtaim is part of the groups promise. The aim behind focusing on training the employees is enhancing the performance of the staff members. As a result of monitoring and assessing the employees work a training plan is set. Lists are prepared and training agencies are approached but, not all the plan is usually implemented. Financial factors affect the process, so sometimes the training courses are cancelled or the number of participants is reduced. The other option is Another plan is usually set for the in house training courses which are better implemented because of the cost is less and the timing can be adjusted. Also from time to time the Group outsources some technical or information based training courses. These trainings are usually attended by the supervisors whom in turn give the information to the workers. This does not work well all the time because not all the supervisors have the ability to train and convey clear information to others. OUR COMMENTS In any organization the HRM is effective when the functions are related to the vision, mission and vision and values. The organizational structure influences the implementation of the plans. In Al Futtaim Group, the HR department is managed by professionals who are aware of and experienced in the best practices of HRM. There are some obstacles which derives from the type, culture, policies and procedures of the Group. As a family business, the main purpose is to satisfy the customers in order to increase the profit. In this case the employees are required to perform to the best of their abilities and no mistakes are allowed. Individuals who have any special circumstances and cannot do the job effectively will not be given the chance to go back to the track. The management will look for a substitute who will not cost the Group extra expenses. The recruitment process is done carefully because the management wants to decrease the expenses. They look for the good qualification in the applicant but the person who will cost them less will be employed. The relation between the management and the individuals is limited to how much this person will benefit the company rather than how can we make this person comfortable and satisfied. The global political and economical issues affects the plans as the group is managed based on cost. Any factor can affect the employees benefit and the company will not accept to pay any extra expenses or increase the HRM budget. In the contrary, if the market is down the budget is decreased. If we are going to compare HRM in Al Futtaim with other similar companies, we can say, as aforementioned, that it has some advantages. Yet, what we are looking for is an HRM who has the authority and the power to fulfill the functions as they should be done. HRM is about the human resources in the group. Their satisfaction influences the outcomes of the group positively. It is not enough to pay the minimum salary and follow the basic labor laws in the country to gain the loyalty of the workers. There are several functions for the HRM that should be decided and implemented internally to distinguish the employees and the business as a whole from others. Open channels with the employees, empowering them, building a relationship with them, offering them opportunities to meet their personal goals, helping them to solve their problems and supporting outside activities will enhance their belonging top the group and will reflect on the work environment and the business as a whole. APPENDIX MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE The organizational of the group give an idea of the hierarchy of power in the group. We can see there is a diversity in the managers nationalities which adds to the experiences and the qualifications of the management team as a whole. Al Futtaim Group is managed by qualified people who have a long experience in management of similar industries and who are able to lead the company according to the international standards. .The local and foreign managers are working hand in hand for the benefit of the company and its stakeholders. The group includes several companies and a diverse work force which has to be managed effectively by managers who have cultural awareness and UAE work experience. In AL Futtaim group, the management has proved its efficiency in running the business. In the following page, we included the biography of the chairman and other managers to demonstrate their effectiveness and experience in managing the group and meeting the goals. President Majid Al Futtaim Chairman Sir  Michael Rake   Chief Executive Officer Mr. Iyad Malas Board Members Sir  Michael Rake   Mr. Waldemar Schmidt Mr. Tarek Ben Halim Mr. Richard North Dr. Fahad Almubarak Mr. Paul Manduca Mr. Trevor Coates Mr. Philip Yea Dr. Khalid Alkhazraji   Management Mr.  Iyad Malas   Chief  Executive Officer Mr. Ahmed Bin Brek Deputy Chief Executive Officer http://www.majidalfuttaim.com/images/maf_chart.jpg BIOGRAPHY Majid Al Futtaim Majid Al Futtaim, the Founder and President of the Majid Al Futtaim Group has successfully brought the concepts of regional shopping malls and hypermarkets to the region. His pioneering vision has changed the face of shopping, entertainment and leisure in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Majid Al Futtaim opened his first shopping mall in 1995 and has since created a business of international significance. Over the past decade the Group has taken his groundbreaking concepts into other major cities in the United Arab Emirates and throughout the Middle East and North Africa including; Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and Lebanon. Sir  Michael Rake   Sir Michael Rake is Chairman of BT Group and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, as well as a director of Barclays PLC, McGraw-Hill Inc and the Financial Reporting Council. He is also chairman of the private equity oversight group the Guidelines Monitoring Committee. BT pays him an annual salary of  £600,000.[1] From May 2002 to September 2007 Rake was Chairman of KPMG International. Prior to his appointment as Chairman of KPMG International he was Chairman of KPMG in Europe and Senior Partner of KPMG in the United Kingdom. He joined KPMG in 1974, and worked in Continental Europe before transferring to the Middle East to run the practice for three years in 1986. He transferred to London in 1989, became a member of the UK Board in 1991, and had a number of leadership roles in the UK before being elected UK Senior Partner in 1998. Rake is also a Vice President of the RNIB, a member of the Board of the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue, a member of the CBI International Advisory Board, the Chartered Management Institute, the DTIs US/UK Regulatory Taskforce, the Advisory Council for Business for New Europe, the Ethnic Minority Employment Taskforce, an Association Member of BUPA, The School of Oriental and African Studies Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the Judge Institute at the University of Cambridge, Senior Adviser for Chatham House and the Global Advisory Board of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation. He was Chairman of Business in the Community from 2004-2007 and a member of the board of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum from 1998 to 2007. Rake is also a Governor of Wellington College and a board member of Guards Polo Club. He is married with four children and five stepchildren, and was knighted in 2007. Mr. Iyad Malas Iyad Malas is the CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Trust, the family office of the Majid Al Futtaim family in Dubai. Previously, Mr. Malas was the Regional Director for South Asia for International Finance Corporation, based in New Delhi. He had responsibility for all of IFCs investments in all sectors in the South Asian markets, including India. Mr. Malas worked with IFC beginning in 1987, investing in many regions of the emerging markets and was the Division Manager for Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa before working for four years in Egypt, first as CEO of Fleming CIIC and then as the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Asset Management for the preeminent Egyptian investment bank, EFG-Hermes from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Malas was educated at the American University in Beirut and earned an MBA from George Washington University. Mr. Malas is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

The Name Judith :: essays research papers

Is it important to know what is behind your name? Now in days, many names are given without knowing their meanings or where they come from. For example, I was given the name of Judith just because my parents heard it and liked it. It depends where and in which culture were they raised. For this purpose I researched my name Judith. Some of the main points I found were interesting to me like the history and my personality. First, the history of my name Judith obtains interesting and important facts such as meanings, famous people in the world, and culture. Judith's origin is Hebrew, meaning "Praise" Dictionary of First Names, Alfred J. Kolatch (393). There is also famous people from the past, for example, "In the old testament Judith was one of the wives of Esau". Parentsoup.com/babynames/meanings.html. Another famous person from the past was, "The beatiful heroine in the book of Judith (in the Apocrypha.) Kolatch (393). With this in mind, it is interesting to know that my name has been used for thousands of years; However, in my culture not many people are named after Judith. My name is more commun on the Asian continent, where it was originated. Another fact is that personality can be described just by the name. An example, on my research I found web sites with my name wich described my personality. Kabalarians.com/male/judith.htm., "Judith is happiest when associating with singing, dancing, and having a good time." Accordingly, all this quote describes me perfectly because I always like to be happy and having a good time with my friends. For example, If I am spending time with my friends, I like to be thinking positive and enjoying it as much as I can. I have never liked to see any of my friends sad or with problems, if that is the case I try to cheer them up. I also found some weaknesses, kabalarians.htm., "Over indulgence in food or emotional desires could cause you to have problems in your nervous system." Without a doubt this totally describes me. There is times when emotional desires get to me and take time to get them out of my activities.

