Peer Pressure Essay Example for Free

Peer Pressure Essay Introduction Peer pressure is a social influence exerted on an individual by others in order to get that person to act or believe in a similar way. It is used by a social group, often with the implication that everybodys doing it. This influence can be negative or positive, with a successful result being a change in a persons behavior. Nearly all children experience some form of peer pressure, whether at school, at church or at home among siblings. As a kind of social pressure, it dominates preteen life. Many teens become absorbed into different cliques and groups, spending less time with their families. Much of the personality of a teen can be shaped by a peer group. Negative peer pressure can be a dangerous tool against children, especially younger or insecure children. They may be persuaded to take actions they might otherwise not have considered, such as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or taking drugs. Peer pressure is a problem for adults, who may be coerced, for example, into buying a house or car they cant afford in an effort to keep up with the Joneses. Peer pressure is not always negative, however. A student whose friends excel in academics may be compelled to study hard and get good grades. Influence can also be exerted to get a friend off drugs or to help an adult take up a good habit or drop a bad one. Study groups, class projects and athletic groups are examples of positive peer groups. Why I chose the topic – I decided to chose this topic because in the Indian Education System children experience a sudden thrust of freedom and responsibility to shape their future at the same time. In such cases, they can either be well-guided or mis-guided. Peer pressure may also lead to stress and anxiety. Teens have a multitude of issues that can cause them anxiety. The two major settings for this peer pressure teen stress are in their home lives and in the college setting. The stressors are many and diverse. Their feelings can be affected by some of the issues listed below: * The feelings that others and also inside themselves tell them they should do and how they should perform. * Peer pressure teen stress is also caused by the way they feel they are viewed by adults in the college setting. * The peer pressure teen stress to perform in the grades and work they do. * Problems with socializing with other teens. Problems at home with family members. * Having a low self worth. * Always having verbal conflicts with their friends and family. * Low income living conditions for the family. * Peer pressure teen stress is sometimes caused by a major event causing grief or trauma within the family. This could be death, an illness, or parents splitting up. * A split in the relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend. * The neighborhood in which they live is not a good place. * Having to move to a new home is yet a cause of the peer pressure teen stress. Having to adapt to a new school/college environment. Objectives of the project: The main objective of the project is to discuss the issue of peer pressure under â€Å"no pressure†. The students must be made to understand how they can grasp the good and leave the bad. The project tries to distinguish between Good Peer Pressure and Bad Peer Pressure. It analyses various aspects that cause such a pressure and gives a solution to the same. The project also gives a remedy for overcoming bad peer pressure. The project also makes suggestions as to how can peer-pressure-struck children can be helped. The project also tries to examine the reasons that make children give-in to peer pressure. Here are some other reasons why people give in to peer pressure, that are less known but equally as responsible. †¢ The lack of self-confidence to go ones own way. It is easier to follow the footsteps of another than to make your own. There is also a certain level of safety that comes with following another. Taking the road less traveled by making your own choices takes self-confidence and self-assurance. †¢ The desire to avoid embarrassment. Many people fear embarrassment more than death. Knowing this, it is easy to see how important effective communication can be in responding to peer pressure. For example, if a bunch of peers surround a teenager and asked him if he wants to smoke a cigarette like the rest of them have, and all the teenager can think of is, but my mom said I should just say no. then he is in trouble. It is best to prepare yourself and your children with witty, yet clear and firm responses to known peer pressures. For example, in the above situation the teenager could say, Hmmm, spend my life wasting money, offending people, having bad breath, and killing myself. o thanks.    A good response cannot only save one from embarrassment, but give others the confidence to not give in to the peer pressure as well. Those who lead are often well respected by those who follow. †¢ The lack of using ones own mind. Again it is reacting, rather than responding that causes one to get in trouble. Think about the consequences of your actions, both present and f uture. Dont give in and sacrifice your long-term goals for short-term gratification. †¢ The lack of unbiased information. When someone feels pressure from peers, they are often presented with biased information. Again it is preparation that can help one to avoid peer pressure by knowing all the facts. Anticipate peer pressure in life and get the facts from a reliable source. Educate yourself and your children dont count on the school system to do it. Some of the more common peer pressures experienced in youth that can be prepared for today are smoking, alcohol, drugs, sex, cutting class and committing crimes. The biggest peer pressure in adulthood is being expected to behave, act, and perform like your peers rather than becoming the person you are capable of becoming. Know the reasons for and against these pressures. Resources referred: ? Bullying Prevention Program http://www. clemson. edu/olweus/ ? Take Action Against Bullying www. bullybeware. org ? Steps to Respect: A Bully Prevention Program www. cfchildren. org/str. html ? Breaking the Cycle of Violence: Intervention for Bullying and Victimization (1996) By Richard J. Hazler ? How to Say No and Keep your Friends: Peer Pressure Reversal for ? Teens and Pre-Teens (1997). By Sharon Scott ? CAFS Teacher Talk Volume 1(3) 1996 http://education. indiana. du/cas/tt/v3i3/peerpress. html Preventing Classroom Bullying: What Teachers Can Do (2003). By Jim Wright http://jimwrightsonline. com/pdfdocs/bully/bullyBooklet. pdf ? Resource for parents: http://sitemaker. umich. edu/356. darnell/advice_for_parents Conclusions: Growing up, everyone will experience some form of peer pressure. Peer pressure is the control and influence people of our age may have on us. Peer pressure can occur in many kinds of relat ionships. The way we respond to peer pressure can have a great impact on the decisions we make and, in turn, our total health. There are many different types of peer pressure. There is positive, negative, and manipulation. Positive peer pressure is not limited to following or setting good examples of what to do. It can also provide examples of what not to do. A teen whose friends do not use alcohol or other drugs may be positively influenced to follow their example. Being a good role model is also a great way to demonstrate positive peer pressure. Influencing peers to take part in a positive act or worthwhile cause is a healthful way of influencing others. It can be contagious. We are primarily social beings with a strong need to belong. Throughout our life, we search for the balance between independence and connectedness. How much of ourselves do we give up/compromise in order to belong? The teenage years (and pre-teen) are a time of shifting focus of belonging from family to peers as while also developing a personal identity. Because kids dont yet have the maturity to grasp or to understand the potential consequences of being influenced by their friends, it is difficult for them to see the pitfalls of poor relationships and negative peer pressure. This project is designed to walk us through the inquiry and clarification of the need to feel connected and belong, as well as to be true to ones self while assessing the harmful affects of peer pressure. In addition to the inquiry looking at the costs/benefits belonging, it will identify strategies to deal with negative peer pressure and ways to turn it around, creating positive peer pressure, building leadership and personal power.

