The Clouds and the History of Peloponnesian War

Breaking down traditions: The â€Å"Clouds† and the â€Å"History of Peloponnesian War† Undeniably, the ancient Greek society places a heavy emphasis on values and traditions. The two texts of the â€Å"Clouds† by Aristophanes and â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian war† by Thucydides, although contextually divergent, are actually conceptually convergent. Both texts are built around the central theme of the collapse of conventional values. While the breakdown of traditional values in the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian war† is presented in a more metaphorical and symbolical manner, the downfall of conventional values in the â€Å"Clouds† is on a more direct basis.Although both texts essentially convey across the same solemn message that the relinquishment of traditional values leads to dire consequences, Aristophanes also implicitly challenges the authority of old values, and hopes to improve upon these traditions. The â€Å"Clouds† by Aristophanes is a satirical play primarily concerned with the idea of new and old education. A satire is a composition or prose used to lampoon individuals or society. They usually make use of ridicules and irony for the ostensible purpose of exposing and discouraging vice or folly.In the â€Å"Clouds†, viewers are presented with a breakdown of traditionally accepted moral and ethical values, especially those that are related to education. Aristophanes is a staunch defender of old values. Through the comedy, he wishes to show his support for logical reasoning that is well rounded and grounded in practical experience. Simultaneously, Aristophanes also wants to deliver a message to the theater audiences of fifth century that certain philosophers, particularly the sophists, undermine traditional values and thus pose as a threat to Greek society.However, by deliberately satirizing the traditional model of education with the new model throughout the comedy, Aristophanes subtly suggests his belief that if a traditional system were to be left unexamined, it might lose sight of the convictions and values upon which it was founded. This also shows that Aristophanes believes the importance of criticism in the Athenian society, and that with criticism, a society can be improved upon. In comparison to â€Å"The History of the Peloponnesian War,† there are distinctions between the ways in which traditional values are broken down.In the latter, the Mytilenian debate and the Melian dialogues are based on the war between Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. It is more concerned with the ethics of war and punishments rather than education in â€Å"The Clouds†. Warring sparks are ignited in the light of self-interest, as the Spartans fear the growth of the Athenian power. Many moral judgments, as dire consequences of the wars, are debated upon. There are increasing political and ethical confusions in Athens as a result of the revolt of the Mytilenians and the neutral position take up by the Melians.In the 2nd Mytilenian debate, the Athenians argue over the unprecedented brutality of their actions and some become hesitant about the hurried decision to kill and enslave the citizens of Mytileans. Democracy is an important concept for the Greeks. In Cleon’s speech, however, he begins by questioning the worth of democracy and this instigates a breakdown in the traditional values. â€Å"Personally I have had occasions often enough already to observe that a democracy is incapable of governing others, and I am all the more convinced of this when I see how you are now changing your minds about the Mytilenians. (Thuy 3. 37) Cleon believes that it is part of human nature to revere the strong and take advantage of the weak, and hence he pushes for the punishment of the Mytilenians. In his speech, Cleon also employs the art of rhetoric. He stresses that the Mytilenian are more than guilty and consequentl y deserve the punishment since they are â€Å"calculated aggressors† (Thuy 36. 13). Hence, Cleon suggests that the Mytilenians are not worthy of the Athenian’s sympathy votes. Such a way of argument is a sure fire case of guilt or innocence.Making use of rhetoric devices and compromising the ideals of democracy breach the ideals of traditions in the Greek society. Unlike that in the â€Å"Clouds†, Thucydides does not show any sign of flaws of the traditional values. Although based on different circumstances, the breakdown of traditional values in â€Å"The History of the Peloponnesian war† parallels to that in the â€Å"Clouds†. The â€Å"Clouds† also utilizes extensive use of rhetoric devices. Strepsiades decides to submit to the sophist’s way of education, so that he would be able to defend himself against his creditors.The first sign of erosion of traditional value is exposed when Strepsiades decides to enroll himself in the Thinke ry under the guidance of Socrates. The ability to manipulate language and turn everything into relativism erodes the principles of traditional Athenian beliefs. Indisputably, the new philosophy wins. Sophistry is the type of linguistic device that, in the face of the weakness of traditional beliefs, undermines the value of anything. Strepsiades opines, â€Å"Holy Earth, what a voice! How divine, how awesome, how fantastic! † (363) In which Socrates responds, â€Å"Yes, you know, these are the only real divinities, all the rest is bunkum. (365) In the new system of beliefs as advocated by the sophists, there is a rejection of the traditional religion and a belief in the new â€Å"gods†. The comical way through which ideas are portrayed may be witty, but the core issue lies at the heart of the play's moral indignation at what is happening in Athens. There are possibilities for that life is being systematically corrupted by the seductive power of words, of language itsel f. Language is now a tool of human beings, modified to accommodate human beings' desires, rather than directing those desires.The underlying basis here in the â€Å"Clouds† is a direct correspondence to the ideas as presented in the Mytilenian debate, that traditionally held values are now being gradually eroded in the light of self interest. As we progress on to the rest of the texts, the tension in breaking traditional Greek values further intensifies. This is evident in the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian War† as we advance to the Melian dialogue. The true colors of human nature are exposed under desperate conditions. The Athenians have now completed the transition from democracy and are fully embracing the epitomes of imperialism.The Athenians, in a frank and matter-of-fact manner, offer the Melians an ultimatum: to surrender and pay tribute to Athens, or be destroyed. The Melian dialogue also opens up morality issues based on destruction of the Melos. Tradition al democratic ideas are fragmented as imperialistic ideas are introduced. â€Å"Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can. † (Thuy 5. 105). Abuses of traditional values are reflected throughout the dialogue as both parties act in the light of their own self-interests.The Athenians make extensive use of rhetorical speeches in an attempt to exert their points and subjugate the Melians. I quote the Athenians, â€Å"You, by giving in, would save yourselves from disaster; we, by not destroying you, would be able to profit from you† (Thuy 5. 93). The use of rhetoric embodies the concept of ethical and moral relativism. It follows the core belief of the sophists that nothing is absolute and men are the measure of everything. The breakdown of traditional values is also intensified and heightened in the â€Å"Clouds†, as presented in the fiery debate between the Right and the Wrong Arguments.The debate is a direct, head on clash of traditional values versus the new ideas. Right's arguments are centered around traditional values such as respect, justice and diligence. On the opposing end, wrong proposes the idea of moral and ethical relativism. This also symbolizes a debate between nomos and physis. Justice is now no longer an inborn characteristic of humanity (physis), but rather a convention invented by the weaker party as a defense against the stronger (nomos) counterpart. Right and wrong are now merely matters of convention. Right: â€Å"Simply by presenting the case for justice†Wrong: â€Å"It’ll crumble as soon as I open my mouth. My position is that there isn’t any such thing as justice† Right: â€Å"No such thing?! † Wrong: â€Å"Well, if there is, where is it to be found? † (901) In the debate, even the Right argument, who is supposed to follow the ideals of tradition, makes use of rhetoric devices. The fundamentals of the traditional Greek society are disintegrated. Also, Pheidippides' final decision to choose the Wrong argument also represents the younger Athenian generation's inclination to modernity and discard of tradition.Although both Aristophanes and Thucydides suggest the idea of the breakdown of traditional values, Aristophanes takes it to a higher level in the â€Å"Clouds†. He acknowledges the faults with traditional values while simultaneously criticizing the use of sophistry. He depicts the Right argument and an embarrassment that utters vacuous statements such as â€Å"Be ashamed when you ought to be ashamed,† (1013). This shows that Aristophanes feels that satire and criticism are no less important than traditions, as they allow the society to morph and flourish.This is different from the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian War† as Thucydides simply portrays the breakdown of traditional values in a negative light. Nonetheless, both texts end on a similar note. The two writers present to the viewers/readers the dire consequences as results of breaching traditional values. In the context of the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian War†, the Melians are destroyed. Also, the very next line is history begins with the decline of the Athens and the justifications of the Melos. About the same time the Argives invaded Phliasia and were ambushed by the Phliasians and the exiles from Argos, losing about eighty men. † (Thuy 5. 115) Thucydides presumably wants to show the calamitous consequences of the actions of the Athenians, as a result of going against the traditions. The Athenians are also completely defeated with the Syracusan victory. On the other hand, in the â€Å"Clouds†, we are presented with the protagonists’ (Strepsiades) frustration that leads to destruction at the end of the play. Both texts do not move us beyond their final, unsettling acts.In the case of â€Å"Clouds†, such a paradoxi cal ending to a comedy can be interpreted as an ominous warning. Divergence away from the traditional values may seem ridiculously silly, especially when it is presented in the form of a comedy. However, the consequences are far from amusing. The very fact that there is no choral closure after the burning of the Thinkery suggests that this ending is ironically serious. Despite the genre differences of the texts, they are dissimilar presentations and interpretations of the same theme—the breakdown of traditional Greek values.Both texts show the dire consequences as a result of breaking off from the tradition, and hence suggest the writers’ sense of disapproval. However, as Woody Allen once alleged, â€Å"Tradition is the illusion of permanence† As a society progresses, old traditions are bound to be challenged. Unlike in the â€Å"History of Peloponnesian war†, Aristophanes recognizes the limits of traditional values in the â€Å"Clouds†. While both texts show the grim effects of the breakdown, Aristophanes brings it to a whole new level. Works Cited Aristophanes, and Alan Sommerstein. â€Å"The Clouds† Lysistrata And Other Plays. Penguin Classics, 2002. Print. * Thucydides, and Rex Warner. History of the Peloponnesian War. London, England:Penguin Group, 1972. Print. * Schironi, Francesca. â€Å"Thucydides’ Social Theory (Athenian Plague ; Corcyra); The Melian Dialogue. † Classical Civilization 101 Lecture. Ann Arbor, Michigan. November 8, 2011 * Schironi, Francesca. â€Å"Philosophy, Scientific Enquiry and the Greek Artistic Canon† Classical Civilization 101 Lecture. Ann Arbor, Michigan. November 29, 2011