Willem De Kooning :: Biographies

Willem De Kooning Willem De Kooning had been widely acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of this century known for his daring originality. Several exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad have celebrated the artistic achievements of this eminent artist's 60-year career. My essay covers part of his early life with real focus on his late paintings. His last works, painted in the 1980s, as he was in deteriorating health have come under criticism by some critics. Willem de Kooning was born on April 24, 1904 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His father was a beer distributor and his mother ran a bar. At the age of twelve he became an apprentice at a commercial design and decorating firm. He studied for eight years at Rotterdam's leading art school. In 1926, de Kooning secured a passage on a streamer to the United States, illegally entering and settling in New Jersey. He quickly moved to Manhattan, painted signs and worked as a carpenter in New York City. Then in 1935, he landed a job with the Works Progress Administration, a government agency that put artists to work during the Great Depression. By the next decade, he had attained a place in the downtown art scene among his fellow artists. By the late 1940s, de Kooning along with Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, began to be recognized as a major painter in a movement called "Abstract Expressionism". This new school of thought shifted the center of twentieth century art form Paris to New York. Willem de Kooning was recognized as the only painter who had one foot in Europe and one in America. He combined classical European training in Holland with a love for popular American culture. The restlessness and energy of American life was a source of great inspiration and passion for him. Gary Garrells, the chief curator at the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art said, " He had the wildness of Pollock but mixed with the impeccable craftsmanship of the European tradition. He was not interested in style, he was interested in the process of looking and knowing and getting under the skin." Willem de Kooning, 93, was the last survivor of his famous peers. One would not have predicted for him a great old age. Among the leading figures of hard-living generation he belonged by temperament and talent to a romantic tradition of artists who burned the physical and psychic fuel of themselves with devastating speed and completeness. Few of de Kooning's closest friends and colleagues survived the harshness of the 1940s and

Reference to two South African examples Essay

In at least one point in the day, every-one finds themselves tuned into one broadcast station or another, be it radio or television Be it for entertainment, relaxation, to be informed or merely a means of escapism. For whichever reasons it is, radio and television play an active role in our everyday life whether we are aware of it or not. Using South African examples, this assignment seeks to discuss two radio and two television genres. It is virtually impossible to discuss the issue genre before defining this term. Both the Oxford dictionary as well as Creeber (2001), defines ‘genre’ as â€Å"type† or â€Å"kind†. Genres allow for the types or kinds of things to be categorised. For example in radio broadcasting, there are various different programs aired, such as talk shows, music shows, news broadcasts, drama shows and so on. Each of these shows are categorised into a particular genre based on their characteristics. The two radio genres that will be discussed are talk shows and music shows. The phenomenon of genre is not exclusive to radio and television alone. In fact according to Greeber, â€Å"it [genre] has played an important role in the study of literature, theatre, film, television and other art and media forms† (Creeber, G: 2001 pg. 1). Radio-Talk Genre Radio stations like ‘SAFM’ and ‘702’ are almost entirely dedicated to the genre of ‘talk show’ however almost every radio station incorporates this genre if not at least for a few minutes. The success of talk shows lie in participation by the audience. The audience is urged to call into the radio station and either view their opinion on the topic of discussion or pose questions to either an officiator or a panel. On ‘SAFM’ for example, there was a program entitled â€Å"The Life and Times of Dr. Bayers Nordea†. The show was as the title implies, discussing and talking about Dr. Nordeas’ life. The show hosted family, colleagues and friends, who spoke about his life. Listeners also got the opportunity to add their comments, thoughts, as well as pose questions to the panel. The show was also officiated by the host or disk jockey (D. J) of the show, who not only directed most of the discussion, but also made sure that the show, ran smoothly. The nature of talk shows is such that the audience phones in either agreeing or disagreeing to the topic or question being discussed. This opens the door for others to voice their opinions. According to Barnard (2000), â€Å"phone-in †¦encourages a free flow of opinion and conversation within the safety of an artificially created community† (Barnard, S: 2000). With out this element, the talk show would be deemed unsuccessful. Talk shows do not follow a particular protocol, meaning that any topic can be addressed. The mere action of a D. J. posing a question relating to any topic and receiving feedback from the audience constitutes the genre of talk show to be exercised. As any topic makes way for talk shows, it is common to find small inserts of talk show, even within a primarily music radio station. Highfeld Stereo is an example of a South African music radio station. It is common to find a situation where a D. J. poses a question and opens the lines to receive feedback. The D. J is thus officiating a talk show, within a music show. Listeners of talk shows however, are required to concentrate on the discussion if they are to understand what is being discussed, thus ones attention cannot divert from one thing to another. For example, one cannot talk to a friend on the phone, as well as remain focused on the discussion. Radio-Music Genre. Although there is audience participation in the music genre, it differs from that of the talk genre. Regarding music radio, the audience is urged to call in to send dedications to friends or loved ones, choose songs they wish to hear, or vote for their favourite song rather than voice their opinions on a matter. Music as a genre is not so clear-cut like talk shows. Within the music genres, there are sub-genres, where by music is categorised according to style. Rock, rave, hip-hop and pop would all be examples of sub-genres of the music genre. The music genre requires less attention from the listener to be focused on the show. Namely, the listener can do various other activities without loosing out on the entertainment. For example, while driving a car and focusing on the road, or while working at ones desk, one can continue to listen to his or her favourite song and not be side tracked. Unlike the talk genre where if one was driving a car and focusing on the road they would more than likely loose track of what was being discussed-alternatively, they would possibly have an accident. As the genre implies, the emphasis in music shows is in fact music. Therefore it is common to find very little talking by the D. J. and more music being played. The show usually consists of popular songs in the specific sub-genre being aired. This genre also usually has a top 40 show, where the 40 most popular songs are aired. This is commonly known as â€Å"contempory hit radio† (Tomaselli/de Villiers: 1998). 