Teenage Pregnancy free essay sample

Recearch shows that Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States is at its lowest level in nearly 40 years, it remains the highest among the most developed countries in the world. Approximately 67. 8 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 — nearly 750,000 American teenagers — become pregnant each year. (Planned Parenthood. (2012). Reducing Teenage Pregnancy. Retrieved from www. plannedparenthood. org/files/PPFA/reducing_teenage_pregnancy. pdf ). (Please see visual aid section for graph,visual aid script and visul aid description on pages 5-8) Allowing female teenagers in high school who are sexually active to have assess to oral contraceptive /birth control will help to further reduce the number of Bi rt h Cont r ol Pill s a nd Tee ns: A Gui de f or Par e nt s qf 7q GZ8 occurrences of teenage pregnancy which in turn will reduce the risk of abortion and high risk pregnancies. The obvious truth from prior stated researchs, shows that our teenagers are still having unprotected sex while some may be abstaining or practicing safe sex the remainder who do not do so have to be protected from what they can be protected from for their own good and good of our socities. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Another problem associated with teenage pregnancies is the financial burden on tax payes and the government to provide medical care for pregnant teenagers. Research shows that The June 2011 study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy estimated that in 2008, adolescent childbearing cost U. S. taxpayers about $11 billion per year . (Congressional Research Service. (2012). Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Statistics and Programs. Retrieved from www. fas. org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20301. pdf). This is a lot of money that could be aved and put to use towards other pressing issues in our present day economy.  ·The expenses does not stop with medical care during and after pregnancy but continues with medical care of the children and and the social/financial of most teenage mothers continues to be a problem that could happen over their life time if changes are not made by them. Teen mothers are less likely to graduate from high school and more likely than their peers who delay childbe aring to live in poverty and to rely on welfare. ( Planned Parenthood. (2012). Reducing Teenage Pregnancy. Retrieved from www. plannedparenthood. org/files/PPFA/reducing_teenage_pregnancy. pdf ). This problem could very well be a long term problem if the educational and financial status of the teenage mother does not change.  ·The government will see a greater reduction in high school teenage pregnancies if sexually active teens are able to have assess to oral contraception without parental consent.  ·By continuing to promote abstinence and sex educatiion is very important to enable teenagers make better informed choices Providing and funding programs that will enable pregnant teenage mothers to go back to school and achieve higher educational status will help to reduce the financial burden on tax payers and government when these teens do not end up in welfare programs for themselves and their children.  ·Research suggests that high school girls should be allowed to have oral contraception withought parental consent because this will help reduce the occurance and risk associated with teenage pregnancy and abortionand reduce the financial burden on tax payers. Asses to oral contraceptives without parental consent will will reduce the incedents of teenage pregnancies and provide another option to high school girls when they do not abstain or practice safe sex. .Preventing teenage pregnacies among high school girls will increase their chances at attaining higher educational levels and better careers. This will inturn reduce the amount of women and children who end up in welfare and reduce the fainacial burden on tax payers and our ailing economy of today.  ·CLOSING STATEMENT: The advantages of oral contraception to high school girls/teenagers can not be over emphasized. It is of immence value to our young girls,their future,our communities and nation as a whole. Our teenage girls will have better prospects in life and also have an opportunity to make better informed decisions about sex at an early age. Allowing them to take some measure of responsibility for them selves when they are having sex will boost their self esteem and creat a senc e of responsiblity for their lives and our tax payers will save alot of maoney that could be used to boost the economy. AUDIENCE QUESTIONS: Question 1. With the risks associated with birth control pills, why should parents not worry about their children becoming sick or even dying from side effects? Answer. Research has proved that there is little or no risk associated/proven with teenage girls taking oral contraception. The center for young womens health clearly states that There are no increase in the risk of heart attack or stroke in healthy young women who take birth control pills and do not smoke ( The center for young womens health. (2012). Birth conrol pills and teens:A guide to parents. Retrived from http://www. youngwomenshealth. org/oral. html). Question 2. Young teenagers are known to be disorganised and even forgetfull, why should parents trust them to use oral contraception accordingly? Answer. Allowing teenagers to have free asses to oral contraception gives them a sence of responsibility and also the American Academy of Pediatrics has issud a statetement saying adolescents are more likely to use emergency contraception if it’s prescribed in advance. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2012). AAP Recommends Emergency Contraception Be Available to Teens. Retrieved from http://pediatrics. aappublications. org/content/130/6/1174). Question 3. Are there any states or school districts currently implementing this practice? Answer. The state of New york is currently implementing this program. The New York City Department of Education is furnishing morning-after pills and other birth control drugs to students at 13 city high schools and without parental permission. (Life news. (2012). Girls at 13 NYC Schools Get Morning After Pills, No Parental Permission. Retrived from http://www. lifenews. com/2012/09/24/girls-at-13-nyc-schools-getmorning- after-pills-no-parental-permission/) References. 1. Center for Disease Control. (2012). Pre-pregnancy Contraceptive Use Among Teens with Unintended Pregnancies Resulting in Live Births — Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), 2004–2008. Retrieved from http://www. cdc. gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6102a1. htm? s_cid=mm6102a1_w. 2. Congressional Research Service. 2012). Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Statistics and Programs. Retrieved from www. fas. org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20301. pdf 3. Huffington post . 2010. Even At Lowest, U. S. Teen Birth Rate Far Higher Than W. Europe. Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2010/12/30/teen-pregnancy-us- _n_802854. html 4. Life news. (2012). Girls at 13 NYC Schools Get Morning After Pills, No Parental Permission. Retrived from http://www. lifenews. com/2012/09/24 /girls-at-13-nyc-schoolsget- morning-after-pills-no-parental-permission/. . The center for young womens health. (2012). Birth conrol pills and teens:A guide to parents. Retrived from http://www. youngwomenshealth. org/oral. html. 6. Time Magazine. (2012). New York City Offers Plan B to High School Students. Retrived from http://healthland. time. com/2012/09/25/new-york-city-schools-offer-planb- to-high-school-students/ . 7. Planned Parenthood. (2012). Reducing Teenage Pregnancy. Retrieved from www. plannedparenthood. org/files/PPFA/reducing_teenage_pregnancy. pdf . Teenage pregnancy free essay sample Teenage pregnancy† is pregnancy in human females under the age of 20 at the time that the pregnancy ends. A pregnancy can take place in apubertal female before menarche (the first menstrual period), which signals the possibility of fertility, but usually occurs after menarche. In well-nourished girls, menarche usually takes place around the age of 12 or 13. Teenage Pregnancy is now one of the serious problems in our society. It is one of the major factors that affect population growth in the Philippines. Teenage pregnancy is the unplanned parenthood, secrets among male and females between 13 to 16 years of age. Being in the wrong place and at the wrong time knows the facts out here about teenager’s lives and what they’re doing. Teen Pregnancy may happen due to the following reasons: ? Peer pressure ? Absentee of parents ? Influence of media ? Rape and sexual abuse. Teenage pregnancy affects not only females but males as well; it causes serious health and education problems. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage pregnancy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"Nearly 4 out of 10 girls become pregnant at least once before the age of 20. Most teens get pregnant because they want to know what it feels like to raise a child or because they see others with children and they find them cute and want them to themselves. Others get pregnant because they don’t know about the different ways of contraception and ways to stay safe. Many girls struggle with teen pregnancy because of their low confidence and self-worth. They feel that they are ugly and no guy would show them attention unless they give them what they want. The reason why we chose teen pregnancy is because I believe that is a serious issue between teenagers now a days. I think that teen pregnancy could of been an avoidable issue if sex was a conversation topic between parents and their kids, and teachers to students. Kids should start to know about sex and ways to prevent pregnancy and STDs, STIs since theyre in middle school since kids now a days are becoming sexualy active since theyre like 13 years old which makes them more exposed to pregnancy and other consequences people face when having unsafe sex, due to their ignorance on how to have safe sex. Teenage Pregnancy free essay sample A discussion of teenage pregnancy in the United States. (more) Teenage Pregnancy free essay sample Challenges of Teenage Parenthood A. Parenthood Options B. Continuing Education C. Financial Problems V. Conclusion Teenage pregnancy is a major concern in todays society ;there are many ways to prevent teenage pregnancy, many people to get advice from, and many decisions a teenage parent must make. The statistics tell that the U. S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy Teen Pregnancy Teen Pregnancy Parenting You sit there tense, your face is turning cherry red, your eyes are fixed on the little white machine, and you feel like the suspense is and births. More than 4 out of ten young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20-nearly one billion a year(Teen Pregnancy Facts and Stats 1). Teenage pregnancy has declined slowly but steadily. These recent declines reverse the 24-percent rise in the teenage birth rate from 1986 to 1991 (Teen Pregnancy Facts and Stats 1). Usually only one-third of teenage mothers receive a high school diploma. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The rest of the mothers usually end Teen Pregnancy You sit there tense, your face is turning cherry red, your eyes are fixed on the little white machine, and you feel like the suspense is killing you, two minutes p on welfare. A majority of both boys and girls who are sexually active wish they had waited. Eight in ten girls and six in ten boys say they wish they had waited (Teen Pregnancy Facts and Stats 1). Many people are concerned about the problems teenage parents and their children face. The health risks for a teenage girl who becomes pregnant increase sharply. One of the concerns of teenage mothers is the health risk. Usually young women have Teen Pregnancy Teen Pregnancy Over the past two decades, the rates of teen pregnancy have grown dramatically. According to the Prevention of Teen Pregnancy, approximately every thirty-one seconds teenage pregnant in the more complications in pregnancy than older women. The most hazardous complication is low birth weight. One out of seven babies born to teenage mothers have a low birth weight (Hildebrand 88). Poor eating habits, smoking, or using alcohol or drugs, cause low birth weight. Premature babies and babies with low birth weights often have organs that havent fully developed, such as lungs, heart and brain. These babies get sick easier than normal weight babies. As a result Teen Pregnancy The situation is as follow: A teen girl (anywhere from the age thirteen to eighteen) finds herself in a sexual relationship with a male. The end result is from what was motioned above, teenage mothers are considered to be in the high-risk health category. They need good prenatal care as soon as they find out they are pregnant. A doctor, nurse, or other medical practitioner gives most of the information about nutrition. Prenatal care can help prevent pregnancy complications and improve ones chances of having a healthy baby. The best way to prevent teenage pregnancy, which is 100% effective, is abstinence. Most teenagers have a whole Teen pregnancy Teen Pregnancy There are a lot of teen mothers growing up in this world wondering, what if I would have stayed in school? What could I have become? life ahead of them and having a child will cause a lot of complications in your goals. Its not impossible for teenage mothers to complete high school, or try to reach their goals in life, but having a child could very well interfere with these goals. Another way of protection is condoms. There are a lot of protections out there, but these protections are not 100-percent reliable. There are a lot of places and people to go to Teen Pregnancy Teen Pregnancy There are a lot of teen mothers growing up in this world wondering, what if I would have stayed in school? What could I have become? for support and advice. In addition there are many organizations and hotlines a teenage mother can contact for advice and assistance. Parents and family are one alternative. There are a lot of teenagers that are afraid of their parents reactions. However, most parents are calmer and more supportive than teenagers expect. Most parents are shocked when the teenager comes and tells them that they are pregnant. Just give the parents time and they will try to give their Teen pregnancy Teen Pregnancy There are a lot of teen mothers growing up in this world wondering, what if I would have stayed in school? What could I have become? teenager the best advice that they know. The school nurse or counselor is another place to get advice. The counselor usually can gather up pamphlets and brochures about pregnancy. The counselor can also help the teenager remain in school. They are very supportive and understanding. Doctors and clinics are very important for a teenage parent to go to. There are a lot of home pregnancy tests available, but the doctor is a lot more reliable and gives Teenage Pregnancy free essay sample Teenage pregnancy (defined as under-18 conceptions including those leading to live births and terminations) and early parenthood are widely recognized to be associated with poor health and social exclusion. Having children at an early age can affect young women’s health and wellbeing and can limit their education, career and economic prospects. Although young people can be competent parents, longitudinal studies show that the children born to teenagers are more likely to experience a range of negative outcomes in later life, and are more likely to become a teenage parent themselves. Teenage pregnancy is a serious issue in our society today where people become pregnant because they are not informed. Teenage pregnancy affects not only females but males as well; it causes serious health and education problems. Nearly 4 out of 10 girls become pregnant at least once before the age of 20. Most teens get pregnant because they want to know what it feels like to raise a child or because they see others with children and they find them cute and want them to themselves. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Others get pregnant because they don’t know about the different ways of contraception and ways to stay safe. Many girls struggle with teen pregnancy because of their low confidence and self-worth. They feel that they are ugly and no guy would show them attention unless they give them what they want. In our society today Teenage Pregnancy affects both females and males in several ways. Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school or other plans. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of shame and fear, and it may appear that you will crumble under pressures in your environment. The stress of how one would break the news to their parents might be even greater, and finding help may seem an impossible task. People might think that they can help others, or one might be too embarrassed to search for help. For the most part, when one sees teenagers raising children, we often think that the teen has been raped or is too mature for their age. For this reason, some totally miss the issues that one must have been exposed to in their society, the society of their home, community, school. There are many viewpoints as to why teenage females are having so many children out of wedlock. However, the facts are obvious—teenaged females are highly influenced by many social issues, but those with the lack of strong parental guidance, sex education, and positive mass media are more likely to have a premarital pregnancy. The issue of teenage pregnancy started to interest me when I am staying now in the City, a great percentage of the females there were actually pregnant and I didn’t really understand why. I wasn’t really sure how big or how serious teen pregnancy is, but with little knowledge and a tremendous amount of curiosity, I wanted teen pregnancy to be my topic. This study will make us aware of what is happening in our society today. This issue is being ignored a lot of times. This will guide the parents and friends on what to do if a teenager gets pregnant. For teen mothers, this will guide them on their options before and after pregnancy. This concept paper aims to discuss the effects of rising early pregnancy cases and how it affects our economy. This will discuss also some cases of adolescent mothers and what kind of life do they have as teenage parents. II. Body Teenage pregnancy is one of the major factors that affect population growth in the Philippines. It is considered as one of the major problems of the government is facing of today. According to the Government statistics records, teenage pregnancy cases rise up to 70% over 10 years only. These alarming cases caught the attention of some lawmakers. The very best example solution that the government made this year was the passage of RH Bill or the Reproductive Health Bill. This bill aims to free access of use of contraceptives, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. The government conceived this as the solution to the problem. Others may see it as helpful but others also contradicts it. Teenage pregnancy is continuing growing and really affects our economic status. Studies show that in 2009, total live births reached to 1. 745 million, which break down to a daily average of 4,782 births and 478 of mothers giving birth were teenagers. From the survey conducted by the Young Adults Fertility Survey (YAFS), 16% of the women aging 15-24 years old have had premarital sex and the average age for the females who had their first sexual encounter is 18. Some 16. 5 million Filipinos belong to the 15-24 year old age group. We are forced with a glaring truth that at a very young age, a lot of young people today have children of their own. 30 % of all births belong to this age group; and by the age of 20, 25% of the youth are already mothers. Statistics show that every year at least 64,000 teenagers have abortions, and those are statistics from a country where abortion is illegal, yet we claim we are Catholics, who are preserving and valuing life. We might say that the pregnancy of these teenagers is just the mere result of the gratification of sexual urges. Yes we might say that. That pregnancy would not occur if studies had been prioritized instead of the relationship of the opposite sex. That if there were no premarital sex (PMS), there would be no pregnancy. On one simple glance, we would judge these teenagers guilty. The Causes of Teenage Pregnancy There are many different causes of teenage pregnancy. Every teenage girl is brought up under different family and personal conditions, therefore presenting many different causes of teenage pregnancy. These causes can range from internal factors to external factors. Some of these causes include drugs and alcohol, sexual abuse and child maltreatment, and technology dangers. All of these contribute to teenage pregnancy. Another cause of teenage pregnancy is sexual abuse and child maltreatment. This affects teenagers in all areas of development like cognitive development, social development, psychological, and emotional development. When a teenage girl is sexually abused and maltreated, she usually develops bad self esteem and her confidence level drops dramatically. When this happens, sexual activity is used as a justification of her internal problems and also they sometimes think that they can find comfort in their partners. This is bad because when they think like this, it becomes more and more repetitive and they are more likely to become pregnant. However, sexual abuse and child maltreatment can be described as an internal problem which leads to an external problem. It is an internal problem because it affects the emotions, self esteem and confidence and it leads to external problems because it involves teenage pregnancy. Last but not least, there is a technology danger. This is another famous cause of teenage pregnancy. Technology is a new means of communication now a day. It seems to be destroying teenagers slowly but surely. Millions of teenagers go online every day, around the hours when there is little or no adult supervision. This allows for online dating, hooking up and promiscuity. Many times teens depend on technology to find relationships or just male friends and end up with the wrong company. They agree to meet at a certain place then get engaged in unprotected sexual activities. Lack of sex education is the most important but not the only cause of teenage pregnancy. There are also some other teenage pregnancy causes that cannot be ignored. First is the psychological factor. The immature and irresponsible behavior arising due to complex teenage psychology is another important cause of teenage pregnancies. Teenagers often go through a number of emotions because of their own transition from childhood and peer pressure. In addition, weak family relationships fail to provide the emotional support that teenagers require. This lack of attention and affection from family resulting in depression forces them to seek love and support from other people, especially members of the opposite sex. Next cause is the adolescent sexual behavior. As adolescence marks the onset of sexual maturity, it is but obvious that both the sexes show interest in and explore the much hyped topics of sex, thank to the irresponsible and careless approach of mass media. This makes them vulnerable to teenage sex and pregnancy without adequate sex education. Lack of sexual education causes teens to get abortions as they ultimately realize their inability to bear the responsibilities of being a parent at such a young age. Another cause is lack of discipline and control. Factors like alcohol and substance abuse accompanied by unrestricted interaction with the opposite sex can ignite the sparks of lust and passion in youngsters very easily ultimately leading to teenage pregnancy. Nonetheless, at times, parents put too many restrictions of their children, especially girls to protect them from dangers. This overprotection gives rise to frustration and a feeling of not being loved and cared for. Thus, balance is the key to avoid this problem. Moreover, sexual abuse of teenage girls is also one of the most disgraceful causes of teenage pregnancy. One example is sexual relationships between teenage girls and older men. Effects of Teenage Pregnancy Teenage pregnancy is a serious issue that may seriously impact the future of a young woman. Any teen pregnancy will be a challenge as teens typically lack skills needed to handle a pregnancy and motherhood. Patience, maturity and ability to handle stress are required by pregnant mothers of all ages. A teen pregnancy may also impact the baby. Several studies have examined the socioeconomic, medical, and psychological impact of pregnancy and parenthood in teens. Life outcomes for teenage mothers and their children vary; other factors, such as poverty or social support, may be more important than the age of the mother at the birth. Many solutions to counteract the more negative findings have been proposed. Teenage parents who can rely on family and community support, social services and child-care support are more likely to continue their education and get higher paying jobs as they progress with their education. There are health risks for the baby and children born to teenage mothers are more likely to suffer health, social, and emotional problems than children born to older mothers. Also, women who become pregnant during their teens are at increased risk for complications, such as premature labor and other consequences. Teenage births are associated with lower annual income for the mother. Eighty percent of teen mothers must rely on welfare at some point. Teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of school. Only about one-third of teen mothers obtain a high school diploma. Teenage pregnancies are associated with increased rates of alcohol abuse and substance abuse, lower educational level, and reduced earning potential in teen fathers. More than half of teenage pregnancies continue to birth. According to a researcher at the Transnational Family Research Institute, teenage mothers are at a high risk of experiencing depression, birth complications, toxemia, anemia and even death. Teenage girls are often not emotionally prepared for childbirth or being a mother and can experience extreme depression, anxiety, resentment and feelings of failure. Because of the stigma that exists regarding teenage pregnancy in many societies, pregnant teens may deal with feelings of shame, guilt, anger, denial and depression. Only 1/3 of teenage mothers complete high school and receive a diploma, according to research conducted by the Robin Hood Foundation. Apart from future financial and employment problems, this can be a contributing factor toward negative self-esteem. Teenagers are often afraid to tell friends, parents or other family members about the pregnancy, which can lead to further anxiety, feelings of shame and withdrawal from society. Early motherhood can affect the psychosocial development of the infant. The children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely with a low birth weight, predisposing them to many other lifelong conditions. Children of teen mothers are at higher risk of intellectual, language, and socio-emotional delays. Developmental disabilities and behavioral issues are increased in children born to teen mothers. One study suggested that adolescent mothers are less likely to stimulate their infant through affectionate behaviors such as touch, smiling, and verbal communication, or to be sensitive and accepting toward his or her needs. Another found that those who had more social support were less likely to show anger toward their children or to rely upon punishment. Poor academic performance in the children of teenage mothers has also been noted, with many of them being more likely than average to fail to graduate from secondary school, be held back a grade level, or score lower on standardized tests. Daughters born to adolescent parents are more likely to become teen mothers themselves. A son born to a young woman in her teens is three times more likely to serve time in prison. Teen pregnancy and motherhood can influence younger siblings. One study found that the younger sisters of teen mothers were less likely to emphasize the importance of education and employment and more likely to accept human sexual behavior, parenting, and marriage at younger ages; younger brothers, too, were found to be more tolerant of non-marital and early births, in addition to being more susceptible to high-risk behaviors. If the younger sisters of teenage parents babysit the children, they have an increased risk of getting pregnant themselves. Once an older daughter has a child, parents often become more accepting as time goes by. The probability of the younger sister having a teenage pregnancy went from one in five to two in five if the elder sister had a baby as a teenager. Emotional Effect There are various emotional effects of early pregnancy to teenagers. 1. Initial excitement Some teenagers are excited to bear a child, especially when it is their first pregnancy. They are excited to see their baby. Others are excited to buy clothes and other things for the baby. They think of names for the baby. 2. Confuse Some are confused and at a loss on what to do. They are too young and many have no idea about bearing a child. 