Reality and Fiction in Virginia Woolf’s “to the Lighthouse” Essay

Reality and fiction in Virginia Woolf’s â€Å"To the Lighthouse† I have chosen this subject because I found very interesting debate, and the author is one of the greatest writers of all times. His works is large and full, his characters are contoured such that it fascinate you. Victorian period also is one of the most famous, with most changes produced in English literature To the Lighthouse is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. A landmark novel of high modernism, the text, which centres on the Ramsays and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920, skillfully manipulates temporal and psychological elements. In To the Lighthouse ,one of her most experimental works, the passage of time, for example, is modulated by the consciousness of the characters rather than by the clock. The events of a single afternoon constitute over half the book, while the events of the following ten years are compressed into a few dozen pages. Many readers of To the Lighthouse, especially those who are not versed in the traditions of modernist fiction, find the novel strange and difficult. Its language is dense and the structure amorphous. Compared with the plot-driven Victorian novels that came before it, To the Lighthouse seems to have little in the way of action. Indeed, almost all of the events take place in the characters’ minds. Although To the Lighthouse is a radical departure from the nineteenth-century novel, it is, like its more traditional counterparts, intimately interested in developing characters and advancing both plot and themes. Woolf’s experimentation has much to do with the time in which she lived: the turn of the century was marked by bold scientific developments. To the Lighthouse exemplifies Woolf’s style and many of her concerns as a novelist. With its characters based on her own parents and siblings, it is certainly her most autobiographical fictional statement, and in the characters of Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, and Lily Briscoe, Woolf offers some of her most penetrating explorations of the workings of the human consciousness as it perceives and analyzes, feels and interacts. The Transience of Life and Work Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay take completely different approaches to life: he relies on his intellect, while she depends on her emotions. But they share the knowledge that the world around them is transient—that nothing lasts forever. Mr. Ramsay reflects that even the most enduring of reputations, such as Shakespeare’s, are doomed to eventual oblivion. This realization accounts for the bitter aspect of his character. Frustrated by the inevitable demise of his own body of work and envious of the few geniuses who will outlast him, he plots to found a school of philosophy that argues that the world is designed for the average, unadorned man, for the â€Å"liftman in the Tube† rather than for the rare immortal writer. The Subjective Nature of Reality Toward the end of the novel, Lily reflects that in order to see Mrs. Ramsay clearly—to understand her character completely—she would need at least fifty pairs of eyes; only then would she be privy to every possible angle and nuance. The truth, according to this assertion, rests in the accumulation of different, even opposing vantage points. Woolf’s technique in structuring the story mirrors Lily’s assertion. She is committed to creating a sense of the world that not only depends upon the private perceptions of her characters but is also nothing more than the accumulation of those perceptions. To try to reimagine the story as told from a single character’s perspective or—in the tradition of the Victorian novelists—from the author’s perspective is to realize the radical scope and difficulty of Woolf’s project. The Lighthouse Lying across the bay and meaning something different and intimately personal to each character, the lighthouse is at once inaccessible, illuminating, and infinitely interpretable. As the destination from which the novel takes its title, the lighthouse suggests that the destinations that seem surest are most unobtainable. Just as Mr. Ramsay is certain of his wife’s love for him and aims to hear her speak words to that end in â€Å"The Window,† Mrs. Ramsay finds these words impossible to say. These failed attempts to arrive at some sort of solid ground, like Lily’s first try at painting Mrs. Ramsay or Mrs. Ramsay’s attempt to see Paul and Minta married, result only in more attempts, further excursions rather than rest. The lighthouse stands as a potent symbol of this lack of attainability. James arrives only to realize that it is not at all the mist-shrouded destination of his childhood. Instead, he is made to reconcile two competing and contradictory images of the tower—how it appeared to him when he was a boy and how it appears to him now that he is a man. He decides that both of these images contribute to the essence of the lighthouse—that nothing is ever only one thing—a sentiment that echoes the novel’s determination to arrive at truth through varied and contradictory vantage points. The Sea References to the sea appear throughout the novel. Broadly, the ever-changing, ever-moving waves parallel the constant forward movement of time and the changes it brings. Woolf describes the sea lovingly and beautifully, but her most evocative depictions of it point to its violence. As a force that brings destruction, has the power to decimate islands, and, as Mr. Ramsay reflects, â€Å"eats away the ground we stand on,† the sea is a powerful reminder of the impermanence and delicacy of human life and accomplishments. Subjective Reality The omniscient narrator remained the standard explicative figure in fiction through the end of the nineteenth century, providing an informed and objective account of the characters and the plot. The turn of the 20th century, however, witnessed innovations in writing that aimed at reflecting a more truthful account of the subjective nature of experience. Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse is the triumphant product of this innovation, creating a reality that is completely constructed by the collection of the multiple subjective interiorities of its characters and presented in a stream-of-consciousness format. Woolf creates a fictional world in which no objective, omniscient narrator is present. There is a proliferation of accounts of the inner processes of the characters, while there is a scarcity of expositional information, expressing Woolf’s perspective on the thoughts and reflections that comprise the world of the Ramsays. Time is an essential component of experience and reality and, in many ways, the novel is about the passage of time. However, as for reality, Woolf does not represent time in a traditional way. Rather than a steady and unchanging rhythm, time here is a forward motion that both accelerates and collapses. In â€Å"The Window† and â€Å"The Lighthouse,† time is conveyed only through the consciousness of the various characters, and moments last for pages as the reader is invited into the subjective experiences of many different realities. Indeed, â€Å"The Window† takes place over the course of a single afternoon that is expanded by Woolf’s method, and â€Å"The Lighthouse† seems almost directly connected to the first section, despite the fact that ten years have actually elapsed. However, in â€Å"Time Passes,† ten years are greatly compacted into a matter of pages, and the changes in the lives of the Ramsays and their home seem to flash by like scenes viewed from the window of a moving train. This unsteady temporal rhythm brilliantly conveys the broader sense of instability and change that the characters strive to comprehend, and it captures the fleeting nature of a reality that exists only within and as a collection of the various subjective experiences of reality.

Imperial Rome and Mauryan/Gupta India Essay

The most significant difference between Imperial Rome and Mauryan/Gupta India was the structure of their governments, yet both empires were heavily influenced by religion and both had similar causes of their eventual downfalls. Imperial Rome and Maurya India were both run as centralized systems of bureaucracy because it kept their empires strong and more organized. The Gupta India, however, was decentralized and maintained their strong central government with an emperor and by strictly enforcing the caste system and other Hindu beliefs. Not having a centralized government made it increasingly difficult to keep the empire strong and clear of invasions from neighboring regions. However, Rome, contained an empire and a senate, which allowed lower class people to be apart of and have a say in their written law code. Religion played a large role in Imperial Rome and Mauryan/Gupta India. The Gupta’s government was organized mostly by the caste system because of their lack of centralization and dependence on religious beliefs to set laws. Confucian and Buddhist ideas also were spreading around India at the time. In Rome, Christianity was taking over. Emperor Constantine created the new capital, Constantinople, and segregated the empire in two halves. He used his great influence to spread the word of Christianity. Imperial Rome and India fell because of disorganization and chaos within their empires. They both went through political discontinuity, problems with their taxes, over-expansion, and political corruption. When Constantine divided Rome into two empires, he claimed all of the eastern side, causing the western side to lose any previous power and economic prosperity. This led to disorder within all of the Roman Empire. Because India was uncentralized, it was difficult to keep the empire correlated and steady, leading them to subsidize. As both empires continued to expand, the military had trouble keeping their borders under control, giving neighboring countries easy access to attack and conquer.

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

Philo - Essay Example Narrative experience could be built on actual life circumstances and situations that have taken place over a period of time or these could be mythical in nature, which would mean that the person has heard some legends from different people or read the same somewhere and then tried to relate them with his own life (Bottum 2008). At times, it is also possible that these mythical experiences are true, which goes to suggest that people have faith in the authenticity of fables and stories that have been on the rounds since a long time. This indeed is a very fulfilling experience for the people who want to seek the best of both worlds, i.e. the real world as well as the one which is indeed based on myth and lacks sound logic. Moving on, the narrative abilities of a person help him to comprehend the real meaning of human life and this facilitates him in his quest to learn quite a number of things all this while. These different experiences therefore are very satisfying for him as he tries to relate the real experiences with the mythic ones, where the latter are just the stories that he has heard over a period of time and have little or no bearing on his life in essence (Author Unknown 2004). What is even more interesting is the fact that narrative and mythic experiences are based on the state of mind of a person, i.e. the exact situation under which he has listened to the fable which indeed is a part of the mythic experience or the real life story that he has been a part of, known as an actual narrative. In essence, in the time and age of today, it is of paramount significance if an individual tries his best to experience life’s different shades so that he could extract happiness, joy and delight from what is on offer in front of him. It would be a pity to suggest that those people, who do not like to narrate what is happening in front of them or with them, usually do not experience life completely and this means that they are missing out on a number of things in

San Miguel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

San Miguel - Essay Example There is some fertile land around the country’s capital San Sebastian. An American fruit company has bought a segment of this land for the purpose of cultivating and growing Bananas and citrus fruits, while some part of this fertile land is surrounded by the non-native locals and native Indians. The government grants the tenure of land and perpetuity is adopted to hold leasing. However, the government of this country retains all the rights to the compulsory purchase of the land by showing that either the national interests are being put on stake or the tenant does not possess the capability of cultivating and farming the land in a beneficial manner any more. Â  San Miguel possesses an enormous potential for providing the tourism sites and this sector can be easily added to the economic base of the country which has been discouraged till now by the government bearing foreign capital. However, the government intended to work for the development of the tourism sector with the income of minerals and oil and by understanding to make a strong tourist base to the economy of the state. The mountainous regions of the country hold great potential to serve the tourists and promote winter sports. It provides the opportunities of skiing all around the year and one of the companies in North America already intends to develop the mountainous region of the country by providing winter sports facility to the tourists, and they signify their plans with the building of an airport.