5FM radio station for example has the ‘Coca-Cola Top 40’ music show which is aired every Sunday morning from 10:00- 14:00. Other radio stations like ‘East Coast Radio host the ‘Top 10 at 10’ show, which airs the 10 most popular songs every Tuesday night at 22:00. These songs which make it onto the ‘top 10’ or ‘top 40’ lists, are songs which have been voted for by the public. Jacaranda FM in contrast to the mainstream radio stations of say 5FM for example would air music of a different sub-genre, however one would still find the most popular tracks of that specific sub-genre being aired, as well as ‘top 10’ shows occurring. In the music genre, the D. Js primary job is to play music and possible talk a little bit about the artist of the track, rather than being an officiator or a mediator of discussion, as is found in talk radio. Television-Documentary Genre. As the term documentary implies, these shows are usually fact based and require research to be done on the particular topic being showed. Events are documented by a team of researchers and aired to the public. An example of a documentary would be found in the SABC 2 show â€Å"50/50†. This is a documentary program that focuses on various aspects of the wild life. Documentaries however could focus on a variety of topics, including an event, person or idea. As the emphasis of documentaries is on information, enlightenment and facts, viewers usually watch documentaries as a means of being informed, rather than being entertained. The nature of documentaries is such that each episode is fully formed and has a definite conclusion – even if left as an enquiry for the viewer to think about what they have just viewed. This allows the viewer to evaluate their knowledge of the topic against that of the show. Documentaries are also not usually serial form, as would be the case in a sitcom for example. Rather, they tend to be self-contained episodes with definite endings. Documentaries usually also adopt a narrative structure & psychological relationship of the viewers to the program. The viewer is often addressed directly, in order â€Å"to persuade the actual person watching at home that he or she is the â€Å"you† to whom the addresser is speaking† (Allen,C: 1992 pg. 118). This also keeps the viewer interested in the show as well making them feel as if they actively involved in what is going on. Due to the fact that documentaries are not entertainment focused and are rather a means of transferring information, events, people or animals being documented are portrayed as realistically as possible. Animals, which are filmed in the â€Å"50/50† program, for example are filmed in their natural environments, rather than in zoos, in order to give the viewer the most realistic experience. As they are based on real occurrences, documentaries, unlike entertainment programmes such as sitcoms, do not focus as much on a specific plot. Television-Soap Opera As soap operas were originally targeted at the female audience (Brown, M: 1994), it is not surprising to find that many of the central characters within this genre are women. More importantly, they are strong, powerful and influential characters, rather than the stereotype housewife women. SABC 3 airs the soap opera â€Å"Isidingo†. Charel de Villiers and Leigh Haynes are two examples of strong, powerful and ambitious characters that play central roles in the show. It is important for these kinds of characters to exist, in order for the audience to which the show is targeted at to be able to relate. â€Å"They [women] recognise some of there own identity in this product created by the media† (Brown, M: 1994). People watch soap operas for a number of reasons. The fact that they are entertaining, allows the viewer to unwind, relax or escape from the stresses from every day life, for the duration of the show, as the audience get lost in the reality of the program (Anderson, M: 2004). Viewers could also be using the decision-making techniques and outcomes of the soap opera to â€Å"work through† their own issues (Anderson, M: 2004). â€Å"Isidingo† is an example of a program that deals with AIDS-an issue that the whole of South Africa is facing; it also provides solutions in the form of Nandipe-a married women infected with HIV. Her positive attitude allows her to live a productive life. Viewers may see Nandipe as a role model. Those viewers infected with HIV may in fact even echo her actions in order to try and increase productivity in their own lives. Characters in soap operas are usually found in the form of â€Å"multiple characters† (Brown, M: 1994) meaning that characters emphasize the group over the individual (Brown, M: 1994 pg 53), thus many people can relate to one specific character. This also makes way for viewers to find similarities between themselves and various other characters rather than one particular character. Brown believes that rather than relating to characters in soap operas, viewers â€Å"implicate† themselves to various characters, meaning that the viewer will see similarities between a particular character, or even characters, but when the character acts in a way that the viewer does not agree with, or feel comfortable with, the viewer will distance him or herself from the character (Brown, M: 1994). Soap operas adopt a visualization style, which gets the viewer to focus and identify with a specific character (Brown, M: 1994 pg. 53). On a radio talk show for example, a TV viewer called in with the opinion that the â€Å"Isidingo† villianess, Cherel de Villiers should be punished, as if the viewer could not differentiate between reality & fiction. (Anderson, M: 2004). Apparently actors who play villainous characters are shunned offset by the public (Anderson, M: 2004). It is not only the relatable characters and entertaining style of soap operas that keep the audience hooked. It is also the continuous open-ended nature of episodes, set in the present and containing a number of alternating story lines which gives the audience sense of continuous pleasure (Brown, M: 1994, pg. 58). The fact that soap operas resists narrative closure, meaning that the story is continuous and never ending, means there is always hope for the future (Anderson, M: 2004). Thus viewers will continue to watch future episodes in order to come closer to seeing what will happen at the end (which never really comes). â€Å"John Davies (1984)†¦ suggests about soap opera viewers that once ‘hooked’, they vacillate between their need to know, or the pleasure of anticipation† that keeps viewers watching (Brown, M: 1994). In discussing two radio and two television genres with reference to two South African examples, it is evident that the complexities and intricacies of various broadcasts and genres are not as simple as one would imagine. As seen above, various genres and broadcasts draw in different audiences, and evoke various different responses in the viewer or listener. As technology continues to move forward, where will these broadcasts find themselves in the future? For now though, radio and television will continue to play an active part in almost all of our lives. BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, Robert C. 1992. Televisions modes of address & the social context of T. V. viewing. In Channels of Discourse, reassembled. 2nd ed. Edited by Robert C. Allen. London: Routledge. Anderson, Muff. Soapies mirror SA’s soul. Mail & Guardian. 24 March 2004. Barnard, S. 2000. Studying Radio. New York: Arnold Hodder. Brown, Mary Ellen. 1994. Ch. 3: Soap opera and women’s talk: The pleasure of resistance. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Creeber, G. (ed. ). 2001. Introduction: What is genre? In Creeber, G (ed),The television genre book. London: British Film Institute, 1-7. Teer-Tomaselli, R and de Villiers, C. 1998. Radio: Theatre of the Mind. In De Beer, A (ed). Mass media toward the Millennium. Pretoria: Van Schaik, 147-175.

