Author: Andre Coleman

Everyone knows the problem of young and adults because of its adverse effects on the family and society, and has negative implications in terms of health, psychological and economical aspects(14 October) newspaper some of the members of the community to know the damage this marriage that people complain about it.

Effects of Early Marriage

Early marriage effects can be both negative and positive, it may be a successful marriage, but the cons are more than the pros. For example, we can say that a large proportion of the Yemeni society represent an example of this issue but if we think that this segment live without a stable marriage life we might be wrong and perhaps they feel that they’re happy because they got used to it as a tradition.

The most important disadvantages of early marriage is that it always ends in failure and paradoxical as it may be married at the request of parents and held them since they were small meaning that marriage imposed does not exist for the passion between them, early marriage, even if they continued accompanied by a lot of problems and the contract, especially after a period of age of marriage, where the feel of each party that imposed on him and that view both to the other non-interest and satisfaction in other words, that feeling and a sense of the party towards the other party no longer has any existence, and that was contrary to the truth becomes a spacing and acrimony between the parties. Another result from early marriage, family non-threaded or non-M in the case of the continuation of the marriage and the reason is due to the lack of full maturity and rationality of the husband or wife and irresponsibility in building a noble family strong and I mean that boys have no one to care for them and bring them good education, because the spouses do not realize the meaning of responsibility of the parties and achieve the desired goal and satisfy the instinct emotional only. may be the man at the age or old age and women are at an early age has been a marriage for the purpose of material or so and thus appear negative after marriage, a lack of understanding between married couples, or different thinking or a difference of age and perhaps married women in an early age was forced and therefore not aware of the meaning of married life later, and may be just the opposite for men who marry early, a woman older than him not as a woman or girl when she marries at an early age is not reassuring for life and face many pressures psychological, social and often mood nervous , feel that they have committed a sin or it is a human being naive, being married at a young age and things are a shame for them and in this age, she does not understand the meaning of a family and have no look to build a society and that foundation is the family sense of two fresh for Dyalrgel and women who get married at the age of early to be inadequate for building the family and society, but remains of early marriage are some positive aspects for the young and the young because it works on the vaccinated and protected from corruption and moral decay and the behavior is normal and is therefore considered this marriage horse for the person and maybe this kind of marriage has its benefits in the face of the burdens of married life and its problems with After marriage, born with the challenge, resilience and ability to carry tow and the requirements of married life so that men have acquired a strong will not weaken in front of the difficult circumstances it was important and this is rarely found in people who were raised in the environment or harsh conditions ..

It could be argued that the benefits of early marriage that children living in the age and age is enough to help their parents until they are old and cannot fear them from the pitfalls of old-time.

Marriage Alambkremcklp haunt community

She spoke Sister / Salwa Mohammed Ali gauze, saying:

Marriage housing and love and mercy to form a stable family united and that the marriage of the ways of God in the universe for the sustainability of life and continuity to what God wills, but early marriage, which means that a person is is ready physically and mentally … etc incomplete maturity and identifies age is under the age of eighteen age, that early marriage problem of great social concern to the community and lead to a lot of social and psychological problems, one of the most important reasons that lead to high divorce rate in society and leads to many social and psychological problems and also lead to a deviation of the children and their estates and are considered victims of early marriage as it is the most important factors affecting the creation of family volatile of the inability of spouses to raise children properly so that they become a burden on society but on their families and themselves, which leads to backwardness and lack of growth of the community and result in early marriage conflict between the families so as not to bear a spouse, each other and Isttie solve their problems but resort to the parents mentally and physically, to the lack of psychological stability in the family and most of this or that loss of life in the bickering and problems that do not expire and age that does not repeat without that we benefit in our religion and our mundane.

Reasons behind early marriage?

The most important reasons that drive parents to marry off their daughters or their children at a young age instinct existing within the human psyche and of greed for material shall be their children just a commodity sold without thinking about their future, which is the most expensive things in life as well as the motivation, traditions and customs that would lead to marriage of children in an early age, especially the girl who beat her and be married at the age inappropriate for her and are not able to bear this responsibility, because age is not formatted to the procreation and upbringing of children, and motivations also underdevelopment which is the problem itself, I mean the failure of parents who push them strong impetus to the lack of understanding that life change and not necessarily to live their children as they lived them, as well as becoming early marriage stumbling block particularly girls Fimnaha of education altogether, or are taken out of school early in life and thus are lagging behind non-educated and have a negative impact on society and therefore fail in her marriage these and other factors help to leave the community and not to link the past with the present at this important point with the harm caused by serious and psychological impacts both on women at this early stage is not ready physically and still members of the body in the process of growth and reproduction at this stage may lose their life or grow properly and is an important factor in high mortality rate at birth Add to this the complications subsequent harmful to their health and the health of her unborn child and most importantly, the injured psychological where infected women are depressed psychological due to the circumstances the new life that can not afford what the difficulties because they do not have experience in how to deal with life, which is still living is the same age children …

Therefore, we have as much as possible to avoid early marriage and childbearing for the risk of significant social and judge our minds on this issue in order to avoid the scourge before they regret when it is too late because a marriage to a social entity and the prisoners must be equal.

In contrast, At the other end spoke Brother / Abdul Salam future Rabadi said: Marriage is a blessing of God Almighty bestowed on all human beings to the fraught relationship of love and compassion and intimacy between the couple and a family to preserve the offspring of human extinction has embodied the marital relationship, all the laws of era (our father Adam) until God inherits the earth and them, therefore, early marriage is not a distasteful because it is for both sexes, male and female chastity and purity, the purity of the vices which are located in communities that are prescribed in laws and prohibit this type of marriage. helps to spread of immorality how much gets in Western and Eastern societies that do not condemn the Islamic law.

It also has disadvantages may be negligible compared positively by fortifying communities Underworld reservation offspring of human extinction and protect communities from diseases that arise from the delay of marriage as is the case in the communities mentioned above. Therefore I think that early marriage is the only way to protect communities from indulging in the relations illegal and therefore they work on the conservation of lineages and races and good birth control.

Children do not bear the responsibility

He spoke Brother / Nayef Hammoud right: First to Know Why marry boys and girls at a young age and early and say they were previously driven to marry off their children are young because of the lack of hands to help them in farming and the individual, including married women Owalitnin Owalthelat even have help to work and serve the land and planting and harvesting But the question is puzzling in our time because they do not work on farms and became the Son burden on the father rather than what to be the father costly supports an the child only becomes a father costly supports an son and his wife and children This is a dilemma in itself add to the burden of the family I am the opinion that parents do not give the marriage of their children However, when mature and appreciate the responsibility and know the rights of marriage for males and females all of whom know his wealth and what it should be efficient and able to bear the responsibility and expenses of the House because it would establish a home and family I am When I married that my son was young and I spent it will become the responsibility of heavy Ali and therefore will be forced to tell him that God opens you rode your home … and here face reality and do not work, no job and no home do not study a whole part dependent on his father does not compare marriage in the past and present in the past of early marriage was not a problem because life as a whole were not complex, as is the today in the era of technology and the person to go to anywhere and do any work without conditions and the number of hearts of the people was a little comparison of population explosion happening, who is suffering from the country before twenty years have passed a variety of jobs present and most people working in Gulf countries and the rest at home and very easily accessible, but In the present work is becoming difficult, both outside and inside the country.

Conclusion

From my point of view, disadvantages of early marriage causing the number of divorces for the failure of the two partners in the marital life and the ignorance of the girl of their duties and their rights and problems of early marriage is also that children do not know the meaning of marriage and what the duties and rights are married, imagine when the wife is a child and are subjected to pregnancy and childbirth and give birth to a baby is do not know the methods of education and do not know how to care for this baby because they are themselves looking for a mentor, and from the complete breeding, as well as the health problem faced by post-natal … and the Son which was imposed by the marriage and parenthood is not capable nor wise nor very well all these reasons, the above-mentioned lead to the failure of the marriage and lead to early divorce logic is to learn and study and get a job then we can think about marriage.

Nowadays, people use the technology to make their life better, easier and more enjoyable. Also, the technology can make their society more convenient and safe. Without the technology the world wouldn’t be what it`s today. the technology has made the world smaller and made things easier. According to the American heritage science dictionary “Technology is the use of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems, especially in industry and commerce. Also, the specific methods, materials, and devices used to solve practical problems.” (Houghton Mifflin Company 2005).

One of the major benefits of technology is the great advances in medical science .It saves a lot of innocent lives and we can’t dispensable it in medicine today. It discovers many serious diseases and find newer ways to cure them. Also, getting everything easily and faster .we can download from the internet any song, music and movie instead of buying them. Although there are many benefits of technology, what people do not understand is technology can be harmful to the society. Omar Bradley says “If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.” (Omar Bradley 1893-1981).In this essay, I would like to analyses how the technology can be harmful to the society.

Laziness is a major side effect of technology in society. Who can remember when people had to go to the library to research for a topic or had to go morning to get news paper? When the Internet was introduced, people never thought it would be like today. Now , people are able to do everything in internet while they are sitting such as research ,getting the latest news , reading books and sending emails .Also, at the moment the lectures give assignment to the students, they do plagiarism instead of going to the library or doing by their own word. One of the effects of technology is cybercrime. Cybercrime is a crime related to any electronic device. According to James R. Richards “Cybercrime is computers are responsible directly or indirectly for every aspect of our lives, from the operation of our cars to our personal banking to flow of date in our business. With the exponential rise in the legitimate uses of computers, it follows that there would be an inevitable increase in their illegitimate use” (James R. Richards, 1999). For example, hack the emails and the computers are the simplest crime of cybercrime. Also, one of the most popular crimes committed on the internet is attaching websites. In recent years, some teachers were hacked their computers by students to get the exam papers.

Less motivated is the second effect of technology in society. Always people choose the easiest way to solve their problems and this led to less thought and work. The problem is if someone get in terrible no one will help him and this can make him frustrated and less motivated. Example of less motivated is students fail to do their work because they play games in their computer all the day instead of working on their lesson plan. Also, nowadays people start to use a technology way such as calculator to resolve mathematics exercises instead of using their brain.