How k-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and Essay

How k-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and vegetables - Essay Example l kids growing their own food). Unhealthy food habits observed among the students of K-12 schools seem to cause many serious issues to them and to the schools as well. These problems could be solved by promoting fruit and vegetable gardens in schools. K-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and vegetables because it helps to keep their students healthy and fresh in order to produce better academic results and to inculcate social values in them. Health-related Benefits: Better nutritional food helps children to maintain good heath which is essential for their physical growth as well as to maintain mental readiness for the process of learning. An encouragement to healthy eating habits has been given by the Welch's Harvest Grand program which is a joint effort by the National Gardening Association and The Welch's magazine. They provide opportunities for students to learn the importance of a balanced diet, the role of vegetables and fruits in their food habits; the student s can also gain an understanding of what they eat and how the foods are cultivated. Fresh fruits and vegetables included in their diet made them healthy and brighter and as Holly Orians comments, "the food service only has to say 'This is from the garden' and the kids are lined up to get the veggies!† (Welch's Harvest Grants Help Children Enjoy Benefits of Growing Fruits and Vegetables and Reap Rewards in the Classroom) Welch's observed the participation of parents, teachers and even other members of the communities who worked on the gardens, and the students showed immense interest in the foods of which they grew and harvested. K-12 schools are thus benefited by providing opportunities to their students to have food which is made up of their own hands in keeping them under good physical condition. Academic benefits: The fruit and vegetable gardens of the school provide a 'learning by doing' experience to the children in the field of agriculture, which otherwise would have bee n only a verbal experience to them. The result of Welch’s program as Holly Orians states â€Å"we’ve seen improved science scores across the board and also students' reactions to the outdoors" (Welch's Harvest Grants Help Children Enjoy Benefits of Growing Fruits and Vegetables and Reap Rewards in the Classroom) was a great success and proved that the K-12 schools are benefited academically by the introduction of fruit and vegetable gardens in their premises. Seventeen percent of the participant schools of the program reported a remarkable improvement in the test results of their students. The successful story of The Welch's Harvest Grand program thus proves the relevance and importance of the necessity of such activities to be carried out in primary and secondary schools in order to bring about desirable changes in the eating habits of the children so as to make them ready to learn and to produce better academic outputs. The story of Martin Luther King Junior Middle School of

Western Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Western Civilization - Essay Example Only by examining the facts can one make a decision on right or wrong. Although not one of the actual assassins, Cicero makes the argument that some members of the conspiracy had brought up what he referred to as â€Å"petty crimes† (one of the instances was fraudulent buying and selling). His viewpoint was that made little sense when the emperor’s real crime was the simple fact that he declared himself king and that in itself justified the Emperor’s death. Indeed, Cicero goes so far to state that such views are that of an insane person (and â€Å"immoral†) and those that followed him were just as mad as Caesar. In his case, he states that the Empire was once a free state with free people and that removing somebody like Caesar (either by force or peaceful means) was not only reasonable but in fact warranted. Cassius Dio on the other hand, makes an entirely different viewpoint in that killing Caesar was perhaps not totally justified and only brought unnecessary war and sedition to Rome. Granted, it could be argued that unlike Cicero, Cassius lived close to three hundred years after the event and was writing history as based upon the documents available to him. Yet historians such as Cassius often provide valuable insight many years after the fact, maybe unprejudiced, whereas those like Cicero were inflamed and caught up in the moment. Cassius does make a valid point in that the senators and other leaders courted Caesar like he was a king, such as riding into the city on horseback in full regalia and naming him Father of His Country. True Caesar’s ego made him giddily accept such â€Å"honors† and the man truly believed he was deserving of those favors. So why then use this as a later excuse to later kill him? Cassius points out that they hoped to convince Caesar that he was a mere mortal and when that failed (the Emperor actually believd himself otherwise!), the conspiracy took

How Does Elementary School Teachers Attitudes Impact Students Behavior Research Paper

How Does Elementary School Teachers Attitudes Impact Students Behavior - Research Paper Example Another research conducted also revealed that the action of teachers towards students with high achievers reflected high expectations, academic demand, special privileges and better opportunities. The researcher found that gender was controlled by teachers whose perceptions towards the behavior of students revealed significant component of their scholastic judgments. It was also found positive academic results led to academic oriented behaviors, which reflected high levels of performance in schools. Lastly, it was reported that through use of TSRQ, the performance level of students varied significantly depending on the attitude of their teachers. How Does Elementary School Teachers Attitudes Impact Students Behavior Introduction Teachers play significant roles in the classroom and they manage student behaviors in order to enable them achieve their academic goals successfully. The environmental settings where successful classroom management is carried out are bound to contribute to th e success of students. A number of researches have been conducted on the way elementary school teacher’s attitudes impacts student behaviors. This is because the influence of teachers’ attitudes inside and outside the classroom determines the performance of students. ... The aim of this research is to offer varied literature review on the way elementary school teachers’ attitudes can impact student behaviors. Literature Review Varied literatures have made significant efforts of revealing the way teachers’ attitudes in the elementary school impacts student behaviors. Pelletier (2002) argues that Supportive instructors leads to less student control. A few research studies have attempted to analyze the role of the ecological settings that influence instructors to embrace autonomy supportive or controlling conducts towards students. However, many researchers have made significant steps towards revealing whether teachers create a climate, which is primarily controlling or oriented towards supporting autonomy. For instance, some higher authorities impose regulations or restrictions that determine the way teachers should control their students. The research study conducted revealed that teachers were responsible for the students’ perfor mance from lower levels up to the high standard levels (Pelletier, 2002). Similar field research experiments were conducted and it was discovered that teachers who were externally pressured to produce better results in the learning institutions were more controlling and less effective than teacher who only helped students without controlling them. Pelletier (2002) examined the way instructors’ enthusiasm could either impact directly their coaching or arbitrate the effect between circumstantial dynamics and coaching conducts. For instance, rewarded teachers enabled students to make more errors while in an attempt of trying to employ a particular learning skill. The study research conducted observed that participants who were taught a certain skill by an extrinsically motivated teacher reported

The business management in the modern world Essay

The business management in the modern world - Essay Example This trend of training by the persons majored in different subjects brought new types of theoretical tools in to the business management. This developed in to critical management studies. The Critical mangement studies finds its roots in US inventions in Eurpoe and from a series of UK labour process conferences. They began in 1983 and reflected the views of Braverman's Marxist theory of business management. Discussion: The critical management perspective can be termed as provocative and revolutionary theory regarding the business management. This theory views critically every aspect of conventional management which was supposed to be the outcome of conventional wisdom. The thoughts of handful of elite will be questioned and the methods will be critically examined.1 The critical study of the management made possible the insights into the unexplored places in the study of the management and resulted in many issues, which found the necessity to research. This type of research activities brought conflict management and human resource management to the fore in the business management. Instead of considering the employees as tools in the business they are now considered as a part of the business. Critical studies reveal that the management cannot be viewed as neutral. It can be considered as complex phenomenon and is a subject of serious examination. The critical management demands critical view and analysis of the organizational management. The ethical, ideological and intellectual inspiration from Habermas and Foucault resulted in innovative application of the management theories. The theory, behavior regarding the organization, marketing, accounting, information systems and operational research can be examined critically and their relevance according to the need can be established. Accounting is an important wing and practice regarding the management. The critical thought regarding management demands changes in accounting practices. The process of accounting and the views of the individuals who practice accounting must be changed according to the needs of critical view and modern needs. The most important outcome regarding accounting due to critical thought is transparency. The laws like Sarbanes and oxley in US and many laws developed transparency in accounts of corporate business. This change brought a lot of change in management processes also. The practices required the change in monitoring by auditors and the cooperation extended by the management. 1 Institutionalism Thinking about institutionalism is also a part of the management and critical theories found a choice in it, which need change. The formation of an institution frames a policy. The social causation that is based around the notion of path dependence brings historical institutionalism. The concept of work utilizing appears to be use the institutionalism consistently. This is in very little agreement with its definition. The use of analytical frame work is explicit in critical studies. The history of institutionalism can be used for avoiding the failures in critical aspect of institutionalism. Archer in 1995, 1996 and 2000 argued that it presents an empirically testable model of path dependence. This model can provide ontological and organizational analysis. The modern industry is witnessing the need of computerisation and this resulted in rise of

