Evaluate the evidence for a critical period of language acquisition Essay

Evaluate the evidence for a critical period of language acquisition. At what point does the brain appear to lose its plasticity for language - Essay Example Apart from the small things or concepts taught by the parents, siblings, schools, etc, etc as part of life’s and academic education, the children will tend to learn many things on their own. The children using their brains and other sense organs will learn from the environment, the things they handle, the images they see, and importantly the words they hear, etc. So, the crucial formative years only functions as a perfect setting for the child to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and also vocally. Vocally in the sense, they will develop the ability to acquire multiple languages and speak in them. But, as the child grows, the ‘plasticity’ of the brain to acquire languages tends to weaken. So, this paper will discuss why the brain appears to lose its plasticity for language, from different angles. Even though, the vocal box, and other vocal and auditory organs only help the humans to listen, speak and thereby acquire languages, the brain only plays an omnipresent role in all the process. That is, when children hear languages in the form of sounds, their brain, which will be in the developing stage, will try to form patterns and importantly will try to reproduce it. And only when the child’s brain develops further the formation of pattern will accelerate, resulting in seamless reproduction and also own creation of sounds and languages. â€Å"†¦ before babies utters their first slobbery syllable, they have been hard at work mentally calculating the statistical nuances of their parents language. Not only are babies capable of deciphering sounds, she said, but they also can map how the individual sounds are combined, how syllables are stressed, and what the intonation qualities are--"all by the time they celebrate their first birthday (NIDCD). So, the bottom line is, in the critical period of language acquisition, the brains plays a crucial role.

Principles of Distillation Essay Example for Free

Principles of Distillation Essay What is distillation? Simply, distillation is the process in which a liquid is vaporized (turned to steam), recondensed (turned back into a liquid) and collected in a container. Nature uses a form of distillation to turn salt water (seawater) into fresh water (rain). Why do you use distillation to recycle waste solvents? Solvent-based waste contains volatile material (solvents) and non-volatile material (contaminants like paint, ink, grease, fiberglass, etc.). Many of the non-volatile contaminates are dissolved in the solvent (like salt dissolved in salt water) and cannot be filtered-out. Distillation is an ideal way to separate the two. Why is distillation an ideal way to separate the two? During the distillation process, the solvent-based waste is heated until it reaches the boiling point. It then evaporates (vaporizes) and passes through the condenser where heat is removed from the vapor and it turns back into a cool, clean reusable liquid (same process that causes dew to form). Fortunately, contaminates are typically not volatile (easily vaporized) and stay behind in the distillation tank. You say contaminates are typically not volatile, does this mean some are? Occasionally there are cases where a potential customer wishes to separate a volatile solvent from another volatile material. This is not the typical customer. Some cases include customers using an alcohol to remove water from parts to dry them or where they have solvent mixtures due to poor house keeping practices (they lump all waste solvents into one drum from different operations like painting and parts cleaning). To separate one volatile from another effectively requires fractional distillation; our process uses simple distillation. What are the differences between simple distillation and fractional distillation? Simply stated, in simple distillation, what you put in is what you get back, but it is free of non-volatile materials (it is clean!). Fractional distillation is much more complicated (and expensive). It is the base process where crude oil is turned into the many items that come from oil. Fractional distillation is not required for virtually all solvent recycling applica tions. What is vacuum distillation? Vacuum distillation is the distillation of a liquid under reduced pressure. The atmospheric pressure in the distillation tank is reduced making it possible to boil the liquid at a lower temperature. Liquids boil at lower temperatures under reduced pressure (the inverse is that a liquid boils at a higher temperature under pressure, which is why they use a pressure cap on an automobile radiator to increase the boiling point of the engine coolant to prevent boil-over). Why do you use vacuum distillation? Vacuum distillation is used to safely recover higher boiling point solvents. We limit the maximum temperature of the distillation unit’s heater. There is a temperature at which a flammable or combustible material can ignite by temperature only, this is called the autoignition temperature (this is discussed later). Some solvents boil at temperatures that exceed the temperature that the distillation heater can reach (392 º Fahrenheit). Vacuum distill ation lowers the boiling point to allow recovery within the heaters maximum setting. When do you use vacuum distillation? It is used to safely recover solvents with boiling points over 300 º Fahrenheit. Vacuum distillation should not be used on solvents with boiling points below 200 º Fahrenheit. If the maximum heater setting is 392 º Fahrenheit, why do I need to use vacuum distillation for solvents with boiling points over 300 º Fahrenheit, don’t you mean solvents with boiling points over 392 º Fahrenheit? No! When boiling a liquid, two factors come in to play. One is the requirement to have a â€Å"driving force† to force the liquid to boil and vaporize. This â€Å"driving force† is in the form of extra temperature to allow the solvent to develop a good rolling boil. The other factor is the role of the non-volatile residue. As you boil off solvent and the remaining mixture in the distillation tank becomes more concentrated in the nonvolatile material, the vapor pressure drops (Raoult’s Law) and most important, the boiling point goes up! So bottom line is that you need 50 to 100 degrees of extra temperature to do a good job of boiling the waste solvent. Also, the concentrated non-volatile material acts as an insulator towards the end of the process as it becomes more and more concentrated. So, as the percentage of non-volatiles in the contaminated solvent increases, the required heat to completely distill the mixture also increases. Sometimes solvents that have boiling points of 318 ºF (Xylene) may not require a vacuum if they are not highly contaminated but almost definitely would if the solid content was greater than, lets say 10%. Pulling a vacuum on such a mixture will reduce its boiling point and the overall time to process it. How is the vacuum created? The vacuum is generated using our JetVac technology. A stainless steel reservoir is primed once with clean solvent. A small stainless steel pump is immersed in the liquid and is attached to an explosionproof electric motor. When the motor is started, clean solvent is drawn into the pump and forced through a metal tube known as an aspirator. The aspirator looks like an open piece of pipe with a small orifice (hole) on one side. As the high velocity fluid is pumped across the face of the orifice, it creates suction (like a venturi on a carburetor). Air is pulled through the venturi from the distillation system and passes through a vent.

