Modern Gadgets Implications to Teenagers Essay

Whether we like it or not, electric appliances and gadgets have occupied a major position in our day to day lives. Though they were invented to make life better for us in the first place, it is an undeniable fact that many of the gadgets have a negative influence upon the quality of our lives in some ways. As we cannot live without them in this modern world and they are a necessary evil, we have to find ways to reduce the negative impact of those modern appliances. Let us see some of the gadgets that we commonly use, the problems arising out of their use, and the ways of minimizing the negative effects arising from their use. Television: see more:importance of old age homes Though it might be considered as a good source of family entertainment and a good way to wind-down after a hectic day, too much television viewing can be very bad for us. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children below the age of 2 years should not see any TV and those above 2 years should be restricted to 2 hours of viewing per day. However researches indicate that if Video games/ DVD watching is also included there are some teens who average about 35 hours per week (more than double the recommended maximum view time!) in front of the tube. This definitely eats into the time that can be spent on more productive activities. The scenes witnessed in TV programs even in so-called family programs or soaps are often not recommended for teen-viewership when they are highly impressionable. For instance, there are studies to prove that children exposed to repeated scenes of violence (fight sequences) did not appreciate the physical harm that such acts can cause to others and were found to be insensitive to the trauma of victims of violent incidents. This is explained by a phenomenon called â€Å"Psychological overload† where the mind learns to accept scenarios to which it is repeatedly exposed and thus prevents the person thus exposed from experiencing â€Å"strong feelings like sympathy† in situations similar to that. Similarly, unrealistic portrayal of characters or stereotyping that is common in most programs can blunt a young adult’s ability to evaluate persons/ situations from realistic perspectives. Even discounting the psychological effects of such a viewing pattern, on a very gross level we find that family members have very little time to talk and understand each other better due to the amount of time they spend in front of the screen. The warmth of relationship is something that the distant tube cannot provide; but we have a generation of children which has grown up not knowing how much they are missing in terms of a joyous family interaction by merely sitting glued to television programs for hours together. The solution to this lies in reducing TV viewing time to a great extent, and in spending the time in family chatter instead. We have much to learn from each other as persons and no artificial media can substitute human warmth and interaction when it comes to improving emotional intelligence. So, we should put our foot firmly down and reduce the TV viewing time of the family in the best interests of everyone. Computers: Though computers have become almost indispensable today, too much time in front of the screen can be damaging to the eyes. Dryness of eyes, weakening of optical nerves, blank stares developed as a result of staring at the screen for hours together, idiopathic head-aches, and mood swings are some of the negative effects that arise due to spending too much time in front of the computer continuously. Lap tops have the added â€Å"honour† of even reducing fertility of men (due to the high temperature arising out of constant usage). The solution lies in taking a break from the screen at least for at least 3 mins for every one hour of computer usage. We can simply close our eyes or walk out of the work-station and train our eyes on distant greeneries so that the â€Å"blank stare† syndrome is avoided. Laptops are best used keeping an insulating medium like a wooden plank or a file folder between our laps and the laptop to avoid exposing our body to the â€Å"heat† of the gadget. Children should never be allowed to immerse themselves in computer games that  have too vivid graphics because it curtails their ability to visualize things for themselves. The mental imagery that is developed when reading novels or stories or while listening to good story-tellers is much more vivid than even the best designed graphics. But repeated to exposure to good quality graphic games makes the child blind to such joys of the mind where the young mind imagines things, and recreates wonderful scenarios merely from vivid descriptions depicted in stories. Cultivation of active reading habits is better than passive viewing of graphic models/ games. In fact, there are parents who feel proud that their tiny tot will not trouble anyone and will sit silently for hours if its favourite computer game is loaded on to the system. This is not correct. Children should be allowed to make a â€Å"nuisance† of themselves – to run around the house, to break things, to ask uncomfortable questions to adults, to shout, and in short – they should be allowed to be children – wild and active. By restricting them to the screen at young age, we are encouraging sedentary and passive life-style which will be manifest as myriad problems when they grow up. Psychological dependence on computers and how it impacts personal lives: I recently came to know of a young man who was so addicted to â€Å"Face Book† on the internet that he lost out on his MS fellowship – Face Book seemed more important than his course! Unfortunately, this is just not a stray incident of a misguided youth who behaved like a juvenile; there are many intelligent persons around the globe who perform below their true potential as their quality time is spent online in various activities including chats, unhealthy online debates (or gossip!), or addictive searches (there are many who indulge in ego-searches – searching for one’s name, one’s school name in websites, etc. just to â€Å"feel good†). In another instance, a young woman divorced her husband after just 3 months of marriage because she found it more enjoyable to play computer games and the husband was considered as an â€Å"intruder† in the happy relationship between herself and the fantasy world in her computer! Believe me, it is only the tip of the ice-berg†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the two bizarre instances I have quoted are just symbolic of a wider raging psycho-pathology that is sweeping the world populace in various ways. The virtual world seems more real to many young adults than the real world! This is definitely not a healthy sign. I will go as far as to say that almost everyone today is addicted to the computer in one way or the other that impacts our life in various ways – it can be the chronic obsession to check emails at the death of night thus spoiling sleep rhythm, the chronic obsession to â€Å"search† matter on google or other search engines even if you are armed with all the relevant facts, the chronic obsession to log on to chat rooms while your dear and near ones are longing for your company in just the next room, and so on. We need to understand that computers were invented to make our life easier and they should serve us. It should never be that we venerate our systems to an extent that they Lord over us! We should discipline ourselves to spending only â€Å"productive† time before our systems – i.e. we should avoid the tendency to sit before the system just for the heck of it, but simply log off once our tasks are over. Well, there are cases when the person has to be really online due to professional compulsions. In such cases, keeping an amethyst crystal can heal the person and prevent health disorders arising out of over-exposure to electrical waves. Similarly, keeping fresh cucumber slices over the eyes can prevent eye strain and dark circles beneath the eyes. Cars, bikes, elevators, etc. A person can be healthy only if he/ she takes minimum amount of physical exercise every day and the day is also generally interspersed with optimum physical activity. Taking a walk of at least 3 km. per day can prevent most heart-ailments and blood-pressure complaints. But with the improving â€Å"standards of life† manifest in the form of every mode of transport, we take very little walk. There are persons who need to take out their bikes or worse even their car for even the street-corner mall – a distance of hardly 150m! These persons, apart from harming their bodies by depriving it of  necessary exercise, also contribute to environmental pollution by unnecessary use of vehicles that emit poisonous carbon-monoxide fumes to the atmosphere. The use of vehicles for transport cannot be avoided, but at least we should limit the usage to a healthy minimum and should switch to more eco-friendly fuels (for instance, restrict use of diesel vehicles; use car parks – people going along the same route from the same neighbourhood can share cars to reduce the number of vehicles plying on the road, etc.). Similarly, one should prefer to take a flight of stairs rather than use the elevator as far as possible. Taking short walks now and then is the greatest good that you can do to your body. Optimal use of refrigerators While refrigerators have become almost indispensable for storage of food items, it is not necessary for a single family to have 2 or 3 fridges! Though there are environment mandates that restrict the usage of CFCs in refrigerators in most developed countries (CFCs are the major culprits in depleting ozone layer), there are many developing countries where such CFC models still rule the roost! Even in nations where CFCs are restricted, HCFC or HFCs that are used instead still contribute to global warming – even these chemicals are not completely ozone safe – the only consolation being that they deplete lesser ozone! But, they use 10% more energy and contribute in a greater way to global warming. So, the only solution lies in at least limiting the use of refrigerators as complete avoidance of a refrigerator is not feasible due to various reasons, and these are indispensable for pharmacies to store medicines. A big family living in various apartments of a building society can just share one fridge; each branch/ division of an office need not have a refrigerator – they can just share one fridge for their usage. Small adjustments like these by different groups can reduce the overall impact on our environment. Microwave ovens/ heating appliances Researches indicate that microwave cooking can distort the molecular structure of foods – this can range from decrease in bioavailability of nutrients (thereby reducing the body’s ability to assimilate the nutrients) to the more dangerous formation of carcinogens (cancer causing molecules)  from basically harmless amino-acid chains of protein substances (this is markedly observed while heating milk and other cereals rich in proteins using microwave ovens). Studies of Dr. Hans Ulrich Hentel (Switzerland), Dr. Lita Lee of Hawaii, and other short-term studies have documented the effects of microwave cooking on food substances and the adverse impact on health. The studies indicate such effects ranging from increase of leucocytes, decrease in haemoglobin levels, and decrease in level of lymphocytes. In Comparative Study of Food Prepared Conventionally and in the Microwave Oven, published by Raum & Zelt in 1992, at 3(2): 43, it states â€Å"A basic hypothesis of natural medicine states that the introduction into the human body of molecules and energies, to which it is not accustomed, is much more likely to cause harm than good. Microwaved food contains both molecules and energies not present in food cooked in the way humans have been cooking food since the discovery of fire. Microwave energy