The US Congress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The US Congress - Essay Example Senator Spector's website contained the same constituency topics; including flags, touring DC, appointments to military academies and internships; and actually had one more than Lott - how to get grants. His home page though was a bit more crowded and the major topic buttons were not as easily recognizable as Lott's; to his benefit, though, he had an email signup form on the front page and his office locations and phone numbers. Unlike Lott's page though, Spector had no search bar. The information on Wicker's home page was sparse at best. His navigation buttons were difficult to read and small which could make it very difficult for an older person. Also his main topic buttons had no drop down menus and instead of grouping categories together he too many individual tabs. He had no search bar. Lastly, Lewis' webpage was set up nicely. His category buttons were easy to locate, although they did not have drop down menus. He did, however, have two search bars: one for general searches and a Bill search which was innovative. He did not have a state map as did the two senators. All four of the congressman had a great deal of partisan information within their websites, although some were more blatant than others. Lewis' home page was mainly taken up with information on Bills, projects or acts he was personally involved with. However, his latest news was dated January 18 which made me wonder what he had been doing for three months. Wicker's home page dedicated almost half of the home page to hurricane relief aid. The lower portion had current news release links to his sponsored bills as well as three columns he pens. Spector's latest news was dated April 6th so information is being updated fairly frequently and like the others his news all dealt with legislations or committees is was actively working on. He did have an article, however, about bipartisan cooperation in oil and gas price discussions. Lastly, Lott's press release section was less cluttered with only one release displayed and a button to see more. He also had a link to his weekly radio address w hich according to the website he has been doing a weekly address since 1973. Of the four web pages Lott had the least partisan information portrayed on the main page. All four Congressmen have lengthy biographies posted on their websites explaining in detail the professional lives as well as their background and family information. Wicker has an extensive photo gallery. Lewis has the shortest biography of the four congressmen. One thing I did not like is the first paragraph spoke about his personal insurance business; ever the salesman I suppose. His photo gallery was set up nicely with different headings to select from which made it very neatly organized. Lott's biography was nicely laid out with his main headings labeled. This allows the readers to scan through for the particular area they are seeking. Lott only had one photo, his official Senate photo. Spector's biography was also nicely laid out clear and concise with nice visual representations. Spector also had no photo gallery which made me question if it was a Senate mandated, a Senate unofficial mandate or just a coincidence. Of the total appearance of the websites, by far, the most appealing was that of Lott. He had much better use of space. The pages did not seem as cluttered as that of Wicker and Lewis. Spector's page was laid out well too,

Rawls Notion of the Political and the Realism View

Rawls Notion of the Political and the Realism View Bree Dela Rosa   Rawls Political Concept and the View Associated with Realism Introduction John Rawls in his work sought to capitalize on the concept of justice; enabled by his exploration on The Theory of Justice. As discussed by Rawls, the bone of contention when it comes to the aspect of the truth is that; the principles of justice in the structural dimension of the society are the main guidelines.[1] Getting back to the main idea which is the political aspect, there is an intertwine between the concept of justice and the political aspect. Rawls noted that to attain an upper hand in the political arena; there is a collision with the discussed principles of justice.[2] On the liberties that the citizens of a particular country are endowed to; political independence is one of the same. Political freedom gives a citizen the right to participate in a voting exercise, and also, can be a participant in elective public positions.[3] Political liberty is one of the political reasons that the same citizens get to enjoy. Realism, as highlighted, is a phrase that enjoys a broad ra nge of definitions.[4] The different usage it has is in the various areas such as; art, moral philosophy, politics among others. It is important to note that realism involves adorning in a particular attitude towards the world, to focus on the most salient dimensions of a given situation, whether or not they conform to our preferences or desires.[5] Through the in-depth study of the film Glory, it shall be possible to determine the differences that exist between the political aspect and realism. The shared thoughts of Rawls opined that a society based on ideologies of politics is that where the citizens get to enjoy the outlined political liberties which are free from ambiguity.[6] All the people despite their political inclinations, races, sexual orientation or even religious affiliations are to enjoy these political rights. However, in the Edward Zwick-directed film Glory, this is not the case. There seemed to be some alienation when it came to the enjoyment of the liberties endowed to the citizens and especially those partaking in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.