Small Business Development Can Beauty Parlour Marketing Essay

Small Business Development Can Beauty Parlour Marketing Essay This reflective report will describe my own role in helping the team to achieve its goal in relation to the Business plan. Also I will provide evidence of my involvement to the success of the team from the idea initiation and how I facilitated the completion of the Business plan. It started like this, I was arranged in a group of three members, a team with other group mates which were all new to me. Although we were in a same class since the beginning of the course but I was not close to them. Our group seems to understand each other quickly because of the good communication. We always solved easily problems encountered through out the exercise. As a group we were performed different tasks in making a business plan. The aim of this business is to acquire a loan from a bank, so as to help our salon CAN Beauty Parlor to start the business in relation to capital and assets. Afsa was responsible for the marketing , Christine had a task of future beauty fashions operations as well as identifying the competitors and I was responsible for preparing financial projections through the input from Afsa and Chrisstine The report also illustrates the Team work, our mutual interest as a group, idea initiation process and the experience achieved from presenting the business plan and as well as my personal views towards the whole business plan. The business plan has allowed us to work as a group and also learn of the industry as a whole and we were able to apply the academic theories we learned throughout our course . 1 TEAM WORK CAN beauty parlor came to be a perfect choice of our mutual interest of the whole group. Our group consistent of three people eager to carry out our tasks in relation to the writing the business plan. We started by splitting the tasks so that we could have competition to see who achieve the task goals as we planned. My team included Afsa Bhanji, Christine Mkwawa and myself We as a group were allocated different tasks in order to form the business plan. Afsa was responsible for the marketing, Christine had to analyse the industry and identify the competitors and I was responsible for preparing financial projections through the input from colleagues of our beauty parlor The three of us were not conversant with each other although we have been studying in the same college for some years. and we were not engaging in regular conversation during the classes so it was not easy for us to work as a team. But all three of us had an interest in setting up a beauty outlet where people will come and get quality service different from others. We came over Five stages of group development; i.e forming, norming, storming, performing and adjourning. Although the norming stage took a while but after knowing each other well the rest of the stages went much easier. As we have now completed our business plan we have finished up the adjourning stage. Christine , enjoys regular visiting most of the famous salons in town. She is a beauty lover and is always up to date with the upcoming fashions. She has contacts with several people that performs beauty at different venues in Dar es Salaam. Her strength is awareness of popular beauty trends. Afsa too is a beauty lover. Her beauty interest includes of nails, hair , and skin. She currently participated in a beauty contest in Tanzania her strength is being well conversant in the beauty industry. Myself, I dont have much interest in beauty but I love running a hotel my strength in this exercise was identifying the opportunity as I related the organic restaurant by seeing the opportunity of opening a salon using natural beauty products. We worked as a team with acknowledgement of everyones contribution related to the tasks, we coordinated and make sure we achieved our goals. 2 PROCESS OF IDEA INITIATION Our team wanted to initiate an idea which will be effective and being able to achieve the goals in the business we planned as a our group. As a team we all put forward suggestions to come over one effective Idea. Industry situation of the current market was our first priority before choosing the idea. Our discussion included:- 1. An Organic Restaurant The idea was good as the Industry is very profitable, as there is no many such restaurants which makes the business less competitive. But we hesitated getting into this business as all of us had any experience on the said business. Then we dropped the idea. 2. Dry cleaning Business . Several dry cleaners are operating in the markets. People today require this service to make their life easier. But due to investment costs to buy the modern machines and due the lack of experience in that field we deduct chose the idea. 3. Beauty Parlor. The final choice was to open a beauty salon. The whole idea was a bit difficult as how our project will succeed while they is a fleet of salon in Tanzania. We came out with the Idea of differencing ourselves from other by opening a Beauty Salon by using Natural Beauty Products. Our final choice which was a beauty Parlor was an interest of the whole group. process of idea initiation has been very difficult to us as we had to take risk by introducing natural beauty products which is the new product in the beauty industry. What we had to do was laying out strategies and make sure we implemented them accordingly. 