The Puritan Period Essay Example for Free

The Puritan Period Essay Many people do not know this, but much like how American history is divided into time periods, American literature is divided into literary periods. The first of these literary periods is known as the Colonial or Puritan period, and they are known as such because of the great influences the colonies and puritans had on the literature of the time. Two good example of this are Anne Bradstreet’s To My Dear and Loving Husband and Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666. These two works demonstrate the feeling and ideas of their time period, and the messages of both are very influenced by the Puritan beliefs. The poem To My Dear and Loving Husband is a lyric poem describing Anne Bradstreet’s feelings toward her husband. Its loving tone and almost religious devotion to her husband are very similar to Puritan beliefs in regard to marriage. Puritan’s regarded marriage as a sacred covenant that should be upheld and maintained. Also, Anne Bradstreet’s poem has a great atmosphere of subservience to her husband. This parallels the society of the Puritans, who developed and maintained a patriarchal society where women were supposed to be subservient and obedient to their husbands. In addition, the poem ends with a paradox about living while not living. Many Puritan beliefs are considered to be a paradox, and it was their strong faith that fueled their beliefs in spite of that. Bradstreet’s other famous work, Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666, is another great example of the effects of the times on the works of the period. This poem talks about the disaster of a fire that ravaged Bradstreet’s family home. She laments her lost possessions and memories at first, but by the end she has come to terms with what truly matters. This poem uses literary conceit to provide its message, in which God is compared to an architect or a wealthy benefactor. This is very Puritan in nature, as Puritan beliefs portrayed a larger than life figure of benevolence and purity. The themes of these two are hugely affected by the Puritan society of the time. In the poem To My Dear and Loving Husband, the final stanza is the most important. As stated earlier, the final stanza of the poem contains a  paradox. This paradox talks of â€Å"living and not living† which is clearly not possible. But as is the nature of paradoxes, the final stanza contains a much deeper meaning. The theme is that of an afterlife where husband and wife can remain together forever. Both the idea of an afterlife and a strong marriage bond are important Puritan beliefs. The second poem, Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666, speaks of a realization of what is most important in the final lines. This of course is speaking of the idea that material possessions mean nothing in comparison to the rewards of faith. Again the Puritan view of an afterlife plays into the message of the poem. The idea of a strong faith influences the theme as well. In conclusion, the works of literary periods such as the Colonial/Puritan period are greatly influenced by the society and events of the time. Anne Bradstreet’s To My Dear and Loving Husband and Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666 are two great examples of this not only by their structure and subject matter, but also their themes. The Puritan ideas of God, the afterlife, society, and marriage greatly affect the content and messages of Bradstreet’s poems.

Anchors: History of and Developments in Anchor Technology

Anchors: History of and Developments in Anchor Technology Inflate-a-Weight Abstract The Inflate-a-Weight is a specially designed anchor that utilizes a chemical reaction to assist in the anchor’s ascent. Connected to the body of the anchor are two balloons similar in design to airbags. One is connected at the top and the other at the bottom. The bottom balloon acts as a backup if the top one fails to activate. Using an infrared remote control, the user can release some water into the balloon. This will react with the trace amount of sodium present in the balloon to produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. The gas will inflate the balloon and give the anchor the buoyancy necessary for it to rise to the surface. The Inflate-a-Weight is a fast method of hauling in an anchor that could save boaters the electricity they need to power radios, lights, and navigation systems. Present Technology The current technology of anchors includes multiple different anchor types used for various purposes, the line it is connected to, and the chain it is connected to. These anchor types include the lightweight anchor, kedge anchor, grapnels anchor, plow anchor, claw anchor, and the mushroom anchor. The lightweight anchor is usually used on smaller boats used for recreational purposes. The kedge anchor is normally used on very large ships because it buries one of its sides and relies mainly on the weight of the ship to help keep it in place. The grapnels anchor is used by small boats such as kayaks and canoes because it has little holding power. The plow anchor tends to be used on cruising boats because it is able to bury itself in most bottom types. The claw anchor works similarly to the plow anchor but it allows 360 degree turns while anchored and is able to right itself easily if it hits the bottom on the wrong side. The mushroom anchor is used mainly for moorings and is best used in soft bottoms because of the suction it is able to create because of it mushroom shape. Additionally, the anchors are attached to the boat via a line and/or chain. The three-strand twist nylon line is the best line to use because of the shock it is able to absorb from the anchoring. It is recommended that the line is mixed with a chain for the anchor. Chain is usually made from galvanized steel and isgood to use for attaching you anchor to the boat because it can handle more weight and wear and tear and the most commonly used type of chain is the proof coil. Airbags are inflated via a chemical reaction activated in a head-on collision to help protect a person in a crash. They are commonly activated when in a head-on collision the car decelerates at a very fast pace and a ball held in place by a magnet moves forward to activate an electrical circuit to ignite a pellet of sodium azide. Once that happened the airbag inflates in mere milliseconds, approximately 40. After the bag has inflated fully it begins to deflate to cushion the body in time for when the body should make contact with it. For the airbag to produce the gas necessary to inflate it goes through a series of chemical reactions. The reason for multiple reactions is to produce the gas needed and to remove the other harmful substances produced and convert them into harmless substances. There are many gas producing chemical reactions, but the important ones for this project have reactants in group 1, the alkali metals. Some of the elements located in this group have strong reactions with water. Some of these reactants react with water in a violent explosion and produce gas. Lithium has an intense reaction with water and produces hydrogen gas. Sodium has a fast reaction with water, which can be seen by the small explosion or fire when the reactants are combined, and produces hydrogen gas. Potassium has a rapid exothermic reaction with water and can catch fire during the reaction and it produces hydrogen gas. Rubidium reacts very rapidly and violently with water and produces hydrogen gas. Cesium has an extremely fast and violent reaction with water and produces hydrogen gas. The current technology of infrared remote controls and sensors includes being used in television remotes. The infrared or IR remote is able to work by using s low frequency light beam that cannot be detected by the human eye but by the television receiver. The IR remotes and their sensors are used by many different electronic devices today including things such as televisions, radios, and movie players. History Anchors have been used for thousands of years. Ancient forms of anchors, rocks, have been found that date to the Bronze Age. A primitive anchor consists of a pair of wood arms under a large rock. It provided the same purpose as modern day anchors, which is to have a sharp point and mass. Ancient anchors relied on the grappling hook until the stock, a bar perpendicular to the arm in order to roll the anchor to pierce the bottom, was introduced and adopted. Airbags were first used in the early 1950s and were designed by Walter Linderer, a German engineer and later was patented by John W. Hetrick. In 1963, Yasuzaburou Kobori created current airbag technology. In 1968, Allen Breed invented the first automobile crash sensor and airbag safety system. Early airbags had the problem of retaining pressure in the canisters that inflated the bag with compressed air. Sodium azide and its by-product, sodium hydroxide, were commonly used in the 1990s. However its toxicity and reactivity caused it to be phased out. Infrared, or IR, technologies had started to be used in the early 1980s. The first remote control, called â€Å"Lazy Bones† was created by Zenith Electronics Corporation. Eugene McDonald created the first wireless remote, the â€Å"Flashmatic†. An IR remote emits a very low frequency beam of light which is then met by the receiver. In the beginning of the 2000s, ninety-nine percent of all television sets and one-hundred of all VCRs and DVD players were equipped with IR remote controls. Most remote controls today use IR technology. Breakthroughs The gas that needed to be used had to be safe and couldnt be harmful to the environment. Methane and ammonia are harmful to the environment, so they were thrown out as possibilities. The only other ones that would be useful in lifting the anchor were hydrogen and helium, but helium is too expensive to be used on a daily basis. This left hydrogen as the element chosen for the lifting of the anchor. Next it was necessary to find a way to produce the hydrogen through a reaction, but the compounds used couldnt be harmful to the environment, along with its byproducts. The simplest and cleanest way to produce hydrogen was to use a salt and mix it with water. The only salt that will not create a harmful byproduct and will not explode killing any creatures, was sodium and therefore was chosen for to create the anchors needed reaction. The breakthrough that is necessary for the floating anchor to work is the reaction that must take place inside the anchor under the high pressure of deep ocean waters. The reaction must take place in an area that is completely dry, so as to avoid an early and undesired reaction. The separate chambers where the sodium and water are held must be sealed properly in order to avoid compromising the clean water with contaminates and the risk of the sodium being exposed to water, causing an early reaction, is too great. The only possible way for the reaction to occur is if the sodium is kept dry and safely away from the oceans water. The sodium must be kept in a separate chamber where it can be released into the water of another chamber. The water should be filled before the anchor is dropped but if not, the water can be used if it is fresh water. As this is an unlikely case, due to the fact that the anchors main purpose is for deep oceanic waters, the anchor can still be used in freshwater lakes or rivers. When the sodium is released into the water of another chamber, the reaction will rapidly produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas will fill up the balloon that is attached to the exterior of the anchor and provide the lift necessary for the anchor to rise to the surface at a steady and safe rate. The release system is connected to an infrared remote control on board the ship. When the anchor needs to be raised, they simply use a remote control to send infrared signals to the anchor, which in turn opens the chamber, and triggers the reaction. The downside is that due to the fact that a high concentration of sodium, if a leak occurs, could destroy the anchor in a small explosion. To avoid a catastrophe, the concentration of sodium must be kept at a low level. This basically means that only about one or two reactions worth of sodium can be kept in the chambers within the anchor. A solution to any failures in the release of the sodium can be fixed with a more manual format. A tube will be run down the chain to the anchor upon installation, so if the reaction in the anchor fails, hydrogen gas can be pumped down the tube into the anchors balloon. If there arises a problem with the balloon, there is a second emergency balloon attached to the opposite end of the anchor, which is atta ched to the tube, that can be filled if the first fails to do so. If all else fails, the anchor can be raised as it is today, slowly and steadily, by a windlass or by hand. All these things must come together perfectly for this piece of technology to work. If there is one flaw, the whole anchor is compromised and rendered useless for its purpose. Although this technology has the ability to exist today, it is unlikely due to the fact that every time the anchor is used the chamber containing the chemical would need to be refilled. The only solution to being refilled every time is to have multiple chambers, but this could be a problem due to the fact that if the concentration of the chemical is too high and there is a leak, the possibility of the anchor exploding becomes a reality. Future Technologies Future ways of easing the use of the anchor would be to raise it to the surface faster and safer. Our vision includes a way to raise an anchor from the bottom of a body of water to the surface is just this way. This is a safer way to elevate an anchor without a windlass. We visualize our concept to be put in place by many different people for many different uses. For example, the products of reaction in the airbag can be applied to not only airbags, but inflatable boats or recreation inflation uses. Instead of using one’s breath or an air pump, only activate the sodium and water for a rapid inflation. This technology of producing gas can be used in many places for many different reasons. The IR signals can be improved and applied to more uses than they currently are. Infrared signals can be used in many different applications, not only in television remotes or triggering reactions in anchors but also sending information by light. However, the strength of infrared signals must be improved in order to reach longer distances or through different materials since it is such a low energy light. Along with the infrared technology, the other components can be further improved. The strength of the anchor, reliability of the reaction can be improved. Different designs may also prove to be more effective than our own. This leads to development of the Inflate-a-Weight. Design Process After the team decided to do our project on an anchor retraction system we brainstormed different ways to make it easier. After picking which one to do we had rejected three different versions of the idea for various reasons. The first idea that was rejected by the group was an anchor that is retracted by a motorized pulley system. The thought was to have the rope/chain attached to the anchor to be wrapped on the pulley so a button could be pushed or a switch flipped and the pulley would start turning lifting the anchor up and out of the water. The idea was rejected because when further research was conducted on the idea, we found that it already exists and is known as a windlass. Another idea that was rejected was an anchor that is equipped with water jets to propel it upward. The group rejected this idea because of the dangers of the anchor flying up into the boat and damaging it or harming the passengers. If the water jets pushed with too much pressure behind it, it could launch up too much and fly into the boat, causing a hole or other damage possibly resulting in compromising the integrity of the hull and leading to the sinking of the watercraft. The anchor flying up into the boat could also cause serious injury or even death to any passenger riding in the boat. This could be an expensive ordeal because major damage to the boat and medical bills are not usually cheap. The last idea that was rejected was an anchor that floats up using air pumps. Our group rejected this version of our idea because it is not practical because of all the equipment required that could fail or easily break. Some of the equipment would have to be a tube and the actual air pump. The pump could fail by losing power and cause a problem for retracting the anchor. The tube running down to the inflatable device to make the anchor rise could break and then it would be a pain to fix and get in the way of manually raising the anchor in the case that it breaks. However, this idea led us to think of another way to use something lighter than water to raise the anchor. We came to the conclusion that using a chemical reaction to produce gas in an inflatable attached to the base of the anchor would work better. When discussing it more we knew that a way to activate the chemical reaction was needed and we thought of remotely activating it to make it easier on the user. Consequences The floating anchor technology could have some potentially harmful and unintended consequences. If sea creatures ingest the chemicals at all, the entire rest of the food web is affected by the chemicals as well. The toxins may not be as potent in higher levels of the chain, but it still spreads from organism to organism. For instance, a school of tuna fish might be exposed to the chemicals and later end up being caught and processed for retail. The rapidly rising anchors could also be a potential hazard for people in boats. If the reaction becomes out of control, then the anchor could fly out of the water and strike the people attempting to raise it. The anchor could also strike the hull of the boat and damage the vessel, perhaps leading to flooding or even sinking, depending on the size of the vessel. The levels of infrared radiation could gradually increase in the ocean since the anchor uses IR signals to trigger the reaction. This increase would harm the atmosphere more than it does the ocean. The ocean water evaporates, releasing excess heat and infrared energy, which is then absorbed by moist, tropical air. The wind then carries the air to a convergence zone where it falls as precipitation. The heat and IR energy is then released into the atmosphere. Rising IR levels in the atmosphere can contribute to the greenhouse effect. Another potential problem is the precipitate left over after the reaction takes place and the anchor begins its ascent. If the balloon that provides buoyancy for the anchor burst, then the sodium hydroxide would be released into the ocean. When sodium hydroxide comes into contact with water, it produces a massive amount of heat. The heat generated could damage the anchor or even render it useless. If it is close enough to the boat then it may damage the structure of the boat as well. Despite the possible problems that could rise to the surface, the Inflate-a-Weight could be quite convenient and cost effective for sailors. The float would be convenient and quick as opposed to the longer amounts of time it usually takes to haul an anchor from the bottom. Windlasses on smaller vessels are usually powered by electricity. If the Inflate-a-Weight anchor were used instead, then more power could be used for radios, navigation systems, or lights. The quick speed of the Inflate-a-Weight would also be useful for vessels in avoiding collisions. If a ship cannot stop in time to prevent a collision, then the anchored vessel could quickly raise their anchor and move out of the way. Small law enforcement craft and Coast Guard vessels would also find the anchor useful when trying to quickly raise their anchor in order to pursue suspects in boats or on small water craft like jet skis.