[7] All the soldiers and army personnel participating in the field were bound to receive their provisions and personal effects from their heads charged with that duty by the government. Robert Shaw in the film Glory unearthed that black soldiers were discriminated upon and even denied basic items such as the shoes. It is important to know that as determined by a particular author; realism is frequently employed as a term to describe approaches that focus on the sources, modalities, and effects of power.[8] Therefore, realism augurs easily with the various slots whether in leadership or the political arena. Besides, realism aligns to the realpolitik, which is a subject of both the military and political power and which finds unworthy the steps that would bring changes that ensure that there is progress on the global front.[9] In the film Glory, there are obvious stumbling blocks to the initiation of the changes that would provide the relative deduction of the racism menace and the ill treatment of the slaves. The federal government was itself, in fact, paying the black soldiers lesser amount compared to that given to the white soldiers.[10] The soldiers under the command of Shaw were being denied personal effects such as shoes due to their race. Some of these black soldiers who had joined the co mbat were former slaves. Despite having been soldiers for the primary purpose of participating in the battlefield, there was no awarding of black soldiers with a chance to do so. Instead, treatment as manual laborers was the order of the day. Another political notion offered by Rawls is that a society that is politically ideal is that in which there is some economic balance where those that are in socially unjust position are also able to live comfortably. This economic balance in a practical manner involves ensuring that the society is economically just where the haves and the have-nots get access to basic social amenities. In most communities, striking a balance in the distribution of resources among these two groups is considered a big challenge. The large gap existing evidences the situation between the wealthy and the have-nots. This gap between the rich and the have-nots continues to widen since the rich become richer while the poor become poorer. The disparity between the haves and the poor is because of the uneven sharing of resources. Among the needy in the society, there are fewer resources, and in other scenarios, these resources do not exist. The film Glory apparently pictures this kind of setup present in mos t communities. There is a major disparity in the economic resources at the disposal of the white soldiers and the black soldiers. Payments to the black soldiers are lesser than that of the white soldiers; where they get $10 in a month and their white counterparts receiving $13 during the same duration.[11] Also, the film depicts a picture where there is a subjection of harsh conditions on black soldiers. In totality, economic imbalance characterizes this society of members of the troops, which is the contrary of what Rawls advocated of a politically ideal society. Realism in the political angle as highlighted is not a new subject in general.[12] In a bid to make a comeback to the aspect of realism; one of the main areas eyed was the political philosophy and the normative political theory. Realism, in particular, is deeply entrenched in political philosophy.[13] In matters about the realism in political philosophy, it involves a roughly spoken manner. Besides that, its main area of interest is not in how people are supposed to act in an ideal or rational situation, what they are to vest their desires in or even the types of individuals they are meant to be. In fact, its primary interest is the operation of the social, economic or even political functions in a given community at a particular point in time. Another bestowed on the same is what moves members of this community to act in certain situations. There is a painting of this angle of realism in the film Glory. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry is the particular circumstances at a p articular point in time of the members of the soldiers fraternity. Operations of the social, economic and political functions of the community of the troops depict realism in political philosophy. Socially, the black soldiers were considered to be in a cluster different from their white counterparts. There is outright discrimination in the job description, overall treatment, and even remunerations. The treatment of the black soldiers in this quarter was a clear reflection of the reigning political era. Therefore, fuelling of these actions against the black soldiers was by the federal government and the political class inclusive. The political ideas that Rawls had differed from the real situation that was on the ground. In fact, there was an intriguing disparity between political compliance and the political reality.[14] These emerging differences are the ultimate case scenarios in most situations and the one provided by the film Glory is no different. Shaw aggressively campaigned for the proper treatment of the black soldiers that he was commanding. Despite his desire for a perfect situation for these black soldiers, this would not be the case as the reality was that there was a deep entrenchment of racism in this particular society. In conclusion, there are standing differences in the political notion that Rawlings sought to communicate and the aspect of realism. There was a significant evidence of these different points in the film Glory. These differences provide a stable ground for the Rawls political notion and realism both on an independent framework. Bibliography Bell, Duncan. 2008. Political Thought and International Relations Bird, Colin. Ethics and Analytical Political Philosophy Broderick, Mathew; Washington, Denzel; Elwes, Cary; Freeman, Morgan. Glory. Dir. Zwick, Edward. The United States. TriStar Pictures. 1998. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZbXA4lyCtqr4OBF9B8fwe1WxcCTRARKM Philp, Mark. 2012.   Realism without Illusions. DOI: 10 1177/0090591712541723 Rawls, John. 1971. Justice as Fairness [1] Rawls, John. 1971. Justice as Fairness. Pg. 1 [2] Ibid, pg. 4 [3] Ibid, pg. 8 [4] Bell, Duncan. 2008. Political Thought and International Relations, pg. 1 [5] Ibid [6] Bird, Colin. Ethics and Analytical Political Philosophy. Pg. 22 [7] Broderick, Mathew; Washington, Denzel; Elwes, Cary; Freeman, Morgan. Glory. Dir. Zwick, Edward. The United States. TriStar Pictures. 1998. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZbXA4lyCtqr4OBF9B8fwe1WxcCTRARKM [8]Bell, Duncan. pg. 1 [9] Ibid, pg. 2 [10] Broderick, Mathew; Washington, Denzel; n.p. [11] Ibid [12] Philp, Mark. 2012.   Realism without Illusions. pg. 2. DOI: 10 1177/0090591712541723 [13] Ibid, pg. 2 [14] Bird, Colin, pg. 22