from the sun and other stars is direct current based. Artificially produced microwaves, including those in ovens, are produced from alternating current and force a billion or more polarity reversals per second in every food molecule they hit. Production of unnatural molecules is inevitable. Naturally occurring amino acids have been observed to undergo isomeric changes (changes in shape morphing) as well as transformation into toxic forms, under the impact of microwaves produced in ovens. Dr. Lita Lee says that microwaving baby foods can convert certain trans-amino acids into their synthetic ciz-isomers. Further one of the amino-acids, L-Proline was converted into its d-isomer which is known to be neurotoxic (poisonous to nerves), and nephrotoxic ( poisonous to kidneys). – Ref. Lancet, issue of Dec 9, 1989. So, ideally we should use conventional cooking methods over microwave ovens or at least limit the usage of the ovens. In no instance should you use microwaves to heat baby formulae. If you do use microwave ovens for cooking, consume the foods at least half an hour later to avoid impact of the residual waves on your body tissues. IntroductionReading is an essential tool for lifelong learning. It is important for everyone to develop the rudiments of reading and the culture of reading always so as to survive in life. Reading according to Holte (1998) adds quality to life and provides access to culture and cultural heritage. He pointed out that reading empowers and emancipates citizens and bring people together. Okeke (2000) reaffirms that the art of reading is a priceless instrument for everyone. It is one of the most important activities of life through which we enter into the life and experiences of others and extend our knowledge, scope of experience and enjoyment. It has critical role to play in the overall development of an individual and the nation at large. Reading experience can be obtained in the library. The school library is a gateway to knowledge and will serve as a starting point or road map to reading and the promotion to reading culture. The library provides books and other resources which will h elp shape thoughts and influence the actions of students throughout life with active supervision by an experienced librarian. Due to technological development, reading habits are changing. In our society today, while technology is slowly taking a steady control over individual lives, the reading habit is fast vanishing into thin air (The Hindu, 2004). Students now lack the skill of reading. Instead they spend more hours on electronic media. Browsing the net, playing with funky handsets and passing non-stop SMSs seem to be the order of the day, there by making reading a book or any other piece of written material in a quiet or peaceful corner of a library or home become an archaic idea for most school children and adults (The Hindu, 2004). Obama (2008) in his speech pinpointed that children cannot achieve unless they raise their expectations and turn off television sets. Shabi and Udofia (2009) noted that active learning from books is better than passive learning such as watching televisions and playing games.Students are rarely interested in reading for pleasure and enjoyment instead they read only to pass examination. The declining interest in reading culture among our children (especially those in primary and secondary schools) is a cause for alarm and a challenge to all and something need to be done to alleviate this yawning problem. Unfortunately, reading is not taught or included in school curriculum. Reading is not a subject and cannot be taught separately as most other subjects in the curriculum rather it is subsumed in every other  subject and is regarded as a tool facilitating many other types of learning. Nowadays, due to the rat race syndrome, parents pay little or no attention to their children’s reading ability, parents themselves lack the skill and the culture of reading such that some do not read to their kids.Mefor (2010) urged all Nigerians schools to launch a readership promotion campaign which will help to inculcate the culture of reading in children. It is also important to start early to inculcate the culture of reading early enough in a child. Also Olukemi (2010) advised Nigerian youths to imbibe the reading culture in all their endeavours. She lamented that lack of reading culture among youths nowadays has greatly affected quality of graduates being produced by the nation’s higher institutions. It is against this background that this study tries to investigate on the influence of electronic media on the reading habits of pupils in homes and schools. Improving access to relevant information and promoting a reading culture are prerequisites for strengthening literacy skills, widening education and learning opportunities, and helping people to address the causes of poverty (Makotsi, 2005).| How often to teenagers Preview – Focus Questions – Case Study – Discussion – Links – References Case One The Young & the Wired Background Information The Net Generation or children who have been born since 1986 are the focus of a study done by a husband and wife team, the Oblingers, how teens learn. Technology has always been a part of the Net Generations life. The fascination with technology is missing it simply represents a tool. They use this tool daily and comfortably to stay connected especially with each other. Because of the presence of digital media in their homes and schools today’s students maybe more visually than verbally literate (Johnson, 2005). Studies done by the Oblingers indicate that students prefer learning by doing and working in groups (Johnson, 2005). The student in today’s classroom needs the interaction with their teachers and computers do not replace people. Adolescent Internet Use: What we expect, what teens report are not the same. The last decade has shown teen Internet use to have grown  exponentially. Our expectations of teens Internet use predicted: (1) boys use the Internet more than girls and they use it play violent games, (2) girls use the Internet less and mostly to shop or chat, and (3) the use of the Internet by teens will result in social isolation (Gross, 2004). The groups of 10th graders surveyed from a suburban California public school in 2001 have responded with very different conclusions. The findings say boys and girls online activities are very similar, they both use e-mail and instant messages, and spending time with friends offline is also a part of their daily life (Gross, 2004). A telephone survey was conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in October and November 2004. The responses to their survey were compared to data collected in 2000 of how teens in America use technology. This extensive report covers 50 typed pages of information. Short Summary of their findings; * 87% of teens use the Internet (Lenhart, 2005) * 13% of teenagers who do not use the Internet are almost always from low income homes with limited access to technology and disproportionately African Americans (Lenhart, 2005) * 32% of all teems IM every day, teens prefer instant messaging over e-mail * 45% of teens own a cell phone * 72% of teens who connect from home use a computer that is located in a family room (Lenhart, 2005) Teens are also busy with friends and extracurricular activities. The average teen keeps in touch with 20 friends per week. They are averaging 10 hours per week in social activities outside of school (Lenhart, 2005). Today’s teens 83% are also involved in other offline activities including school sports programs, clubs, band, and recreational programs not associated with school. Transition Points for the Gender Gap in Computer Enjoyment compares girls and boys from elementary school to high school. The purpose of this study was to determine the gender differences in using computers at school. The study covered 10,000 students in Texas public schools covering the years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2005. In summary the findings show no differences in the early elementary years, by the 4 and 5th grades girls enjoy computers more than boys (Christensen, 2005). In the 6th grade boys have a more positive feeling towards using computers at school than girls and by the 8th grade boys are significantly  more interested in using computers than girls (Christensen, 2005). The good news is that by the end of secondary school the attitudes are similar with little differences. Nerds and Geeks: Society’s Evolving Stereotypes of our Students with Gifts and Talents are finding a much more respected place in today’s classrooms among their peers. As our society has moved from the Industrial Age to the Information Age the importance of being technologically competent has provided positive changes for our students labeled talented and gifted (Cross, 2005). In the past the negative terms nerds and geeks were often associated with students achieving academic excellence. The new term â€Å"tech geek† has positive associations as being someone who is technologically savvy and this expert is seen as a helper to others (Cross, 2005). With our current students striving to use technology in their personal lives they have discovered knowledge is power and it is cool to be knowledgeable. Preview Today’s high school and middle school age students have grown up with personal computers in their homes as well as their schools. Many of today’s youth were not even born when the first pc’s hit the stores. The personal computer has been around more than 20 years. The Apple IIc was introduced in 1984. Teens use all kinds of technology driven gadgets with little or no hesitation. The Pew survey tells us that almost all teens have cell phones, they use the Internet daily, enjoy and prefer instant messaging over e-mail, and online games draw both teenage girls and boys. The research also tells us that teens prefer to use the Internet at home to communicate with their friends. Many teens spend their evenings talking on their cell phones or â€Å"IM-ing† with their friends. They still prefer face- to- face interaction with their friends and the average time spent with friends is about 10 hours per week for both girls and boys. Parents and educators face the challenge of how to provide the training for teens to be good citizens while using today’s technology to interact with each other which is for the most part not supervised. Youth have always enjoyed pulling pranks and today’s teens are armed with some powerful tools to pull some high tech foolishness that can be very damaging to each other. Focus Questions As you study the following case, keep these questions in mind: (1) Should Internet activity that occurs at home be the concern of schools? (2) What should schools be teaching teenagers concerning being good â€Å"cyber-citizens†? (3) Do students understand the potential problems associated with giving or sharing personal login information? The Case Hijacked* The second period Computer Applications Class at Highland Park High School is filled with mostly ninth graders. This class is an equal mix of boys and girls all trying to fulfill their high school computer requirement. The instructor, Ms. Leigh Ellen Powell, has given the class an Internet research assignment. Each student has been assigned a U. S. President to research and design a web page with links to more information about the life and career of their President. The atmosphere in this classroom is relaxed with the students chatting casually and quietly to each other. While Ms. Powell is walking around assisting each student, she overhears some girls talking about the upcoming Sadie Hawkins Dance. This traditional February event is where the girls ask the boys. Claire, Katie, and Megan are discussing who their dream date would be for the dance. Each girl wants the attention of a new student, Will, but is too shy to talk to him. Katie mentions that she