The Role Of Teaching Grammar In School

The Role Of Teaching Grammar In School In the past, in a traditional classroom, grammatical competence and explicit knowledge of language rules were emphasized. Grammar teaching held such an essential part in language teaching that other aspects became either ignored or downplayed. People assumed that if the grammatical rules of a language were mastered, the success of communication in that language was ensured (Richards and Renandya, 2002, p.145). Therefore, at that time this assumption required learners to pay much attention to grammar rules, sentence structures and forms. Every leaners, even children at a very young age, were made to study the complicated rules of grammar (Dash, 2007, p.91). This viewpoint inherits in itself several weaknesses. Dash also pointed out one of them, saying that modern educationists believe although a pupil has known all the grammar rules, he or she still makes the most elementary mistakes in grammar. Moreover, increased knowledge in grammar doesnt help students to increase the ability to use english correctly (p. 92). If learners just spend years learning only the formal properties of the language, they cannot exchange information, express ideas or feelings. To be able to communicate, they must learn grammatical rules in real communication. That is the reason why though students can do excellent exercises after studying grammar lesson, their ability to speak may not be improved. It is traditional grammar teaching that led to failure in communication. Acknowledging the imperfection of traditional view of grammar, things began to change in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is argued that to be a competent user of a language, one needs to knows not only the rules of grammar, but also how the rules are used in real communication (Richards and Renandya, 2002, p.145). During this period, grammar teaching became less important or in some cases was abandoned. Many other teaching methods which were sought to replace traditional language teaching such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Functional grammar and Consciousness-raising mainly focused on how to use it communicatively. To replace traditional grammar practice, Consciousness-raising is offered. Consciousness-raising, also known as awareness-raising, is part of the process a learner can go through with new language. Students first become aware or conscious of the new language, then recognise and distinguish it, then produce it. Through Consciousness-raising, learners will develop an explicit knowledge of the grammar of the language which facilitates their ability to communicate (Richards and Renandya, 2002, p.146. Opposite to traditional approaches, the goal of teaching grammar in a consciousness-raising is to instil correct grammatical patterns and habits directly through carefully-designed activities. This means it is not always a must to teach grammar points explicitly. Learners may also be led to grammatical rules implicitly. Nevertheless, this method has its own limitations. Because this method requires thinking much, it may not be appropriate for young learners and beginners, or others who prefe r learning by practising to thinking may dislike it. In addition, the aim of this method is helping learners to know about the language and it does not emphasize on immediate language use. Consequently, it may take a long time for the learners to be able to communicate in L2 spontaneously. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) mainly focused on the communicative process and the negociation of meaning between participants. Learners need to know not only forms but also meanings and functions.That is, according to Hymes (1971), in CLT they will develop communicative competence, knowing when to say what to whom and how. (Freeman, 2002, p.121). Therefore, the activities in CLT are often meaningful tasks which involve real communication such as: language games, picture strip story,role play..etc. Though this is an effective approach of teaching grammar communicatively, it is believed to fill the gap in traditional grammar between forms and usage indirectly. The reason is that it does not necessarily deal with grammar sytematically. Actually, when communicative approaches are adopted, they are often represented as a combination of traditional grammar with communicative enhancements. (Hinkel and Fotos, 2002, p.79) Another approach related to CLT is teaching functional grammar. It is a general theory of the organization of natural language developed by Simon C. Dik, Michael Halliday and others. In general, the difference between functional approaches and traditional approaches is their focus. Functional approaches primarily focus on the communicative aspect of language in a particular context while traditional grammar focus on rules and syntax. According to this method, a given language form cannot guarantee an effective communicative skill without referring to the circumstances because some forms of expression may be appropriate while the others are not. Therefore, this way of teaching grammar provides leaners with good knowledge of using the right forms in different situations. Nonetheless, though representing an important advance in tying grammar to meaningful functions (Hinkel and Fotos, 2002, p.79), it causes some difficulty for learners. For instance, systemic functional grammar developed by Halliday mainly deals with meaning in context, it is often more complex than traditional grammar in terms of labels while traditional grammar is more concerned with rules. Therefore, it may take time to learn functional grammar. After a period in which the role of grammar declined, in recent years it has regained its rightful place in the language curriculum (Richards and Renandya, 2002, p.145). Now people realize that grammar is very important to the leaners language development. Teaching grammar in classroom today In today classroom, though there are many methods for teaching grammar, some teachers still prefer traditional grammar because it does not require much of the their language competence beyond the texbook. (Ho, 2007, p.28). This method is also supported by public attitudes. People assume that in public high schools teachers will teach good grammar for student success. Therefore, traditional grammar teaching is still widely accepted. There are others who believe an integrated method may be a good choice. In sum, until now there is no conclusion which is the best method in teaching grammar and methodologists are still doing researchs to find as many effective ways as possible.