Structures of Legal Restraint, Oh Police Powers in India

The Ibakkar – Natarajan Commission Part one of the Nanawti Commission report, probing into the Godhara incident in Gujarat, released last month has once again opened the Pandora's Box over logic of setting up Inquiry Commissions in the country. The report while giving clean chit to the Narendra Modi Government has supported the theory of conspiracy, leading to a widespread criticism across the country. Many call it ‘eye wash' and other call it ‘sponsored report'. Communists have termed it a ‘piecemeal' and fabricated report, whereas; National Democratic Alliance (NDA) calls it ‘triumph of truth'.Justice Nanawati report in fact contradicts the UC Banerjee report which also probed the Godhara incident. How a single incident draws two extreme conclusions? The two reports have raised a very debatable issue. What do judicial commissions, appointed by the various governments to examine issues ranging from riots, scandals and assassinations to inter-state disp utes actually achieve? Critics of commissions say that their recent history has been extremely spotty. Apart from taking inordinately long to deliver reports, they seldom achieve anything.Keeping apart from such allegations and counter allegations, the issue that has again come to fore is whether an inquiry commission can substitute criminal prosecution? Do these Commissions serve any purpose? Is it not an eye wash? Are these Commissions able to bring culprits to book? Are not Commissions of inquiry a waste of time and money? To understand the entire issue, one has to discuss the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 itself. Before this Act came into being, the governments used to order an inquiry by executive notifications under Public Service Inquiry Act, 1850.Sometimes, they used to enact adhoc and temporary legislations too. To meet the public demand for impartial and judicial inquiries, the Government of India came out with a comprehensive legislation, which resulted into passage of this Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952. Since its enactment, the constitution of Inquiry Commissions has become a tool for the various governments to subside the public anger. Since Independence, more than a hundred Inquiry Commissions have been set up, but a very few have served the purpose. And the reasons are obvious.First, the provisions enshrined in this Act are not of deterrent in nature and secondly, most of the time the Commissions are set up under retired Judges for obvious reasons. Section 4 the Act provides for powers and it is clear that the Commission has no power to compel a person to adduce before it and give evidence. It cannot pass verdicts or judgments which could be enforceable. The helplessness is such that even if an offence has been committed in view of or in presence of Commission, the Commission needs to forward the case to the Magistrate for trial as provided in Criminal Procedure code.The appointment of retired Judges, as head of the Commission is very much s uitable for the government. It is not merely a chance that one Judge has headed more than one Commission. The public perception is such that these Inquiry Commissions are becoming post retirement placement schemes for the favourite retired Judges. We have a long list of such Commissions, which have made inordinate delay in submitting their reports. Many of them have taken decades in so called â€Å"conducting inquiries† and even then the report which was submitted were so voluminous that we required another committee to find out ays to implement the recommendations. For example, as many as ten Commissions or committees have so far been set up with regard to the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. First of all it was the Marvah Commission headed by Additional Commissioner of Police Ved Marvah, that was set up in November, 1984. The Commission was about to finish the assigned task when it was abruptly wounded up in May 1985 a nd a new Commission headed by Justice Rangnath Misra was constituted. The new Commission was asked to carry out further inquiry hitherto done by the Marvah Commission.The Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission which was appointed under Section 3 of The Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, was asked to inquire into â€Å"allegations† of violence and not to inquire into the â€Å"nature† of violence, a departure from the terms of reference of over a dozen other commissions on communal disturbances since Independence. It is needless to mention that what has happened to reports and how much amount have been spent on these exercises. Has any prominent leader been punished so far? Many persons, against whom leveled charges were being inquired into, have died.Such are the frustrating results of these Commissions and Committees. As far as time and money aspect of these Commissions are concerned, its enough to look into the expenses of just couple of Commissions to understand the qua ntum of impact—both in terms of the amount and time spent. The one that tops the chart is the Liberhan Commission. Set up under retired Justice M S Liberhan on 16 December, 1992 to probe into Babri mosque demolition, the Commission has so far been given more than 41 extensions. Overall the government has already spent Rs 90 million on this single man inquiry Commission, which is yet to come out with its report.Similarly, Justice B N Kripal Commission of inquiry was set up on 13 July, 1985 to probe into the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 on 23 June, 1985 which led to the crash of this plane into the Atlantic Ocean leaving 329 passengers including crew dead. The Commission submitted its report after extensive tours of countries like Canada and USA but when the prosecution began, nothing could be proved and none could be punished. The entire ‘investigation and inquiry' went in vain. It is needless again, to calculate the amount which was spent on such inquiries.Phukan Commission was set up to probe the Tehelka expose into fictitious defence deals. Everyone saw the tape on television and the then Government just to avoid immediate legal course, set up this Commission. In May 2005 the Newsweek reported that Justice Phukan along with his wife and eight officials used IAF plane and went to Pune, Mumbai and Shirdi. The Ministry later said that the Judge was not entitled to use the military plane and it was made available to him by the then government in order to influence the Judge. Such allegations and incidents definitely erode public faith in such Commissions.The situation is such that every Government in power uses this provision to oblige the retired judges. In Bihar for example, Justice Amir Das Commission was set up to probe into the alleged connections of political leaders with a banned outfit called Ranveer Sena in 1997. The Commission was finally wounded up in 2006 as it could hardly do anything except for some tours and recording the state ments some leaders in over eight years of its existence. Similar is the case of Justice Ali Ahmed Commission that was set up to look into excess withdrawal in 1996.In fact, very little is known about the outcome of the Commission, including the recommendations that it submited or the actions taken by it. Commission under Justice R C P Sinha and Justice Samsul was set up on Bhagalpur communal riot in 1989. Reports were submitted in 1995. But when the new government came to power it set up N N Singh (retired Justice) Commission to investigate the matter again. In 2008 a Commission under retired judge Sadanand Mukherjee was set up to probe into the Kahalgaon police firing. This commission is still a non starter vis-a-vis investigation of the incidence.Not to miss the fact that when the recent breach in Kosi embankment that caused a major flood in Bihar led to lot of allegations and counter allegations, the state government was quick to constitute a Commission under Rajesh Walia, again a retired Judge to probe into it. And while there is no bias against the judiciary or the retired judges, who are a national repository of knowledge as far as judicial matters are concerned, the question needs to be examined is whether a Commission can substitute the country’s criminal investigation system.How can a Judge be better equipped to do forensic test, do scientific investigations than a professionally trained police officer? Has the Commission power to make arrests to the persons likely to tamper evidences? The answer to these and many such questions has been provided by a two Judge commission itself. Set up by in 1987 to investigate the Fairfax Deal, the Justice Thakkar and Natarajan Commission in its report have said that the Commission of Inquiry Act was â€Å"ineffective and toothless†. They two, in fact, devoted one full chapter on the inadequacies of this Act.It is important to note that India has a criminal justice system, which is based on the twin pi llars of investigation and dispensation of justice. How can the Judiciary be asked to do the work of investigation, which is the work of the State as enshrined the law of the land? The Criminal Procedure Code and for that matter entire Criminal Justice System is erected on this principle (Article 50 of Chapter IV on Directive Principles of State Policy) and perhaps it is due to this principle, that the judiciary and executive have been completely separated in 1973, when the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended.Besides, most of these Commissions, after years of its investigation, usually submit reports that are so voluminous that it again requires some committees to suggest measures to implements the recommendations. Not to talk about the fact that such reports are not obligatory and mandatory for the government to implement. It is also worthwhile to mention here that the Judiciary in India is an independent system and that is precisely the reason why Article 220 restricts practise by retired Judges. The idea is that there should not be any scope, whatsoever, of favour or disfavour by the serving Judges.By appointing the retired Judges in these Commissions or for that matter in any other body tends to clearly violate the spirit of the Constitution itself. What is more shocking is that instead of modernising and equipping the investigating agencies to probe into such serious issues of national shame, the country has been a mere spectator to the cosmetic make ups. In India, every one knows about the ‘normal' pace of the court proceedings, and so all these commissions, needless to say have virtually become black holes.