3. Afraid Some are scared. They think of questions like, â€Å"How should I tell my parents? † â€Å"How will I face my classmates? † or â€Å"What is the best thing to do to solve this problem? † They are afraid to answer these questions. they feel scared on what will be the reactions of their parents. 4. Frustrated Frustration comes later. Pregnant teenagers will realize that they are not yet ready to bear a child when it’s already late. Emotional Effect to Love Ones Being pregnant makes one’s life complicated. It can affect you and your love ones. 1. Family Parents expect their children to be good. They expect that all the good things from their children. a. Frustrated or Disappointment Many parents are not happy about the early pregnancy of children. They expect help in their old age, but their pregnant child might have some other plans. b. Excitement Others are excited about a new family member. 2. Friends Friends might be disappointed if they know that you are pregnant. They might be shocked because at your young age you will be a mother. Physical Effect of Teenage Pregnancy Changes can be observed in a pregnant woman. Diet and exercise are necessary. Changes in a pregnant teenager’s body 1. Increase in Body Weight 2. Increase of Foot Size 3. Increase of Breast Size 4. The darkening of Cheeks and Forehead Mental Effect of Early Pregnancy Among the issues encountered by a pregnant teenager are: A. Depression It is common among pregnant teenager who are desperate to solve their problems. Some teenagers try to solve their problem by: 1. Abortion It is the removal of a fetus from the mother’s womb. Abortion is illegal. About 300,000 to 500,000 women undergo abortion every year. Article 256, 258 and 259 in the Revised Penal Code of the Philippine penalize women who undergo abortion and others who help her with imprisonment. Some teenager, however, think that abortion is a way to solve their problem. 2. Suicide Some teenagers think of suicide. Effects on Child Children from homes run by teenage mothers have to face almost insurmountable obstacles in life. The incidents of depression and mental health problems, the lack of father figures, and the high rate of poverty often connected to children in homes run by teenage mothers put them at serious disadvantages when compared to children raised in nuclear families. Many people believe that the implementation of sex education in schools and the addition of more federal aid for single parents are major causes for the countrys high rate of teen pregnancies. When the true purpose of sex education and federal aid is to help strengthen the mother and her child so that they can eventually lead productive lives. The absence of a father figure in the home brings about a chain reaction of dilemmas. The emotional problems that children suffer because there is no father in their life can be potentially hazardous to their future. Many children tend to be effected mentally because these powerful emotions have the potential to do permanent damage in a childs life. Children may experience sadness and depression, aggressive behavior, frequent illness, difficulty in school, eating problems, and sleeping disorders. Many children also suffer from various social difficulties and self-esteem problems that come along with living in a one-parent household. The pressure that children raised by teenage parents go through is tremendous. Children who dont have fathers present in the home often feel unloved. There is no trauma as excruciatingly painful as parental rejection and there is probably no worse of a way to wreck a persons life. Males are affected differently by the absence of a father than females are. A boy needs a male role model in his life so that he can learn how to become a man. Children who dont have good role models often choose negative, unsavory characters to mold themselves after. Negative consequences of teenage pregnancies The health consequences for a teenage mother and her baby both during pregnancy and afterwards can be harmful. Young mothers’ inexperience of looking after themselves contributes to negative health outcomes, particularly during pregnancies. Immaturity affects the ability to moderate negative behaviour, such as smoking and seeking timely health care. Once the baby is born, not persisting with breastfeeding may also be a harmful consequence of immaturity. Teenage pregnancy is more common among young people who have low educational attainment. In addition, being pregnant and having a baby often also leads to education being curtailed – for the mother, though not always for the father – and thereby even lower educational attainment. As a result of low educational achievement, inadequate employment training, poor childcare provision and a lack of support, teenage mothers suffer a considerable disadvantage in the labor market and can be highly reliant on welfare benefits and subsidized housing, sometimes following a period of homelessness or temporary housing. They may also be forced to lean on relatives. Effects of a Daughter’s Pregnancy Families in which teenagers bear children have historically been characterized by grandparental childrearing systems, wherein the adolescents mother typically provides the primary hands-on care for the teens child (Burton, 1995, 1996a, 1996b). Because these grand parenting duties can be extensive and time consuming, they likely interfere with or distract the mother from monitoring or supervising her own children. Role strain theory postulates that the psychological stress associated with undertaking multiple roles impedes a person from performing well in any role (Goode, 1960). Thus, it may be that the time and role demands of caring for her daughters child compromises a mothers ability to monitor her own childrens behavior and activities. It is also conceivable, however, that because of the older daughters early pregnancy or birth, mothers might be even more rigorous in monitoring their other children. Although this possibility will be examined in the study presented here, the more practical responsibilities of caring for her daughters child probably would diminish a mothers ability to oversee her own childrens activities, especially given that most of these mothers are parenting (and grandparenting) alone without a co resident adult (Burton, 1995) and that the mothers other children are likely to be adolescents and monitoring their behavior is particularly difficult (Dornbusch et al. , 1985). An older daughters early childbearing also might act to increase her mothers acceptance and tolerance of teenage sex and early nonmarital childbearing. Teenage parenting may be viewed with less stigma and less disgrace by the teenagers parents. Moreover, the daughters early childbearing may signify to mothers the lack of real-life options available to their daughter. As a result, mothers may rationalize their daughters teenage parenting as a reasonable and acceptable response to their disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances. This kind of attitude change is akin to that described in Festingers (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance, whereby the tension created by opposing attitudes and behaviors motivates a change in either the behavior or the attitude. Mothers of teenage daughters who become pregnant may come to believe that early childbearing is not that bad after all. A teenagers pregnancy also might reduce her mothers achievement expectations for her other children. For example, the older daughters early childbearing may demonstrate to her parents their inability to control their childrens lives and life outcomes. Expectations for their other children may yield accordingly if parents believe that they have little control over their childrens futures. It is also plausible, however, that an opposite reaction might occur among parents. Because the older daughter has had a child while she was a teenager, parents might place even higher and more demanding expectations on their other children. Parents often are initially disappointed when a teenage daughter gives birth (Furstenberg, 1980), but they may perceive younger siblings as having potential for success. Realizing that the older daughters school and job options are likely to be limited, parents might have even more demanding expectations of their other children. Because this is a new area of study and this issue has not been investigated, both expectations appear plausible. Finally, an adolescents early pregnancy might increase her mothers communication about sex and contraception with her other children. For example, mothers might be motivated to prevent a second pregnancy in the family and might view the older daughters pregnancy as an opportunity to discuss contraception and ways of preventing pregnancy with their other children. Moreover, mothers may feel partly to blame for the older daughters pregnancy and may see their lack of open communication about sex and birth control with the older daughter as one of the factors that possibly contributed to her becoming pregnant. These feelings may compel the mother to discuss sexuality and contraception more openly with her other children. Risk factors for teenage pregnancy The main risk factors for teenage pregnancy come under three headings: risky behavior, education-related factors, family and home background factors. Risky behaviour includes the early onset of sexual activity; irregular or ineffective use of contraception; mental health problems; anti-social behaviour and involvement in crime; alcohol and substance misuse; having already been a teenage mother; and previous abortions. The education-related factors include low educational attainment; disengagement from school; leaving school at 16 with no qualifications; and negative experiences of education in school. Factors in the family and home background include growing up in care; being the daughter of a teenage mother; ethnic differences; low parental aspirations; parental separation; family conflict or violence; frequent moves; and neighborhood peer pressures. Prevention Many health educators have argued that comprehensive sex education would effectively reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, although opponents argue that such education encourages more and earlier sexual activity. Interventions combining education and contraceptives appear to reduce unplanned teenage pregnancy, however no one intervention yet stands out as the most effective. Teen pregnancy can easily be prevented with better educated teens, better communication between teens and parents, and the knowledge of contraceptives. There are many ways to prevent teenage pregnancies. Popular solutions include discussions of â€Å"safe sex† practices. In addition to condoms, doctors can prescribe birth control pills that regulate the fertility of a woman’s eggs, or advise the use of other pregnancy prevention tools, like intra-uterine devices or spermicides. These options are not 100% effective. There is even the option of abortion, which terminates the pregnancy at the proven cost of a life and a lifetime of emotional scars. For teenagers, however, the option of a doctor’s prescription requires parental consent. Most teenagers do not want their parents to know of their sexual activity. Media often promotes sexuality to children and teens before they are capable of making mature decisions about a pregnancy, or before they clearly understand the consequences of raising a child. They are under a lot of pressure to experience sex outside the boundaries set by God. III. Reaction Many of us tend to think that teenage pregnancies occur because they could not control their urge of temptation before getting married. That is not entirely true. In fact the main reasons why most teenage girls become pregnant are because they lack supervision. Poverty, sexual abuse and media also play an important role in teenage pregnancies. Teenage parents prematurely lead adult lives. It is like a child having a child. Teenage mothers are girls who found themselves in a predicament which they know could have been prevented or avoided. Most young parents are taking accountability for their actions and more must be done in our community to help these young mothers and young fathers succeed to make better lives for themselves and for their families. Teen pregnancy is a major contributor to poverty, single parenthood, and limited futures for adolescents and their children that is why it is so significant to attend to the problem now and not later. I agree that teenage pregnancy is a bad thing. Teens who get pregnant have fewer opportunities career or education-wise, often cannot cope with the responsibilities of raising a child, have the remainder of their childhood cut short and usually end up poor or struggling to make ends on the benefit. Of course, I wouldnt condemn a girl who gets pregnant and decides she wants to keep the baby. I dont think shes a bad person for it. But I dont think that teen pregnancy is really a good thing. Teens need to focus on school, work, family, and their dreams in life. A child interferes with their dreams, their goals, and definitely changes their lives. Teens shouldnt even be having sex for a few reasons. Theyre too young to even understand love and sex. They still live in their parents’ homes, they cant afford a child even if they think their high income will do it. They’re not finished their education and without that theyll be nothing. We must help young parents in our society rise above what the statistics forecast. We can no longer look the other way when it comes to our youth and the issues that they face today whether it is drugs or alcohol abuse, crime, sexual orientation, sexually transmitted infections or pregnancy. We are one in the community and we have to work together to address these concerns. There are so many matters that young parents have to deal with without having to worry about what other people think. Society must work together to empower, educate and encourage these individuals to become integral active members of our community. We can address these issues by offering workshops and skills for these young parents so they can be accepted in our community and not frowned upon. They have to learn life skills such as budgeting, parenting, and financial planning. Young parents need access to resources where more can be done in terms of rehabilitation, communication, parenting classes, relationship counseling and training. Successful intervention methods must be established to resolve teenage pregnancy issues and teenage mother’s predicaments. Do not be a part of the problem, be a part of the solution. Support them, encourage them, empower them and help strengthen them to realize their full potential.