Plagiarism On The Increase Essay -- Writing Cheating Essays

Plagiarism seems to be an increasing problem in today's society, especially on college and university campuses, with the immense resources presently available to people. Previously, individuals were restricted to finding information in resources such as books, magazines, journals, encyclopedias and newspapers, but with the technology and the growth and popularity of the Internet, plagiarism has truly become an issue. There seems to be a direct correlation with the increasing use of the Internet and decreasing amount in student writing. Plagiarism.org defines plagiarism as "the improper use, or failure to attribute, another person's writings or ideas". Plagiarism can actually include such things as copying, downloading or merely altering facts and data from published work, such as websites, books, encyclopedias or magazines, copying from friends or another's work, using media without acknowledgment from the original source or citing the source in a bibliography and using work from another class without permission from professors. There is also plagiarism that occurs accidentally. Accidental plagiarism occurs "when a writer does not intend to plagiarize, but fails to cite his or her sources completely and correctly". An tremendous misunderstanding that many students tend to have is that when they put information in their own words, which is called paraphrasing, they are not committing plagiarism. However, it is plagiarism until they properly reference where they actually received the information Obviously, plagiarism involves a great number of factors and our concern. In this day and age, students are faced with huge amounts of pressure to produce many assignments and get good grades. They may resort to plagia... ...g a chocolate bar from a local convenience store and stealing another person's ideas and work? Both of these situations are wrong , yet people continue to become involved in these illegal actions. People seem to be taking advantage of the immense resources in the world today, especially because computers and the Internet have become a necessity, instead of a luxury, in households. Certainly, the Internet is an excellent source of information, only if it is used wisely and cautiously. References "What's Wrong With Copying?". Economist. April 1997. Pg 77-78. "Your Idea Is Brilliant; Glad I Thought Of It". Fortune. October 2000. Pg 412. "Cybercheats". New Republic. March 1998. Pg 14-15. Online. www.ehhs.cmich.edu. 2000 Online. www.plagiarism.org. 2001. Online. www.virtualsalt.com. 2001. Online. www.writing.northwestern.edu. 1996.

Adpatogens and the PrimeQuest Program :: Science Botany Scientific Essays

Adpatogens and the PrimeQuest Program Adaptogens are naturally occurring substances found in rare plants and herbs. Adaptogens were discovered by Israel I. Brekhman, M.D., a renowned Russian research pharmacologist and physiologist. Brekhman coined the term "adaptogen" as a plant type with certain characteristics: (1) it is absolutely safe and non-toxic, (2) it increases the body's nonspecific resistance to internal and external stimuli, and (3) it brings any disfunctioning body system back into balance (http://www.best.com/-mcintyre/primequest/product/adapt.shtml). Adaptogens began being used by Russian cosmonauts and elite Russian athletes in the early 1970s when the Soviet Union stepped out into the international arena as a dominant force. The breakthrough by Brekhman was kept secret from the rest of the world until a former Soviet Olympic coach, Dr. Ben Tabachnik, began introducing the Russian adaptogen formula when he emigrated to the United States in 1990. The unique formula of adaptogens discovered by Brekhman is now marketed under the PrimeQuest High Performance Program. Scientific evidence has shown that this unique combination of adaptogens can successfully combat the negative effects of stress, improve health and well-being, and enhance athletic performance (Avery, 1995). The PrimeQuest High Performance Program is comprised of two products that work in synergy: Prime 1 and Prime Plus. Prime 1 is a liquid herbal food supplement that contains a number of adaptogenic ingredients: Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), Maral root (Rhaponticum carthamoides), Ural licorice root (Glycyrrhiza uralensis), Golden root (Rhodiola rosea), Chinese magnolia vine (Schizandra chinensis), Cinnamon rose (Rosa majalis), and Manchurian thorn tree (Aralia mandshurica). These adaptogens provide the body with elements necessary to protect, balance and normalize its systems. Prime Plus is a food supplement in capsule form that contains Maral root (Rhaponticum carthamoides), Tribulus terrestis, and adaptogenic golden molasses. It is designed to aid the body in developing strength and tone through the enhancement of exercise. It stimulates the biosynthesis of proteins and nucleic acids and enhances metabolism. It helps to protect the body against muscle breakdown, promo ting faster recovery (http://www.best.com/-mcintyre/primequest/pqform.shtml). These compounds, working together, are touted by Dr. Brekhman for accomplishing a number of physiological changes in humans and animals: increase protein biosynthesis, raise antibody titre at immunization, elevate the body's enzyme synthesis by means of endocrine stimulation, enhance mental work capacity, uplift physical work capacity along with endurance and performance, alleviate free radicals to prevent oxidizing pathology, improve eyesight, color perception, hearing, and vestibular functions, benefit cardiovascular and respiratory functions, promote longevity, and increase the body's nonspecific resistance to various stressors (http://www.

Building Natural Hazard Resilient Communities In India Environmental Sciences Essay