League of Legends is Good

League of Legends is a game that is very popular these days. However, nearly every parent hates the idea of his/her children playing this game. Parent only heard the news that a Taiwanese died from playing League of Legends. Also, his/her parent don't want his/her child to get addicted by it. However, moms and dads will never know the pros of the game. I enjoy talking about it with my good friends. Nearly everyone in KISS Paying plays League of Legends, and it is one of the most popular games in the school right now.We even have a secret Faceable group called KISS 7th Grade League of Legends. We like to post mimes, our favorite game match we've had, and some news. If I have a victory, it is so fun to talk about it with my friends. Also, we always laugh if something funny happened in LOL. Because of this, there are usually good relationships between the kids who play LOL. I usually have pride in my achievements, form camaraderie's with other folks online, and gain appreciation of my growing skills. ! Different champions, skills, and champ combinations get me excited.In LOL, there are many champions that a player could use for battle. Currently, there are over 100 different champions, so the player can choose who he/she want to play (the player needs to buy the champion first). It is never boring, because he/she can buy new champions, decorations (a. K. A. Skins), and every champions have their own unique passives and active skills. These features let you fall deep into imagination, a place where you can relieve stress, if used enough. People are terribly mistaken if they think of LOL as a game that only kills other people.Surprisingly, LOL can improve one's cooperation and planning skills, as well as some other things, such as communication skills, vice versa. LOL requires 5 players on each team, who all have different roles. Because everyone has different roles, no one is less important than others. Also, cooperation and communication are the keys to victory. A player need to communicate with your team (in a way they can understand) if he/she want to coordinate a surprise attack. If the player cooperate, the team will sometimes compliment him/her, and form a friendship with the player.The player needs to plan ahead of what he/she are going to do. LOL is a strategy game. The team's victory doesn't happen only because one's skills are good. He/she need to work with his/her team to win. There are many pros for playing League of Legends. It is actually beneficial to people, if they can control their gaming time. It can help them make friends, improve their cooperation/planning/communication skills, and it can excite them, even though they are in a very bad mood. Parents are Just worrying about their children too much,

Anxiety and Depression in Adolescence: A Social Problem Essay

1. Introduction Anxiety and depression in adolescence has become an increasing issue in society as time has progressed. Rates of high school students who qualify for the criteria that meet a mental disorder are 6-8 times higher than the same age group in the 1960’s. A test given to high school students over the years called the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Index (MMPI) gives us data from 1938 (â€Å"Marsh†). The test is a personal survey asking students to answer questions about themselves on a scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree (ex. I am happy today). Mental disorder rates are higher today than during the great depression, WWII, and the cold war. So why is this happening? A factor many experts agree on is a switch from an internal locus of control to an external. A majority of teens today don’t feel as though they are in control of their own fate and that can cause a lot of stress. This is partial credit is due to the way our society is shaped today; we have ma de a major shift from an emphasis on play to an emphasis on work. Kids are asked to grow up much earlier. Children and teens are becoming anxious at a much larger rate than in past years. The culture we now live in puts much more pressure on young people at a younger age, forcing them to grow up. The anxiety is crippling if left untreated, and with the amount of people experiencing it, it’s a social problem worth looking into. 2. Where does anxiety and depression come from? The etiology of anxiety and depression can be traced back to an individual’s first stage of life. Psychiatric specialist John Marsh writes in his book that a child’s temperament in their first year of life can show behavioral signs that may lead to becoming an anxious child and teen. A parent can  identify these early signs that include: excessive bouts of crying, sleeping difficulties and gas (â€Å"Marsh†). These traits or actions may seem normal for an infant thus it’s hard to expect a parent to pick up on any of these early signs, so they shouldn’t fret too much this early on. Where anxiety really starts is with an irrational fear of something that an individual perceives as a threat or dangerous. This fear causes a change in behavior, like an avoidance of a situation where many people are or may be present in the case of social anxiety (â€Å"Alfano†). The part of the brain responsible for this fear is the amygdala, the emotional capital of our mind. The amygdala’s structure is altered when we become fearful of something, making it hard for the fear to be conquered or shaken. When this fear manifests, it can turn into different forms of anxiety and thus become part of a person’s emotional capability (â€Å"Marsh†). In essence, anxiety alters the stimulation of a certain fear into something people cannot handle and become overwhelmed. Look more:  solutions for sleep deprivation essay The main area that psychologists and other scientists have focused in on the last 10-15 years in child psychology is behavioral inhibition of the unfamiliar, or BI (â€Å"Marsh†). BI represents the tendency to exhibit fearfulness, restraint, secretiveness, and withdrawal in the face of novel events or situations. The more inhibitions a child shows, the more likely they are to develop anxiety or have anxious tendencies. BI is moderately heritable yet the largest factor in BI is the environment and experiences one has. In a study shown in Marsh’s book, nonshared environmental influences contribute more to BI than do factors shared by siblings, such as genetics and shared experiences. BI is lessened by socialization, if a child becomes engaged in play and conversation with others from an early age; they are less likely to be inhibited. Parental encouragement in this aspect is key such as parents making play dates for their children and things of that nature. Let me be clear, BI is not the same as anxiety, it is a studied precursor to anxiety that has a lot of valuable research to back up the link between BI and anxiety. It is a good thing for parents and clinicians to pick up on at an early age in the child’s life to make the proper adjustments to ensure no mental breakdowns occur. Outside of BI as a child, there are other things that can play into an  adolescent onset of anxiety or depression. One of these things is the parental influence, whether it be the parent’s own mental illness, style of parenting, or the sociability of the parent, they all can affect the child. Biological predisposition is a factor a child can’t control and is unfortunate. 