Less tolerant is the third effect of technology in society .Nowadays , productivity is the most important but the rights and the needs of workers have become less priority .Also, the workers have to do not just more work ,but also they have to work more faster .This strategies includes any methods for producing products. The problem is these equipments give employers something they want: cheap labor, make the job easier and create a need for fewer people. In this way, technology affects the society to become less tolerant. Therefore, people begin to expect these equipments to help them to solve their problems more faster.

Refrences
1- Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, The American Heritage Science Dictionary , 1st edition, Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Available from :

http://books.google.com/books?id=yKUagx8PB_EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+american+heritage+science#v=onepage&q=&f=false

2-Guy de la Bedoyere, 2005, The first computers, 1st edition, Published by Evans Brothers Limited.

Available from :

http://books.google.com/books?id=DPAnH6_3-UAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Guy+de+la+Bedoyere%22#v=onepage&q=&f=false

3- James R. Richards, 1999 , Transnational criminal organizations ,cybercrime and money laundering .

Literature review

Many researches have been carried out to study the nature of impulse buying and various factors that affect it. Impulse buying is influenced by a variety of economic, situational, personality, time, location and even cultural factors. Researches have also been conducted to understand the underlying motivational factors behind impulse buying. Similarly researches have been conducted to study factors that moderate impulse buying behavior. Consumers engage in impulse buying to satisfy hedonic desires for fun, novelty and variety; also impulsiveness is correlated with consumer’s desires to fulfill self-esteem and self-actualization needs.

In the early stages research on impulse buying behavior was product-focused, as only products were held responsible for exciting people for unplanned purchases. The researchers directed their efforts and attention only to the type and characteristics of products and other factors associated with the availability display etc. of products in stores.

But later on, from the last few decades, the researchers focused on customers rather then products as being the cause of impulse buying. The factors like personality characteristics, income level, need to fulfill self-esteem etc. are typically responsible for impulse buying behavior.

The understanding of impulse purchasing was greatly improved through Stern’s identification of four distinct classifications of impulse purchasing: planned, pure, reminder and suggestion impulse purchasing. The four categories are as follows:

Pure impulse buying is a novelty or escape purchasing which breaks a normal buying pattern;
Reminder impulse buying occurs when a shopper sees an item and remembers that the stock at home is exhausted or low or recalls an advertisement or other information about the item and a previous decision to buy;
Suggestion impulse buying occurs when a shopper sees a product for the first time and visualizes a need for it, even though he has no previous knowledge of it; and
Planned impulse buying occurs when a shopper enters the store with some specific purchases in mind, but with the expectation and intention to make purchases that depend on price specials, coupon offers, and the like.

(Francis Piron (1991), “DEFINING IMPULSE PURCHASING”, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 18, eds. Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 509-514)

There are some factors other then product and individual characteristics that also play an important role in generating impulse purchases.

Gender Differences in Impulse buying

Several previous researches on impulse buying have paid some attention to the role gender plays in determining this behavior. These researches show that men and women’s shopping behavior differs on many levels.

Kollat and Willet (1967) found that women tend to engage in more impulse buying as compared to men. It is also argued that women because of their propensity to shop more in general, make more impulsive purchases.

Tariq Jalees (2009) also found that the level of impulsiveness in reference to buying is stronger in females as compared to males.

Transaction Size affecting Impulse Buying

Kollat and Willet (1967) used two measures of transaction size: number of different products purchased and the grocery bill. They found out that the increase in size of the grocery bill and number of purchases made resulted in an increase in unplanned impulse purchases.

Shopping List and Impulse buying

Studies conducted by Kollat and Willet (1967) indicated that one of the factors that affect impulse buying is the presence of a shopping list. This however only holds true if the transaction size is greater than 15. When more than 15 or 20 products are purchased, shoppers having a list make a smaller percentage of unplanned purchases. However, when less than 15 or 20 products are bought, the shopping list does not affect the percentage of unplanned purchases.

Pre-decision stage and impulse buying

The research study conducted by Muhammad Ali Tirmizi, Kashif-Ur-Rehman & M. Iqbal Saif (2009) clearly indicate that there exits a weak association between consumer lifestyle, fashion involvement and post-decision stage of consumer’s purchasing behavior but Pre-decision stage of consumer’s purchasing behavior established strong association with the impulse buying behavior of the consumers.

The pre-decision stage of the purchasing associate the buyers with unplanned or impulse buying because these days stores are full of variety of products and a buyer can easily get interested in purchasing a product which appeals him or her while shopping the planned list of products. (Muhammad Ali Tirmizi, Kashif-Ur-Rehman & M. Iqbal Saif 2009)

Group influence on impulse buying

Most research in consumer psychology assumes that impulsive purchasing can be best explained by factors at the individual level, in contrast a research study conducted by Xueming Luo (2005), indicates that the presence of others influences this behavior. Presence of peers increases the urge to purchase, and the presence of family members decreases it.

Visual merchandising and impulse buying

Today’s retail stores are almost universal in their reliance on self-service merchandising and a high rate of impulse buying. Self-service merchandising is facilitated by store design and careful attention to traffic flow, while impulse buying is enhanced by the use of special displays.

Customers typically do not cruise the aisles aimlessly hoping to find something to buy. Most consumers are busy people and have a purpose to their shopping trip. Thus, impulse sales are created not by persuasive reasoning, but by striking an emotion that the customer can act upon quickly. There appear to be three mechanisms by which the impulse buying response can be triggered.

First, the special display cues the customer to respond to an external advertising campaign. The display creates impulse sales by reminding customers about the extensive advertising to which they have (hopefully) been exposed. Second, the display can serve to break the consumer’s conditioned reflex to buy a particular product. If the consumer buys Brand A because it has become a habit, then it will be necessary for them to have a reason to break this conditioned purchase behavior. Special displays provide a way to accomplish this because the consumer is responding emotionally, not through a reasoned process. Finally, special displays create impulse sales for new or novel products by instigating the desire to “try something new!”

The salient feature to remember about impulse sales is that they are a response to an emotional appeal. A successful appeal may take many forms, but those most universal and easiest to communicate are identified by simple phrases such as: “low price,” “new,” “free,” “extra,” etc. A special display is used to get the customer’s attention for each of these messages.

A research study conducted by W.M.C.B. Wanninayake & Pradeep Randiwela (2007), indicates that most of customers have given first and second priority to visual merchandising. Second and third largest amount of customers mentioned price of goods and location of the outlets. According to the literature and pilot study in Sri Lankan supermarkets, researchers recognized that lighting, design layout, product display and cleanliness are the main variables of visual merchandizing.

Price discounts and impulse buying

This factor is the most talked about when it comes to impulse buying. A lot of people say that they indulged in impulse buying just because something was on a discount. Deals and discounts contribute to impulse buying, and when we see something priced much lower than what we are used, – that triggers a desire to get that thing and save money.

A large part of all purchases are attributed to impulse buying, this is undoubtedly good for retailers, but it’s not as good for consumers, because a lot of impulse buys don’t end up getting used at all, and one regret spending any money on them.

Price promotions come in various forms, such as buy-one-get-one-free offers, coupons, and of course price discounts. Cash reward is a new popular promotional tool used at many famous department stores, apparel retailing chains, and grocery stores. Consumers can obtain a rebate when their purchase passes a threshold set by the company, as in, purchase over $100 to get a $10 cash reward. However, distinguished from other price promotions, cash rewards provide consumers freedom to choose any products within the store rather than a specific product. Cash rewards, like the conditional discount of coupons, give rebates only to consumers achieving the purchasing threshold.

Facing free choice and the conditional-discount promotion, consumers may be attracted to buy merchandise in excesses their original shopping budget. Those consumers perceive gains from getting the cash reward if they reach the threshold and perceive losses from not taking advantage of the offer if they do not. Such perception generates an “artificial buying desire.”

Price discounts and cash rewards do increase the possibility of occurrence of unplanned purchases, especially when a consumer’s shopping expenditure approaches the offer’s threshold.

Hypotheses

The hypotheses formulated after review of the literature are given below:

H1: Visual merchandising has a strong influence on the impulse buying behavior of the consumers.

H2: Price discounts have a strong influence on the impulse buying behavior of the consumers.

The testing of the hypotheses is confined to the primary data collected from Karachi.

References
Kollat, D. T., & Willett, R. P. (1967). Is impulse purchasing really a useful concept for marketing decisions? Journal of Marketing Research, 4, 21-31.
International Review of Business Research Papers, Vol. 5 No. 6 November 2009, Pp.298-308, An Empirical Analysis Of Impulsive Buying Behavior In Pakistan Tariq Jalees*
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, 15(4), 288-294, Copyright © 2005, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. How Does Shopping With Others Influence Impulsive Purchasing? Xueming Luo University of Texas at Arlington
An Empirical Study of Consumer Impulse Buying Behavior in Local Markets Muhammad Ali Tirmizi, Kashif-Ur-Rehman, M. Iqbal Saif, European Journal of Scientific Research, ISSN 1450-216X Vol.28 No.4 (2009), pp.522-532 © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2009, http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.html
W.M.C.B. Wanninayake, Pradeep Randiwela, 7th Global Conference on Business & Economics, ISBN: 978-0-9742114-9-4 October 13-14, 2007, Rome, Italy

Sample Student Essays

The Value of Life

Writing Assignment

So far in this assignment sequence, we have heard a number of different voices giving insights into the value of life. Hamlet’s soliloquy offers an emotional, metaphor-laden glimpse into the thinking of a young man contemplating suicide. Lance Armstrong’s autobiography uses storytelling from a first-person perspective to get across how the famed cyclist thinks about life. Amanda Ripley’s article from Time magazine provides insight into the problems involved in translating the concept of valuing life from abstract terms into actual dollars and cents. The Human Life Value Calculator establishes specific criteria for assigning monetary value to a person’s life.

You might not fully agree or disagree with any of the texts’ essential claims about the value of life. This makes your voice an important contribution to this discussion about how we should value human life. Where do your ideas fit into the terrain mapped by the other texts we have read? Is it right to assign dollar values to a person’s life? Do suffering and illness impact how we should value life? Assume that the audience for your piece consists of intelligent citizens interested in this issue-the same types of people, for instance, who would read Time magazine.