General William T. Sherman :: General Sherman Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most colorful characters of the Civil War was a General named William T. Sherman. During the period of the war (1861-1865), General Sherman went full circle from being forced to retire on trumped up charges that he was insane, to becoming a key player in bringing this bloody war to a close. He entered the annals of military history as one of the greatest and most distinguished generals of all time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William T. Sherman was born to Charles N. Sherman and Mary Hoyt Sherman in Lancaster, Ohio, on February 8, 1820. General Sherman can trace his family history back to England. The Sherman family first came to the New World in 1634, settling in Boston, Massachusetts. Several family members achieved notorial prominence; including Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Daniel Sherman, who sat in the Connecticut General Assembly for 30 years. In addition, Sherman’s father became a state Supreme Court Judge in Ohio. William T. Sherman was once thrown from a horse as a young child and was not expected to live. In 1829, things would once again take a turn for the worse with the Sherman Family. Sherman’s father was away on the circuit when the elder Sherman took ill and died. No doubt this caused a problem for Mrs. Sherman to have to support 10 children. Family members and friends took all but the three youngest children to raise in their homes. A family of prominence took in Young William. Senator Thomas Ewing and his wife took in young William and treated him like their own son. Senator Ewing was the first Secretary of the Interior for the United States. It was Senator Ewing’s influence that helped William get into West Point in 1836. William graduated in 1840, 6th in his class. Sherman would later marry his stepsister Ellen Ewing on May 1, 1850, in the Blair House in Washington, D.C. Sherman and his wife would eventually have several children together, including a young son who die d during the Civil War, just as President Lincoln’s young son had died. One of Sherman’s sons became a Catholic priest at the urging of his mother who was a devout Catholic. General Sherman himself converted to Catholicism but never really accepted the religion as his own. In peacetime, Sherman was unsuccessful at several business attempts just like Ulysses S. Grant. Ironically it was the Civil War that distinguished them as historical immortals.

Victorian Gothic Literature: Scientific vs. Medieval Thinking Essay

Victorian Gothic Literature: Scientific vs. Medieval Thinking      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Creatures of the night have always held a fascination and horror for people in all cultures. The English fascination with sensational and gothic literature came to a peak, after slacking slightly following the Romantic period, in the late Victorian period with such works as Dracula, The Strange Adventures of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. The literate populace avidly devoured this type of literature. While most publishers merely churned out serial horror stories en masse, such as Varney the Vampyre, many serious writers used this genre as a means to force their audience to think about their beliefs. Serious Victorian Gothic literature plays on the fears and emotions of the era, an era that was especially fearful since their beliefs had been ripped out from under them, largely by contrasting modern science with medieval superstition and belief.    The Victorian era was similar to our own in that it was a time when people weren't really sure what was true or what they believed. As this prayer, believed to have come from the Victorians shows, " 'O God - if there is a God - save my soul - if I have a soul' " (Houghton 22). New theories about the age of the earth had demonstrated that something was out of kilter with the bible, since the earth seemed to be older than the biblical account would show. Darwin had gone one step further and shown that man hadn't been created but evolved through natural selection. A generation was growing up in a culture that had had the rug of its beliefs pulled out from under its feet. The main difference between the Victorian sense of doubt and our post-modern doubt is, "faith in the existence of u... ...completely destroyed by his dabbling in alchemic science.    Much of Victorian Gothic literature plays to the Victorian doubt in what they believe, especially as concerns science and what is largely assumed to be medieval superstition. By playing on these fears, authors are able to create stories that are horrifying on several levels. First of all, the action that goes on in the book is enough to make the readers skin crawl. However, the authors go farther and use their audiences natural fears and doubts to create a story that is sensational on all levels.    Works Cited Davenport-Hines, Richard. Gothic: Four Hundred years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin. North Point Press: New York, 1998. Houghton, Walter E. The Victorian Frame of Mind. Yale University Press: New Haven, Conn, 1957. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Penguin Group: New York, 1992.