Sun King essays

Sun King essays Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, was the absolute monarch of France from 1643 to 1715. He was the third monarch of the Bourbon Family, who ruled for 72 years, the longest reign of any European Monarch. Louis guided France through a great era that signified Frances continental European dominance, even though he inherited a kingdom that was internally divided, militarily exhausted, and nearly bankrupt. The Sun King, or le Roi Soleil, achieved many of his goals which made France the greatest power in the Western world. Although Louis XIVs nation prospered, many debts were left behind for his heirs. The Sun King was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638 to King Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, who had not had children in their twenty-two year marriage. Christened under the name Louis Dieudonn (literally, gift of god), he received the throne in 1643, just after his fathers death. Louis XIV was just five years old, so his mother and her principal minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin, guided the nation until Mazarins demise in 1661. From hence fourth, Louis declared that he would rule France without a chief minister, something no French king had done in living memory. Louis XIV stripped the Estates-General of its power, but created the Haut Conseil, or high council, which was eventually lead by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the prior chief minister of finance. The grandeur of the king was the theme of sermons, poems, and dramatic art. The exquisite and lavish Palace of Versailles (Le Chteau de Versailles) was built under Louis XIVs supervision between 1661 and 1689. It was filled with images of the Sun Kings glory. Over 30,000 men worked on building the magnificent palace, a project that drained the royal treasury for decades. The construction of the palace required over 100 million dollars. Not only did the luxurious palace need built, but also rivers needed diverte...