As you write your essay, think about the different ways the authors we have read make their points about valuing life. Depending on the points you are trying to make, you might want to use some metaphors for life, as Hamlet does, or tell some stories the way Armstrong does. You may choose to include some words from people you interview, as Ripley does in her article, or you might even choose to establish some criteria for how human life should be calculated in monetary terms. As you construct your essay, make conscious choices about the ways you can represent your ideas to your reader.

Be sure to refer to and cite the readings. You may also use examples from your personal experience or observations.

The sample student essays that follow reflect the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria.

Sample student essay with a score of 6:

The Value of Life

Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a person’s monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for “their” loss.

It is true that life is a precious commodity much like a diamond. But unlike a diamond, life has no set monetary value. But today’s government is trying to change that. After the tragedies of September 11, 2002, the federal government started a federal fund to help the victims and families of victims of the attacks. This fund would give priority to people who were injured in the attacks, then to the spouse, and then to the parents. Sounds great doesn’t it? Your husband dies and now you just lost your income, and the government is going to pay you for your loss. Well don’t jump on the bandwagon so fast now. This might sound great now, but once you are knee deep in the program, it won’t be so fun. To figure out how much money a person will receive from this fund is determined by a multi-step process. First they figure out how much an individual would have earned had there been no attacks. This would mean that a banker’s family would earn far more than the family of a janitor in the buildings. Is it true that a banker is worth more to society than a janitor? Is a lawyer more important than a desk clerk? Then the fund adds $250,000 as a base cover, and then another $50,000 for a spouse and each child (Ripley 12). This would imply that a married man who has 6 kids in more important than a married man with no children at all. Is it more important in society to “make babies” than it is to just live your life? What about people who haven’t yet had a chance to start a family because their lives were cut so short? Now all that money sounds like a blessing, doesn’t it?

Well now that you have your foundation money, now you have to subtract the money you get from life insurance, pension, Social Security death benefits, and worker’s compensation. After these “little” subtractions, you now have the total that you are going to receive from the government’s fund. Now you are going to be hit with new questions after all this, for example is a rich man with high life insurance, high pension, and no children worth less than a poor man with no life insurance, no job, and ten children (Ripley 13)? The answer to all these questions is no. The lives of all people should be valued at the same price, if you are to set a price at all. A rich man should be the same as a poor man; a woman with no children should have the same life value as a woman with seven kids. The point is that if the government is going to put a monetary value of a human life, than it should be the same for everyone. “We hold these truths to self-evidence: that all men are created equal” (King Jr.).

There are many arguments against putting a money value on human life and two of the most impressive come from Alephonsion Deng and Lance Armstrong. Alephonsion Deng is one of the Sudanese Lost Boys. “We crossed a thousand miles of war ravaged country without the hope of sanctuary. Bullets replaced food, medicine, shelter and my loving parents. I lived on wild vegetable, ate mud from Mother Earth, and drank urine from my own body” (Deng 16). He had to walk across an entire country from refugee camp to refugee camp, always with the thought of death behind him. He didn’t have the luxury of being able to go down to the grocery store when he ran out of food. He had to scavenge for what ever he could get his hands on. If Mr. Deng was asked about the government’s 9/11 victims fund, which is set to put a monetary value on life, he would probably be outraged. After what he had been through he would probably say that it is impossible to turn something as valuable as life into terms of money.

Lance Armstrong survived a long battle with cancer, and after this battle came out with a new outlook on life. “When I was 25, I got testicular cancer and nearly died. I was given less than a 40 percent chance of surviving, and frankly, some of my doctors were just being kind when they gave me those odds” (Armstrong 1). Before having the ordeal with cancer his out look on life was just live it fast, everything was fast for him. After surviving the unbeatable he came out with a brand new outlook on his value of life. He now preached that life can end very quickly and that everyone should live their lives to the fullest terms possible. If someone asked Lance Armstrong about the government trying to put life into terms of dollars, bills, he would have a heart attack. Much like Mr. Deng, he would think that life is precious and the government should not demean it by trying to bring money into the same picture frame as life.

Should life be put into monetary values? The answer is no. Life is way too precious of a commodity to put into terms of money. People who have been on the brink of death would all say that you cannot put a value on the natural high that is known as life. To go back to an earlier metaphor, life truly is like the most precious and valuable of gems. They are similar in rareness and beauty, but are different in the fact that gems have a set money value, but life is a lot more stupendous than any gem on Earth. That is why life doesn’t have a monetary value and never should.

Work Cited

Armstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins. It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to life. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001.

Deng, Alephonsion. “I have Had to Learn to Live With Peace.” Newsweek 31 October 2005: 16.

King, Jr., Martin Luther. “I Have A Dream“. Mephis Educational Computer Connectivity Alliance. 11/21/05. http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html.

Ripley, Amanda. “What is Life Worth?” Time December 2002: 12-13.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.

Unknown, Human Life Value Calculator. Life and Insurance Foundation for Education. November 14, 2005A http://www.life-line.org/life_human.html.

Commentary

This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 6. The superior response indicates that the writer is very well prepared to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.

The writer addresses the entire topic and responds fully to all aspects of the prompt.
The writer demonstrates a thorough critical understanding of the readings by incorporating them into the argument and by quoting them extensively, accurately, and, generally, in correct MLA format; occasional “dropped in” quotations indicate that the writer has not yet fully mastered this process.
The writer uses rhetorical questions to undercut the assumptions made by sources with whose opinions the writer disagrees; rhetorical questions are occasionally overused, but the writer attempts to mitigate them with details from the reading.
The writer has a smooth and easy writer’s voice, addressing the reader directly and confidently.
The essay uses a sophisticated inductive strategy, marshaling evidence first and saving the conclusions for later.
The essay remains focused throughout.
The essay makes use of source material beyond the readings; it also ties different types of support material together nicely.
The writer avoids a formulaic essay approach and brings the reader “full circle” at the end by returning to the opening idea (the gem).
Errors are rare and do not detract from meaning.

Sample student essay with a score of 5:

The Value of Life

People often question how we should measure the value of life. Can life be calculated into dollars and cents? Should ones value be determined by their life’s accomplishments? Or does the value of one’s life depend solely upon how much that individual embraces and loves their existence? In my personal experience I have found the latter to be true. Life is given value and meaning by one enjoying and accepting it.

Someone once said “You should not fear death, but fear the unlived life”. This means that one should not fear the end of a journey, but enjoy the trip. To me this is absolutely true. Why should we spend our time fearing the inevitable? We are given only a few short years to experience the world, friendships, loves, and losses. Even the bad experiences teach us to appreciate the good ones. This doesn’t mean we should all go out and be terrible people just so we will appreciate our good experiences, but rather that we should learn from our mistakes. Lance Armstrong’s view of life is similar to this; he says that sometimes life is fun, and great, and other times it is horrible, but whether good or bad our experiences make us stronger people. It is these experiences which give our lives meaning.

Meaning and value however, are completely different issues. So how can the value of one’s entire life and worth be translated into monetary values? The people at most life insurance companies will tell you it is a simple mathematical process based on age, physical health, and income. Subtract $1000 for every year over 40, subtract for any diseases, or illnesses, add 50 times their yearly income and voila! You’ll have the value of anyone’s life calculated in an instant! Unfortunately, this process cannot be applied to memories and experiences. You can’t subtract points for every bad experience, lost love, and abandoned friendship and even the bad memories are carried around with us forever. Amanda Ripley’s article, from TIME magazine, outlines, some of the problems with calculating the monetary value of life. Many people view the amount of money they receive as a measure of their loved one’s value, which creates problems for the people who have to award the money. Calculating the value of life in dollar worth can be a complicated issue involving tough emotional and moral dilemmas.

Value is something which each individual assigns to their life depending on how much meaning it has to them self and others. A life is not a self contained object; it is a network which is shared with others. All people have value not just to themselves but to others as well. If you died tomorrow you entire network of friends and family would surely mourn for you. All of the people whose lives you have touched would mourn for you. In Hamlet’s soliloquy, he neglected to consider what effect his life had on his family and friends. Everyone whether they realize it or not, has some kind of effect on the people around them. Hamlet thought of his own life as worthless and thought everyone else did too.

Life’s value cannot be determined by dollar value, popularity or even by one’s accomplishments. If one doesn’t value life them self then they will be unhappy therefore making people around them unhappy. People must depend on themselves to make their lives valuable and meaningful. Ultimately it is people’s own ability and willingness to value life which gives them worth.

Bibliography

Armstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins. It’ss Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to life. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001.

Ripley, Amanda. “What is Life Worth?” Time December 2002: 12-13.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.

Unknown, Human Life Value Calculator. Life and Insurance Foundation for Education. November 14, 2005 http://www.life-line.org/life_human.html.

Commentary

This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 5. The clear competence of the essay indicates that this writer is quite ready to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.

The essay thoroughly addresses the prompt and raises the pertinent question of the difference between value and money.
The writer remains focused throughout the essay, offers a clear thesis about enjoyment and acceptance, and pursues that thesis throughout the supporting paragraphs.
The writer uses transitions to guide the reader, such as the sentence that ends the second paragraph, “It is these experiences which give our lives meaning,” which transitions to the opening sentence of the third paragraph, “Meaning and value however, are completely different issues.”
Occasional shifts in diction (for example, “one” in first paragraph, to “we” in the second, to “you” in third) are distracting; the essay mainly uses a conversational tone that works very well for this writer.
The writer makes a lovely case in the fourth paragraph for life as a “network” rather than a “self-contained object.”
The essay’s second half begins to repeat itself, particularly in the final two paragraphs, although the writer attempts to mitigate this repetition by using the Hamlet example.
Errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics are minor; the writer could use some practice with commas.

Sample student essay with a score of 4:

The Value of Life

The value of life. What is it exactly? We will never know the true definition of the value of life because there are so many different perspectives in this world and everyone will think their perspective is right.

According to the Human Life Calculator, our value is based on the amount of money we will make in our lives and nothing more. It depends on the money we make, how many children we have, and how much we spend on ourselves each month. Some people find it fair to actually compare the value of life to the dollar amount they are worth. They might even look into it so much that people choose their partner according to their monetary values and not the emotional attachment. There are many people like that these days that only worry about money and what society thinks of them instead of wanted to be truly happy.