20-50% of teens that suffer from depression, anxiety or another disorder have a family member with some form of mental illness (â€Å"Borchard†). It has long been documented that children of parent’s with any mental disorders are at a much higher risk of also developing a disorder. As for parenting style, anxiety in teens and children has been associated with parenting styles characterized by limited expression of care and warmth and more inclination toward showing control and overprotection. A study done in 1991 by Krohne and Hock, observed pairs of mother and daughter solving puzzles, high-anxious girls and low-anxious girls divided the study into two groups. The psychologists found the mothers of high-anxious girls to be much more controlling than those of low-anxious girls (â€Å"Marsh†). A young person, with the exception of school, has most their social interactions due to their parent’s connections. They have Thanksgiving with their cousins, aunts, and uncles and have barbecues with their parent’s work colleagues and their families. If a child’s parents are less socially involved, it hinders the child’s ability to grow and advance these skills, causing an emergence of anxiety in these situations (â€Å"Marsh†). Besides parental contact, the most beneficial relationships for young people to have are positive relationships with their peers. Peer victimization is a common experience that negatively affects young people psychologically. Recent research findings are a bit appalling, indicating that one in five youths are chronically exposed to ongoing abuse, whether it was physical, verbal, or any other form (â€Å"Muris†). These occurrences of bullying were most strongly linked to depression, low-self esteem, and social anxiety . An interesting study was done in 2005 by Strawser, Storch, and Roberti. They gave undergraduates a Teasing Questionnaire (TQ), which measures the degree to which people could recall being teased during childhood. Results demonstrated that TQ scores were linked to social anxiety, trait anxiety, worry, and anxiety sensitivity (â€Å"Muris†). This study shows that peer victimization can play a key role in the development of mental disorders and the long lasting effects it can have. A place of interest I had while  researching was if there were any differences in financial and ethic status in the community and if that had any significant effect on anxiety and other mental disorders. In general, the socioeconomic status of a youth was not a deciding factor in occurrence of mental disorders but one thing that does hinder those of less fortunate situations is they are much less likely to seek or receive treatment due to the costs. Most studies carried out in the US have found that children from ethic minorities (i.e. African American, Hispanic American) display higher levels of fear and anxiety than Caucasian counterparts. This also may be due to the fact that more minorities live in urban settings versus suburban settings, which can cause a sometimes more stressful living environment. Stressful or traumatic life events are definitely a factor in a child or teen developing any number of disorders. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that is directly connected to a significant single event or string of events happening. In a journal I found, the goal of the study conducted was to look at the difference between dependent and independent events and the effect they had on pre-adolescent children. Dependent events are events that the individual actually chooses to do or directly involves the individual, such as choosing to partake in drugs. Independent events are things the individual has no control over such as the death of someone close to them. The findings of the study were that anxiety and depression are very likely to occur after dependent stressful events and independent life events were less likely to have effects lasting longer than six months (â€Å"Eldemira†). The results of this study suggest that life choices have more influence in mental disorders than things out of one’s control. These are just general reasons children and young adults can develop mental disorders. Today’s society produces a variety of other factors that are specific to our time, showing the difference that has progressed over the decades. Students suffer today the immense pressure to get good grades in order to get into one of the elite colleges of the nation. From 9th grade in high school, kids are under the impression that unless they get straights A’s, their college options are going to be very limited. This is a level of stress that in past generations was not present at such a young age. Another thing unique to our decade is the phenomenon that is social media. The  popularity of sites like Facebook and Twitter and the smartphone era in general has caused raised levels of anxious teenagers. This anxiety doesn’t come directly from social media, but from being away from it. A study done by Wilhelm Hoffman of the University of Chicago compared social media addictiven ess to other things with addictive qualities. The results came back with the fact that social media was harder to resist than alcohol, caffeine, or cigarettes (â€Å"Fitzgerald†). Overall, the most significant factor in recent years is the change from intrinsic to extrinsic goals. 3. Different Types of Disorders There are a large number of anxiety and depression disorders, with many twists and turns that make diagnoses very specific. In order to keep from being too repetitive this section will focus on some of the most largely diagnosed disorders including general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and general depression. Discussing the symptoms and what these disorders entail is the goal of this section in order to provide a solid base of knowledge of just what young people are suffering with today. 3.1 Generalized Anxiety Disorder Children with general anxiety disorder or GAD are plagued by worries most children or teens can shrug off. Often referred to as â€Å"little adults†, these children are concerned about things like health, personal value, safety, and their future. They also tend to worry a lot about other people and their issues, which have nothing to do with themselves, such as the neighbors’ fight they had last night. These worries become a central part of daily thoughts and this can disrupt development and adjustment to life (â€Å"Essau†). GAD has mostly been documented and studied in adults; this is because in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) up until the 4th edition over-anxious disorder (OAD) was what this was called in children. These conditions are considered very similar and overlap many symptoms so now GAD is the universal term used regardless of age. The main symptoms of GAD in the DSM-IV are excessive worry about multiple topics, difficulty controlling or regulating the worry, somatic symptoms  that accompany the worry, and functional impairment resulting from the worries. There are a lot of overlaps in symptoms of anxiety so if these are restricted to: separation from someone, social situations, or a specific event than GAD is not the right diagnosis. 3.2 Social Anxiety Disorder Anxiety as a whole is conceptualized as a tripartite system (â€Å"Alfano†) consisting of physical symptoms, subjective or cognitive distress, and behavioral avoidance. Social anxiety affects about 5-16% of young adults ages 15-24 depending on what study or survey you look at. Regardless, it’s too many people being affected than should be. The physical symptoms of social anxiety include: tachycardia (a heartbeat that exceeds 100 beats per minute), blushing, trembling, and sweating. These can occur not only in a social situation but in the anticipation of an upcoming event as well. An investigation performed in 1985 by Beidel, Turner & Dancu found that systolic blood pressure and heart rate significantly increase when someone who suffers from SAD was talking to someone of the opposite sex (â€Å"Alfano†). Cognitive symptoms are very similar to that of GAD but it’s mostly the unreasonable worry that the person will do or say something that will be seen by others in a group as embarrassing or humiliating. This can take the form as specific negative thoughts, a general unease in social settings, or even specific beliefs that one will not behave how they think one should in social situations. The negative thoughts are something that is commonly seen in most patients. It’s usually one of the things that appear on self-reports and it’s hard to break. In my personal experience with a psychologist, she had told me that these are referred to as NATs or negative automatic thoughts. Just like the insect gnat, they are annoying thoughts that will not seem to leave someone caught in this struggle, which is why therapy is helpful to reshape the way someone thinks. The behavioral aspect of SAD is avoidance of social settings. Many people who suffer from SAD become reclusive. These behaviors can be very subtle such as avoiding eye contact with teachers or asking to be behind-the-scenes when putting on a school play (â€Å"Alfano†). An interesting table I found surveyed a high school on different social events and what percentages said it caused at least a moderate level of distress and caused avoidance. The top 5 categories, oral  reports, attending dances or parties, asking a teacher a question in class, starting or joining a conversation, and athletic or musical performances all had 85% or more of the students say it caused at least moderate distress and 55% or more said it caused avoidance of those situations (â€Å"Huberty†). 