Cause, effect and lessons learnt from the asian financial crises Research Paper

Cause, effect and lessons learnt from the asian financial crises - Research Paper Example In addition, the crisis brought doubts on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approach in its efforts to dealing with financial imbalances within the private financial markets. It is also clear that the financial crisis can be attributed to panic of local and foreign investors and its role in enhancing the situation (Noble and Ravenhill 2). The Asian economies were at the height of success due to their fast growth and immense gains on the living standards their populations enjoyed. They were basically experiencing sensible fiscal polies and even high rates in private saving which was enticing to the world. There was no prediction that these countries would ultimately fall suddenly into a deep financial crisis in the post war era. Many questions were raised by economists on the causes of the crisis and whether or not they became victims of their own accomplishment. The abundance success may be one of the reasons that also led to their down fall but it also shows that struct ural and policy misrepresentations among the countries in this region played a role in the crisis. The 1997 financial crisis is therefore, a combination of many factors including market over response, which led to a drop in exchange rates, property prices, and economic stability (Noble and Ravenhill 2). Causes of the Asian Financial Crisis The financial crisis in East Asian countries began immediately after the huge high savings and vigorous growth they enjoyed. Since the 1980s, this fast growth was followed by high increment in asset values, increasing property and stock prices, and even in some instances a growth in temporary borrowing from oversees. In the mid-1990s, a tremendous emergence of external shocks specifically the devaluation of major currencies largely impacted export returns. This meant a decline in economic growth as property prices increased in most Asian economies. The devaluation of the currencies begun in Thailand after the decline of the Thai Bhat and this made investors to lose confidence in the Asian markets. The events in Thailand forced many investors to reassess their lending and evaluate the robustness of the region’s currency. This led to a huge wave of currency depreciations while stock, asset and market fell starting with Southeast Asian and then followed closely by the entire region. The year that followed the devaluation of the currency, most of the affected currencies fell as low as 35% to 83% against the United States dollar. There were even records of serious fallout as big as 40% to 60% decline against the U.S. dollar and the Asian financial crisis became a reality (Noble and Ravenhill 2). In Southeast Asia, there was record of capital inflows in the major East Asian upcoming economies that grew from 150 billion U.S dollars in the 1980s to 320 billion U.S dollars in the early 1990s. Private companies were doing excessive borrowing form the foreign capital economies mostly for short-term needs instead of looking for l ong-term earnings for productive security. The main capital inflows were meant for bank loans and even direct immediate foreign investments (Matsumoto 4). The huge capital flows resulted in increase in prices especially for non-tradable goods while the abundant foreign investment caused the currency to appreciate but decreased

Marketing Communications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Communications - Assignment Example It is clear from the discussion that in today’s changing environment of marketing, there is a need for marketing communications since markets have been fragmented and very few companies go for mass marketing. The fragmentation of the media is also taking place (Grunig and Hunt, 1984, p. 36). The development of information transfer and technology improvement has caused this segmentation of each mass market. Hence, it is necessary to target each segment and to reach out to these segments particularly. The main forms of marketing communications include advertisement, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and direct marketing (Kotler and Keller, 2006, p. 605). These marketing strategies have to be implemented by a company in a manner of integration so that each of the strategies complements another one. Since nowadays people have access to all kinds of media in the form of visuals, audio, and the Internet there are loads of ways in which messages come to the custome rs from varied sources. These messages may be conflicting at times. The various kinds of promotional activities of a number of companies in the same sector can confuse the consumer in a lot of ways. The brand images that are set in the minds of the customers can also be vague. This problem particularly occurs in the functional specialists who handle various forms of communications for marketing that are independent of each other. Though these days the Internet is used as the most popular medium for the exchange of information, it cannot be the sole medium for promoting a brand. There should be a right mix of other forms of communications like the interaction with the customers and traditional forms of branding which need to be blended well to get the final result successfully. The right marketing message has to reach the public, and for that, the coordination of all the marketing channels is essential (Stern and El-Ansary, 1995, p. 92). The message that would be transmitted to the c ustomers has to be consistent, clear, and compelling in order to convert. For example, when Coca-Cola wants to launch a new flavor of soft drink that it would like the youth to consume, the company has to devise the marketing communication strategies in such a way that it reaches the youth in the most effective way possible. Thus, the strategists have to go for those kinds of media that the younger generation has the maximum access to like the Internet. The main communication activities have to be done in the colleges and the eateries which this generation visits. Any kind of marketing communication would not be successful unless the managers have adequate knowledge about the working of the communication process. There are various steps to this. First of all the target audience has to be identified and the basic questions have to be asked regarding the decision making drivers of the target market. There will be two parties of this communication process, the sender and the receiver. It has to be decided how and where the message will be communicated (Bowersox and Morash, 1989, p. 21). The objective of this kind of communication has to be understood and the message will have to be designed accordingly. Generally, the AIDA models are used for this purpose. Each of these communication messages should have an emotional, rational, and/or moral appeal to touch the minds of the customers.  

HR info system Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HR info system - Assignment Example Some of the benefits include improving management skills, whereby the Human Resource Manager can use technology to evaluate employee performance. Different people can easily get access to their work schedules using online services. However, technology can influence people negatively thus affecting their performance especially when there is poor communication (Lee, 2008). 2) This week, lets explore the web to learn more about employee development. Take a look at the follow two links, the first is an article about employment development and the second is an application specializing in employee development: Strengthen Your Business by Developing Your Employees The Halogen Software is a talent based management system meant to improve worker performance within an organization (Halogen Software Inc., 2014). It mainly reinforces worker performance by providing an organization with talent developing schedules, comprising of hiring, execution management process, acquiring new skills and training, succession development or payment. The business’s inventions include appraisal that handle performance response and differentiation, assess abilities, create execution appraisals and progressive techniques, direct goals and intentions, and maintain staffs talent reports. The software has the e360 Multirater, which manages feedback of implementation, as well as performance of workers (Halogen Software Inc., 2014). Finally, the software entails online learning manager that incorporates training and performance within an organization. There are two main types of training development process that employees use within their organization, which are in job training and out of job training (Lee, 2008). They are usually achieved by providing an environment that facilitates proper learning and training tracked by management software within an organization like the Halogen Software that has several components described above, and can