I don’t agree with the Human Life Value Calculator what so ever. No person’s life should be estimated on their monetary worth. It should go deeper then that. It all depends on how they want to live there life and if they think they live it to the fullest. If they live it to only become rich and die rich then so be it that is their own personal value. But to assume that every person values their life that way is completely and utterly wrong

When it comes to Hamlet, he wonders if there is even a value to life. “To be, or not to be-that is the question:” that is his main issue throughout the entire play. He pretty much loses everything that means anything to him in his life so he can’t help but wonder if there is even a point anymore. Anything he truly valued, such as his father and Ophelia, was taken from him. He has nothing to value so why should he question the value of life?

Life has many hardships no matter who you are, even if you are Hamlet. It still has a value to it. It teaches you to value you what you have because you never know when or they may not be there.

Lance Armstrong is a whole different story. He looks at life in such a positive perspective now unlike before. Unlike many people, he was given a second chance to live his life. He values every single thing because he never knows when it will be his time to go. He was luck the first time but no one know if he will be next time, if there is a next time. He learned the hard way not to take life for granted but to take advantage of it and live everyday as though it were your last.

Not everyone is as lucky as Lance Armstrong. He now realizes how valuable his life and everyone in it is but that’s because he was given a second chance. There are so many people out there who wish they would have realized how valuable everything was before it was too late because they didn’t get that second chance. We may not realize it until it happens but when we or a loved one goes through suffering or illness it truly impacts how we value life. It makes us face the reality that not everyday is guaranteed and people will not stay with us forever no matter how much we wish they would.

I think, as a society, we should value life not by how much money we have or how much we are worth but by how much we enjoy life and everyone in it. It shouldn’t take the death of a loved one for us to realize everyday is valuable. We should wake up everyday realizing it’s a new day and be thankful for it. I’m not saying to wake up and say “today might be my last” but realize it, embrace it. Take nothing fro granted and live everyday to its fullest. If you love someone then tell them. If you want to start a business then do what it take to start one. Do whatever you have to so that when you leave this world you are happy with who you are and what you accomplished. Don’t expect to have no regrets or make no mistakes because those are what helped to form you to the person you become over time. I admit I am far fro perfect but that is what makes me and I am happy with myself. I love my life and everyone in it who helps to form it. I wouldn’t take anything back or do anything over because if I did I wouldn’t be the intelligent, free spirited, young woman I am today. I value my life to the fullest and it will never be based on money or praying to be given a second change because I didn’t live it right the first time.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Lance and Sally Jenkins. It’s Not About The Bike: My Journey Back To Life.New York: Berkley Trade, 1991.

Human Life Value Calculator

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Alan Durband. London: Hutchinson and Co., 1986.

Commentary

This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 4; however, it is a strong 4. This adequate response to the topic suggests that the writer should be able to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.

The essay is a classic “befuddling” 4 paper; it wobbles between a 5 paper and a 3 paper, never really settling in either camp.
The writer opens with a rhetorical question and then moves quickly to a clear, if simplistic, thesis.
The writer attempts to integrate the readings by including supporting detail, although the essay offers only a single direct quotation.
The works cited list provides a quasi-MLA format for sources.
The logic in the third paragraph fails to persuade; the writer opens by showing Hamlet questioning life’s value and then closes with the question, “He has nothing to value so why should he question the value of life?”
The essay is somewhat repetitive, restating the idea of personal satisfaction as the best gauge of life’s value.
The essay lacks transitions in general, although the opening sentence of the penultimate paragraph, “Not everyone is as lucky as Lance Armstrong,” is an exception.
The writer opens each paragraph with a statement that focuses on the reading; however, the second half of each paragraph, which features the writer’s own experience and opinions, generally becomes repetitive, rambles, or offers a cliched conclusion.
The writer struggles with usage (than/then, there/their, everyday/every day), mechanics (especially punctuation), and grammar, although such instances do not greatly detract from meaning; the shifts in person in paragraph six, however, are quite distracting.

Sample student essay with a score of 3:

Extreme Life

What is life? I don’t know, but I know it is full of obstacles. Sometimes they are small, sometimes they aren’t. I don’t think there is a point to it, but who knows? Another thing I know, everybody dies at the end, so why won’t people live it to the maxim instead of just sitting on their bums and doing nothing, Being alive to me is to experience new adventures and to have fun.

Life is worth living for as long as you can. As Lance Armstrong said, “I want to die at a hundred years old with an American Flag on my back on the star of Texas on my helmet.” It is very fun living out to your maximum, doing extreme sports like bungi jumping. I think that life should be extreme. It is also nice to come back home to someone who loves you and cares about you. I love food; I think it’s another great thing to spend time with friends, especially when you can dig in and pig out. Its nice to have friends that are there for you when you have problems, and you know that they will help you out. Life is just a great things, but it doesn’t always feel like it.

“To be or not to be” is Hamlet’s famous quote. I bet every single person on earth has come to this decision. Besides the great things in life, you come across difficulties. For example losing the loved one. I think that hurts the most. Another thing is when you don’t feel loved or accepted. That’s when people come out of their limit and start doing bad stuff like drugs. When it gets really out of hand, they try to commit suicide. I believe that anybody who tried it or attempts suicide it are failures in life. As Lance Armstrong said, “Why don’t we all just stop and lie down where we are?” what is we just do it? It’s just an easy way out of life, escaping all the obstacles and pain. There is a lot of it. You friend can stab you in the back, your family member can die, there are just too many to name. You should just love life enough to struggle through the painful times.

“Why would I want to change, even for a day, the most important and shaping event in my life?” Lance Armstrong’s words. Express how I feel. I would not give me life up for anything. I have made many of bad mistakes that I should not have done, but those mistakes make me the person I am today. I wouldn’t want to look or be any different than I am right now. I love my life, and I hope everyone else does too because it’s the only one we’ve got. You will have to start loving it or that only one wont be a good one.

Commentary

This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 3. Although the essay suggests developing competence, it is flawed in significant ways that suggest the writer needs additional practice before being able to succeed in college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.

The essay responds to the prompt at the opening, although it moves away from the prompt later.
The writer attempts to define life itself rather than discuss the value of life.
The writer offers a thesis about adventures and fun but does little to offer support for that thesis.
The essay’s paragraphs, although short, are overworked in that they contain several ideas competing for space; the essay does not attempt to separate paragraphs into discrete ideas.
The paragraph about eating and hanging out with friends struggles with logic, perhaps because the writer is still trying to connect the evidence to the thesis; by the third paragraph, the writer seems willing to move away from the thesis completely.
The opening of the third paragraph (“‘To be or not to be’ is Hamlet’s famous quote. I bet every single person on earth has come to this decision”) makes neither logical nor rhetorical sense.
The writer attempts to quote texts directly but lacks the skill to incorporate quoted material properly.
The writer shows a limited syntactic repertoire; the first paragraph, for example, contains four rhetorical questions out of six “sentences.”
Errors of grammar, usage, and mechanics accumulate to detract from meaning; there are several missing apostrophes and fragments (see the second sentence of the final paragraph, for example).

Sample student essay with a score of 2:

Value of Life

This is a question that runs through everybody’s mind. What would somebody pay for a life? What would you do if your life ended tomorrow? Would you tell someone that you cared about the most that you loved them? What would you do for your final hours? How do you think the people aboard the 9/11 plane attack felt as soon as they knew that they weren’t going to see their families anymore? These questions are all very goods questions but the most important one is “Have you been living the life that you wanted to live”?

Humans always follow others ways of posture and ways of thinking. People picking up laughs, looks, even the way they think about other people. Think of it this way…if someone put a gun to year head and they said, “Give me three reasons why I should not pull this trigger”? What would you say? It might sound like a harsh, blunt question but if you think about it…. where you living your life to the fullest?

Posers always get on everybody’s nerves. They are going to look back on their lives and think what they did was really stupid. Their values of life are following somebody’s else’s footstep, following others stories, what they like, don’t like because they can’t think for themselves. They rely on other people to make their decisions for them.

The final thought is the toughest thought of all. Things all bundled up inside your head. The only thing to realize is that people don’t make you who you are. You make the decisions that will lead your life, the rest of your life. What would your family get if you died? “Tack on an extra $50,000 in pain and suffering for a spouse and for each child.” That’s what you would get. Now think to yourself, are you living your life to the fullest, what you think is good?

Ripley, Amanda. “What is a life worth?” Time: 11 Feb. 2002.

Commentary

This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 2. The serious flaws here indicate that this writer will need considerable additional practice before being able to succeed in college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.

The essay opens with a statement about questions, followed by six rhetorical questions in a row.
The writer seriously overuses the questioning strategy, with three additional questions in the second paragraph and two in the fourth (concluding) paragraph; the essay itself finishes with a question.
The essay neglects the prompt; it discusses “values” rather than the value of life.
The final paragraph attempts to approach the prompt by quoting Ripley (although the writer does not attribute the quoted material), but the quotation is ineffectively dropped into the concluding text.
The essay does not demonstrate any discernible organizational strategy.
Some sentences make no sense at all, such as “People picking up laughs, looks, even the way they think about other people.”
Errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics are present but not all that profound; lack of logic and content is the issue with this essay.

Sample student essay with a score of 1:

The Value of Life

People put a money aspect on people for example, when people have money then we need them, we don’t even care about anyone unless they have money. When disaters like sunamis happen, people want to find there family but dont understand the water infected and no one no’s what’s happening to any one any where.

Katrina for example. They (the army) use colors were dead are, yellow were sick are, green x marking the spot were people who are worth saving were. We help people every where in the world but no our own people, to save them, even the army was there making every one get out of there house if they wanted to or not, they might get shot if not. People have always come here to make a new lives and this is what happens? Its way messed up. Is this how to value people?

Shakespeare new how bad life can be. “To be or not to be” said Hamlet who thought not. We have to find out a way to help and over come what might happen next so every one is not so discouraged because money is not the answer or stocks or bonds or jewelers but only love.

Commentary

This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 1. The fundamental deficiencies here indicate that this writer will need a great deal of additional practice before being

Nowadays people feel a responsibility to fit into today’s society. People want to look as better as possible due to the outside influences one has. In the online article written by Jane Shure readers are able to realize how the surroundings have a great effect on choices that we make. This article points out three major categories on which tries to explain in more detail the troubles with body images.