The Derivation of Incest and Pedophilia as a Repressed Societal Fear in

The Derivation of Incest and Pedophilia as a Repressed Societal Fear in Dracula Franco Moretti provides a cogent argument for a particular understanding of societal fears existing in the Britain mind of the Victorian Era manifest in the gothic novel, Dracula. In his reading of Dracula, he chooses to extrapolate these fears along the lines of Marxist and psychoanalytic interpretative frameworks. Though Moretti admits that â€Å"it is hard to unite them harmoniously† (Moretti 104), he does not suppose these two frameworks to be mutually exclusive. In both cases, terror serves a dual function. It simultaneously expresses and hides the unconscious content of society. Dracula serves a metaphor for this content in two capacities. On the one hand, he symbolizes the uncontrollable individual pursuit of capital outside any moral boundaries. On the other, he symbolizes the liberator of sexual desire, the element which draws the trope of lust and passion into explicit social discourse. The repressive element in relation to this symbol is established solely in how it compromises the integrity of the Victorian notion of the woman. When Moretti notes that â€Å"[f]ear and attraction are one and the same†¦ (Stoker 99)†, he is addressing the dynamic between a man and a woman. â€Å"Vampirism is an excellent example of the identity of desire and fear: let us therefore put it at the center of analysis. (100)† Though his concern throughout the article seems to be caught up in deriving the real fear in British society, by thematizing the male-female portion of the transgressive sexuality spectrum, he overlooks what appears to be, through further textual analysis, an equally prevalent hidden fear in British society: pedophilia. Moretti establishes the family,... ... the discourse when the trope of sexual explicitness is represented. The vampire bite is understood as a distinctly sexual act, initiating the transition of the victim towards passion and lust. The inclusion of children into the realm of vampirism, even in the absence of obvious sexual and gender distinctions, does not escape the implications of the nature of this act. Jonathon Harker, in his seemingly innocent epilogue, aligns sexuality with children. The child becomes bound by the same repressive fear applied to the male-female relationship. If the child can fall victim to the vampire, then the domestic sphere, the family, can be split not only along the lines which compromise the holy bond between husband and wife, but also those between the positions of parent and offspring, which extend the repressive field of sexuality into the realm of pedophilia and incest.