will ask her potential date to the Sadie Hawkins dance via instant messaging or IM. It is much easier than face-to-face and compares it to passing a note. Claire and Megan agree that they will also ask their date at home on their computer via instant messaging. Claire, Katie, and Megan like so many of today’s teens, are using the Internet from home to communicate with their friends from the time they get home until bedtime. The teens today are fabulous at multitasking. The girls can be working on their homework on the family pc, â€Å"talking† to several friends at a time on IM, listening to their mp3 player, taking a digital picture, and composing a text message on their cell phone all in the comforts of their family room. The research tells us that today’s teens use a variety of gadgets proficiently. For example, Megan took a digital photo of her outfit for the dance, downloaded the image to her computer, and attached it to an e-mail to Claire and Katie for their  opinion of her clothes. This activity is common for most teens but the divide where teens are not using technology as much comes in the form of economics. Our low income families are struggling to provide broadband Internet connections and without high speed connection teens are not as interested in using the web. At school the next day, the girls confess they had not asked anyone to the dance and all were feeling a little shy. Claire, Katie, and Megan decided to spend the night at Megan’s house and ask the boys while together on Megan’s computer. Megan logged on to IM and walked into the kitchen for snacks. Claire decided to pretend to be Megan and ask Will to the dance. The â€Å"conversation† took on a very mature tone and was nothing like what Megan would say. Will was shocked and declined her invitation to the dance. Claire logged off before Megan returned and decided not to tell her. In computer class Ms. Powell overheard Claire and Katie discussing what they had done. The girls thought it was very funny and decided to do it again and maybe post an unflattering picture of Megan. Ms. Powell felt very uneasy knowing what the girls had done and were going to do. She wondered, as a teacher, what is her responsibility in this situation? Questions for Discussion 1. What is the teacher’s role concerning student Internet activities at home? 2. She wondered how to incorporate being a good citizen even in cyberspace? 3. How important is keeping your login information secure? 4. Why should students get into the habit of logging off when they are away from your computer? *Hijacked is the term used when someone poses as someone else and is using someone else’s password or personal log in information. What are the disadvantages and advantages of the modern gadgets like cellphone, computer, etc. to STUDENTS? PLEASE answer this as many as you know†¦ I really need your cooperation.. This is a research in english subj. If i can’t submit the research I will FAIL the subject†¦ ‘:-( Best Answer – Chosen by Voters Advantages of modern gadgets to students: 1. A faster way to search for information (via the Internet) 2. Sometimes a more effective way of learning. (via educational computer programs) 3.  Prepares students for the globalized world where computer-literacy is a must. 4. Easier way of communication. 5. Helps students if they have difficulties (homework helpers, etc. ) 6. More accessible. 7. Gives students recreation.8. A larger information source. Disadvantages: 1. Students tend to be lazy. 2. Computer games such as online games divert the students’ attention from school. 3. Can be used for procrastination. 4. Distracts students from schoolwork. 5. Students lose interest in their schoolwork. cellphones are great for keeping in contact with people, entertainment, now music, & everything else its coming up with†¦ disadvantage: a fuss to get signals, dead battery, dependant, addicting, and old tehcnology. not to mention costs. computer: basically everything it has to offer, games,business, shopping, information, world wide web lets not forget that†¦yahoo answer!!! disadvantage:too addicting, old technology, pop-up, spam, scam online, viruses. can delelte your work, makes people lazy. ipods:music,video,photos its cool†¦period. dis:cds lowering How often  cell phones have not only become a method for communication, they have evolved into an entertainment gadget. Because these small, hand-held computers seem to do it all, young kids beg and plead for a cell phone. The average age for teens to receive their own cell phone is between 12 and 13. But that doesn’t mean you won’t see even younger children with phones. About  3 percent of children receive their cell phone under age 10, and 6 percent get them at age 10. Even though many parents may feel middle school is still too young for students to have their own cell phone, others may feel there are several advantages to having these gadgets at such a young age. They like to be able to stay in touch with their children so they can take a more active role in ensuring their safety. Parents can even use software such as cell phone parental control software to keep a closer eye on their child’s daily activities. It’s an important decision, and it is up to the parent how old the child is when they receive their first phone. Many parents say they wait until the child is involved in school activities and others wait until their teenagers are driving. Some parents may not even let their child have a cell phone until they can afford it on their own. While it’s quite common for teenagers to have their own phone, statistics show that 25 percent of teenagers don’t have cell phones. According to Pew Research Center, 84 percent of Americans ages 12 and up own a cell phone, and 31 percent own a smartphone. Cell phones have become such an integral part of daily life for teenagers that 15-18 year olds are reported to spend an average of 1 hour and 51 minutes each day sending text messages. Kids between 11 and 14 spend an average of 1 hour and 13 minutes texting. A few additional statistics we found regarding teens and texting include: * Texting is the second most common use of cell phones, following checking the time * 65 percent of high school students use their cell phone in school * One-fourth of text messages sent by teens are during class hours * 42 percent of teens say they can text with their eyes closed * One study shows that teens under 18 years old send and receive 2,779 texts a month * Teens send and receive five times more text messages per day than adults * Those who send and receive more than 50 texts a day also tend to be heavy users of voice calling * 54 percent of teens use text messaging as daily communication, and only 38 percent will call on a cell phone Cell phones are a way that teenagers feel they can communicate with other individuals. According to one study, 84 percent of teens say they like that cell phones make it easy to talk to people. Additionally, the study states that 69 percent of teens say their cell phone is used as a form of entertainment and 47 percent say their social life would end without their cell phone. The same study shows that 57 percent say their life has improved by using their  cell phone. Role of teens in modern gadgets A teen wants to make a significant change in a world where grown-ups are expected to do this or that. A modern teen wants to break away from the usual norms of the society by making an active role in improving the world. He or she wants to make a fundamental contribution to attain peace, economic growth and of course, their own dreams. It may be too forceful to act too mature by pretending to be a grownup, but there’s actually an easy way for a teen to make a noteworthy contribution to the society and that it through modern technology. It is of course a known fact that before modern technological gadgets like a computer came into the market, the teens usually have to suffer spending time in using their parent’s typewriters. One can only imagine the frustration of a teen when he or she mistypes a letter and had to halt the work in order to get a liquid eraser just to get rid of a single letter. It is also safe to assume that after the work has been done, a lot of trash c an be seen on the floor. Crumpled papers, torn carbon papers and wrinkled typewriter ribbons can be seen casually strewn on the floor. After hours of typing just a couple of papers, and they’re all set. Now, this is something an active teen wants to do on a Saturday night! The nightmare is over, thanks to the emergence of the ever reliable personal computers! With just a click of a mouse and a push of a button, a single mistake is solved. No more frustrated tears and bloodied hands from too much force in typing. The new age of technology is here! If that’s not enough, the teens have the privilege of using the Internet. If one can remember, it used to be a communication strategy for the military where they can send information even if they are from a far off place in secret. Now that this technology is passed to the younger generation, then a plethora of opportunities have emerged. The internet, in fact, has entirely changed the perception of a teen. It is because the teen has a new role to accomplish, to improve the quality of education in their respective schools. The use of internet to check updated information on current issues makes the teen more updated with the latest in the world. No more rushing to the library to get outdated information from old books, the internet is the modern library for teens! Another technological device that was passed on to the teens was the  ever reliable device, the mobile phone! The device comes from different shapes and sizes, each boasting its own spectacular features. This gadget makes it easier for teens to communicate with each other, with their loved ones and their respective local authorities in case something bad happens. An urgent call to 911 just to save someone’s life is a big role for a teen. Remember, way back, teens are forbidden to go out at night because there’s no way to contact them. Here’s the answer, the mobile phone. For most teens, the emergence of modern technology is like the best gift for their generation. In fact, these modern devices inspire them to make a significant contribution to the society. However, just like anything else, there’s a bad side of it if it’s not used for the better good. These gadgets can be addicting to the point that one doesn’t have the desire to go to school anymore because the latest video games are now available in computers or that the mobile phones are used to communicate with friends who just want to skip school and will try to encourage the teen to skip school too. It is at this point that teens should be aware of what their true roles are in the society. It is not to be a headache to the grownups but rather to be the implementers of meaningful change. The gadget is a device that is able to perform one or several functions. Gadgets often have funky designs but have useful functions as well. It is also being referred as gizmos. The history of gadgets can be traced back to the early 1800s. There is a wide variety of gadget including GPS system, USB toys, smartphone and etc. The first appearance of the term â€Å"gadget† occurs in 1985. Amiga OS uses the term to describe the GUI widget in a graphical user interface. 1. Benefits of Modern Gadgets Gadgets offer many benefits to the users. It usually has a small size so you can bring it with you to any place. Spy gadgets incorporate a recording player and video camera. For example, a spy pen gadget can have a camera. It functions just like a pen and can be used to write words. No one will know if the camera is recording scane because it is hidden within the pen. There are also gadgets that design to aid people with physical impairment. For example, the electronic eyes gadget allows the blind person to cross the road.