Readers are able to see how cultural background plays an important role on people’s body image. Couple of factors that influences notoriously on today’s society is the media and advertising companies. These two change people’s perspectives in having an idea on what we should look like, being that just of myth that is not a reality. Many people tend to follow this ideal look due to the reason that media is exposing visual and audio messages every day, which is unrealistic. Some may even get to the point of having health issues becoming bulimic or anorexic due to the reason that they want to fit into those role models that the media exposes.

Readers are also able to see that peers and family could affect positively or negatively in the way one feels. Most of the time people’s body image is negatively affected due to the fact the parents neglect to provide confidence for child wasn’t sufficient enough for them to feel positive themselves and create that confidence on how they look and how they think people look at them. Peers also play an important role on people’s body imagines. As a one is growing up, peers tend to criticize by the outside appearance because of you physical appearance. For example, kids tend to be shorter, fatter, and skinnier than others are.

Due to the many studies that have been done from a psychological perspective, body image could be explained through the social cultural perspective. Sociocultural perspective refers to behavior one follows due to the surroundings the individual has from how they act and how they look at things from their point view. This varies because we all come from different background and we each have different beliefs that make us act different from one another depending the situation we are in.

One can clearly see how this sociocultural perspective strongly relates to the article written by Jane Shure in that it explains the influences that affects one’s behavior. An example would be that body image is greatly influenced by family and peers (Shure, 2009). This is important because through this readers can realize that growing up as a child family and peers have a great influence in the way we act and behave to others. This is an example of sociocultual perspective because family and peers are an outside influencers that due to the interaction that people have day by day, they influence greatly in the choices and ideas one has (Wade, 2008).

Another example of the article that relates the sociocultural perspective is the way media influences society in what they should look like. An example would be how the fashion industry does a great job in influencing what we should buy in order to fit in (Sadaba, 1997). This is important because through this one can see how the media manipulates one’s actions and preferences as to what we should and should not like. According to the sociocultural perspective this example relates strongly to this perspective in that people don’t chose what they really want, they rather follow the crowd by listening to what society is advising them to acquire (Wade 2008).

Lastly, another example that could help us understand better, how the sociocultural perspective relates to the article would be the challenge individuals could face in changing the idea of what our body should look like. Because our surroundings have great influences in how we see and look at ourselves, it is very difficult in changing the idea that media, family, and peers have influence us in believing what the ideal image should be (Sadaba, 1997). This is essential in that because one has been influenced since childhood; it would be difficult to change the way you see yourself and others. Through this one can see the sociocultural perspective in that the cause of how we fell physically living in our body is due to the fact that the body image that has been established through our surroundings (Wade, 2008).

In conclusion, studying the issue on physical appearance from a sociocultural perspective would help in solving this problem in helping individuals look at themselves more positively. On example in how studying this issue from this perspective would help others would be in that they can realize that they do not have to follow the unrealistic model ideal look that they media portraits that we should look like. This would help in changing the individual’s body image that one should look like in loving themselves and loving other how they are and not judge them by their physical appearance. Another example that studying this issue from this perspective can help in solving this problem would be that one should surround ourselves with family and peers that can positively can help us in increasing our confidence. This would be very important because individuals would surround themselves by people who would love and not judge them by their physical appearance.

References

Sadaba, Stanley W. Applied Social Psychology. (1997). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Shure, Jane, PHD (2009). How Body Image Impacts Self-Esteem. Submitted on Feb. 19, 2009 from http://www.selfgrowth.com

Wade, C. & Tavris, C. (2008). Invitation to Psychology (4^th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

The numbers of people who smoke have increase over the years. Although they are equipped with the knowledge of how unhealthy smoking can be, people still choose to smoke. It is a personal choice and a highly addictive habit. Smokers choose to subject themselves to the health risks of smoking. It is not for the government or any third party to dictate whether or not a person should be allowed to smoke. However, smoking does not only affect the smoker negatively. It also affects all the people around those who smoke because when people smoke in pubic the smoke travels everywhere through the air, and the negative effects of this smoke affects all living, breathing creatures. Therefore smoking should be banned in all public places.

People who smoke in public portray a bad example. Children are easily influenced in their growing stages. They imitate the people around them because they cannot differentiate between right and wrong. Therefore they perceive the actions they see around them as the way things should be. Besides that, teenagers who see people smoke in public take it as precedent to start smoking as well. There is a saying that goes “monkey see monkey do,” which tells us that people imitate the actions of others as they see it in their daily lives. Teenagers happen to think that smoking makes a person “cool.” When they see adults doing it on the streets it strengthens their belief in the “coolness” of smoking. Some teenagers think that smoking marks their transition into adulthood and maturity. Hence, more teenagers start smoking due to the influence of seeing other people smoke in public places.

If smoking is banned in public areas, it will promote a healthier lifestyle for everyone. People will see it as a government endorsement for a healthier lifestyle of everybody. This is because by banning smoking in public areas the government sends the message that the government cares about the health of the citizens and that the government discourages people from smoking. Thus, when smoking is not allowed in public areas it reminds people that health care is very important. It reminds each and every person that the government is seriously concerned for the well being of its citizens. Therefore, people would be reminded to live a healthy lifestyle.

If smoking is banned in public places it safeguards the life of the smoker as well as that of the public. Studies have shown that second hand smoke kills. Second hand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory infections and asthma attacks in children. Besides that, second hand smoke causes heart diseases and lung cancer in smoking and non-smoking adults. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), secondhand smoke contains at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic, including more than 50 that can cause cancer” (CDC, 2009). These studies have proven that second hand smoke can cause cancer and is extremely bad for both the smokers and non-smokers’ health. In addition, the CDC also states that, “The California Environmental Protection Agency estimates that secondhand smoke exposure causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths annually among adult nonsmokers in theUnited States” (CDC, 2009). This means that just by being near people who are smoking, innocent people are dying of diseases that are caused by second hand smoke. This violates a non-smokers’ right to live a healthy lifestyle because just by being in public places where other people smoke they are subjected to breathing in toxic fumes. Consequently, the health of innocent non-smokers who are in public places are being jeopardized against their will.

By disallowing people who smoke from smoking in public, it will cause smokers to smoke less. Because smoking is not allowed in public, people are only allowed to smoke in their homes. This would mean that as long as they are out of their homes: at work, when they eat out, at the movies or even at the parks, they cannot smoke.A‚ Smokers will have to wait until they get home to light up a cigarette. As a result, their cigarette consumption reduces and they smoke less. This in turn will benefit the smokers who have been trying to quit smoking but are unable to because they have more reason to stop. The law prohibits them from smoking in public areas, so cigarette consumption is reduced. Also, should they have an urge to smoke in public they will put in extra effort to quash the craving because it is punishable by law. In addition, there is less temptation for smokers who want to quit smoking if the ban is enforced because no one will offer them cigarettes. Therefore, this allows them to abstain from smoking. This theory is proven in a report published in The Daily Mail (2008), stating, “At least 400,000 people inEngland have quit smoking as a result of the ban on lighting up in public places that was introduced last July.” Smokers will benefit from this ban because it will help them reduce the amount as well as the frequency of smoking and it could also help them break their addiction to cigarettes. In the long run it could help them quit, and also help them develop healthier lifestyles.

If smoking is not allowed in public areas it discourages non-smokers from starting to smoke at all. People will not be tempted to start smoking because they know that smoking is addictive, and if smoking is not allowed in public they will suffer from withdrawal from their addiction to the nicotine from cigarettes. The Wiltshire Times (2007) postulates, “New research shows that one in ten smokers claim to have quit and over half of south west smokers have thought about quitting since the nationwide ban was introduced on July 1.” If smokers choose to quit or even think of quitting because of the inconvenience of not being able to smoke in public, would it not, more so, prevent a non-smoker from smoking? Surely one would not intentionally subject themselves to an addiction knowing that they will suffer withdrawal symptoms due to that addiction. By banning smoking in all public areas, the government shows support for the fact that smoking is bad, and it helps to set changes to the mind set in people reminding them that smoking is not a healthy habit. Furthermore, smoking will no longer be an issue when it comes to the influence of peers because nobody is allowed to smoke in public, so peers cannot pressure a person to start smoking.

Some may argue that by preventing smokers from smoking in public, it infringes upon their rights. It is true that smokers have rights and these rights should not be infringed upon. However, a non-smoker’s right to breathe clean air should be taken into consideration as well. When people smoke in public areas the toxic fumes travel through the air and into the lungs of others. Many non-smokers breathe in the second hand smoke and as a result their health is compromised. Should non-smokers be subjected to these unhealthy and vile smelling fumes every time a smoker chooses to light up a cigarette? Certainly not! Smoking is a personal choice and people can choose to smoke but others should not be subjected to the health risks that come from inhaling second hand smoke. People’s rights to breathe fresh and clean air should be protected, and along with that their right to maintain a healthy lifestyle without breathing in second hand smoke should be protected too.

If people are prohibited form smoking in public it would be safer for the environment. When smokers smoke in public they tend to throw their cigarettes on the ground wherever they are. These cigarette buds are detrimental to the environment because they take a long time to decompose. According to McLaren (2005) “Traditional butts are made of synthetic polymer cellulose acetate’ and never degrade, only breaking apart after roughly 12 years.” Because the cigarette butts are not biodegradable they pollute the land. Most of the cigarette butts that are littered all over the place end up the rivers, and in the bellies of fishes and other aquatic creatures. McLaren (2005) also postulates that, “within an hour of contact with water, cigarette butts can begin leaching chemicals such as cadmium, lead and arsenic into the marine environment.’ This pollutes the water supply that will inevitably end up in the stomachs of all living creatures. If the smoking ban is enforced the littering of these buds will no longer be an issue and the environment will be cleaner and healthier for everyone.

If the current situation continues, the health of many people will remain in danger.

The death toll for heart and lung diseases as well as the death toll for cancer will continue to gradually increase if the current smoking situation is not corrected. By putting forth a ban of smoking in public places the government promotes a healthier lifestyle for everybody and it protects every citizen from many diseases and health risks such as cancer and other deadly diseases. Besides that, the ban will eliminate the bad example set fort by people smoking in the public. Children and teenagers will then have a mindset implemented by the government that smoking is bad. The ban will discourage non-smokers from starting to smoke, thus preventing them from getting addicted to cigarettes. Also, it will encourage smokers to quit, and aid them on the difficult journey to be freed from the bounds of addiction. Consequently there will be no cigarette buttes littered all over the place affecting the environment negatively.A‚ By prohibiting people from smoking in public the government is protecting the God given rights of its people to live a full and healthy life. It encourages people to take steps to better their quality of life and to take care of themselves as well as the people around them. Therefore, smoking should be banned in all public places.