Fall of Labor Unions

What do you think of when you hear the phrase â€Å"labor unions?† Most people associate a negative connotation with labor unions. They think that labor unions are the only cause of strikes and work stoppages. Most think that people in unions are greedy and will do anything to get more money. Others swear by their unions, saying that their employers would take advantage of them if they didn†t organize their unions. However as we prepare to enter the new millennium, labor unions are decreasing in size. Let†s look at some of reasons. First, the numbers are unmistakable. At the end of 1997, when the most recent count was made, only 14.1% of workers belonged to unions, the lowest percentage since 1936 (Gross 23). This is a dramatic decrease from when unions were at their height at the end of World War II when 35.3% of Americans were in unions (Galenson 13). One cause of this fall of union membership is the decline of manufacturing in America and the transfer of much manufacturing work over seas (Gross 24). Because of advances in technology and labor saving innovations, fewer people are required to make steel and assembler automobiles. As a result, only 16.1% of U.S. workers now work in factories, down from 22.8% twenty years ago (Aronwitz 2). There has also been a decrease in size of the large corporations, which in the past usually signed industry-wide contracts to produce a particular item. The latest figures show that the 800 largest firms employed 17% of the total workforce, down from 25.7% twenty years ago (Aronwitz 3). Many of these companies have their work done abroad. Nike does not make a single shoe in the United States and many insurance companies are having paperwork processed over seas (Hacker 45). At home corporate jobs are frequently assigned to temporary workers, who are often classified as â€Å"independent contractors† and are not very likely to join unions. Indeed, there are fewer long-term jobs, something union seniority could once guarantee. Last year, among men aged forty to forty-five, only 39.1% had worked ten or more years at their current job, compared with 51.1 percent in 1983 (Galenson 27). So, one might ask, what caused this to happen? At some point in the 1980s, the balance of power shifted against labor unions. Some say the defining moment was in 1981, when then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan forced an end to the bitter air traffic controllers' strike. Others point to the 1985 victory of then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over striking coal miners (Gross 239). Whatever the reason, unions are trying to make a comeback. There are several strategies that unions have devised to return to their former glory. Unions have adopted a more lenient attitude towards management, reducing the number of strikes to record lows in the 1980s and early 90s, and attempting to negotiate contracts providing job security for members (Gross 278). Unions have also placed greater emphasis on organizing drives for new members. Although unions have been very successful in organizing government employees, they have been less successful with recruiting office workers in the rapidly expanding services sector. However, during the last two decades, the wage advantage for unionized workers with private jobs has fallen by 44.1 percent, although the public sector has increased by 9.5 percent (Maguire 20). Currently, 41.9% of union members are from the public sector. Among the most strongly unionized occupations are firefighters (71.6%), flight attendants (69.4%), and high school teachers (56.1%). Only 28.6 percent of coal miners belong to unions and only 19.5% of truck drivers (Hacker 47). Despite all of the downsides of unions they do have their benefits. Here are a few examples of salaries secured through collective bargaining by highly trained professionals: Pilots with only fifteen years of service at Northwest, American, United, and US Airways now earn on average over $175,000 a year. Professors at New York City University can now get as much as $101,655 for twenty-eight weeks of teaching. Under the current National Basketball Association contract, first year players-some of them right out of high school-will start at $300,000 (Hacker 48). The recent NBA lockout has shaped many peoples† opinions on labor unions. Most people, myself included, thought that it was ridiculous for these people to be having a labor dispute. The players are already making an insane amount of money and the owners are millionaires themselves looking to add to their pocketbooks also. The real losers in this battle are the fans who love the game. They cannot see their favorite players in action because of this dispute. This just goes to show you that labor markets affect us in our everyday lives. Another way labor unions can affect our lives is when they decide to strike. This can effect hundreds, even thousands of workers in the General Motors strike in 1998. In the case with the automobile industry, many factories are involved in the production of their cars. If even one of these factories strikes then the other factories must also shut down. This chain reaction can render thousands of workers jobless in just a few weeks. The union members know that there is always a potential risk of striking as accept as part of their job. What role will unions play in the future? Will they ever return to former glory? Nobody knows for sure. Economists have mixed feeling on this matter. Some say that the workers of the twenty-first century will demand a return to the unions and organize in record numbers. Others say that the current trend will prevail and almost wipeout unions completely until there are only a handful of them remaining. My opinion is that unions will stick around for as long as people are working. They will be there to protect the rights of the individual worker and make sure that he or she is treated fairly.

Essay about Globalization and Infectious Disease - 3704 Words

â€Å"The world is a global village†, is a metaphor that was coined by the Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan to describe the perceived experience of a smaller world resulting from the effects of modern technology, faster communication and improved transportation, despite geographical boundaries (1). The various processes that have produced this phenomenon can be called globalization. There are many definitions of the term globalization; Delbruck 1993 defined globalization as a process of denationalization of markets, laws and politics, in the sense of interlacing people and individuals for the sake of common good(2). Fidler 1996 aptly described globalization as a complex process of, â€Å"political and economic intercourse between different†¦show more content†¦The Institute of Medicines report 1992 defined emerging infections as, â€Å"a new, emerging or drug resistant infection whose incidence in humans has increased within the past two decades, or whose incidenc e threatens to increase in the near future†(5). Infections represent a threat with far-reaching world-wide implications. Micro-organisms are not bound by international borders, a new infection can emerge in one part of the planet and reach another end of the globe through travel and trade faster than ever before(6). Global liberalization of trade has resulted in rapid exchange of good and services between countries of the world, increasing the risk of international trade in contaminated foods, illegal products and inconsistent safety standards. In recognition of this threat, the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged that a coordinated global response is required to prevent uncontrolled infectious disease pandemics (6, 7). This paper will evaluate the effect of globalization on infectious diseases focussing on the social, economic and ecological factors that influence its epidemiology. The author will also review the strategies employed globally by international organisations and governments to prevent and control the spread of infections. TRENDS IN GLOBALIZATION AND INFECTIONS In an overly ambitious statement, the United States Surgeon General William Stewart in 1967Show MoreRelatedGlobalization And Its Effects On Society939 Words   |  4 Pages Globalization can be described as the interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations (http://www.globalization101.org/what-is-globalization/). 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