Product, Price, Promotion & Placement Essay

Product, Price, Promotion & Placement Now that we have analyzed our marketing research and we have identified our potential target markets as being in the young adult to middle age adults and from the lower middle class and upward income bracket it is time to develop our plans to reach into these markets and grow IPT. How we target these markets is a series of techniques known as product, pricing, promotion and placement. We also know from the research that 35% of our customers would buy from a store front, 30% would order online or from a catalog, and our business customers would place direct orders. Product In the 4 â€Å"P’s† product is the lead element because this is what we sell and what we need to put in front of our customers. Our best products are always those that are unique or have a special niche market that does not have as much or less competition in the market. We have a special patented coating for our popcorn that sets us apart and this will be our lead product. Packaging of our product is especially important with a food related product. We want to emphasize the uniqueness and we want it to show, so we will use a clear bag with an Old Fashioned label that will be very appealing and desirable, our popcorn will look good unopened sitting on someone’s counter or table at home or in the office. Pricing Because our product is unique we can demand a higher price than the other run of the mill popcorn producers. As a premium product we also establish IPT as the premier high end popcorn treat producer. Our pricing will also stay well within the range of other high end products. The rest of our product lines will be priced within the average range of other similar treats. Bulk business orders will be discounted and our sales to the national flower and gift basket company will be wholesale allowing for mark up on resale. Promotion Promotion of our products will be three fold and very targeted. First we will increase the number of store front locations in the areas with the best demographics and remember the most important rule for a retail business location, location and location. This will put IPT solidly in the market area and the presence will give our brand the brick and mortar support as is done by Barnes & Noble, Inc. From all of our storefront locations we will promote the IPT website for online ordering and placing orders with the national flower and gift basket company to send our products to friends and relatives across the nation and beyond. We will have to set up a strong website and we will use a professional hosting service to product the secure ordering, catalog creation and other site marketing features such as printable coupons for ordering that can be used at the brick and mortar store fronts. The website will also allow our business customer to place their orders and track the shipment. We w ill be utilizing search engine registration and promotion to make sure we â€Å"pop† on all searches with key words like popcorn, gifts, treats, cookies, sweets and coated to name a few. Placement Getting the product in front of or visible to the consumer is essential, the old saying is that if you have a great product then you must be able to supply that product when the customer wants it and where they want it. Customer service and product availability are everything to the customer. We will expand into each market area such as Philadelphia by establishing a storefront and a small warehousing operation to handle the daily ordering, shipping and support for the market area. The store fronts will produce the product locally for retail and shipping within their market area so the product is fresh and doesn’t age. Our warehouse will stock mainly supplies for the production lines at the store front. A good example is Krispy Kreme, Inc. which uses each location to bake the donuts and then deliver to local vendors such as convenience stores, restaurants, events and other functions. We must be able to support the markets we are targeting. Consumer Characteristics From personal experience and as reflected in our market research most consumers prefer to purchase perishable consumables at a local store and we will need to entice our targeted consumers to come to the store fronts or to order online once they have tasted and enjoyed our products. Much like Starbucks whose coffee shops sell a lot of items not related to coffee we must consider adding the intrinsic items that our customers would find interesting such as free wireless internet access from each storefront. This feature would also help us promote our website and expand our customer base. We must continue to collect feedback from all of our market areas and customer to make sure we keep our product fresh and exciting. Distribution and Growth impacts As we grow we must make sure we have the infrastructure to supply our new markets and that our suppliers are aware of the expected increases in quantities we order and that they are able to keep up. We should also expect discounts for high volume orders. Centrally we will supply the national flower and gift basket company and the local market place. Our store fronts will supply their local markets to include internet orders, business orders and retail sales. Summary We will use all of this information provided today to continue our development of the marketing plan for IPT. I hope we have answered your questions and put to rest your doubts. If I can be of assistance in answering any other questions you might have please let me know as soon as possible. References (Pereault William D McCarthy E Jerome 2006 Essential of Marketing: A Global-Managerial Approach)Pereault, William D., & McCarthy, E. Jerome (2006). Essential of Marketing: A Global-Managerial Approach (10th Edition ed., Rev.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Economic recession Essay

Economic recession is a period of economic decline; it means that there is a drop in the stock market, and an increase in unemployment but also a decline in the housing market. It also means that in Tourism, the residents of UK will have to will choose to holiday at home as the http://www. independent. co. uk infers ‘’ Grounded by the diminishing value of the pound and fears about the recession, record numbers of Britons will choose to holiday at home this summer. ‘’ Source – http://www. independent. co. uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/its-an-ill-wind-uk-tourism-finds-recession-is-so-bracing-1522542. html Additionally, the research by Visit Britain, the tourism authority, has shown that 74 % of people are trying to reduce their holiday spending, and are spending more time planning their trips to maximize value, a cottage in Britain where you can just pack the car up and take all your own food suggests that you’ve got greater control. However reducing the holiday spending is not the major problem, as there has been a big change in visits to Britain – official figures have revealed that the number of tourists who visited the UK from overseas in 2009 suffered a 7% decline on the previous year to 29.57 million. The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also showed that the number of UK residents who made trips abroad fell 15% last year to 58. 53 million. But visitors to the UK spent around ? 16. 48 billion, or 1% more last year than they did in 2008, a contrast to UK residents’ expenses while abroad, which amounted to ? 31. 85 billion – a 14% fall on figures from 2008. The recession also had an impact on the number of trips UK residents took abroad last year. The figure fell 16% to 38. 44 million, while business trips were down 22% and visits to friends and relatives (VFR) abroad fell 7%. By contrast, more foreigners visited the UK on holiday, with the numbers rising 3% last year, although the overall total suffered with business trips falling 20%. The ONS also recorded a fall of 10% in the number of VFR trips to the UK last year. Records also reveal that UK residents took 21% fewer trips to North America last year and 15% fewer trips to Europe. Source – http://www. statistics. gov. uk/hub/index. html Source – http://uk. reuters. com/article/2009/07/16/us-britain-travel-idUKTRE56F3FX20090716 QUALITY OF GOOD AND SERVICES Most visitors that come to United Kingdom have clear expectations about what they must pay for, but most of all; they are hoping that the quality of what they pay for is worth their money. The concept of value for money is closely related to price but also involves other quality criteria. The English Tourism Council’s has set up star rating that let the visitors to be informed before they book accommodation to recognise quality and to differentiate levels of facilities and services which as potential guests they can expect, so that it can help them to match their needs and ensure they are not disappointed. The star rating gives an overall judgement of quality including comfort, space, facilities, and cleanliness, and can be used by both domestic and inbound tourits. One star indicates that the place is acceptable overall of quality. There is also adequate provision of furniture, furnishings, and fittings. Hotels that have only one star are usually small, and privately owned. Dinner may not be offered. Two star hotels are also usually small, and privately owned, including resort hotels, and commercial hotels. Accommodation offers a good degree of space and convenience. Furnishings may be simple but are well maintained in all the bedrooms. Breakfast is offered daily to residents and their guests. Dinner is available at least five nights per week. Three star hotels indicates that it is a more formal style of hotel with a greater range of facilities and services such as colour television, telephones, radios, desk etc. There are also public areas including lounge seating, restaurants or bars. Dinner will be provided seven nights per week and light snack lunches are available in the bar or lounge, together with a wide range of drinks. Additionally, there’s also laundry service available. Four star hotels infers that there is a luxury quality with services to match, for example, there is a selection of catering options all offering cuisine and service of the highest international quality. There is also highly trained, professional staff providing exceptional levels of anticipatory service. Source – http://www. britainexpress. com/oxford-hotels/star-ratings. htm EXCHANGE RATES The value of one currency against another currency is known as the foreign exchange rate. Exchange rates are an important factor in determining patterns of holiday taking, as any rise in the value of the pound will encourage outbound tourism, particularly if it involves the leading destinations countries. The value of the pound, or sterling, against another currency affects the cost of coming here for inbound tourists. It can affect negatively if it is more expensive to visit UK, but also can affect positively it is cheaper to visit UK. It is more likely that the appeal to tourist will increase when sterling is weak, as they will get more pounds for their money. Conversely, if sterling is strong, overseas visitors get less pounds in exchange for their money and are less likely to want to come here. In recent years sterling has been very strong against the dollar, or the dollar has been weak against sterling – which amounts to the same thing. This has meant that it has been relatively cheap for UK outbound tourists to visit the United States and more expensive for Americans to come to the UK. As VisitBritain. org have suggested that due to the dollar being weak against sterling, America perceived United Kingdom, as an expensive place to visit – the cost of accommodation, transport, and food has been highlighted by Americans as being really high priced. If the pas is riding high against most other currencies, it allows the British to budget for their holidays abroad with unusual freedom of choice, because the UK holidaymakers get much more for their money. For example, the rate of exchange with the Spanish peseta, the French franc, and the US dollar influences over 60 % of the holidays taken abroad by the British. The exchange rates depend on the strength or the weakness of sterling but they are also affected by the internal strength of currencies in main destination countries like France or Spain. At the moment the strenght of the pound sterling against other currencies looks as following Source  http://fx-rate.net/

HND Common Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HND Common Law - Essay Example 1. Joe, a sales manager of Building Security Systems Ltd wrote a letter to Viacom Ltd on 13 June offering to install computerized security equipment at the canal side warehouse Viacomm Ltd was renovating for Wiggin Council for a total price of  £200,000 payable upon completion of the work. The offer was to remain open until 20 July. Sam, a purchasing director of Viacom Ltd, phoned Joe on 19 June to ask if the offer included the VAT. He then posted a letter of acceptance to Joe on 27 June in which he accepted the offer on behalf of Viacom Ltd. Building Security Systems received this letter on 29 June. In the meantime, Joe has started negotiating with Info provider Ltd and sold the same equipment to them on 28 June for  £250,000. He immediately wrote a letter to Sam to say that has not yet received confirmation that Viacom wants to purchase the equipment that the offer was now withdrawn. Viacom Ltd received this letter on 1 July. 2. Joiners-R-Us Ltd entered into a contract with Viacom Ltd, who hold the main building contract with Wiggin Council to renovate a canal-side warehouse. Joiners-R-Us are contracted to carry out carpentry work in a block of 47 flats for an agreed price of  £200,000. The main contract with Wiggin Council contains a time penalty clause which states that the building must be completed by 15 November 2008. Viacom Ltd is worried that if Joiners-R-Us Ltd did not complete the carpentry work on time he will have to recompense Wiggin Council under that clause.   On the basis of this letter, Joiners-R-Us Ltd managed to persuade their staff to continue working which re-commenced on 18 October.  