Wake up before its too late

Wake up before its too late Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. ‘When the well is dry, we shall know the value of water- these famous words by Benjamin Franklin vividly describe the world we live in today. It is only when we run out of things that we take for granted, that we realise how valuable and priceless it really was. Unfortunately, by that time it is usually too late to mend the damage. I would like to start with a little story that took place at a sea-side. Each time a wave washed on land, it would carry a couple of dozens of starfish, deposit them ashore and then the waves would reunite with the sea. As you all know, starfish can only survive on land for a few days. A young boy decided that this had to stop. The death of these wondrous creatures deeply disturbed him. Determined to put an end to this terrible fate, he set about trying to save them by picking up each one and throwing it back into the sea. A man came across him and curiously asked, â€Å"Why bother throwing the starfish back into the sea? Each time you throw one, a dozen more wash across the beach!† â€Å"Well,† said the boy, stooping down to pick a starfish, â€Å"At least, Im saving this one,† as he threw it back into the sea. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to address this important session at the 12th Annual International Conference on the Environment. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude towards all of you for your august presence. Today, I stand here, positive that I speak on behalf of several others, with similar concerns and hopes for the future of our planet. I am going to tell you about the three environmental issues, which, in my opinion, are the most pressing problems that need to be dealt with, to heal our Mother Earth, to save it from destruction. Let me tell you what is happening to our planet Earth, what will happen to it if we do not enact a change, effective immediately. Firstly, let me take you on a journey to todays tropical rainforests. We have cut trees to serve our personal benefits. We have cut trees to expand our agriculture. We have cut trees to exploit oil to use in our factories. We have cut trees to use in our paper, furniture and building industries, to name a few. All this has undoubtedly enabled us to have a comfortable life. However, there are always two sides to a coin. Lets sneak a peek at the other side. We have cut our single, most essential source of oxygen. Rainforests are so much more than our typical image of just trees and shrubs. They are a home to some of the most diverse species of plants and animals and we are thoughtlessly destroying it. Our tree cutting is also causing soil erosion, flooding and global warming. We have been seeking ways to make our life comfortable. Our comforts have created d iscomforts for our Mother Earth. We have, instead, forgotten it for own convenience, for our immediate wants and needs. Trees can not be cut down one day and then be expected to grow back the following day. So let us wake up before it is too late! Now, let us venture from the rainforests to the vast oceans and seas. Since the beginning of mankind, water has been the key source of civilization. It has been our heritage and we owe everything to it. As you all know, water covers about 70% of the Earths surface. However, only 3% of it is fresh which can be used for drinking or irrigation. Recently, during my visit to a seaside, my eyes were opened to the sheer amounts of discarded waste, stretching from the beaches to the sea. I was appalled by the amount of unexpected litter strewn across the beach. People ruthlessly throw syringes, rubber slippers, plastic bottles, bags and tins on the beach. Wastewater from factories and industries, and insecticides from farms had also ended up in the sea. This results in the endangering of marine ecosystems and also makes the water harmful for human consumption. As the world population grows, the need for water also increases. Approximately 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe water; this is roughly one sixth of the worlds population. If we do not act fast to prevent water pollution, it wont be long before our Earth will turn from a blue planet to a dirty blue planet. So let us wake up before it is too late! Finally, let us take a trip to the upper atmosphere and get a close-up of what is actually happening there. Rain- our source of water- has also become dangerous. There is an increasingly high concentration of pollutant gases worldwide from power stations, factories and cars. These gases have dissolved with tiny droplets in the clouds to form acid rain. The proof of this is the famous site in India- the Taj Mahal. The effects of acid rain have taken toll and weathered away the beautiful marble. That is not all! The ozone layer- the shield which protects the Earths surface from the dangerous rays of the sun is being destroyed due to air pollution. Today, there is a massive hole over the Antarctica. The list of such follies is just endless. As a society, we need to understand that our actions have major implications on the environment that can be virtually irreversible. So let us wake up before it is too late! Remember back to the forest fires in Scandinavia, to the dying coral reefs in Fiji, to the flooding in Manila and then remember all the stories that we hear of philanthropy and humility displayed by humans all over the world every week. All of this is proof that we care, that we are perfectly capable of defining what is right and wrong and thereafter standing up for what is right, standing up for each other, and standing up for the environment. In spite of all our selfish acts, we all have a sense of compassion treasured within us. Together, let us cultivate this compassion towards making a fruitful future for our planet. The question is how. How can you as an individual enable a change to help the environment? How can you ensure that you will never have to walk out on the streets to face a never-ending landscape of bareness? The truth is that we can not resolve this problem without a joint effort. The truth is that we have the ability to make a change, all we need is willpower. The truth is that it may be challenging, but it will also, most certainly, bear the fruits of the seeds we have sown. The fruits that will be enjoyed, not just by us or our children, but also, the children of the future- those who are not yet born, those, who we will never know and never meet, they are the ones who need us the most. If we as individuals take the initiative to create a clean environment nothing is impossible. We must start with the little things such as saving energy and disposing of litter properly, which, on its own, can make a huge difference. A consciousness should be cultivated in us. It is only then that we shall be able to advance to working on major issues. If we all work together from a local scale, to a national scale and eventually a global scale we will most definitely be able to re-create a beautiful earth to live in, for not only the generation of today but also for many more generations, yet to come. We must join hands to protect our environment, join hands to secure its future and join hands to ensure a better place for our future generations. Together, we can make a change, a change for the better; we can make a change today. It is never easy to accept defeat, to accept failure and to admit that we didnt do enough. Let us hope that the day never comes when we regret our actions. Let us act now to prevent our very own despair, remorse and resentment for what we may lose because of what we didnt do. Lets not give us a chance to ask ourselves- ‘How did we get to this? I urge you now to do every little bit you can to benefit the environment. Let us not wait till its too late. On this note, I would like to end by saying that every little action will make a difference. Every little action counts. Just like the little boy at the seashore, we too must save every little starfish that we can. Thank you very much for your kind attention, ladies and gentlemen.

The Awakening: Romanticism, Realism, and Local Color Essay -- Chopin

The Awakening:   Romanticism, Realism, and Local Color  Ã‚  Ã‚      Imagine being far out into the middle of the ocean and at that moment, having to make a choice between judgment and individuality, death and life? In 1899, Kate Chopin composed a captivating novel titled The Awakening. Throughout Chopin's day, the work was regarded as nonsense and a waste of time on her part. Critics found the main character's rebellion to be foolish and unlawful. At that age, it was believed firmly that women should be nothing less than completely loyal to their husbands and should joyfully care for any children that they had while their spouse was away, hard at work. Edna, the central character, did not follow this standard. She says specifically that she would not give-up herself for her children. She is not one known to submit to her husband's every whim. Chopin brought Romanticism into play in a realistic setting with this individual. To these literary devices, she blends local color.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By manipulating Romanticism, Kate Chopin stretches one's imagination and startles one's mind. Romanticism is both a literary and an artistic movement. It took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth century during which people expressed freedom and individuality and emotions in their works. Chopin shows Mrs. Pontellier's display of freedom and individuality when Edna refuses to go in when her husband Leonce tells her to do so; rather, she stays out on the hammock and tells him to proceed inside without her. Romantics also loved exotic places and chose to display a character that follows his or her own heart. Chopin demonstrates this in her work when Edna realizes th... ...because Tuesday night social calls were a pastime, Realism because Leonce believed that Edna should put herself on hold every Tuesday night for company, and Romanticism because she chose not to stay.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin is now considered a wonderful author for the same piece that was once prohibited. People realize that she was just before her time. She blended a Romanticism which is now common to out time with a Realism that was true to her time. She enhanced it with a mà ©lange of Local Color into her setting to give a full outlook of Edna Pontellier's world. Seeing everything that she has to go through, which option should be chosen? Would it be   better to live without freedom of individuality or die trying to get it? With all of the pressures that prevailed over Edna, she chose death.