References

McLaren, W. (2005). Cigarette Butts: One Huge Problem, Two Solutions. Treehugger.

Retrieved December 7, 2009 from

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/10/cigarette_butts.php

One in Ten Quit Smoking Since Ban (2007). Wiltshire Times. Retrieved December 5,

2009 from http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/1706214.one_in_ten_quit_smoking_since_ban/

Secondhand Smoke (2009). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved

December 5, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/general_facts/index.htm

Smoking ban spurs 400,000 people to quit the habit (2008). Mail Online. Retrieved

December 5, 2009 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1030575/Smoking-ban-spurs-400-000-people-quit-habit.html

The development of slavery in the Chesapeake was due solely to the economic needs of white settlers. Do you agree?

History can never adequately provide answers regarding the motives of men and women throughout recorded history; what it can do, however, is to provide a prism through which to gauge the consequences of their actions. With regards to slavery, the consequences of the Southern United States’ intrinsic involvement in the practice of slavery were truly seismic, resulting in the American Civil War and the cementation of the world’s most powerful economic and military force. The role of the Chesapeake in this tumultuous domestic conflict should not be underestimated – such was the deep seated nature of the region’s association with slavery. Certainly, economic necessity appears to be at the forefront of this historical fact with the rich tobacco and other grain industries flourishing in the South as a direct result of the burgeoning slave trade. Indeed, as Fogel (2003) underscores, even the slaves themselves could be traded amongst white settlers for economic profit.

For the purpose of perspective, the following analysis into the development of slavery in the Chesapeake region must adopt a critical stance attempting to show that economic reasons were indeed the dominant paradigm in the region’s development of a sophisticated slave trade while also underscoring the complex and diverse nature of the early American slave trade. First, however, a conceptualisation of the issue must be attempted. It is important to note that Chesapeake differed markedly from the slave trades operating in the Georgia Low Country after the first arrival of enslaved African workers in the early seventeenth century (transported by Dutch merchants to replace a dwindling European labour force in the North American colonies). Unlike in other English colonies, the Chesapeake was a locale that was only colonised for economic reasons with a sparse colonial population in the days immediately prior to the introduction of slavery. Likewise, the differences within the Chesapeake itself highlight the way in which the values of trade, profit, production and the economy were central to the genesis of slavery in the region, as Philip Morgan (1998:9) details.

“By the late seventeenth century, Virginia had a plantation economy in search of a labour force, whereas South Carolina had a labour force in search of plantation economy.”

From the very beginning, therefore, a symbiosis began to form between the determining economic factors of the white settler communities and the introduction of large numbers of slaves into the colonies, with the number of African workers increasing from 13000 to 250000 in the Chesapeake Bay area between 1700 and 1770. The fact that this unprecedented level of African recruitment was accompanied by a drive to attract more female slaves to the colonies so as to increase the plantation population is testimony to the economic imperative at the heart of slave development in the Chesapeake. If slavery were a temporary measure to increase population levels in the area then the imposition of female slaves would not have occurred; only because of the permanence of the economic necessity for slaves did this phenomenon occur.

Furthermore, the sheer expanse of the New World landscape required the development of slaves to even begin to cultivate the land for economic production. After the introduction of rice crops in the 1680’s, Boyer (2003:85) estimates that a farmer planting 130 acres of the crop would require at least 65 slaves to do so. With the rapid reduction of the white indentured slaves after the turn of the eighteenth century, the absolute economic need for African slaves in the Chesapeake further increased so that the white plantation owners were utterly dependent on slave manpower in order to function as viable enterprises, competing with highly productive colonies such as the West Indies. Without the slave trade, the Chesapeake region of America – particularly the states of Virginia and North Carolina – could never have emerged as a major player in the expanding trans?Atlantic trade system.

It was not just for economic reasons that slaves were seen as integral to the rise of the Chesapeake. Health imperatives likewise played a part in the development of slavery during the early years of the colonial era. The African workers were immunised against the malaria that came with the imported rice and grain crops – a disease that rendered white workers obsolete during the formative years of the Chesapeake’s economic development. Moreover, the hot and humid climate of the Chesapeake was wholly alien to the white settlers from the colder European climate while the African workers imported to work on the plantations were much better equipped to cope with the working conditions in the New World, though Oscar and Mary Hadlin (1950:199-222) refute this claiming that it is unjust to blame nature for barbaric human institutions.

It is also important to recognise, as Edmund Morgan (2003:314-344) points out, that the slaves were important for sociological and cultural reasons, helping to underpin the rigid class structure that flourished in the southern American states. By taking away the need for a white working class, the slaves of the Chesapeake performed the task of cultural underdogs, which was an integral part of the economic rise of the region as a world exporter.

Despite the diverse range of cultural and sociological factors prevalent in the development of slavery in the Chesapeake there is no escaping the pre?eminence of economic imperatives. Indeed, the manufacturing of the term ‘slave trade’ implies the significance of economic issues in all parts of America that indulged in slavery with the transaction of human beings working in tandem with the production of profits garnered from the rich plantations. As Winthrop Jordan (1976:110-115) details, the underlying prejudice of the white settlers – incorporating a profound sense of racial and ethnic superiority – facilitated the evolution of slavery as a comprehensive way of life in the Chesapeake. The fact that the Chesapeake was willing to go to war with the Yankees for the perpetuation of the profits generated by the slave trade proves beyond doubt that economic reasons were the catalyst behind the development of slavery in the region.

References

Boyer, P.S. et al (2003) Enduring Vision: a History of the American People: Fifth Edition New York: Houghton Mifflin

Breen, T.H. (Ed.) (1976) Shaping Southern Society: the Colonial Experience Oxford: Oxford University Press

Fogel, R.W. (2003) The Slavery Debates, 1952-1990: a Retrospective Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press

Morgan, E.S. (2003) American Slavery, American Freedom London: W.W. Norton & Co.

Morgan, P.D. (1998) Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth Century Chesapeake and Low Country Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press

Selected Articles

Jordan, W. (1976) Unthinking Decision: Enslavement of Negroes in America to 1700, quoted in, Breen, T.H. (Ed.) Shaping Southern Society: the Colonial Experience Oxford: Oxford University Press

Journals

Hadlin, M.F. and Hadlin, O. (April 1950) Origins of the Southern Labour System, quoted in, William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 7, Number 2

Definition

The issue of lone parenting is quite clearly one that is of significant importance and impact in the modern social context. It is also one that has different viewpoints, which are important to recognise in the context of this report. While the actual term of ‘lone parenting’ is a given, it is important to understand the various views which are taken in order to address this problem. For example, ‘New Labour’s’ social policy towards lone parents is generally governed by the attitudes epitomised in the mantras “reforming welfare around the work ethic” and funding a system that “believes in empowerment not dependency” (Millar and Rowlingson, 2001, p xv). This quite obviously conflicts with the view which was held by previous governments, which is said to maintain the view that poverty is “relieved by cash handouts” (DSS, 1998, p 19). It is also said that the differences between these two viewpoints epitomises the differing views of ‘old Labour’ and ‘new Labour’ (Millar and Rowlingson, 2001, p xv), and also highlights the shift between the welfare state policy to a more capitalist approach to addressing the lone parenting issue.

Main Issues

Given the discussion of the United Kingdom’s approach to lone parenting, it might be relevant to compare these provisions with those of other jurisdictions. Take, for example, New Zealand which categorises ‘solo parents’ as:

(a) A woman who is the mother of one or more dependent children and who is living apart from, and has lost the support of, or is being inadequately maintained by, her husband:

(b) An unmarried woman who is the mother of one or more dependent children:

(c) A woman whose marriage has been dissolved by divorce and who is the mother of one or more dependent children:…

(e) A woman who is the mother of one or more dependent children and who has lost the regular support of her husband because he is subject to a sentence of imprisonment and is-

(i) serving the sentence in a penal institution; or

(ii) subject to release conditions or detention conditions (as those terms are defined in section 4(1) of the Parole Act 2002) that prevent him undertaking employment:

(f) A man who is the father of one or more dependent children whose mother is dead or who for any other reason are not being cared for by their mother (Social Security Act 1964 (NZ), s 27B(1)).

Arguably, in consideration of the above, it is clear that the New Zealand social security system is geared more towards caring for a woman who may be a lone parent, as opposed to a father. It might also be noted, however, that social security benefits are only paid to lone parents in New Zealand if the parent is of the minimum age of sixteen (16) years, unless emergency circumstances exist (Social Security Act 1964 (NZ), s 27B(2)).

Compare this situation to that across the Tasman Sea in Australia, where the Australian Bureau of Statistics has recorded a three-fold increase in lone parenting families in the last thirty (30) years, from 7.1% in 1969 to 21.4% in 1999 (ABS census). However given this increase, it might also be worthwhile to note that lone parenting in Australia remains at lower levels than other English-speaking countries, but still higher than some countries in continental Europe (Millar and Rowlingson, 2001, p 61). Further to this, it has generally been the attitude of Australian governments to extend social security benefits to all classes of lone parenting families, irrespective of the cause of the lone parenting situation (Millar and Rowlingson, 2001, p 65). Around 47% of lone mothers were employed in 1999 and around 63% of lone fathers, and approximately 9% of both lone mothers and lone fathers were unemployed (ABS, June 1999). This perhaps symbolises a non-dependency on the welfare system, and that lone parents in Australia generally try to work at least part-time to supplement their welfare incomes and provide for their family.

Key Dilemmas

The key dilemma that has been the recurring theme throughout this paper is the need to balance income support and welfare with the need for non-dependence on the welfare system. There is a conscientious push by governments in the above countries to not encourage reliance upon welfare handouts and to push these people to seek active employment, but also recognises the various situations of lone parents who may be unable to work full time for any number of reasons. The United Kingdom obviously recognises this problem in a social context, and took steps to address it though social policy reform. Some say that this was a more ‘heavy handed’ approach to the social problem, and this argument may have some merit given the approaches of other countries. New Zealand prescribes certain circumstances where welfare can be paid, and Australia has a more liberal approach to the welfare system, however all of these approaches seem to function appropriately in their individual contexts.