Change mangement in Qantas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Change mangement in Qantas - Essay Example This section will illustrate the specific principles through the application of the KT approach of project management. This approach will split the project into three basic areas, in which communication occurs over all levels as shown below; The KT process will help Qantas in the analysis of implementation of goals via a systematic process of decision-making. It will apply in this case because it aids in achievement of improved satisfaction of customers, increasing sales, and the elimination of problems in sales (Biech, 2010: p44). The first step is analysis, where they will come up with rough goals to improve business like marketing of new products to clients. The management team will collect information from market data, databases, competitors, and customer surveys and sort through it to collect information accurately since this data forms assumptions on which all KT steps in the future will be undertaken. The second step is the strategy where Qantas, using all relevant data will h ave its management craft cost effective plans that accomplish the goals. They will take into consideration all barriers that may hinder the objectives, scope and types of products and services offered, new business sources, how to attain competitive advantage, as well as goal timeframes (Biech, 2010: p45). Following the strategy creation, a project design will be created and presented to the owner. In the third step, Qantas will consider the designs presented by the managers, as well as have the managers pitch strategies in the strategy session. Qantas, using the management team, will select the best strategy and come up with a master plan. This will include the project’s purpose, its schedule, project stages, and resources that are needed to meet the objectives (Biech, 2010: p45). Following this, the next phase is the implementation of the master plan through assigning various tasks and training the management in the fulfillment of roles. The KT process is emphatic on hands- off approach, which requires little interference where managers and employees only get required skills needed to complete objectives in the plan. Qantas should also ensure that the employees are constantly informed on the progress of the plan, only becoming active in the plan implementation when deadlines are not met. The final step is review, where Qantas while using the KT process need to review whether the plan is working after it is implemented since the plans are not necessarily considerate of all relevant variables in meeting the goals of the business (Biech, 2010: p47). As the project concludes, they should update the master plan to improve on the results. Should the project fail because of inaccurate research, the plan should be scrapped altogether and more time focused on the KT process’ analysis step. It is also opined that that Qantas used the popular Kotter’s 8 steps model as it is displayed in figure 2: Figure 2 steps to successful change The first step th ey would take would be creating a sense of urgency since everyone at Qantas will have to be behind the change and believe in it. They should identify potential threats with concurrent scenarios of possibilities in the future (Cameron & Green, 2012:

Biography of an American Public Activist Elizabeth Birch Essay

Biography of an American Public Activist Elizabeth Birch - Essay Example In 1992, as she narrates in her interview, Lotus Development Company had extended their services for the provision of domestic partner benefits; an initiative that she thought would highlight the company’s commitment to its employees, who she believed deserved the same. She contends that as the attorney for gay employees, she felt conflicted on whether she could stand by the gay people and still maintain professionalism as an advocate. This was because in Apple Inc there was normal grassroots process within which employees were building cases for domestic partner benefits. The experience of this woman offers the exact case in regards to how gays were being viewed by the majority or some of the individuals in the state. This then offers an analytical basis of stating the perception and the stereotypes held at the time. Elizabeth narrates that once employees were to provide the cases for the domestic partner benefits they built their cases and sent it to the human resource depar tment. This, she notes, was the undoing of the Apple gay and lesbian community as the human resource department came up with excuses of how not to implement such. Some of the excuses were that for the implementation of such to take place, it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The consequences of this were highlighted by the rejection by Apple’s board of directors. This decision enraged Elizabeth who notes that since she was well known worldwide as the advocate for the gay and lesbian and for providing institutions and municipalities with advice regarding the implementation of sexual non-discrimination policies and domestic partner benefits, the move by the Apple board of directors was unacceptable and was in contradiction with what she believed.  

Analysis and results Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis and results - Dissertation Example One of the most important questions asked in this survey was the method used by the RNs to screen for PPD. None of the nurses reported using any screening tools for the evaluation of PPD. The commonly used methods for the evaluation of PPD were found to be: asking general questions or identifying risk factors during the postpartum office visit; telephonic questioning when patients called to inquire about any queries, concerns or symptoms that they have; as a part of the documentation for the admissions database during the admission for delivery and during chart review or as a part of the routine history during the obstetric visits. Amongst these, the most common method was chart review or while obtaining obstetric history, during which the two main questions asked were whether the patient has had any prior episodes of PPD in previous pregnancy or a history of pre-existing depression and whether she was taking any medications. This practice is in stark contrast to the recommendations for the screening of PPD in the existing literature. ... â€Å" to develop a rapport with the patients and enable them to share their experiences. This practice is in concordance with the existing literature as some studies advocate the use of simple, open ended questions such as â€Å"Are you sad and depressed?† and â€Å"Have you had a loss of pleasurable activities?† as an initial screen for PPD. The use of such questions helps the women in opening up and sharing their experiences and concerns (Goldbort, 2006). There are also several shortcomings of the above mentioned methods for the screening of PPD. First, for women who are having their first baby, the question whether they experienced PPD in any prior pregnancies becomes void. Similarly, most patients who are experiencing PPD for the first time might not be on any medications and thus the question whether they are using any medications currently, is not of any use in such patients. It is thus important to use effective screening strategies which are designed to encomp ass all patients, including those who are pregnant for the first time, so that none of the patients is missed. The most common setting for PPD identified in this survey was during obstetric visits or on admission for delivery. This was followed by screening for PPD during the postpartum visit. There have been various studies conducted in order to determine the most effective screening method and setting for the screening for postpartum depression. The most appropriate and convenient settings for the screening as recommended by the current literature is during the mother’s post-partum visit or during the well child visit of the baby (Gjerdingen & Yawn, 2007; Callister, Beckstrand, & Corbet, 2010). Moreover, recently, other novel innovative strategies for screening

CJ 450 Counter Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CJ 450 Counter Terrorism - Essay Example ding assignments, what status, rights, and protections would you afford someone who was an American citizen captured in the United States in the act of terrorist violence? How about someone who was a foreign national engage in terrorism in the United States? An American citizen fights American forces abroad? A foreign national, but not a member of a nations military, fighting American forces abroad? Would torture of any of these subjects ever be justified if it could save lives? How serious is the problem of anti-Americanism here at home? Should people be accountable for inciting violence when they glorify violent acts against America but themselves do not engage in it? What remedies are available to the government, if any, to deal with schools, mosques, and charities that indirectly support terrorism while not actually engaging in it? What should the remedies be? Give your overall assessment of the USA PATRIOT ACT. Do you think it has contributed to the lack of terror attacks in the United States since 9/11? If you were in Congress, would you vote to renew the act as is? Would you change anything? Why or why not? The 9/11 attacks upon the United States changed the vast majority of peoples’ perceptions about the importance as well as the necessity for improved and extended counterterrorism units to prevent further bombings.1 Without those attacks my job would not exist within its present format. The federal government the armed forces, the FBI, and the CIA underestimated the ability of Al-Qaeda to launch large-scale attacks within the United States, despite being of its previous bombings of American targets abroad. The Clinton administration had only carried out limited missile strikes against suspected Al-Qaeda bases in the Sudan, and seemed to be aware of that organization’s move to Afghanistan.2 American society has altered drastically in the last couple of decades due to immigration of people from Islamic countries in Asia and the

Article on an international homeland security issue to review Assignment

Article on an international homeland security issue to review - Assignment Example es done by the attack and ensure a quick and full recovery from the trauma while still figuring out ways of preventing the repetition of such attacks. One of the most feared terrorist groups that threaten the United States is the Al- Qaeda group. The group is made up of terrorists mostly from the Middle East that is mostly Muslims with the claim that what they do is the call of Allah, their God. The group was formed around the year 1988 with Osama Bin Laden as the major founder. The group works as a network that has many armies in different countries all over the world under small subdivisions and hence it is not very easy to intercept their communications. Their first major and shocking attack that was felt throughout the world was their attack on the twin towers in the United States of America back in 2001. The attack left scores of people dead and others wounded and this is what made the United States acknowledge the importance of the department of homeland security. Characteristics that make the group stand out from the rest are its suicide attacks. The group beliefs in the utter completion of a mission failure to which, their life is of no use. The group does not believe in hell. The group is of the notion that after their death, they go to heaven and meet Allah waiting for them with the 40 virgins that they are promised. The Al-Qaeda group believes in complete allegiance to the rules that are offered by their leaders without any questions asked. This is for the assurance of their families’ safekeeping and ensuring that they carry out their tasks to the prime of their capabilities, (Bruno 2011). The organization of the group has most of the times been described as being centralized when it comes to decision making but however, the ideology changes to decentralization when it comes to the execution of the decisions made. Experts in the field have argued that the group has over the years broken down into smaller groups that are no longer affiliated with the

Health Psychology Committee Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Health Psychology Committee Report - Essay Example lth Psychology Committee has been mandated with the task of developing a psychiatry division to further enhance our response to mental health issues within the community. The following is results of our health psychology action plan. Seeking to hire and train five additional hospital-associated psychologists with the task of dealing with the wider community in a variety of health-related roles, the following recommendations will be made understanding that health and society are interrelated variables which work together to promote a healthy community. Accordingly, the committee understands and takes into account the important role that society has on the health status of members of its community. Accordingly, â€Å"on a fairly broad level, our society affects the health of individuals by promoting certain values of our culture.† (AUTHOR, 14) Individualist health promotion programs aim to address the health concerns of individuals while structuralism health promotion programs are focused upon addressing health trends such as the outbreak of HIV among high school students, or addressing the mental health issues across a cross-section of society. The social model of health explores both individuals and the s ocial population in determining our conception of health. According to this theoretical paradigm, improved health can be improved by looking at the key environmental and social aspects of what constitutes positive health. This is a theoretical model which has recently gained credence due to its emphasis on social determinants of health. With this in mind, the report aims to specify duties for the five hospital-associated psychologists keeping in mind the interconnectedness of health status and society. Thus, a sociological perspective on health will frame this report. Accordingly, the following positions will need to be filled by the committee: substance abuse counselor; inpatient-only psychologist; child psychologist; adult psychologist. Each of these