India is extremely vulnerable utmost natural catastrophes chiefly due to its instead alone geographical location and climatic conditions. Earthquakes, cyclones, inundations, drouth and landslides have been witnessed independently. More than half of the land mass is vulnerable to temblors of different strengths. Large parts of its land mass are prone to cyclones and drouth. These events have led to the deceases of several people, supplanting of colonies and devastation to belongingss. As exemplified by the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the south Asia temblor of 2005, India can be said to be one of the most disaster prone states in the universe. Our universe can be a dynamic and dramatic topographic point to populate in. Extreme natural jeopardies nevertheless threaten the being of adult male, species and communities likewise. More often than was antecedently witnessed, the electronic and print media study scenes of decease, desolation and desperation brought about by immense temblors, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, inundations, drought etc. These catastrophes have grown to go a major cause for concern in countries of the universe with really long coastlines like India because the happening of these catastrophes have become really frequent in the recent yesteryear and hold had their effects on life and supports. Existing low degrees of technological development every bit good as societal, economic and gender inequalities enhance the exposure of the hapless, illiterate and unskilled coastal communities in India. As a consequence of these conditions, the resiliency required to resile back to pre catastrophe conditions is extremely limited. Of greater concern presently is the identified inter relationship between poorness, clime alteration environment debasement and related natural catastrophes interacting in a reciprocally reinforcing mode. This identified relationship earnestly shackles sustainable development and can do nonsensical any little additions that may hold been recorded in natural jeopardy extenuation planning and policy development. In recent times, authorities governments in charge have implemented a displacement in paradigm in their attack to disaster direction. This new school of idea is borne out of the belief that development can non be sustained unless catastrophe extenuation is built into the procedure of development. Another of import portion of this attack is that extenuation and planning have to encompass a multi disciplinary attack crossing across all sectors of development. This attack besides embraces the fact that investings in extenuation and planning are much more cost effectual than outgo on alleviation and rehabilitation. This bottom up attack adopted helps beef up the edifice of sustainable patterns undertaken by resource hapless households of this part Influence OF NATURAL DISASTERS Natural jeopardies and later catastrophes have become a portion and package of human being. It has been said that the impact of a meteorite on earth lead to the pass overing out of dinosaurs and several carnal species about 65 million old ages ago. These sorts of events are really rare nevertheless. Geophysical jeopardies like temblors which can trip tsunami moving ridges and volcanic eruptions on the other manus have assumed more frequent happening rates. These jeopardies have their beginning from deep within the Earth ‘s inside and they occur as a consequence of perpendicular supplanting of tectonic home bases at the underside of the ocean. Earthquakes that trigger extremely destructive tsunamis moving ridges can happen as was the instance with the catastrophe of December 26, 2004 ( Bilham, 2005 ) . Hydro-meteorological jeopardies like cyclones, inundations, drouth, landslides etc were responsible for a high per centum of deceases recorded in the 1890ss. The rate at which geophysical jeopardies have occurred in the past few decennaries has remained comparatively changeless while the hydro-meteorological jeopardies have witnessed a important addition in recent times. There have been important events like the thaw of ice caps in the polar part, sea degree rise and a more frequent happening of jeopardies like inundations, drouths, hurricanes, typhoons etc. These events lend acceptance to the premise that planetary heating is helping and act uponing clime alteration ( IFRC, 2001 ) . Experts have discovered that the cap of sea ice in the artic ocean melted to its smallest size for over a century ( Revkin, 2005 ) . The terrible storms of the past decennary have besides been blamed on higher sea surface temperature and increased H2O vapor in the lower ambiance which in bend are a effect of planetary heating ( Trenberth, 2005 ) . It has besides been reported that planetary heating may take to an upward tendency in tropical destructive potency. More late, terrible hurricanes that devastated New Orleans and some parts of Texas in the USA in 2005 and the tsunami that ravaged states around the Indian Ocean in 2004 were attributed to the effects of planetary heating by experts and media houses likewise. It must be mentioned here that the bulk of these natural catastrophes largely affect the development states and the hapless in developed 1s merely because they have limited get bying capacity as a consequence of terrible deficiency of proficient and fiscal resources. The negative impacts of clime alteration like heavy rainfall which lead to inundations and worsening rainfall taking to drought hold inauspicious effects on the economic system and nutrient security in local communities. Climate alteration besides puts more stress on socio-economic and ecological set-up of coastal India which is already stressed as a consequence of urbanization, globalisation and industrialisation. These jeopardies even cause greater adversity to occupants of states with long coastlines. India with a dumbly populated low lying coastline widening to over 7000km, is extremely vulnerable to sea degree rise. A great per centum of Paddy Fieldss in coastal parts are extremely vulnerable to flood by sea H2O ( Gupta, 2005 ) . Small island states like Maldives and Seychelles have about all their land mass at less than one metre above sea degree. The effects of sea degree rise for such countries of the universe as predicted by planetary climatic theoretical accounts will be drastic and lay waste toing as several lives will be lost and belongingss destroyed. The hazard of temblor happening is rather high for several parts of India ( Rao, 2005 ) . Predictions of high magnitude temblors along the mistake of Sumatra which lies south E of the old event of 2005 ruptures and the part adjacent have been made by experts. This part last failed in the 19th century, sometime in 1833 and it is believed that accrued significant strain exists within this country ( Lay et wholly, 2005 ) . Current attempts by the local governments and the international community to better tsunami warning capablenesss appear justified given the fact that future big graduated table temblors along the Sumatra mistake are extremely likely to happen. As a consequence of this states of the Indian Ocean have created and continually better on a part broad warning system in readying for the following at hand catastrophe ( Stone and Kerr, 2005 ) . The of all time turning population along the coastline of India will hold to be prepared for a much higher strength of hydro-meteorological jeopardies. Consequently, there is demand for little island states with long coastlines to pay equal attending to disaster direction with peculiar accent on the coastal parts. There is pressing demand for conjunct attempts at diversifying coastal economic systems with a position to heightening catastrophe recovery and edifice resiliency to the effects of these natural catastrophes ( Allenby and Fink, 2005 ) Vulnerability The exposure of any given country of community to natural catastrophes has societal, economic and ecological positions in add-on to fiscal and proficient capacities of the countries concerned. It refers to the degree to which physical assets and socio-economic apparatus are susceptible or resilient to the impacts of these natural jeopardies. Vulnerability is besides enhanced if susceptibleness to natural jeopardies in non provided for in development patterns. A close relationship can be seen between population addition in developing states, debasement of the environment, higher human exposure and the frequence and strength of natural jeopardy happening. An illustration of this can be seen in the fact that both loss of human life and strength of harm were much worse where the Rhizophora mangle had experienced debasement when the Orisa Cyclone occurred in 1999. Environmental debasement particularly with respects to forest screen remotion, is a critical factor in the transmutation of a jeopardy or climatic extreme such as heavy rainfall, into a catastrophe ( Myers, 1989 ) . A barbarous and reciprocally reinforcing rhythm is formed by environmental debasement, poorness and natural jeopardy exposure. In this state of affairs, the hapless are forced unrecorded alarmingly near to natural jeopardy hot musca volitanss and at the same exploit environmental resources for endurance. As a consequence of this, they become extremely vulnerable to the impact of temblors, cyclones, tsunamis etc. Among the hapless population, adult female and kids appear to be more vulnerable because of physical and socio-economic disabilities. Economic globalization has sped up the migration of immature work forces from the rural to the urban countries in hunt of employment chances. This leads to the ‘feminization of poorness ‘ where much of the rural agribusiness remains at the subsistence degree. Already faced with gender related disadvantages, the deterioration of economic position makes adult females much more vulnerable. It has been reported that four times as many adult female died in the December, 2004 tsunami as work forces ( Aglionby, 2005 ) . The of import thing here lies in the fact that both utmost and non so violent jeopardies exert their utmost effects unevenly in urban and rural environments, males and females and the rich and hapless. Natural Hazard Map of India Fig 1. Hazard Map of India. Beginning: www.mapsofindia.com Poverty, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND NATURAL DISASTERS The section of economic sciences of the United Nations came up with a background papers for sustainable development at the universe acme held in South Africa in 2002. One of the documents submitted on the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction asked if sustainable development along with other instruments aimed at the protection of the environment and poorness decrease can be successful without seting into consideration the hazard and impacts of natural jeopardies. The obvious echoing reply was negative. Policies and steps aimed at catastrophe decrease should enable communities to go resilient to natural jeopardies while guaranting development attempts do non increase exposure. There exists linkages between poorness, environmental debasement and natural catastrophes and they are reciprocally reenforcing. Forest debasement straight and indirectly increases exposure to natural catastrophes. Resource hapless landless rural adult females and work forces migrate to neighboring urban countries in order to do a life and stop up as ‘environmental refugees ( Myers, 2002 ) . Any sensible attempt to undo these barbarous linkages will necessitate pressing attending to the decrease of menaces to sustainable rural development, preservation, Restoration, cut downing environmental debasement and sustainable use of natural resources. Developing states like India should try to ship on vigorous household be aftering programmes in order to look into the scaring rate of population addition. Developed states with high rates of human resource development have to cut down their trust on fossil fuels but besides portion their production engineerings and schemes of salvaging energy with the less developed 1s. The harmful effects of clime alteration possess a transboundary nature as it impacts are felt in every portion of the Earth. This fact leaves human sort with no other option but to join forces and collaborate with respects to minimising the negative impacts. As a consequence, the integrating of catastrophe direction with programmes and policies that support sustainable development is imperative. Vulnerability to natural catastrophe Ds Environmental debasement & A ; clime alteration Poverty and hungriness Barbarous spiral Set back to sustainable development Fig 2. Diagrammatic look of feedback relationship RISK REDUCTION MEASURES As a consequence of the annihilating effects of the Orisa cyclone of 1999, the Gujarat temblor of 2001, the tsunami of 2004 and a series of natural catastrophes, a high exposure to natural catastrophes has been identified. This owes to physical exposure, propinquity to guess prone zones, ailment maintained safety criterions to counter effects of jeopardies and socio-economic disabilities. A witting attempt for catastrophe hazard decrease later developed with support from several organisations. The spread that existed between information coordination and sharing was identified as experience and cognition by catastrophe professionals was remaining put with them. The authorities of India has adopted bar and extenuation as important parts of developmental scheme. The program merely supports the fact that development if planning and extenuation are non built into the development procedure. Each state or province is to develop a strategy for catastrophe direction in line with the attack of the defined program. Simply put, extenuation is being integrated into developmental planning. One of the several enterprises is fundamentally about the application of corporate cognition of the full work force to accomplish laid down organizational ends. It aids the procedure by which cognition is created, shared and applied. The cognition direction rhythm is made up of three positions viz. direction, application and organisation. Management which focuses on capturing, organizing and easing cognition Application trades with the smooth retrieval of required information through hunts. It relies on the cognition combination portion of the theoretical account. Organization trades with acquisition, sharing and partnering. This is chiefly the instruction part of the rhythm. Information about catastrophe readiness and extenuation steps policy guidelines have been available from assorted beginnings for some clip now. Faced with these natural catastrophes, 1000000s of people are badly affected due to non-existent or unequal header mechanisms. The ground for this is that information is non been transformed into life salvaging cognition for and by the existent communities at hazard. Due to the fact that India remains one of the most disaster prone states in the universe because of its big population, geo-climatic and socio economic conditions, authorities of India, through the place personal businesss office, in concurrence with nongovernmental administrations, educational and research establishments has been able to set this cognition program into action. With respects to temblors, a national nucleus group consisting experts in temblor technology and decision makers. They were assigned the undertaking of pulling up a scheme for extenuating the impacts of temblors, supplying advice on temblor extenuation, developing enchiridions for temblor immune buildings and working out systems for helping seismically vulnerable countries to follow and incorporate appropriate criterions and codifications in edifice byelaws. They were besides tasked with germinating systems for preparation of local applied scientists and practising designers in the private sector and developing a enfranchisement system for applied scientists and designers for proving their cognition of temblor immune building. They were besides staked with preparation Masons and shiping n public consciousness runs. The provinces were tasked with developing Hazard Safety Cells ( HSCs ) with the main applied scientist of the province public works section in charge in order to set up a mechanism for proper execution of edifice codifications and safety of constructions and edifices from assorted jeopardies. These cells will transport out appropriate design reappraisal of all authorities edifices to be constructed and act as advisers to authorities for retrofitting lifeline edifices. Some of these cells exist in Rajasthan, West Benghal and a few other provinces. RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The major aim of sustainable development is to make and keep comfortable ecological, societal and economic systems. There exists an confidant nexus between these systems as worlds can transform the ecological system and they besides depend on it for nutrient, wealth and security. Human actions can badly impact the ability of the ecosystem to execute its natural maps with inauspicious effects for exposure, human life and security. The indispensable function of resiliency for comfortable societal development has been revisited in the last decennary ( Gunderson and Holling, 2002 ) . Several instance surveies have helped cast more visible radiation on the connexion between resiliency, sustainability of societal ecological systems and diverseness ( Berkes and Folke, 1998 ) . Resilience fundamentally refers to the magnitude of daze that concerned system can defy and stay within a given province. It can besides be the grade to which the system concerned can form itself or construct capacity for larning and version. It has been argued that two constituents of any given system impact its resiliency, one being its adaptive capacity which is straight related to its heterogeneousness and loosely tantamount t the diverseness of its establishments and assets available in societal systems ( Folke et wholly, 2002 ) . The 2nd is its hardiness and this refers to the belongingss of a given system that allow it accommodate perturbation without extra version ( Webb and Levin, 2005 ) . Resilience and hardiness refer t the capacity of the system to suit perturbation without losing functionality. Catastrophe direction manner or process can destruct or construct resiliency depending on how the community concerned organises itself in response to direction actions. Building social resiliency requires understanding of ecosystems that incorporates cognition of local users ( Olsson and Folke, 2001 ) . The incorrect perceptual experience that adult male is decoupled from and in control of nature is the underlying cause of social exposure ( Kasperson, 2001 ) . Structured Scenarios and active adaptative direction have been identified as important to constructing resiliency. Scenarios are used to visualize alternate hereafter scenarios. By so making, resiliency edifice policies can be identified and used within the context of sustainable development. The likeliness of sustainable development is enhanced by pull offing for resiliency in a dynamic universe full of surprises. OPERATIONALIZING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Sustainable development is a form of resource usage aimed at run intoing human demands while continuing the environment so that these demands can be met non merely in the present but besides for future coevalss ( Bruntland Commission, 1987 ) . It brings together the concern for transporting capacity of natural systems and societal challenges faced by humanity. hypertext transfer protocol: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Sustainable_development.svg/300px-Sustainable_development.svg.png Fig 3. Scheme of sustainable development demoing three constitutional parts. Beginning: ( Adams, 2006 ) It is now clear that sustainable development that considers the impact of adult male ‘s activities on the natural environment and efforts to cut down harm to the natural environment is the key to poverty decrease, environmental security and direction and extenuation of conditions and H2O related jeopardies. The programmes and development enterprises of the MSSRF have come up with theoretical accounts that are replicable for sustainable development ( Swaminathan, 2005 ) . It fundamentally targets resource hapless and landless communities particularly in the coastal parts because of population denseness, quickly worsening natural resources, work and income security and a high degree of exposure to these jeopardies. A typical illustration of a biological heritage in India is the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve in Tamil Nahdu. It is a typical illustration of a biological heritage earnestly affected by the reciprocally reenforcing relationship between poorness, debasement and natural resources. With this in head and the house belief that environmental debasement can be tackled by cognition and technological authorization of the resource hapless, illiterate rural adult male and adult females, the MSSRF came up with a programme for furthering sustainable supports in the Gulf of Mannar part with aid from the United Nations development programme. The major purpose of these programmes is to intermix technological frontier with local cognition in order to supply an incorporate orientation to technological development and airing. This aids the attendant ‘ecotechnologies ‘ to be adopted by rural households because of their ecological and economic advantages. When acquisition is done through work experience the hapless become able to get the hang engineerings in a short period. Womans organize themselves into self help groups ( SHGs ) and these groups undergo preparation and capacity edifice based n the resources available in that peculiar part, while small towns are grouped into biovillages with attending been paid to natural resource preservation and sweetening. As a follow up to this biocenters are established to supervise and supply support to biovillages with a position to constructing the capacity of rural households to pull off the assorted ventures. The MSSRF has come up with a kit for the description of this engineering and how to develop them. Fig 4. Location of biovillages in India in green Beginning: ( Kesavan and Swaminathan, 2006 ) In 1997, the MSSRF set up village information Centres and they are now called VKCs. These Centres generated clip, local particular and demand driven information refering to endure, harvest, poorness, authorities relief programmes, instruction, inside informations of eco-enterprises etc. It is documented that on the forenoon of December 26, 2004, proclamations from the VKC talkers saved many lives. Damage to belongings could non be stopped but many cherished human lives were saved. Decision We are faced with an increasing frequence in the happening of natural jeopardies and this can be attributed to a more complex universe where population detonation stares us in the face. The exposure of communities is besides increasing due to human activities. However, climate alteration and sea degree rise may be responsible for increased happening of some of these jeopardies. Globalization besides spreads the effects of natural jeopardies traveling beyond the boundary lines of the state straight affected. The international community responds to natural catastrophes when they occur in hapless or developing states but when they occur in the developed universe like USA, so there can be inauspicious effects for the universe at big. It would look that with all our technological and scientific discipline based progresss in our pursuit to understand natural jeopardies, applications and technological responses have clearly been deficient. Like ( Shah, 2006 ) justly noted ‘there is need to go the last stat mi ‘ . Response to catastrophe go on largely after the event and adequate demands to be done to back up research and pull up programmes for hazard appraisal, recommend countermeasures, physique and strengthen resiliency in communities at hazard. Scientists and catastrophe directors likewise need t work difficult to do certain robust scientific discipline takes a cardinal function in policy development.