Disadvantages of Foreign Aid

An evaluation of Blackberry Company’s implementation of TQM Done by: Sanad F Jumean 1 Table of contents: _ Introduction——————————————————3 _ Continuous improvement————————————-4 _ Employee involvement—————————————-4 _ Customer focus————————————————–5 _ Conclusion——————————————————–6 _ References—————————————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€œ7 2 IntroductionBlackberry is a brand that was created by research in motion (RIM) which is a global leader in wireless innovation, the mobile industry was revolutionized with the introduction of blackberry solution in 1999, blackberry offers a variety of products and services targeting both business customers as well as individual customers, most of its products are smart phones that have the ability to send and receive push e-mails and instant massages with a high level of security , it helps its customers connect more easily with the world regardless of the place, blackberry devices can also be used as personal digital assistants, portable media players, and internet browser, the blackberry internet service is available in 91 countries around the world on over 500 mobile service operators. Blackberry’s goal and vision statement is to provide solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market, including the software that allows the BlackBerry Smartphone to p rovide mobile access to e-mail, applications, media and the Internet. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, blackberry provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including e-mail, phone, text messaging (SMS and MMS), Internet and intranet-based applications. 3Continuous improvement: Blackberry Company listens to its customers through votes on its website, feedbacks, and surveys throughout the world. Blackberry has a policy that translates those feedbacks into their routinely two month’s software updates. Software updates include improving their current software’s that are being used by customers and adding new features that come up to the developers through customer feedback process and brainstorming of developers. Security measures are a major concern for blackberry; improvements to the software include such security measures that are most importan t to business people who operate their work on their devices.Continuous improvements in Blackberry Company is not limited to its software but also includes the body of the device, those improvements are mainly based on the previous shape of the same series of the device and reviews from users of the same series phone. Continuous improvement can also be seen in blackberry’s emphasis on continuously training their employees and making sure that they have the necessary skills and specialties to compete in the market, as well as continuously evaluating their performance and determining what needs to be improved. Employee involvement Blackberry Company have 250,000 developers throughout the world, those developers come up with different ideas about developing, improving, and producing a new product. They try to align their ideas through meetings, and then they present the conclusion of their ideas to the top management.If the top management gives the approval to the new ideas of t he developers they apply their new ideas and creations through translating these ideas into products and services. During this stage the rest of the employees receive updated e-mails during every stage of producing the new product to have an overview about the product for the sake of answering customer’s wonders. 4 Customer focus: Blackberry Company is mainly addressing business people in their device but at the same time they still focus on individuals willing to use their products or services. As previously discussed blackberry has various methods in keeping touch with their current customers and new potential markets.After evaluating the feedbacks whether positive or negative, the data gathered is then analyzed and grouped in the form of useful information and knowledge that can be used to keep their products and services up to date. Because customers are the main asset for blackberry, most of the useful information gathered is actually taken into consideration by employee s and developers and translate it effectively to their new or updated product or service. To support our earlier discussion on customer focus, blackberry has awarded an employee that has applied their strategy through engaging customers in all of its research and development process, either as source of innovation, as a part of the product testing program in the redesign of the operational process. This award is called â€Å" Blackberry customer focus award†. 5 Conclusion:It’s important for different types of organizations to continuously evaluate how well they implement TQM, taking into consideration the major effects of implementing TQM on the organization’s performance and its position in the market related to its competitors, however, although blackberry company pays considerable attention on implementing TQM properly, focusing on important factors such as employee empowerment, customer focus, and continuous improvement, it has to do more efforts in certain areas such as employee empowerment by giving its employees the chance to be part of the production process rather than just sending them updated e-mails during every stage of producing the new product or service. 6 References _ http://us. blackberry. com _ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/BlackBerry _ Interviews with Mr. Mike Mefleh Blackberry Product Manger- Middle east. 7

Negative Effects on Children Essay