Social Policy - Diabetes Essay Example for Free

Social Policy Diabetes Essay Examine a contemporary social issue (which may or may not have been covered during the module) paying particular attention as to why this issue has become problematic and for whom. Also, consider what should be done about your chosen issue and any role that nursing/social work might have in dealing with it. A social issue can be defined as ‘social conditions identified by scientific inquiry and values as detrimental to human well-being’ (Manis 1976). I believe that a social issue can be anything that affects a person in a bad way and affects their standard of living. It could be something from a health problem to something to do with a financial issue within someone’s home. I am going to focus on the health of the public and have chosen to pay attention to the social issue of diabetes type 2. I am going to pay particular attention to why diabetes has become problematic in the community and for who it is causing a problem to. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to maintain a normal blood glucose level, or your body is unable to use the insulin that is produced (NHS Choices). You are likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are over the age of 40, have a relative with the condition or are overweight. A person is normally thought to have type 2 diabetes if he or she does not have type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent) or monogenetic diabetes (WHO). Patients that suffer from type 2 diabetes generally are given dietary guidance so that they can manage their blood sugar and they are also advised to take their blood sugar once a day to make sure that it is regular. Patients should also increase physical activity and control their weight. It is important that diabetes type 2 is controlled so that it doesn’t progressively get worse and lead to diabetes type 1 diabetes which would mean the patient would become insulin dependent. Diabetes type 2 is problematic for the patient as during everyday living they have to make sure they are aware of what they are eating and doing to make sure they control their own blood sugar to keep themselves healthy. A patient suffering from type 2 diabetes might feel self conscious at meal times as they may have to eat something different to the people they are dining with. This can cause the person’s self esteem to be decreased and they could be embarrassed to eat around other people as they might feel like they are being segregated from the group. A patient also has to exercise regularly which they might find difficult to fit into their lifestyle but in order to control their blood sugar effectively it should become an important part of their everyday life. It can also be problematic on the health costs. Current estimates suggest that direct health cost of diabetes accounts for 5% of the UK health cost (Payne, Barker 2010). This percentage doesn’t even include the full cost of the problem. There are also costs related to sickness from work, disability and more than 10% of hospital bed days. Since 1996 the number of people diagnosed with diabetes has increased from 1. 4 million to 2. 9 million. Most of these cases will be Type 2 diabetes, because of our ageing population and rapidly rising numbers of overweight and obese people. This suggests to us that the demands on the health service are going to increase which will therefore cost more money. These statistics also tell us that an increase in obesity is going to affect diabetes. Obesity is increasing in the UK such that over half the population are now overweight or obese. This has significant health consequences, causing an increase in the risk of diabetes (Payne, Barker 2010). The government have suggested that obesity is resulting in health costs increasing and life expectancy decreasing. One of the social consequences for a person that is obese or overweight is that they are seen negatively upon and discriminated against. This can happen in all situations in social environments and can affect a person in many different ways such as low self-esteem and depression. Obesity is causing an increase risk of diseases that are associated with it. This will also increase health costs as well as making the health of the public worse. If type 2 diabetes is not controlled then type 1 diabetes can develop. This is worse because the patient becomes dependant on insulin. It usually develops in the teenage years of someone’s life. This has to be given my subcutaneous injection (Payne, Barker 2010), this makes sure that the insulin levels are regular and forms the basis of dietary management. They will also have to regularly check their blood sugars. They will often need monitoring, assessment and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors because they have many features of metabolic syndrome. There are many different complications that are caused by diabetes. If you have diabetes, you are up to five times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke (WHO). When the blood glucose levels are increasing it results in the furring and narrowing of your blood vessels which may result in a poor blood supply to the heart. This can lead to a heart attack or a stroke. This doesn’t only put the patient’s life at risk but it also results in a huge cost on the NHS. It can also affect the patient’s family a friends hugely emotionally but also physically if they are in need of care after the event. It can change the patient’s life style dramatically. It is not only the blood vessels near the heart that are affected it is also the blood vessels in the nerves. This sometimes causes a tingling sensation in your limbs. If the nerves in the digestive system are affected a patient may experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation. This will make the patient’s life very uncomfortable. Blood vessels in the retina can become blocked or leaky, or can grow haphazardly. This prevents the light from fully passing through to your retina. If it is not treated, it can damage your vision (NHS Choices). If a patient doesn’t control their blood sugar levels they are very likely to develop serious eye problems. Having an annual eye check up with a specialist, an ophthalmologist, can help to see the signs of an eye problem sooner so that it can be treated. Another problem that diabetes can lead to in a blockage of the blood vessels in the kidney, this makes the kidneys work less efficiently. In very rare cases this can lead to kidney failure and the need for dialysis or even a kidney transplant. Another reason why diabetes affects people’s health and health costs is because 1 in 10 people with diabetes get a foot ulcer (WHO). Damage in the nerves of the foot can mean that small nicks and cuts are not noticed. They will not be noticed because the nerves are damaged the patient with these small cuts won’t feel the pain from them. If these small cuts are not noticed a serious infection can occur and it can lead to the development of a foot ulcer. If patients develop nerve damage they should check their feet every day and report any changes to a nurse or doctor. When a nurse is visiting a patient with diabetes they should look out for sores and cuts that do not heal as well as puffiness and swelling. There are always going to be other side effects to having diabetes but these are the most common. Another problem that diabetes can cause is an increased risk of a miscarriage or stillbirth. It is important that women that are pregnant are aware that they have diabetes so that the blood sugar level can be carefully controlled during the early stages of pregnancy. If it is not carefully controlled there is also an increased risk of the baby developing a birth defect (NHS Choices). Pregnant women with diabetes will usually have their antenatal check-ups in hospital or a diabetic clinic. As a nurse it is important we make sure pregnant women with diabetes are aware of this. This allows the care team to keep a close eye on the patient’s blood sugar levels and control your insulin dosage more easily, if you regulate your blood sugar using insulin. They will also be able to monitor the growth and development of your baby. Pregnant women are also at risk of having larger babies than normal which causes problems during the birth of the baby as well as the late stages of pregnancy. It can cause other problems to the mother during the birth such as ripping on the vagina or even to the stage they have to go through with a suzerain. All of these side affects cost the NHS money. This can be reduced by people eating healthier and exercising so that they do not form the illness of diabetes in the first place. One example of how much diabetes can cost health services is the Lucentis injection. This is a shot that helps to prevent people with severe diabetes going blind but it costs ? 1000. This is a huge amount of money when you put it into proportion to the amount of people that have diabetes in the UK. With around 5,000 new cases a year, NICE is reluctant to recommend the use of Lucentis for treating DMO, diabetic macular oedema (Global Diabetes Community). ‘A report by the NHS entitled Prescribing for Diabetes in England reported that over the last 5 years, the cost of drugs and treatments alone in order to treat people with diabetes had risen by 40% from ? 458.  6 million in 2004/5 to ? 649. 2 million in 2009/10’. These statistics tell us that the number of people in the UK with diabetes has risen. This could be due to the fact that the number of people that are obese in England has risen. The UK is the fattest country in Europe. The number of obese adults is forecast to rise by 73% over the next 20 years from to 26 million people, resulting in more than a million extra cases of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer (Global Diabetes Community). The cost of diabetes in 2010 was 13. 750 billion pounds just for the year on the NHS. This cost includes the treatment, drugs, inpatients and outpatient appointments for diabetes type 1 type 2. There is also other services that are included into the treatment such as the social service. The amount of money that is spent on each type of diabetes for each different area of expenditure can be seen in appendix 1. The cost of in patients with diabetes is the greatest. This is due to the fact when diabetes gets so severe people need time in hospital to recover and be treated for other illnesses that diabetes has caused them. Type 1 diabetes cost 1. 802 billion pounds in 2010 where as diabetes type 2 diabetes cost 11. 718 billion pounds. This is due to the fact type 2 diabetes is more common in the UK. Although it can be controlled by changing your lifestyle it is not always diagnosed and therefore can cause more problems than if the patient was aware they had this condition. There should always be actions in place to try and decrease the number of people in the UK that have diabetes. Published in 2001, The National Service Framework for Diabetes contains nine standards for the provision of high quality diabetes services in what it recognised as a growing area of need. The prevention of type 2 diabetes will play a major part in this because if people are eating healthier and exercising more they are less likely to form diabetes type 2 but if they do people should be able to identify that they have diabetes in order for them to control their own condition. By controlling their own blood sugar they will be less likely to end up in hospital with another illness related to this condition. In order to do this the NHS want to see public awareness campaigns to communicate the seriousness of diabetes and its complications, the risk factors of type 2 diabetes (Young 2011) This should hopefully point the public in the right direction to whether they have diabetes so that they can seek help and advice in order to keep as healthy as possible in their everyday life. It is important that as nurses we give advice to our patients they importance of NHS checkups and healthy living so that patients with diabetes reduce the risk of illness. As a nurse health promotion is always important for any condition. Health promotion has evolved into an extremely broad sphere of activity encompassing health education, lifestyle and preventative approaches (Scriven, Orme 2001). As nurses we have to concentrate on improving the health of our patients and the public. One way in which we can promote health to our patients is while we are working alongside them in hospital is to provide structured information in preparation for stressful events (Macdonald, Bunton 1992). When a patient has diabetes it could mean that we give the patient information about how to manage this condition at home so that they live a healthy lifestyle. There is a lot of substantial evidence that suggests passing on information to the patient and communicating with them reduces anxiety and speeds up recovery time. More recently, the need to adopt more individualised, patient-centred approaches, incorporating a recognition of the importance of self-efficiency beliefs and the wider barriers to taking health action, has been widely recognised (Norton 1998). This could suggest that one patient may just need the advice to be told to them while another patient needs instructions on how to use this advice at home, maybe written down or extra support at home depending on the health and well-being of this particular patient. While I was on placement it was an important job to help the patients chose what they would like to eat the next day by filling in a menu. For a diabetic they would have different choices and then a pudding with less sugar in to the other patients. It was important that as a student nurse helping them I helped to promote the healthier options to all patients in order for them to eat a healthy balanced diet. This would not only mean that they would eat healthier while in hospital but it would also give the patients an idea of what to eat at home to have a balanced diet. The department of health also help to ensure that the public with diabetes are cared for to reduce health costs and to improve the public’s health. One way that they do this is to ensure that local authorities commission a fully funded health check programme and a follow-up action.