Negative Screen Time Effects

Statistics show that screen time negatively affects children’s learning abilities and development. â€Å"The effects of so much screen time can include speech delays, aggressive behavior and obesity. † (Lavey) Since parents play a role in how much television their kids can watch, they can minimize the chances of their brains not developing correctly.â€Å"The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development.† (Kids Health)Children do not understand the damage that can be caused by excessive screen time, which is why parents need to become more involved and teach them. By minimizing the amount of time that children spend using television and other screen times, they will increase their levels of brain activity and have improved neurological development. Scre en time, of all types, can affect children in many different ways; some of them are positive, but many of them are negative.Watching television and using other types of screen times too much can affect many aspects of children’s lives, including their health and school performance. In order to stay healthy, kids need to eat right, as well as get plenty of regular exercise. This is not hard for most children since they are generally very active. However, when they are sitting in front of the television all day, they are not staying active. This will eventually start to take a toll on their weight and general physical well-being.â€Å"The difficulty really comes in that once a child is obese they more than likely will remain obese into and through their adulthood. There is no easy fix. It takes time, hard work and a drive to change habits that have been established for a long time. † (Sigman) So the sooner you get your child to start following good and healthy habits the better; this includes watching television because one of children’s favorite things to do while watching television is eat. School performance also can be drastically affected if children are exposed to too much screen time.They will not make time to do their homework, which will ultimately have a negative impact on their grades. Younger people are affected much more easily by what they see or hear on television or the computer. These things will have a bigger impact and influence on them than they would on someone older who knows better and knows what is right and wrong. There are plenty of commercials and shows on television that can be a bad influence on kids. Everything from violence and crime to drugs and sexual content can be found on both the computer and television.Even though parents try their best to teach their children right from wrong, if they see these things enough on a regular basis, it will have some kind of negative effect on them. When children see these b ad things happening on television, and they see that nothing is being done to stop them, they automatically assume that it is all acceptable for them to do as well. This, again, can begin to affect other aspects of their lives negatively such as school and their behavior. Research shows that the majority of screen time has a negative effect on children of all ages.Children ranging from ages two to 11, on average, spend anywhere from 25 to 35 hours a week in front of the television, or other forms of screen time. At such young ages, children should not be spending that much of their time watching television.There are many other much more stimulating activities that they could be doing instead that could help them in their development into adults including playing outside, reading, or writing. Parents are a big cause of this because the majority of them do not care how much or how often their children watch television.Some even encourage it, and think that it is good for their childre n. â€Å"Studies show that screen time cuts into the adult-child interaction that is crucial to developing language skills. † (Lavey) So, if parents do not pay attention to the amount of screen time their children are exposed to when they are young, it can affect their ability to learn how to speak correctly. Many programs on television teach kids things that are unacceptable or that can affect them in negative ways. Commercials and other ads, as well as many shows.Demonstrate unethical and unhealthy ways to live life, and children, at such young ages, can easily pick up on those things and make them habits of their own. Everything from stereotypes to violence, unhealthy eating habits to drugs, alcohol and sex is shown on television on a variety of channels.â€Å"Children who consistently spend more than 4 hours per day watching television are more likely to be overweight. Kids who view violent acts are more likely to show aggressive behavior but also fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them.Television characters often depict risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, and also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes. † (Kids Health) There are over two thousand ads on television each year for alcohol. If children are exposed to these things, especially at such young ages, they will definitely be impacted by them.They will begin to think that things they see on television are acceptable, and will eventually start to copy what they see. Children are known for wanting to copy anything they hear or see when they are young, so parents should be sure that they surround their child only with positive influences.Although there are a number of negative effects of television and other screen times, they are not necessarily all bad. Certain things can be reversed so that there are more positive effects resulting from all the screen time. Parents can play a role in their children’s exposure to television and othe r screen times. If they monitor them, and teach their children what and what not to believe from what they see on television, they may have the power to reverse it into something good.When used in moderation, screen times can actually benefit children, usually those who are over the age of two. Watching television with your children, and teaching and educating them about what they are watching will help because then they will not be affected as easily.They will come to understand, with help from their parents, that just because they see something on television does not mean it is right or tolerable to do themselves. Studies have shown that television and other screen time can be educational for children to a certain extent.â€Å"Good educational programs can provide lasting benefits to children at many ages, but it may be especially important to provide such fare for very young children because they are less likely than older children to be exposed to formal preschool instruction, and because stable habits of viewing may be formed in the first few years of life.† (Huston, Science Daily)There can be just as many good things to be found on television and the computer as there are bad. Since we know how entertaining television is for children, we can definitely use it to our  advantage, by only allowing them to watch education programs and keeping them away from all of the negative things.This gives parents a way to keep their children happy and entertained, but also at the same time help to expand their knowledge and keep them away from all of the negative things that they may see or hear on television. The most important thing to understand and keep in mind is that children have not finished fully growing until they are well into their teenage years, when they are young their brains are still developing, so they will retain negative information easier and pick up on bad habits more quickly.Children will benefit more from decreased use of screen times, which will also help improve their attention span and overall academic performances. Watching television and using other screen times in moderation is acceptable and can also be beneficial; it is only when they are abused and over-used that they become a problem. With the known negative facts about children overusing television and other screen times, monitoring the amount of time they spend using them will increase chances of improved brain activity and development into adulthood.