Parents are too busy earning a living so that they can feed, cloth and educate their children. Consequently, they spend much time away from home and from their children. Since their parents are not around, the children have no choice but to spend their time in front of the television. It then goes without saying that children spend a lot of time in front of the television set where they are exposed to sex and violence. The question then is; does the exposure to sex and violence have negative effects on children? There is no simple or obvious answer. Some people may argue that the sex and violence on television does not have negative effects on children. This group of people believe that that the amount of sex and violence on television is not enough to warrant the change in the behavior of the children. More over, that some children are too young to understand the scenes on television, anyway. Others yet may argue that exposure to sex and violence, however limited it may be, does have negative effects on the children. It influences them to commit antisocial and sometimes immoral behavior. Nevertheless, it is important to analyze the issue critically before settling for any one conclusion. SUMMARY OF INFORMATION The media has both positive and negative influences on children. On the one hand, it provides their growing minds with information. On the other hand, it also provides them with negative information in the form of sexual and violent content that corrupts their young minds (Singer & Singer, 2002). According to Josephson, when children watch television, they understand the content in very different ways. How they understand the television content is highly influenced by their ages, their attention spans and also their life experiences (1995). Case in point. Think about children who are less than five years old and the kind of attention span they have. Yes they may take the time to sit in front of the television, but after a few minutes they will have gotten restless and moved on to some other activity, say playing with their toys or just running around. More over, even though these children may appear to be paying close attention to the scenes on television, it is very likely that in their minds, they may fail to register what the exact content of program is. It is only the mature, much older, children and adults who are capable of discerning program content. According to Cameron, this is because most children under that age of seven cannot easily tell fantasy and reality from each other. To them it’s all one and the same thing. At this stage of their development, it is hard for the children to understand the motives and justifications for the violence on television (2009). Children are unaware of whether the characters on television are real or not. Consequently, Bugs Bunny is just as real as the news anchor. Therefore, since the child does not know what is real and what is not, it is then possible then possible that they will also not be able to distinguish whether or not to copy what they see. It is for this reason that it would be incorrect to conclude with certainty that indeed all the sex and violence on television does have negative effects on children. It is only after the age of two that children begin to really pay attention on what is on television. As the children grow older, they learn to differentiate between what they see on television and reality. By the time these children grow into teenagers and adulthoods they shift their focus from television preferring to instead spend their time on other activities such as developing relationships with their peers of the opposite sex. Nevertheless, it is during adolescent that sex and violence on television may have a greater impact on the children. Those without guidance may try out what they see on television. Thus, it is important to note that it is the amount of time that a child spends in front of the television that really matters. According to Huesmann, children who consistently watch violent programs on television are more likely to be negatively affected than their counterparts who do not. Think about it. A child who frequently watches Monday night wrestling, which by all standards may be described as a violent program, is more likely to try wrestling with his friends. What is even more interesting is that the child may also attempt using the same wrestling behaviors, as seen on television, as a way of solving conflicts with others (2001). Thus, children who watch/are exposed to violence on television are more aggressive (Jonassen & Harris, 2003). According to Greenspan, in the process, these children are bound to injure not only themselves but others in the process (2007). Concurrently, children who habitually watched television programs raced with sexual content were much more likely to be involved than their counterparts who were not. According to Stein, frequent watching of sexual content on television was a big influence in teen pregnancy (2008). It is probable that the children may want to try out what they may have watched and the consequences in this case are teenage pregnancy. Nathanson & Cantor (1998), argue that at some point in time children will be exposed to television; it is unavoidable. It may not happen in their homes. Children may go visiting their friends where they may have to watch television meaning they may be exposed to sex and violence. It is therefore up to parents to protect their children from prolonged exposure to sex and violence on television. The simplest way of doing this is by restricting the number of hours that children actually spend in front of the television. Rather than letting children watch television after school, parents may choose to enroll their children in such after school activities such as soccer practice or ballet. Such activities are sure to keep children away from exposure to negative TV programs. Even when children are left under the care of a nanny, parents should leave strict instructions on just how much time their children should be allowed to watch television. It would also be important if the parents themselves were to change their television watching habits. In most instances, toddlers are heavily influenced by their parents (Josephson, 1995). Therefore, if the parents were to stay away from the television but instead partake in other activities, their children would follow suit. This way the