Critique on Article The Ends of Happiness Essay Example for Free

Critique on Article The Ends of Happiness Essay Dr Karl Giberson is a professor at Eastern Nazarene College with a PHD in Physics from Rice University. A man approaching his fifties at the writing of this article, Giberson’s solution to his mid-life crisis was to write an article â€Å"The Ends of Happiness†. His article was well written and he tries to impart his experiences with happiness to young adults. In the article, Giberson claims that happiness should be the end result of our efforts and he provides a compelling argument why we should not get caught up in our pursuit of happiness through materialistic gains. However, his arguments to back his thesis are inadequate due to an inherent contradiction in his supporting point and one unproven assumption in his article. Giberson (2006) uses the Candy Experiment with children to prove his point that our ability to withhold satisfaction leads to a â€Å"life time of happiness† (para. 5). He further explains that â€Å"unpleasant means can yield satisfying ends† (2006). This implies that our happiness will increase if we are able to set aside the things that make us happy, and work towards our goal. However, in his later argument, the author seems to imply that the happiest moments in his life, were times when he did not work towards materialistic gains. For instance, he claims he â€Å"lived well†, when he â€Å"left work early† and spent his time with his family (Giberson, 2006, para.12, 13 14). This illustrates his point that the most memorable moments in life comes from relationships as opposed to material gains (Giberson, 2006). While the latter argument supports his thesis, the former contradicts it by implying that happiness is something to be achieved through materialistic gains. This is shown in Giberson’s example about a student graduating with â€Å"greater earning power† (2006) and how this ability â€Å"is the formula for a lifetime of happiness† (Giberson, 2006, para. 5). Furthermore, Giberson’s argument seems to be contingent on one major assumption. That happiness gained from acquiring things, is less meaningful than happiness gained from spending time with family and friends. To illustrate his point, he cites evidence from his own memories. He states that memories gained from family time are clearer than the memories of â€Å"buying his first car† and â€Å"cashing his first paycheck† (Giberson, 2006, para.14). Giberson then applies this line of reasoning to back his thesis by showing us how happiness from material gains alone reduces our overall happiness as our social interactions decrease (Giberson, 2006). However, such opinionated evidence provides weak support to his thesis and even though he did not plan on writing a scientific article, using personal memories to validate such a major assumption weakens his argument substantially. In conclusion, Giberson has indeed written a well-structured editorial with many coherent and interesting points. However, contradicting arguments and one unsupported assumption in the article has undermined his thesis and weakened his argument. Giberson’s thesis would have fared much better had he quoted from valid sources instead of his own personal experiences. Reference Giberson, K. (2006, Mar. Apr.). The Ends Of Happiness. Science Spirit, 17, 6-7.