3 PRESENTATION EXPERIENCE Presenting the CAN Beauty parlour to our tutor allowed us to see the other side of our business plan. After passing through the pages of the written business plan; obvious would come out with several questions to the parts that needs more elaboration. We were informed of executive summary was too brief as doesnt show everything in our business plan, we were needed to elaborate a bit more. We were also needed to draw a graph showing the break even point. Presentation always adds weight to the Business plan as the investors may have a clear picture as the presents will be able to deliver what is need from the investors, question will be answered and criticism can be responded during the exercise of presentation. Presentation is a good experience as the panel can ask questions and need elaborations as we can communicate orally which will hell the business man to defend the projections written in the business plan. 4 ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO The beauty Industry is tightly come but only self I can optimistic to the group of our Beauty Parlour as per business plan. As we differentiated ourselves by using the natural products our business will be able to increase its profit by 5% every year as we projected in our financial parts. The services we offer will attract many people as the product are new in this Industry. Our service will be delivered by professional staff which will make our parlour more popular once customers experience our services. Another factor that greatly effects our growth is our initial geographic location. CAN beauty parlour will be located in Masaki near the shopping mall and tourist hotel. Our target market is a small portion of the population compromising of the middle and high income earners who are either employed or operate their own business. Our initial location will tend to gain the business of these customers due to the traffic. Lastly, the demand for healthy beauty products we will be able to make a good business as the health concern is the major issue among the people living in urban areas 5 ACADEMIC THEORIES IN THE BUSINESS PLAN We were able to apply to our project a shared leadership once we divided our team in three different parts according to the tasks we were able to take responsibilities for different parts of the business plan. We learned that everyone can work towards a common goal and there is no need to be just one separate leader.   Every member has a share in helping to lead the group. With the experience of leadership we also showed the importance of being ethical leaders, Ethical leadership is very important in any organization. . We were also able to analyse the current situation of the beauty industry attractiveness and profitability by using Michael Porters five forces. The Business plan was a great example for us to apply our knowledge of our academic theories. Our small group was able to make our business plan very effective since we had meetings every week we were able to keep it going without much toil. Another topic which came to our help is the SWOT analysis this frame work helped us to identify our competitors and where our firm stand by identifying our strengths and weaknesses, and also the business model the use off differentiation strategies here we displayed our competitive advantage using the natural beauty products which is different from our competitors. The use of the those theories helped us to increase our knowledge as we applied the in the real situation and see it working. By using the roles in making the business plan will help us a lot in our effort to make our job easier in the future. . 6 ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATION OF BUSINESS PLAN The main importance of the business plan is the industry analysis as well as market plan. It is through the industry analysis that businessman will be able to fully known the current market situations and also thoroughly identify it competitors. The industry analysis allows an entrepreneur to initiate the first decision whether to enter the market as well as the final.. A well written Business Plan is the true picture of any business because it gives details on how you plan to serve your customers and retain them. The Business Plan is important to any business as it is based in operation and management plans. Referring to our business plan the Industry analysis is will give our business an advantage to fully view the current market situation and thoroughly Identifies our competitors, and also help in knowing our competitive advantage which in this case is the differentiation strategy on our services using the natural Beauty Products. A well written Business Plan make implementation of strategies easier and helps to increase business market share. But the disadvantage could be As we projected that our financial growth will be 5% every year, this will be actionable if the implementation of the strategies will be as planned. Comparing to the actual operation the projected growth in the business plan could be wrong. 7 OTHER AREAS AND CONCLUSION The overall process of developing the business plan was very challenging. As different individuals are involved, it is difficult to come up with one point of view and hence there can be a few of disagreements and then to see the situation again and come to the final decision. I enjoyed making the business plan of the CAN Beauty Parlor with my team members. In the process, I learnt a lot of things about the Salon industry in our country. We took up the chance of introducing the salon services by using the natural products and we are certain that the business will achieve growth or expansion in the future. Conclusions I have benefited from the Business Plan writing in a number of ways: 1. I enjoyed making the business plan of the CAN Beauty Parlor with my team members. In the process, I learnt a lot of things about the Salon industry in our country 3. The overall process of developing the business plan was very challenging . Areas of Improvement I think that the Business Plan writing can be of greater relevance if more time is allowed for sitting together as a team. I have I now realize that getting business done as projected requires much more knowledge and practice of a written Business Plan Lastly, I would like to thank Afsa for her cooperation throughout the exercise in the team and whenever I was stuck she gave me advice, she was always there to give me a hand.. 8