parent’s would not have to worry about the television negatively affecting their children. Another way that parents may protect their children is by letting children watch television programs that have PG rating. The idea behind this concept is that parents should watch a television program first before they let their children. The main idea here is for the parents to determine the suitability of the program. PG also means that parents should watch the program with their children so that they may offset any negative effects. By all standards, PG rating is good and workable idea. However, according to Cameron, very few parents may want to do this (2009). SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH STUDY Most of the research that has been carried out has focused on the effects of television violence on children. However, according to Eyal & Kunkel, there has also been research whose aim was to show the association between the watching of sex on television and pregnancy among teenagers. The argument is that there is a relationship between the exposure of children and young adults and their expectations about sex and also their engagement in premarital sex (2008). One such study was published in 2008 in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics. According to Chandra, Martino, Collins, Elliot, Berry, Kanouse & Mlu, while there was increasing evidence (from previous studies and research) that the exposure of children/youth to sexual content on television is a big influence on their sexual attitudes and behavior, the studies were yet to establish the king of association that existed between the exposure of children to sexual content and adolescent/teen pregnancy. Accordingly, the study by Chandra et al, sought to establish this relationship (2008). The participants were some 2000 children between the ages of 12 and 17 years. These children were tracked for period of three years; till they were aged 15 and 20 years. The participants by interviewed by telephone. According to Chandra et al, the participants who constituted the sample were drawn from a list of house holds that had been commercially purchased. the researchers were careful to select the households that had a high probability of housing adolescents aged between the ages of 12 and 17 years. The final study sample therefore comprised of 57% males, 665 white, 12% Hispanics and 17% blacks all of them adolescents with an average age 18. 1 years. Survey, was the chosen research design. The survey was meant to measure and collect data on the television viewing habits of the adolescents, their knowledge of sexual matters, In addition, their behaviors and attitudes towards sex plus demographic and psychosocial variable, such as age, sex and education level which are known to predict sexual behavior, were also measured (2008). As a way of encouraging the participants to respond to the survey questions, the survey was conducted in private. From the survey, it was established that to a great extent the exposure of children/teens to sexual content on television was a big predictor of teen pregnancy. From the research, the teens that were exposed to high levels of sexual content on television were found to be twice as likely to experience pregnancy in the subsequent three years. The reverse was true for those who had lower levels of exposure. So, 25% of those who watched frequently watched sexual content on television were involved in a pregnancy. The number was high compared to that of the adolescents who watched the least; which stood at 12% (Chandra et al, 2008). The results of the study go to show that indeed habitual exposure to sexual content on television does have negative effects on children. From the study, most of the children who frequently watched sexual content on television were subsequently involved in a pregnancy compared to their counterparts who did not watch sexual content on the television much. Accordingly, there is a link between the exposure of children to sex and sexual content on television and the negative effects of pregnancy. Thus, it is clearly evident that sex, and even violence, on television has negative effects on children, more so when the exposure is frequent, prolonged and unsupervised. It is for this reason that the exposure of children and violence on television should be restricted. For instance, by watching television with their children and discussions the depictions of sex on television, they may be able to tone down the influence of the sex and the violence (Chandra et al, 2008). CRITICAL ANALYSIS Most of the information contained in internet sites, into the question of whether all the sex and violence on television has negative effects on children, does indeed provide information to the affirmative. Children spend a lot of time in front of the television from an early age. When children are young, say between the ages of two and five, the sex and the violence cannot be said to have influence on them. This is because children are very young and are not able to tell fantasy from reality. More over, they have a limited attention span which makes their concentration and internalization of the content on television impossible. However, it is when children are all grown up, into their teens that the sex and violence can be said to have some kind of effect on children. When children are older, they are also more mature and therefore able to differentiate fantasy from fiction. Furthermore, the fact that they are older means they may try out what they watch on television. There is strong evidence behind this information. For instance, it has been reported that children who watch wrestling duplicate the same aggressive behaviors that they watch on television. They are openly aggressive towards their peers. Sometimes, they even use the same behaviors to solve their conflicts with their peers. However, the internet information goes on to explain that children have to be exposed to prolonged sex and violence on television for there to be