Problems Identified In The Las Cad System

First and foremost, from the investigations carried out, it is clearly shown that the CAD system was not fully mature or on time to be executed. Its users either were not ready or fully prepared to absorb it. The software itself was not comprehensive, it was not appropriately adjusted and finally it was not effusively tested. The flexibility of the hardware was also not tested when in operation and while fully loaded. Problems were also identified with the transmission of data from the mobile data terminals and back.There was also some cynicism about the accurateness of records of the automatic vehicle location system (AVLS). The people who worked in the Central Ambulance Control and the ambulance crew itself, did not trust the system and were neither fully trained about the system. The layout of the control room was changed with the introduction of the CAD system. The staffs working in the control were in a mix up because they were working in a very unfamiliar environment where ther e was not even any paper backup.Due to this, simple problems that they used to solve with their colleagues became monster problems. The CAD system was over ambitiously put in place. It was developed and put into operation in opposition to an impracticable timetable. The project itself was poorly managed and ambiguous from the development phase through the implementation process. Full time professional and qualified project management was lacking. A decision that had been made earlier to implement the full CAD system was erroneous.Putting into place a system such as CAD requires a step by step kind of approach, while establishing the efficiency of each step before moving on to the next. Each step should be justified by analyzing each aspect of it like costs and benefits. It’s true to say that the management, the supplier and all the concerned parties really put all their efforts into the implementation, but due to the fact that they implemented it as a single phase then they h ad no time to do the analysis and hence the couldn’t recognize the connotation of the numerous problems that were in due course to make it fail.Another cause of failure to the system was the fact that most of its users did not own up completely to accept the system. Some of the components of the system were recognized with certain problems over the previous months such that they created an atmosphere of distrust with the staff. Instead of wishing for its success, the staff rather expected a system failure. For the system to work efficiently, it required a number of adjustments to the existing working practices. The senior staff making the implementation had the idea that the system itself would bring about these adjustments.Btu instead most of the staff found it to be an outfitted line of restrictions within which they tried to operate and seem to be flexible with. This brought further perplexity rather than orderliness. The LAS management always attributed the problems of CA D to the misuse of the system by some ambulance crews. But the management did not coincide with the inquiry team which indicated that this would only have been one of the contributing factors, together with many others, that brought to the system failure. In some of the days of month of October (26th and 27th), there was an increase in the number of calls.This was not because of the increase in the number of patients but rather as a result of anonymous replica calls and recalls from the public as they reacted to ambulance delays. On this day the system did not fail from a technical sense but it did what it had been designed to do, though the response times were unacceptable. A substantial amount of the design had terminal defects that cumulatively lead to all of the systems failure. On this day several changes were made to CAC that made it very difficult for the staff to intervene and make corrections to the system.Therefore the system could only identify the location and status of fewer and fewer vehicles. This in effect led to poor, duplicated and delayed allocations; the awaiting list and the exceptional messages piled up in the computers; this pile up caused the system to slow up; this further led to an increase in the number of call backs and finally delays in telephone answering. Each effect reinforced the other. In the morning when the system was fully implemented it was lightly loaded therefore the staff could cope with the various problems and hence the imperfect information in the system about the fleet and its status.As the incidents increased, the incorrect information about the fleet, received by the system increased. Due to the new room configuration and method of operation the allocators were limited in solving the errors. The amount of incorrect information increased with the effects that the system made incorrect allocations thus many vehicles were sent to the same incident or either the closest vehicle was not sent; the system had less resour ces to allocate thus increasing the first effect; the system then placed covered call that had not gone through the amber, red, green status cycle, back on the attention list.a) The system made incorrect allocations: multiple vehicles sent to same incident, or not the closest vehicle sent; b) The system had fewer resources to allocate, increasing the problems of effect a); c) As previously allocated incidents fed through the system, placed covered calls that had not gone through the amber, red, green status cycle, back on the attention waiting list. The last two effects contributed to incorrect allocations, a slowing of the system and uncovered incidents all this leading to delays to patients.Incorrect allocations led directly to patient delays and crew frustration. Crew frustration was further heightened by the prolonged delays before arriving at the scene and more so the reaction of the public. Crew frustration the could be held responsible for those instances when the crew did no t press status buttons correctly or in an incorrect sequence and also, the crew taking different vehicles than those that the logged onto or a different crew or vehicle reporting to the incident.In the month of November, this frustration led to the increase of radio traffic which having been brought about by the radio blockages increased the number of failed data mobilizations and voice communication delays. The increase in the volume of calls together with a slow system and too few call takers caused significant delays in telephone answering and thus an increase in delays to patients. After CAD had developed problems, the staff reverted to using a semi manual mode of operation. They were comfortable with operating this system because they found the computer based call talking more reliable.The vehicle crews were also comfortable owing to the fact that the stations still had limited flexibility in deciding which resource would be allocated to what incident. The radio voice channels were available to assist in clearing up any enlistment understandings. An additional call taking staff had been allocated to certain shifts thus the average call waiting time was considerably reduced. But on another occasion the system failed due to minor programming errors that caused the system to crash.The protocol to be used when changing from the crashed system to the back up system had not been sufficiently tested and therefore at such a point the whole system had to be brought down. Quintessential Glitches As I have put it across here above, there were numerous rudimentary defects in the CAD system and its secondary organization. These problems can be classified simply into three, to bring the whole issue to a summary: i) The need to have a near perfect input information in an imperfect worldii) The meager crossing point between crews, MDTs and the system iii) Unpredictability, sluggishness and operator interface. The system had put so much faith into the near perfect informa tion it received from the vehicle location and the status of the vehicle or its crew. The system did not have accurate information of the vehicle location and the status of that vehicle or its crew. Therefore it became very hard for it to allocate the ideal resources to a certain occurrence. Some poor allocation was attributed to the allocation routines.But though this may be true, it is believed that the majority of allocation errors were caused by the fact that the system did not actually know where the vehicles were located, nether did they know the status of the crew in the vehicles or the vehicles themselves The second point pin points on the poor interface between the teams, the Mobile Data Terminals and the system. The system required perfect or almost perfect information on vehicle location and the status of each of the player parts of the chain. This ran from the crews to the dispatch systems, all of which were expected to operate and cooperate perfectly.But this was not th e case because investigations a few reasons were evident for the system not really knowing vehicle locations or vehicle status. These included a failure by the system to collect or receive all the data, accompanied by a genuine failure by the teams to press the appropriate status button due to the state and the pressure brought by certain incidents. In some black spots there was also poor coverage of the radio system which went hand in hand with the crew failing to press the status button due to frustrations from the re-transmission problems.There was also a radio communications blockage for instance when staff reported for duty and tried to confirm arrival via their vehicle units or Mobile Data Terminals, more so, on very busy periods. Also identified were the missing or swapped call signs. There were defects in the grip routines between the MDTs and the dispatch system. For instance sometimes the MDT would indicate Green and Ok but back in the systems screen the status would be sh own as something very different. Also some crews would intentionally press the wrong buttons or even press them in an incorrect order.Some of the crews would even take different vehicles rather than the ones they logged onto or different crews would respond to different vehicles allocated to them by the system. Some of the vehicle locations were also missing or incorrect. Another fault is where there was very few staff to take calls. All of these faults and defects used to flow in a very connected manner such that the errors were sometimes running concurrently. The third point came about after the system collapsed a number of times just before the end of October in 1992.The most common was the incarceration of computers. The staff had been instructed to reboot their computers incase they locked up. This happened mostly when the computers were doing their back ups or when they were fully loaded. The most common inadequacies included the failure to identify duplicated calls; the lack to prioritize exceptional messages; these exceptional messages and attentions on queue scrolling off the top of allocators’ or attention rectifiers’ computers.The software resources had also been allocated incorrectly; there was general heftiness of the system and finally there were also slow responses to certain computer based activities. THE WAY FORWARD FOR CAD; A SOLUTION TO CAD After going through and analyzing the problems of CAD, the enquiry team had to make certain recommendations so that the implementation of the future CAD would not have any errors. By following these recommendations, then LAS will have a solution to all its problems with CAD. The future CAD system must have the following objectives;i) It must be fully dependable and flexible with completely tested levels of backup. ii) It must be fully owned up by the staff and management within CAC and the ambulance crews. iii) It must be developed and introduced within a time scale which will allow for adeq uate consultation, quality assurance, testing and training while still considering the fact that they want to introduce it earliest possible. iv) The management and staff must have entire, verifiable, poise, in the steadfastness of the system.v) The new CAD must be geared towards improving the level and quality of the provision of ambulance services in the capital. vi) The new system should be introduced step by step while introducing first the steps that give maximum benefits. vii) Finally, any venture in the new system should be safe guarded and put forth into the new system if and only if it does not compromise the above objectives. REFERENCE Anthony Finkelstein (February 1993): Report of the Inquiry Into The London Ambulance Service. International Workshop on Software Specification and Design Case Study

Mesozoic Era - the Geologic Time Scale

Mesozoic Era - the Geologic Time Scale Following both the Precambrian Time and the Paleozoic Era on the Geologic Time Scale came the Mesozoic Era. The Mesozoic Era is sometimes called the age of the dinosaurs because dinosaurs were the dominant animals for much of the era. The Permian Extinction After the Permian Extinction wiped out over 95% of ocean-dwelling species and 70% of land species, the new Mesozoic Era began about 250 million years ago. The first period of the era was called the Triassic Period. The first big change was seen in the types of plants that dominated the land. Most of the species of plants that survived the Permian Extinction were plants that had enclosed seeds, like gymnosperms. The Paleozoic Era Since most of the life in the oceans became extinct at the end of the Paleozoic Era, many new species emerged as dominant. New types of corals appeared, along with water-dwelling reptiles. Very few types of fish remained after the mass extinction, but those that did survive flourished. On land, the amphibians and small reptiles like turtles were dominant during the early Triassic Period. By the end of the period, small dinosaurs began to emerge. The Jurassic Period After the end of the Triassic Period, the Jurassic Period began. Most of the marine life in the Jurassic Period stayed the same as it was in the Triassic Period. There were a few more species of fish that appeared, and toward the end of the period, crocodiles came into being. The most diversity occurred in plankton species. Land Animals Land animals during the Jurassic Period had more diversity. Dinosaurs got much bigger and the herbivorous dinosaurs ruled the Earth. At the end of the Jurassic Period, birds evolved from dinosaurs. The climate changed to more tropical weather with a lot of rain and humidity during the Jurassic Period. This allowed land plants to undergo a large evolution. In fact, jungles covered much of the land with many conifers in higher elevations. The Mesozoic Era The last of the periods within the Mesozoic Era was called the Cretaceous Period. The Cretaceous Period saw the rise of flowering plants on land. They were helped along by the newly formed bee species and the warm and tropical climate. Conifers were still really abundant throughout the Cretaceous Period as well. The Cretaceous Period   As for marine animals during the Cretaceous Period, sharks and rays became commonplace. The echinoderms that survived the Permian Extinction, like starfish, also became abundant during the Cretaceous Period. On land, the first small mammals started to appear during the Cretaceous Period. Marsupials evolved first, and then other mammals. More birds evolved, and reptiles got bigger. Dinosaurs were still dominant, and carnivorous dinosaurs were more prevalent. Another Mass Extinction At the end of the Cretaceous Period, and the end of the Mesozoic Era came another mass extinction. This extinction is generally called the K-T Extinction. The K comes from the German abbreviation for Cretaceous, and the T is from the next period on the Geologic Time Scale - the Tertiary Period of the Cenozoic Era. This extinction took out all dinosaurs, except birds, and many other forms of life on Earth. There are different ideas as to why this mass extinction occurred. Most scientists agree it was some sort of catastrophic event that caused this extinction. Various hypotheses include massive volcanic eruptions that shot dust into the air and caused less sunlight to reach the surface of the Earth causing photosynthetic organisms like plants and those who depended on them, to die off slowly. Some others believe a meteor hit causing the dust to block the sunlight. Since plants and animals that ate plants died off, this caused top predators like carnivorous dinosaurs to also perish.