Conclusion

In consideration of the above points, it is quite clear that lone parents are a significant social problem. However, the more prominent problem is that of how to address the issue. It is quite clear that the United Kingdom has a more recent history of reforming social policy on this issue and limiting the distribution of welfare benefits. Is this the most appropriate course of action? Some would suggest no, given the experience of other countries. However, regard needs to be had for the statistics: approximately one in four of Britain’s seven million families are headed by a lone parent, and less than four in ten lone parents in Britain work full time (which is a piecemeal 16 hours a week statistically) (Millar and Rowlingson, 2001, p 11). This only serves to fuel the debate further, and one needs to consider the legislative and policy-based approach of the United Kingdom in context before judgement on this issue can be passed.

Bibliography
Books
Millar, J., and Rowlingson, K. (eds), Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy (2001), Bristol: The Policy Press
Journal Articles
Hughes, J., ‘Lone Parents and Social Security’ (2005) 36 Victoria University Wellington Law Review 1
Soley, C., ‘Lessons of the Lone Parenting Battle’ (1997) 126 New Statesman.
Legislation
Social Security Act 1965 (NZ)
Social Security Act 1991 (AU, Cth)
Other Sources
Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 1999
Australian Bureau of Statistics, census 1969 and 1999
DPI, census 1999

Introduction

The debate on the legality of homosexual marriages has been considered both as an unwarranted feat and as belated act of liberty worth celebrating yet this status ruins the institution of marriage. This paper is written in a thesis-antithesis-synthesis pattern, addressing the issues raised by opponents of homosexual unions as well as the reasoning of its advocates. Finally, it is gives the writer’s opinion – a synthesis of the two opposing arguments – guided by reasoned insights.

Part I: The Legal Marriage of Homosexuals is not warranted

Many criticisms have been piled on the prospects of homosexuals’ lawful sanctification of their union. Somehow the basis of these anti-homosexual’s legal marriage is not far-fetched. Here are some reasons that have been used to buttress the attitude.

The legalization of same-sex unions grossly undermines the institution of marriage. A marriage that comprises of persons of the same gender is in itself a self-contradiction. When these unions are legally allowed to thrive, the institution will suffer irreparable damage. The reason being, marriage is perceived as sacred especially from the religious quarters, an institution sanctified by God between a man and a woman for mutual companionship. Children are the fruits of such holy matrimonies (Maccio, 2010). Homosexuals contradict it, allowing their passions to override the holy decree. Furthermore, same-sex unions are always considered ‘open relationships’ meaning that partners involved do not necessarily have to be committed to each other sexually, psychologically, emotionally and socially. This translates into a blow to the monogamous unions and by extension holy matrimony.

Same-sex unions are conventionally considered unnatural and it does not take an apt mind a second to think otherwise. So, how can an unnatural union be naturally unionable? Heterosexual relationships are the norm, both in society and in nature. Why has man, as rational as he is, been passionately driven by sexual pleasure to the heights of finding it from the same gender? Brutes in their irrationality do not indulge in this! The greatest favor that should be done them is tolerance, nothing more. They should not be validated by the state nor recognized as a form of marriage because of their abnormality and unnaturality.

The legal status of this union encourages many of the same and therefore the human species is destined to extinction. It is a self evident fact that the sexual intercourse between homosexuals of whatever ilk does not procreate life. Lesbians and gays, alike have sex primarily for pleasure and therefore no human conception can arise. If say three-quarters of the human population goes homosexual, there will not be any human being left walking on the surface of this planet with at least a couple of centuries (Hollowell, 2010).

Homosexuals themselves, together with their sympathizers argue that they can become good parents. To whom can they parent? Adopted children, they say. Granted, they can be even excellent parents as they claim, but the psychological development of the child or children that they are parenting is at stake. Naturally, human beings have the orientation towards the two sexes and that is precisely the reason that a female parent is referred by the child as mother, and the male parent father. So in a legal family that comprises of two fathers – gays; or two mothers – lesbians; how does the child under their custody expected to grow normally? Are they not putting the welfare of the child at the expense of their pleasurable adventures? Is the legal body that authorizes this abnormal family doing any justice to the child? Besides, this is a horribly repugnant precedence that the ‘homocouples’ are setting to the children under their parentage. Most likely, when such children come of age, they will copy the lifestyle of their parents and there by continue perpetuating the ignoble idiosyncrasy to subsequent generations (Kuyper, 1993).

Marriage is a symbol that represents cultural ideals about sex, sexuality, and human relationships. These ideals define an individual’s self identity and therefore, when the traditional nature of marriage is interfered with by sneaking in homosexual tendencies, people’s basic identities are challenged (Dankmeijer, 1993).

Part II: Legalization of Same-sex Unions is long overdue

Quite a number of homosexuals and their supporters have been waiting with abated breath for the landmark ruling that accord same-sex unions a legal marriage status. It has been hailed as a gesture that reinstates sexual liberty to individuals who hitherto had suffered silently when this right was trampled upon.

The anti-homosexuals argue that legal marriage is strictly between a man and a woman. Defining marriage on the basis of sex does beg the question of how sexes are defined. Though the traditional categories of male and female appear separate, there are indeterminate cases in reality which do not match these categories. Therefore the assumption made here is that the clarity of biological concepts corresponds to social concepts. Take for example, Daniel was born female but changed his sex and became male; and now he wants to marry his partner Chloe. By accepting the above reason, Daniel can only marry a male even though by outward appearance he is male. Put differently, if a woman changes her sex and acquires physical traits of a man, would not it be legal for this person to marry a woman? (Maccio, 2010)

The consideration of marriages as a religious rite is missing the mark since exclusive religious tenets are used to define it. Consequently, legalizing homosexual marriages is a mortal sin that beckons the wrath of God to a state. It is an indubitable fact that the nature of marriage has varied in every era and from every society. Therefore, it has been difficult to find a conventional definition of marriage. Marriage has never been a creation of religion, if anything the state has always treated it as a private contract with public implications. Thus the basis of marriage was on the wishes of free, consenting adults (Cott, 2002).

The claim that homosexual marriage is not a home for protection and procreation of children; hence a threat to human extinction is refutable. This claim is anchored in the assumption that sex as the natural end of marriage is for procreation. It can be argued that, following this premise, a couple whose sexual intercourse cannot bring forth a child should not be allowed to marry, all the more homosexuals. The implications of this reason would mean that heterosexual marriages with infertile couple due to various reasons are outlawed as well. Similarly, couples who voluntarily resolved to be childless should not be allowed to marry legally. The impulsion for marriage is love not children (Senreich, 2010).

Opponents of homosexual marriages argue that such relationships are unnatural and abnormal and therefore should only be tolerated not legalized. Here, heterosexual relationship is taken as natural because that is what is found in nature. Since nature does not provide for homosexual relationship it is unnatural and ought to be abhorred by the society (Senreich, 2010). Well, are not human a part of nature? If yes, then homosexual relationships are also a part of this nature. Brutes which are part of this nature do not engage in legal marital contracts, does it as consequence mean that the legal marriage as an institution is unnatural and should be outlawed?

The argument that legalizing homosexual marriage undermines the institution of marriage does not hold water. It baffles the minds of proponents how a legal marriage between homosexuals damage the heterosexual marriage. Consideration should be made here that the opponents use religion to smoothen their disapproval. Marriage is governed by the civil/secular law. Period (Geest, 1993).

Part III: Homosexual Marriages do not merit Legal Status

Having painstakingly considered the arguments from both sides of the debate on the legalization of same-sex marriages, the writer hereof opposes according legal status to such unions.

To begin with, marriage as an institution derives its sanctity from interplay between instinct and reason. Considering that the sexual instinct is primarily for procreation, man ought to use his rationality to direct this force appropriately. The pleasurable part of the act is secondary and therefore should not be allowed to define a person. The reason is, if man becomes myopic with the secondary end of sexual instinct; and remains consistently so, then human species’ destiny is at stake. It may sound religious but thoughtful reflection reveals so. Marriage is therefore an institution where under natural circumstances male and female partners are freely allowed to procreate (Geest, 1993). However, if the primary end cannot be realized due to illnesses or old age, the intent warrants its sanctity.

The proponents of homosexual marriages are largely silent on the parentage of children of homosexuals, adopted or otherwise. They secretly recognize the psychological as well as sociological damage that they wrought to the development of these children (Paul, 1993). It’s not disputable that they can have the custody of children either through adoption, surrogate motherhood, artificial insemination, or previous heterosexual relationships. What is paramount here is the welfare of these little children in regard to their development into adults of sound minds. In this consideration homosexual parentage of children is looked at vis-a-vis heterosexual. If for instance, Kathleen is being raised by two mothers, she is being deprived of the experience of being with a father. Recent research as well as the common experience suggests that a father and a mother together provide by far the best surrounding in which a child may be raised. The reason being men and women contribute different gender-connected strengths and attributes to their children’s development. Erik Erikson differentiates the kinds of love to children: “fathers love more dangerously because their love is more expectant and instrumental than that of mothers” (Wardle n.d. p. 846). Children from homosexual families will are likely to exhibit the homosexual tendencies of the parents and become one of such in adulthood (Kuyper, 1993).

The homosexual marriage remains unnatural not because it cannot be found existing among natural brutes which constitute nature, but because the act itself is solely for pleasure. If anything there are creatures which show tendencies akin to homosexuals. Man is endowed with incredible intellect and he should use it to discern what underlies some of his cravings before allowing himself to be held hostage by them.

Conclusion

To surmise, the debate on the legality of homosexual marriages has been considered both as an unwarranted feat and as belated act of liberty worth celebrating yet this status ruins the institution of marriage. As it can be seen from the text, the arguments of pro-homosexual marriages are aimed at winning rather than analyzing the facts that belie the orientation.

References

Cott, N. (2002). Public Vow: A History of Marriage and the Nation. New York, NY: Harvard University Press

Dankmeijer, P. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: The Construction of Identities as a Means of Survival. 24(3), pp. 95-105.