3.3 Depression Depression, for the most part, is less of a chronic disorder like most anxieties are. Depression is usually a bout that people deal with from two weeks anywhere to two years. If the symptoms don’t pass after that amount of time, it becomes diagnosed as dysthymia, which is the chronic form of depression. Regardless of whether an individual is suffering for a short period of time or chronically, depression can be extremely debilitating. At any time about 10-15% of people under 21 suffer from depression. The more frightening statistic is that only 30% of these depressed people are receiving or seeking help (â€Å"Borchard†). There is a large range of symptoms and signs that someone is suffering from depression. These include: apathy, complaints of physical pain such as headaches, stomachaches, difficulty concentrating, loss of appetite or overeating, memory loss, thoughts or obsession with death and dying, sadness or feeling of hopelessness, trouble sleeping or too much sleep, drop in grades, substance abuse and many other things. Depression, rather than getting scared, seems to make someone numb to the world. Often due to some sort of disappointment such as inadequate social status, sexual frustration with orientation or inability to talk to the opposite sex, school performance or any other number of things (â€Å"Gray†). 4. Treatment Treatment is a glimmer of hope in today’s world. Although rates of anxiety and depression have continued to climb, treatment methods are also continuing to improve as science and technology advance. The most widely accepted or praised method for treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy. â€Å"Cognitive-behavioral is meant to represent an integration of cognitive, behavioral, affective, and social strategies for change† (â€Å"Marsh†). A study that is pretty representative of the cognitive-behavioral process as a whole was done in 1989 by Kane and Kendall. The study took a group of adolescents suffering from anxiety and put them through therapy for 6 months. Kane and Kendall were able to divide the process of recovery into four major components: â€Å"1. Recognizing anxious feelings and physical reactions to anxiety, 2. Identifying and modifying negative self-statements, 3. Generating strategies to cope effectively in anxiety-provoking situations, and 4. Rating and rewarding attempts at coping† (â€Å"Marsh†). After the six months, self-reports, parental reports, and reports done by the clinicians had improved significantly. A follow up appointment was made three months after the study had ended and about 50% of the subjects had made considerable gains in adopting and using their newfound knowledge. The other half had regressed at least in some way back to old habits. This shows the differences betwee n individuals and their needs, some can have an intense short treatment and be fine for the rest of their days while others need a constant support over many years. The other portion of treatment that is of importance in our time especially is intervention by the means of pharmacotherapy. Using drugs such as anti-depressants and anxiolytics in order to stop anxiety and depression has increased as technology has improved. The three most commonly prescribed medicines for anxiety and depression are benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, and SSRIs. Benzos are prescribed for a short-term period for severe disabling anxiety. The way this drug works is it dampens the overall activity in the brain in order to calm the person. Beta-blockers are commonly prescribed to those who suffer from social anxiety because they essentially block adrenaline output, lessening the nerves one can feels from being excited or nervous. SSRIs are the latest and most effective antidepressant. They have been praised for their lack of side effect compared to older anti-depressants. Formally selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, they keep serotonin, the neurotransmitter in charge o f mood, in the brain longer causing a raise in mood. Just from 1996 to 2005, antidepressant use in the US has gone from 5.84% of the population to 10.12% (â€Å"Grohol†). The trend is still increasing and it may just be because more people are becoming  depressed but it also could be because of a shift to a â€Å"quick-fix† societal norm. We live in a world where if someone can no longer get an erection, they take a blue pill called Viagra and are ready to go. This same mentality can be applied to drugs used for mental disorders. People can go into a doctor’s office and say they need something to make them feel better and skip the most important part of the process, therapy. Without a change in behavior, the antidepressant won’t have a strong effect. It has been proven time and time again that cognitive-behavioral therapy accompanied by a drug is the most effective strategy in lowering anxiety or beating depression. â€Å"Two treatments provide a greater ‘dose’ and thus may provide a more rap id and efficient response† (â€Å"Marsh†). 5. Conclusion and Possible Improvements We live in a rapidly changing time, and that may be one of the very reasons that so many people are anxious and depressed, the fear of the unknown and change. Regardless of whether that holds true or not, we have an obligation as a society to change the way we approach anxiety and depression in young people because they will be the leaders of tomorrow. The idea of just fixing things by throwing a pill at the problem is not the right way to handle things because it doesn’t have long-term benefits. It may initially be helpful but it doesn’t allow an individual to look at a problem and realize the error of their ways and why was something going on. The â€Å"quick-fix† we have going on is in part due to a loss of sensitivity in our world as a whole. Things like Facebook and texting makes face-to-face contact less and less necessary and we lose a sense of humanity because of it. The result that may come forth if this downward trend continues is about 1/5 of our count ry’s soon-to-be adult population suffering from mental disorders and not being able to contribute or enjoy life to their full potential. Adolescent-onset of mental disorders has been proven to have an even stronger overall toll than the adult-onset version; therefore, action is necessary as early as possible (â€Å"Marsh†). The future isn’t entirely gloomy though. We have the chance as a society to change how we deal with mental disorders in young people. One thing that  would benefit many would be to go back to a more creative and individualized education experience. By allowing children and teens the ability to â€Å"play† and seek passions, we can create a system that may not produce as many CEOs but instead people who are simply happy in their career and life. Allowing more time for children to grow up could be very beneficial for their mental health. Another possible improvement is in the medical field. Making psycho-evaluations mandatory or as important as annual health check-ups could allow early preventative action to take place. By starting this process early in an individual’s life, it could greatly reduce the chance of an anxious or depression outburst to occur. The number one thing that can happen in order to change the prevalence of mental disorder rests on the shoulders of parents. By being knowledgeable in the dangers of mental disorders today, like 5,000 annual suicides, a rate triple of the 1960’s, they can be the best preventative force. It’s better to be proactive and than reactive. Muhammad Ali said it well when he stated, â€Å"you can set yourself up to be sick, or you can choose to be well.