Critical Review of Soledad Brothers Essays - Feminist Theory

Critical Review of Soledad Brothers Essays - Feminist Theory Critical Review of Soledad Brothers The word woman' was mentioned by George Jackson over forty times within his letters from behind bars in Soledad Brothers . The author ' s attitude towards wome n must therefore must be analyzed as a prominent theme within the book , as it is one that is so thoroughly addressed from start to finish . Jackson's view of women, African American women specifically, is demonstrated in the letters he wrote to women he was close to as well as his father. While he acknowledges the strength of a woman, his condescending, patriarchal and borderline misogynistic view is present until the conclusion of the book, where it is amended slightly . Jackson's pejorative take on women's views and thoughts is repeated throughout the text. Readers are first made o f aware of it in his February 19 6 6 letter to his mother . In it h e describes her outlook on life as "bourgeois and feminine" and says that the real world requires a man's way of thinking, thus belittling her perspective and labelling it unsuitable. Instead he chooses the predatory' life view men hold as one which is conducive to living and superior to a woman's view. This shows how he holds a man's thinking and outlook in higher esteem than that of a woman. This vantage point is further illustrated in his May 21 and July 23, 1 967 letter s where he states explicitly states that women should never be allowed to express their opinions or attempt to think and any woman he was with must have their mind retrained by him . He clearly sees women as having sub- par compr ehensive capacities or thought processes and that men's ' perspective is preferred. This demonstrates his patriarchal view in the context of women's intellect. Women also appear w eak and dependent to Jackson. He describes their need to be dominated to " supplement their wea kness" on July 23, 1967 and needing an overseer . This is corroborated by his September 24, 1967 letter which equated children and women and said both needed a guiding hand. H is December 1966 letter is a real-life illustration of this principle; while showing concern for his sister Penny he says it torments women to know they're alone. His opinion is t hat women need some form of boss or superior to keep them happy. The "guiding hand" and " overseer" may be deduced to be male . These phrases show that Jackson view s men as authority figures upon whom women must lean on and seek to mak e up for all that they lack . Without these men, women are helpless and unhappy. His slight misogyny is made apparent when he describes women as only caring about "money honey". The March 2 1970 and May 21, 1967 letter s show t h at he sees women as leeches who only ca re a bout physical commodities such as clothes and money . Nonetheless , he willingly acknowledges positive qualities within women . His March 3 1996 letter speaks to the strength of Black women within the Black community. In his letter, he notes the ability of women to hold the Black community up as well as keep it together , even within the raciall y charged atmosphere that existed . The role of women in family as the matriarchal support figure is described in his 1970 letter to Angela Davis. He admits that women, mothers specifically, push and encourage males to do better instead of being stagnate. He also attributes their strong impetus to women, He also acknow ledges the beauty of Black women in his August 17,1968 as he chastises his mother for upholding the western beauty ideals which he considers absurd. The book comes full circle. "I understand exactly what the woman's role should be. The very same as the man's. Intellectually, there is very little difference between male and female. The differences we see in bourgeois society are all conditioned and artificial" This quote found in the May 28,1970 letter found towards the conclusion of the text shows that his views changed; he now sees women as equals in all capacities

Rituals Rule Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rituals Rule Religion - Essay Example Furthermore, people involved in the project used adornments and intricate materials. Eventually, a more permanent, central site was later erected for the whole nation to worship God as one. This site was later referred to as the temple. Priests and Levites (the former with elaborate ministerial garb and the latter being divided into three groups with specific functions) acted as mediators between God and the people. A list of various sacrificial offerings was also recorded. Frequently, the use of animals and other agricultural products became the daily offering which became God's sacrificial and spiritual staple. Finally, feasts were mandatory for all worshippers every year. Such feasts were appointed days of worship characterized by pageantry, solemnity and spiritual meaning. Both Jews and Christians share similar concepts in their worship of God. Primarily, thanksgiving is a major component of their worship. The Jews and their Christian counterparts are equally thankful people would see worship as incomplete without thanksgiving. Both groups also employ rituals suited to their understanding of God. Although Jews are more expressive in their worship, Christians are also vocal in showing their expression of faith th rough hymns and body language . This apparently brought God Himself interacting with the worshippers. God does respond in various and sometimes odd ways. In the old days it was the typical "Thus saith the Lord" clich' or a spokesperson would give a piece of God's mind to his people. Today, for Christians in particular, a warmhearted feeling coupled with spiritual and emotional respite is believed to indicate divine interpolation. It is believed that God has varied ways in responding to those who love and adore him;... Priests and Levites (the former with elaborate ministerial garb and the latter being divided into three groups with specific functions) acted as mediators between God and the people. A list of various sacrificial offerings was also recorded. Frequently, the use of animals and other agricultural products became the daily offering which became God's sacrificial and spiritual staple. Finally, feasts were mandatory for all worshippers every year. Such feasts were appointed days of worship characterized by pageantry, solemnity and spiritual meaning. Both Jews and Christians share similar concepts in their worship of God. Primarily, thanksgiving is a major component of their worship. The Jews and their Christian counterparts are equally thankful people would see worship as incomplete without thanksgiving. Both groups also employ rituals suited to their understanding of God. Although Jews are more expressive in their worship, Christians are also vocal in showing their expression of faith th rough hymns and body language . This apparently brought God Himself interacting with the worshippers. God does respond in various and sometimes odd ways. In the old days it was the typical "Thus saith the Lord" clich' or a spokesperson would give a piece of God's mind to his people. Today, for Christians in particular, a warmhearted feeling coupled with spiritual and emotional respite is believed to indicate divine interpolation. It is believed that God has varied ways in responding to those who love and adore him; furthermore, believers dwell on the fact that there is just no limit to how and what God will do in response to his worshippers.

Today's Youth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Today's Youth - Essay Example This includes the following: connectivity, interactivity and access (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008). Interactivity pertains â€Å"to the dynamic, user-controlled, nonlinear, non-sequential, complex information behavior and representation in or† associated to print materials and other media (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). Connectivity on the other hand â€Å"refers to the sense of community or construction of social worlds† which develops from changing ideas (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). Access refers to the disintegrating of long-standing information barriers which creates an entrance â€Å"to a wide diversity of formerly inaccessible† opportunity and opinion (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). In this context, when the theory is applied to explain the behavior of the digital age youth, the following changes could be made clear: (1) changes in their perceptions (2) changes in how they analyze and learn (3) changes in the information and ideas to which they have access. Two Te xt Based Today’s youths are described to be fearless. They are not afraid in voicing out their ideas and concerns; they speak their mind (Anon., 2001). They are never tired asking questions (Anon., 2001). Stated otherwise, the youths of today are very courageous and idealistic. They are not afraid of public scrutiny. It seems that what is important for them is that they are able to express their idea and be heard by everyone. It is contended that the digital age has triggered this kind of attitude. The youths have mastered the use of many types of digital equipment which could show and relay their beliefs and ideas. Nonetheless, their being too vocal has a known disadvantage. Some would perceive their boldness as being disrespectful (Anon., 2001). The adults believe that there are topics which are ought to be discussed privately and not publicly. Nevertheless, they have not admonished the youths regarding this matter. According to Momma Hawks, the adults are afraid of the eff ects of such action (Anon., 2001). They are specifically afraid of the sanctions that the government would impose against them (Anon., 2001). To note, when the parents admonish their son or daughter, there is a possibility that their child will report such action in a negative way to a government agency. According to Connor and Crane (2008, p.155), the younger generation of today has been raised to adhere to the idea on individualism. They have been thought to think of themselves first before anything else. In this sense, they learn to disregard even the advices of the people surrounding them. Sometimes, they even defy the authority. This attitude has led some of them to be an activist. One Web-based Nigel Davies has expressed his amazement on how the youths of today adopt to new technologies. He observed that the youths use the technologies with speed and ease (Davies, 2010). Some of the youths could even â€Å"type their names long before they could write† (Davies, 2010). I t seems that they find it easy to learn the basic functions of these technologies especially computers. This is due to the fact that these new technologies are usually user-friendly. Being user-friendly means that a technology could easily be used by anyone. This presupposes that the use of such technology is founded on simple and understandable instructions. Relevance to Gramsci’s Notion on Hegemony Gramsci actually believes that hegemony is an organising principle, one that is permeated by socialisation process into every aspect of daily life