Community Safety Initiatives | Evaluation

Community Safety Initiatives | Evaluation INTRODUCTION Purpose of this paper is to discuss the main problems confronting those who must evaluate community safety initiatives. In order to do this, the paper first provides an overview of the problem. This is followed by an analysis of support and initiative by governments, technical difficulties, access to data, political pressure, and utilisation. COMMUNITY SAFETY EVALUATION The initial challenge facing every community safety initiative is to meet crime reduction targets whilst also implementing preventative measures to ensure long-term reductions in crime and disorder. Arguably, high quality evaluation can play a role in this as it can help better understand what works and how it works (Morton 2006). According to AG (2007), evaluation is concerned with making value-based judgments about a program. Mallock and Braithwaite (2005:4) define evaluation as â€Å"the systematic examination of a policy, program or project aimed at assessing its merit, value, worth, relevance or contribution†. Any evidence of the benefits and impact of initiatives will help to influence local partners in commissioning decisions. However, according to Morton (2006), some evaluators have been more able to undertake evaluations than others. As Read and Tilley (2000) claim, evaluation stage continues to be a major weakness of a community safety program. Proper evaluations of community safety initiatives are rare (Community Safety Centre 2000). According to Rhodes (2007), a range of policies and programs has been established with the aim of achieving greater community participation and involvement leading to increased community capacity. However there has been little evaluation of this approach or the specific programs. Read and Tilley (2000) also claim that there is relatively little systematic evaluation and a shortage of good evaluations. Moreover, what is available is generally weak. According to AG (2007), the reasons for the lack of evaluation of community safety programs have not been studied extensively, but social, political and financial considerations are likely to have a strong influence. Evaluation studies consume resources, and therefore are competing for the limited resources available and must be justified by the value of the information which they provide. There are also several other relevant factors including the limited knowledge and experience of evaluation theory and practice of many program managers and organisers. In addition, evaluation evidence is often seen as bad news since program objectives tend to be over-optimistic and hence are rarely fully met; a situation that evaluation might expose. LACK OF SUPPORT AND INITIATIVE According to Community Safety Centre (2000), little time and resources are available for conducting evaluation. When evaluation does occur, the size does matter. It can depend on how large the partnership is as to the resources that they have available for evaluation (Cherney and Sutton 2004). Often in small partnerships no money is put aside for evaluation. Since majority of serious evaluations are going to be expensive, this can particularly be a problem for small projects where a good evaluation may take up a relatively large proportion of the project budget. Thus, very often people will argue that this is an unnecessary cost. Furthermore, practitioners very often feel that they can themselves quiet easily tell whether or not something has been a success. Community Safety Centre (2000) concludes that recommendations that something works, by people who were involved in implementing the initiative, are often based on relatively weak evaluation evidence commonly relying on more gener al impressions that are usually not objective enough. In Australia, for example, neither central nor regional government has so far encouraged evaluators to undertake their own evaluation (Cherney and Sutton 2004). Community Safety Centre (2000) and Morton (2006) also claim that there is a lack of commitment from central government and local agencies, arguing that the problem lies in attracting and maintaining involvement of people and agencies that really are not interested in crime prevention or community safety. According to Morton (2006), evaluators have only been required to produce quarterly reports with milestones for the future and not to undertake a real reflection on a project, including writing a review on the project and analysing available data. All evaluators have to do is monitor whether money is being spent on outputs. Read and Tilley (2000) argue that there is little attention paid to how initiatives may have had their effects. There is not enough investment or requirement for evaluation. According to Varone, Jacob and De Winter (2005), policy evaluation is an underdeveloped tool of Belgian public governance. They claim that it is partitocracy, weakness of Parliament vis-à  -vis the government, and the federalisation process that is characteristic of the recent institutional evolution of the country, that jeopardise the development of a mature evaluation culture. TECHNICAL DIFFUCULTIES Evaluators might find barriers at each of the evaluation steps, including problem formulation, design of instruments, research deign, data collection, data analysis, findings and conclusions and utilisation (Hagan 2000). In respect to problem formulation, evaluation researchers are often in a hurry to get on with the task without thoroughly grounding the evaluation in the major theoretical issues in the field. Glaser and Zeigler (1974) claim that much of what is regarded as in-house evaluations has been co opted and is little more than head counting or the production of tables for annual reports. Further problem is the absence of standardised definitions. The confusion over definitions has not only impeded communication among researchers and, more importantly, between researchers and practitioners, but also has hindered comparisons and replications of research studies. Furthermore, although evaluators would prefer control over treatment and a classic experimental design, with random assignment of cases to experimental and control groups, this seldom happens. In many instances it is very difficult to find organisations that would be willing to undergo experimentation, particularly if it involves the denial of certain treatments (control group) to some clients. The program planners and staff may resists randomisation as means of allocations treatments, arguing for assignment based on need or merit. The design may not be correctly carried out, resulting in nonequivalent experimental and control groups. The design may break down as some people refuse to participate or drop out of different treatment groups (experimental mortality). Some feel that randomised designs create focused inequality because some groups receive treatment others desire and thus can cause reactions that could be confused with treatments. Much of the bemoaning concerning the inadequacy of research design in evaluation methodology has arisen because of an over-commitment to experimental designs, and a deficient appreciation of the utility of post hoc controls by means of multivariety statistical techniques. It may be that more rapid progress can be made in the evolution of preventive programs if research designs are based on statistical rather than experimental model. One major difficulty in evaluation research is in procuring adequate control groups. In respect to data collection, one principal shortcoming of much evaluation research has been its over reliance on questionnaires as the primary means of data gathering. Program supporters will jump on methodological or procedural problems in any evaluation that comes to a negative conclusion. Hagan (2000) also lists other obstacles to evaluation, including unsound and poorly done data analysis, unethical evaluations, naive and unprepared evaluation staff, and poor relationships between evaluation and program staff. Community Safety Centre (2000) argues that, unlike experimental researchers, evaluators often have difficulty comparing their experimental groups with a control group. Although evaluators might attempt to find a similar group to compare with, it is usually impossible to apply the ideal experimental rigor of randomly allocating individuals to an experimental condition and a control condition. According to AG (2007), those responsible for commissioning or conducting evaluation studies also need to take account of the local social, cultural and political context if the evaluations are to produce evidence that is not only useful, but used. According to Morton (2006), some evaluators have stressed their incompetence, claming that they do not know how to undertake evaluation. Schuller (2004) has referred to the lack of accuracy in their predictions, partly due to a lack of post-auditing information. She further argues that evaluators apply a narrow scope that stresses well-established knowledge of local impacts, whilst underplaying wider geographical, systematic, or time factors. Evaluation research can be a complex and difficult task (Community Safety Centre 2000). Evaluators are often described by a lack of control over, and even knowledge of, wide range of factors which may or may not impact on the performance indicators. While evaluating a single crime prevention initiative may be difficult enough, evaluating a full community safety project may be many times more complicated. The intervention package often impacts beyond the target area and this impact needs to be anticipated. As an additional complication, evaluation research can itself have an impact on the outcome of an initiative. A secondary role of the audit process is to raise awareness and build support for the initiative in the affected community. ACCESS TO DATA A commonly reported problem with evaluation has been access to relevant data (Morton 2006). Morton (2006) claims that it is often hard to get good baseline data against which to evaluate a project, mainly because procedures and resources for appropriate multi-agency data collection and mapping are not in place. Often the relevant data is not recorded or collated across services and analysed together to give a complete picture of the problem. Furthermore, partnerships often lack appropriate analytical skills to use quantitative data (Morton 2006). According to Hagan (2000), if proper data for evaluation are absent and clear outcomes or criteria of organisational success are absent, then a proper evaluation cannot be undertaken. The success of the entire evaluation process hinges on the motivation of the administrator and organisation in calling for an evaluation in the first place. It should be possible to locate specific organisational objectives that are measurable. The key assumptions of the program must be stated in a form which can be tested objectively. However, this often does not happen in practice. POLITICAL PRESSURE Political pressure can present another problem for evaluators. Administrators often want to spend all the funding available on implementation as opposed to evaluation (Morton 2006). Thus, being aware of the political context of a program is a precondition for useable evaluation research (AG 2007). Evaluation research requires the active support and cooperation of the agency or program to be evaluated (Hagan 2000). However, the program administrator’s desire to reaffirm his or her position with favorable program evaluations may conflict with the evaluator’s desire to acquire an objective appraisal of a program’s impact. The end result may be either a research design with low scientific credibility and tainted results, or a credible study that never receives a public hearing because the administrator does not like the results. According to Read and Tilley (2000), few evaluations are independent and evidence is used selectively. There is undue satisfaction with redu ction as an indicator that the initiative was effective without attention to alternative explanations, or to possible side-effects. They further argue that 84% of evaluations they studied were conducted by the initiative coordinator or staff, and only 9% were by an independent external evaluator. Thus, it is challenging for partnerships to persuade for funding to be put aside for evaluation. Evaluator’s job is also affected by balancing the need to be strategic and pressure to produce â€Å"runs on the board† by local authorities and central agencies, as well as the greater value placed on â€Å"projects† compared to â€Å"planning† within local authorities (Cherney and Sutton 2004). According to Hagan (2000), even the best laid evaluation plans can â€Å"bite the dust† in the â€Å"high noon† of political reality. In discussing the politicisation of evaluation research, Hagan (2000) points out the incasing political nature of evaluations as they are increasingly used to decide the future of programs. According to him, part of the administrator’s concern about evaluation research comes from the dilemma that research creates for him. The evaluation process casts him in contradictory roles. On the one hand, he is the key person in the agency, and the success of its various operations, including evaluation, depends on his knowledge and involvement. On the other hand, evaluation carries the potentiality of discrediting an administratively sponsored program or of undermining a position the administrator has taken. MURPHY’S LAW Hagan (2000) applies Murphy’s Law to evaluation research, clearly indicated barriers that evaluator faces. In relation to evaluation design: the resources needed to complete the evaluation will exceed the original projection by a factor of two. after an evaluation has been completed and is believed to control for all relevant variables, others will be discovered and rival hypothesis will multiply geometrically the necessity of making a major decision change increases as the evaluation project nears completion. In relation to evaluation management: the probability of a breakdown in cooperation between the evaluation project and an operational agency is directly proportional to the trouble it can cause. if staying on schedule is dependent on a number of activities which may be completed before or after an allotted time interval, the total time needed will accumulate in the direction of becoming further and further behind schedule. In relation to data collection: the availability of data element is inversely proportional to the need for that element historical baseline data will be recorded in units or by criteria other than present or future records none of the available self-report formats will work as well as you expect In relation to data analysis and interpretation: in a mathematical calculation, any error that can creep in, will. It will accumulate in the direction that will do the most damage to the results of the calculation. the figure that is most obviously correct will be the source of error if an analysis matrix requires â€Å"n† data elements to make the analysis easy and logical, there will always be â€Å"n-1† available. When tabulating data, the line totals and the column totals should up to the grand total; they won’t In relation to presentation of evaluation findings: the more extensive and thorough the evaluation the less likely the findings will be used by decision makers. UTILISATION Evaluator is often approaching his or her job knowing that evaluation results are often not appropriately utilised. This might significantly impact his or her performance. Hagan (2000) claims that evaluations have not been effectively utilised, and that much of this waste is due to passive bias and censorship within the field itself, which prevent the publication of weaker, less scientific findings, and to misplace client loyalty. Cherney and Sutton (2004) argue that there has been a lack of status and authority within the overall structure of local government to facilitate change in polices and practices. Furthermore, there are agencies and units both within local authorities and externally who are unwilling to be held accountable for community safety outcomes. According to Schuller (2004), there has been inadequate organisation, scheduling and institutional integration into the overall decision-making process, with impact assessment often undertaken towards the end. It has also bee n suggested that the most pertinent issue may be, not to predict accurately, but to define appropriate goals, and then set up the organisation that can effectively adapt and audit the project to achieve goals. CONCLUSION The paper has discussed the main problems confronting those who must evaluate community safety initiatives, looking at the issues of support and initiative, technical difficulties, access to data, political pressure, and low utilisation. Proper evaluations of community safety initiatives are rare. Little time and resources is available for conducting evaluation and there is a lack of commitment from government and local agencies. Barriers have been experienced throughout the evaluation process, including problem formulation, design of instruments, research deign, data collection, data analysis, findings and conclusions and utilisation. Further barriers have been presented by lack of focus on the local social, cultural and political context. Some evaluators have even stressed their incompetence, claming that they do not know how to undertake evaluation. Relevant data is often not recorded or collated to give a complete picture of the problem. Political pressure also presents a signifi cant problem as administrators find themselves in contradictory roles. Furthermore, they often want to spend all the funding available on implementation as opposed to evaluation. Finally, evaluation results have not been effectively utilised, which can have a significant negative impact on evaluators. BIBLIOGRAPHY Australian Government Attorney Generals Department (AG). (2007). â€Å"Conceptual Foundations of Evaluation Models†. Cherney, A and Sutton, A. (2004). Aussie Experience: local government community safety officers and capacity building†. Community Safety Journal, Vol.3, Iss.3, pg.31. Community Safety Centre (2000). â€Å"Research and Evaluation†. Community Safety research and Evaluation Bulletin†. No.1. Glaser, D. and Zeigler, M.S. (1974). â€Å"The Use of the Death Penalty v. the Outrage at Murder†. Crime and Delinquency, pp.333-338. Hagan, F.E. (2000). â€Å"Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology (eds)†. Allyn and Bacon. Mallock, N.A. and Braithwaite, J. (2005). â€Å"Evaluation of the Safety Improvement Program in New South Wales: study no.9†. University of New South Wales. Morton, S. (2006). â€Å"Community Safety in Practice – the importance of evaluation†. Community Safety Journal, Vol.5, Iss.1, pg.12. Read, T and Tilley, N. (2000). â€Å"Not Rocket Science? Problem-solving and crime reduction†. Crime Reduction Research Series Paper 6, Home Office. Rhodes, A. (2007). â€Å"Evaluation of Community Safety Policies and Programs†. RMIT University. Schuller, N. (2004). â€Å"Urban Growth and Community Safety: developing the impact assessment approach†. Community Safety Journal, Vol.3, Iss.4, pg.4. Varone, F., Jacob, S., De Winter, L. (2005). â€Å"Polity, Politics and Policy Evaluation in Belgium†. Evaluation, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp.253-273.