† The future of this social problem is in our hands, whether we choose to continue down the track where anxiety and depression rates rise, or take a stand, is all up to us. Regaining an internal locus of control, allowing creativity and individualism to thrive, and caring about happiness more so than financial wealth are ways we can stop the progression of anxiety and depression in adolescence. Works Cited Alfano, Candice A., and Deborah C. Beidel. Social Anxiety in Adolescents and Young Adults: Translating Developmental Science into Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2011. Print. This book is based on social anxiety in adolescents. Social anxiety symptoms are often seen in teens but only recently books like this one have come out that really dig into the adolescents. It looks at the etiology of the problem, which is what I will be mainly using this source for. Borchard, Therese J., â€Å"Why Are So Many Teens Depressed?† Psychcentral.com 03. Apr. 2004. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. . Borchard is an associate editor for Psychcentral.com and upon reading her article she had a few interesting facts that I thought were worth sharing because they show a general hopelessness in today’s youth that we need to fix. De Jong, P.J., B.E. Sportel, E. De Hullu, and M. H. Nauta. â€Å"Co-occurrence of Social Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Adolescence: Differential Links with Implicit and Explicit Self-esteem?† Psychological Medicine 42.03 (2012): 475-84.EBSCOhost. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. This article talks about social anxiety and depression and how they very well can go hand in hand. The study looks at two different types of self-esteem, implicit and explicit. Explicit self-esteem is deliberately self-evaluating while implicit has more to do with memory. The goal of the study was to see if these explicit and implicit self-esteems did in fact result in higher levels of depression and social anxiety. I will use this study to look at the differences between a teen’s memory and actual thoughts of themselves effect on mood. Eldemira Domenech-Llaberia, et al. â€Å"AGE, GENDER AND NEGATIVE LIFE EVENTS IN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SELF-REPORTS AT PREADOLESCENCE AND EARLY ADOLESCENCE. (English). â€Å"Ansiedad Y Estres 17.2/3 (2011): 113-124. Academic Search Complete Web. 17 Oct. 2012. This is a study that took students from 4th to 6th grade from 13 randomly selected schools participated. The study looked at the difference in age, gender and life events on a student’s prevalence to get anxiety and depression. Provides me with information based on different groups of people. Essau, Cecilia A., and Franz Petermann, eds. Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Epidemiology, Risk Factors and Treatment. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2001. Print. This book is another look at how to diagnose, deal with, and treat anxiety issues. The interesting thing with this book is it’s about ten years older than the other books and so the difference in findings will be gripping to look at it. Fitzgerald, Britney. â€Å"Social Media Is Causing Anxiety, Study Finds.† The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 July 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. Fitzgerald’s article talks about the effect that social media has on anxiety and just how addictive Twitter, Facebook and other things in the same category are. Gray, Peter. â€Å"Freedom to Learn.† The Dramatic Rise of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: Is It Connected to the Decline in Play and Rise in Schooling? Psychology Today, 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . Peter Gray talks about one of my main focuses, the switch from play to work early on in a child’s education and the effect that has. Grohol, John M., Psy.D. â€Å"Antidepressant Use Up 75 Percent | Psych Central News.†Psych Central.com. N.p., 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . This article is all about the rise in the usage of antidepressants and why this is happening. Huberty, Thomas J. Reed. Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention. New York: Springer, 2012. Print. Thomas Reed’s book was written in as an insight or somewhat of a guide in understanding what goes on in a young person’s development that allows anxiety and other mental disorders to develop. Historically there has been five major factors in the development of mental disorders such as biological or social but this book adds a sixth: schools. Reed thinks that a child’s school is not only for educational growth but all other factors as life as well. Looking into a school setting is critical because outside of the home it’s where children usually spend most their time. March, John S. Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford, 1995. Print. This is the last print source that I have; it seems to be the most technical and scientific as well. John March is the chief child psychiatry specialist at Duke University and so he’s a specialist among specialists. I will look into what he says and try to elaborate my research with it. McLaughlin, Katie A., Joshua Breslau, and Jennifer Green. â€Å"Childhood Socio-economic Status and the Onset, Persistence, and Severity of DSM-IV Mental Disorders in a US National Sample.† Social Science & Medicine 73.7 (2011): 1088-096.EBSCOhost. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. This article dives into the idea that a socio-economic status is a factor in a child or adolescence’s mental health. It has been documented many times, but this article found that childhood financial status wasn’t usually the main factor in a child’s overall mental health. I will use this article because I think that a social economic status seems like it would matter tremendously in mental health. Muris, Peter. Normal and Abnormal Fear and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2007. Print. Peter Muris’ book goes into the epidemiology of anxiety in children and the difference between that and normal fears. He examines how some children have a worse way of adapting to bad situations. That vulnerability is a key factor in the development of according to this book and I want to look at that portion of this book. Nicholas Allen, et al. â€Å"Parental Behaviors During Family Interactions Predict Changes In Depression And Anxiety Symptoms During Adolescence.† Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology 40.1 (2012): 59-71. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. A journal investigated the longitudinal relations between parental behaviors observed during parent-adolescent interactions, and the development of depression and anxiety. Positive and negative parental behaviors were examined. This is a great thing to look at for my paper because parents play a huge role in a child’s development. Zavos, Helena M.S., Ph.D, Chloe C.Y. Wong, Ph.D, Nicola L. Barclay, Ph.D, and Jonathan Mill, Ph.D. â€Å"Anxiety Sensitivity In Adolescence And Young Adulthood: The Role of Stressful Life Events, 5HTTLPR And Their Interaction.†Depression and Anxiety 29.5 (2012): 400-08. EBSCOhost. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.