negative effects. More over, that the children who are frequently exposed to the sex and violence on television are more susceptible to the negative effects. It is for this reason that parents restrict how much time their children spend in front of the televisions. The research study also goes to provide information on the link between frequent exposure of children to sexual content in television and negative effects, in this case pregnancy. There is strong evident in support of this. Of the 2000 children who were surveyed in the research, 25% of those who had frequent exposure to sexual content were found to be more likely to be involved in a pregnancy in subsequent years. This was as compared to 12% of those who were not as frequently exposed to sex and sexual content on television. Just like the information compared in the internet sources, as soon as children are old enough to differentiate between fantasy and reality it is very likely that with prolonged exposure, they may want to try out what they see in television. Again, it is prolonged exposure that makes all the difference. The best way of mitigating the negative effects of exposure to sex and violence on television, parents should watch and discuss how sex and even violence is portrayed in television. This would also help to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. CONCLUSION It is evident that television content, sex and violence, has some negative effects on children. It is true that quite a large number of children watch television and are therefore exposed to sex and violence. Nevertheless, it is important to note that not all these children who are exposed are susceptible to the negative effects. Certain groups of children are more prone to acting out what they see on television. It is this group that is likely to aggressive and or immoral. This is the group of children that has prolonged and frequent exposure to sex and violence on television. It is for this reason that exposure to television is limited. Thus, it may be correct to conclude that all the sex and violence on television has negative effects on children. However, it is also important to note that it is only prolonged exposure to the sex and the violence that results in the negative effects. It is the children who frequently watch television programs laced with sex and violence that are more likely to be aggressive and promiscuous as compared to their counterparts who do not. According to the information contained in this report, negative influences of sex and violence on television only become visible when the children are much older. Thus, it remains largely unclear as to why frequent exposure of adolescents to violence and sex on television influences then negatively, After all, are they not at an age where they are capable of differentiating right from wrong; fiction (what is on television and reality (what they should not do); and therefore refrain from engaging in certain activities? More research may be necessary to provide insight into the reasons why children prefer to act out the negativity they view on television rather than on the positive. Is there, for instance, more gratification in doing what is considered negative as compared to doing what is right? Answers to these questions may shed more light on to why sex and violence has negative effects on children at all. REFERENCES Cameron, J. (2009). The view on TV violence. iafrica. com. Retrieved 15 April, 2009 from http://lifestyle.iafrica. com/parenting/fatherhood/274094. htm Chandra, A. , Martino, S. , Collins, R. , Elliot, M. , Berry, S. , Kanouse, D. & Mlu, A. (2008). Does watching sex on television predict teen pregnancy? Findings from a national longitudinal survey of youth. Pediatrics. 122(5): 1047. Eyal, Keren & Kunkel, D. (2008). The effects of television drama shows on emerging adult’s sexual attitudes and moral judgments. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. 52 (2): 161.

How Does My Interpersonal Communication Shield Impact My Everyday Communication Skills Essay

Being able to participate and take part in this project was very interesting. It gave me a chance to look at how others view me, how I view myself, and what influences me to be the person that I am. I’ve always been a nice and hardworking person. I love to help people, and I try to stay very positive even when situations present themselves to seem impossible. My family and friends along with my boyfriend all help influence the attitude that I have towards life. I’m a very open person in social situations, but I can also be very guarded about my personal life. I’ve always had a pretty decent self-esteem. I try not to allow others the satisfaction of forcing me to come out of my comfort zone and ruin my self-esteem. I try to stay out of situations that may make me feel bad about myself. I believe that my interpersonal communication shield impacts my everyday communication skills. From the nurturing people that surround me on a daily basis to influence me to stay positive and always be myself, to my defense against destructive cultural beliefs that help me stay encouraged to always be positive. I am most definitely impacted by my shield. There are also many things that I don’t know about myself, such as particular body language. I do many things that I don’t notice but someone else may notice subconsciously. This is in my hidden self these could be negative or positive. But I do know that they are reflections of how I really feel at times. In my private life I can be like a wall, I’m extremely guarded about my feelings and my business. I can easily self-disclose to my family and close friends as well as my boyfriend, although it is a lot harder for me to self-disclose with strangers and distant friends and associates. I can be a loner at times but I use my self- affirming statements to stay positive and keep my head up when I can’t rely on others to influence my attitude. They have always been a good resource when I feel by myself and need some positivity.