Geest, H. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: Homosexuality and Marriage. 24(3), pp.115-123.

Hollowell, K. (2010). World Net Daily: Homosexuality: Evolution of the human race. Retrieved on March 24^th, 2010, from:

Kuyper, E. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: The Freudian Construction of Sexuality. 24(4), pp 137-144.

Maccio, E. (2010). Journal of Homosexual: Influence of Family, Religion, and Social Conformity on Client Participation in Sexual Reorientation Therapy. 57(3), pp. 441-458.

Paul, J. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: Childhood Cross-Gender Behavior and Adulthood Homosexuality. 24(3), pp. 41-54.

Senreich, E. (2010). Journal of Homosexuality: The Effects of Honesty and Openness About Sexual Orientation on Gay and Bisexual Clients in Substance Abuse Programs.57(3), pp 364-383.

Wardle, L. (n.d.) Website of Family Action: The Potential Impact of Homosexual Parenting on Children. Retrieved on March 24^th, 2010, from:

Community Service: Serving Each Other in Today’s Society

There are many young adults out there who lack self-esteem, confidence, a sense of

accomplishment or purpose, or simply a reason to get away from TV, computers, and video

games. They often don’t understand the value of community and the importance of team work.

Most teens also don’t realize how much lending a helping hand to others can also benefit them.

What could be done to teach teens the importance of helping others and build a sense of self-

confidence and worth? Community service is quick to remind anyone the importance of offering

help, working as a team and simply getting outside and active. These teens shouldn’t be assigned

to just anything. All of the participants in community service should have a voice in the activities

in which they are participating. Otherwise, it could make the whole experience a miserable one

and do just the opposite of what it is intended to do. There is a lot of stigma around mandatory

community service, but with flexible community service programs, positive promotion, and

choices, teens will be put on the right track.

A lot of stigma surrounds mandatory community service. Most people see it only as a

means of corrective punishment. There are many people who think community service should be

left to prisoners, and not to the youth of today. This poor attitude needs to be reversed by

education. Many teens believe what they hear from their parents, teachers, and mentors. With

this poor attitude on the matter, it’s no wonder teens may despise the idea of serving in the

community. Proper education and promotion is the key to a successful program. For example,

teens should see the results of community service. They should be able to see workers having a

good time and enjoying what they do. Young adults should also see that they would benefit from

serving in the community. This could all be done by providing introductory programs, attractive

pamphlets, peer communication, and so on. Once teens are educated about community services

and its benefits, the stigma will fade and they will be more willing to participate.

It’s important to remember the power of choice. There are numerous activities the teens

could participate in. Blood drives, children activity clubs, clean-ups, and mentoring are just a few

of the many things to choose from in community service. One who has a choice in what he or she

does as an extra activity will be happier while participating. Delgado states, “[…] a summary of

the literature on youth activities, found that youth benefit the most when they have an

opportunity to actively plan community-service projects that contribute to the welfare of

others[…]”.(127) When community service workers plan activities, a sense of ownership is built.

Since the ideas were their own, the activity belongs to the workers and they will likely work

much harder than they would if they were forced into the activity. Choosing an activity is just as

powerful as planning one. The ability to choose an activity will also encourage teens to

participate in multiple activities, which will broaden their horizons and abilities.

A lot of young people lack a good sense of self-esteem. It can be caused by criticism, the

media, the lack of activity, and so on. Many times all a teen needs to boost his or her self esteem

is a sense of purpose and direction. Studies have shown that productive individuals generally

have a higher self-esteem. (Joseph 1) Using community service as a way for teens to stay active

is a great way for them to see the fruits of their efforts. When young adults see how much the

work they are putting forth really matters, it will boast their confidence. For example, if a small

town had grass growing in the sidewalk, trash lying about, and dirt everywhere, a group of teens

could plan a cleaning project. Such a project would beautify the town and would likely give the

group a sense of pride. The town would benefit by the work and maybe even be educated by the

teens actions. If there were a huge turn-around in appearance, then perhaps the rest of the

townspeople would help maintain the new condition of the small town. This would boost morale

even higher for the group and make all the work seem very worthwhile.

Another good point to mention is the fact teens would be busy. A lot of teens spend a ton

of time in from of their computers, televisions, or video games systems. A study conducted in

2003 concluded that an alarming 34% of teens were clinically obese. (Nichols and Good 169)

The sedentary lifestyle most Americans have adopted is devastating to overall well-being. When

teens are over-weight, they suffer in numerous ways. They are persecuted by their peers, which

results in a low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. They lack the energy or drive to pursue an

activity because they lack physical fitness. Any kind of activity is good for someone’s health. If

teens get actively involved in community service, they will be on the go. If teens get moving and

realize how out of shape they are, then it may motivate them to do something about it. This will

promote exercise and proper diet, thus resulting in a healthier lifestyle.

Schools have been trying to incorporate teamwork into the classrooms, but it often

doesn’t work out as well as hoped. There have been numerous studies conducted on the matter

and only a small portion of teamwork exercises have worked in schools. (Thomas 1) When a

teamwork activity is academically based, it is difficult to pursue and most times it is difficult to

see any results. Actual physical labor shows more of an effect of one’s efforts. Therefore, some

type of community service where one is physically involved in an activity with a group of people

would teach teens how positive teamwork is. Then, they would later incorporate the idea into

other activities, thus making them well rounded and willing to work with others.

There are many young adults who leave high school and have no idea what the real world

is all about. Most teenagers only know a life where everything is structured, and there is no

question about what step to take next. Teens receive a schedule with their classes, books, a time

for lunch period, and often their extra activities are planned for them. Community service would

be a great place for teens to learn the importance of self-reliance. When a teen is provided a

choice in what he or she may do as an activity, this would be the first step in that lesson. The

second would be finding a way to transport themselves to the place of work. Then, they would

have to make sure they are on time. Decision making, responsibility and initiative all fit into the

lesson of self-reliance and define some of the basic things they would go through in adulthood.

As it has already been said, with self-reliance comes a sense of responsibility. Anyone

participating in community service is still held to a standard. These standards typically aren’t as

high standards in a paid environment; however, there is still something to be gained. The

Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development states, “[…] by age 15, millions of young people

risk reaching adulthood unable to assume the responsibilities of informed, active citizenship in a

pluralistic society. (Radest 30) This same report also says, “Early adolescence offers a superb

opportunity to learn values, skills, and a sense of social responsibility”. (30) With teens being

held to a standard, they must assume responsibility for their successes and failures. This is

something everyone goes through as an adult. It is better to learn these lessons earlier in life so

teens can make their mistakes, learn from them, and grow from the entire experience.

Resilience is a lesson which shouldn’t be taken lightly and should be learned early in life.

Adults often rush to the rescue when problems arise, not allowing young people to think it

through and find a solution on their own. A problem arises and some teens may panic, have no

idea what to do, or stand around waiting for someone else to take care of it. While going through

community service, teens will likely meet with a few setbacks and will need to take action. Since

these setbacks would likely only be minor, it would be a great place to start learning resilience.

Resilient children are proactive rather than reactive and have a good sense of “coherence”. That

is to say they understand things happen in life but we still have some control over it all. (Joseph

29) Adults have to practice resilience a lot through life, so learning this early will help teens

become well rounded adults.

Since community service is a team effort, teens will be able to build professional social

skills. Social skills are built throughout childhood, but in a more professional setting where the

use of language is different, these skills will be refined. These teens would be working with

adults who know how to properly communicate in order to achieve a goal. If young adults

observe the behaviors of the adults around them, take note of what happened, and try their best to

act the same, they would begin building the stepping stones to success. They would learn a range

of thing from avoiding confrontation and generating solutions, to active and proper listening

skills.(Joseph 255) All of these are needed in a professional atmosphere and will help them

throughout college and the working environment.

The benefits teens would receive from community service experience have been

thoroughly discussed thus far, but not how the community would benefit. It all, of course,

depends on the activities the teens participate in. If there were a community clean-up, then a

town would be beautified. If the teens helped deliver groceries to those who can’t get around,

then people wouldn’t have to go hungry or worry about how to get their food. When teens

mentor younger kids, the children would have the benefit of someone relatively close to their age

teaching them. The people living in these communities and seeing the difference teens are

making with all of their work may adopt a more volunteer attitude. The ways a community

benefits from those who serve are endless, and shouldn’t be forgotten.

There a so many things a young adult can take from community service that will benefit

him or her immediately, as well as in the future. Teens can build a healthy self-esteem by gaining

a sense of purpose and seeing how much of a difference they can make in the world. They could

come to understand the importance of living a healthier life. Young adults would gain the ability

to think through problems, work with others as a team, and make important decisions.

Professional conduct and language will be learned, which will help them in their work

endeavors. They will also learn resilience and self-reliance, which will help them bounce back

quickly from setbacks and take a more proactive approach to life. There is a quote from Andrew

Shue that says, “Community service has taught me all kinds of skills and increased my

confidence. You go out there and think on your feet, work with others and create something from

nothing. That’s what life’s all about.” (Shue brainyquotes.com) This is a great way to sum up

what teens would gain and what community service is about. It’s about helping others, but also

helping yourself in the process. Once teens get out there and start working in our communities,

they will see what a difference they can make. They would remember these lessons through their

lives and likely continue to act in a positive way because of what they learned. This entire

process could help change the way people behave now and in the future in a very positive way.

When everyone gives just a little, it can go a long way and there has to be a beginning

somewhere. Why not make that beginning start with today youth and expand into the generations

to come?

Works Cited

Melvin Delgado, New Frontiers for Youth Development in the Twenty-First Century: Revitalizing & Broadening Youth Development (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002) 127

Joanne M. Joseph, The Resilient Child: Preparing Today’s Youth for Tomorrow’s World (New York: Insight Books, 1994) 1,29,255

Sharon L. Nichols, and Thomas L. Good, America’s Teenagers–Myths and Realities: Media Images, Schooling, and the Social Costs of Careless Indifference (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004) 169

Howard B. Radest, Community Service: Encounter with Strangers (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1993) ,30

Andrew Shue, n.p., Community Service, brainyquotes.com, n.d., August 20, 2009, http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/andrewshue214132.html

Gary Thomas, Effective Classroom Teamwork: Support or Intrusion? (New York: Routledge, 1992) 1