The Theme of Capital Punishment in Norman Mailers The Executioners So

The Theme of Capital Punishment in Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song Throughout this entire book many different points of view are present. Since the main topic of the book is the murders that Gary Gilmore committed and the controversy of his sentence, it was difficult to choose the exact thesis. I believe I came pretty close with the one that I have chosen. I believe that Norman Mailer's thesis in The Executioner's Song (1979) is: The controversy over capital punishment. One reason I believe that this is the thesis is because Gary Gilmore says, "Nicole my inclination is to let them execute me." (473) By Gary telling Nicole, his girlfriend, this he shows that he is ready and willing to accept the fact that what he did was wrong. His preferred method of execution is to be shot....

Cost of Capital Essay

LEI’s expected net income this year is $34,285.72, its established dividend payout ratio is 30 percents, its federal-plus-state tax rate is 40 percent, and investors expect earnings and dividends to grow at a constant rate of 9 percent in the future. LEI paid a dividend of $3.60 per share last year, and its stock currently sells at a price of $54 per share. LEI can obtain new capital in the following ways: Preferred: New preferred stock with a dividend of $11 can be sold to the public at a price of $95 per share. Debt: Debt can be sold at an interest rate of 12 percent. a. Determine the cost of each capital structure component. b. Calculate the WACC. c. LEI has the following investment opportunities that are typical average-risk projects for the firm: Project Cost at t = 0 Which projects should LEI accept? Why? [2(382)] 2. The Heuser Company’s currently outstanding 10 percent coupon bonds have a yield to maturity of 12 percent. Heuser believes it could issue at par new bonds that would provide a similar yield to maturity. If its marginal tax rate is 35 percent, what is Heuser’s aftert-tax cost of debt? [2(383)] 3. Trivoli Industries plans to issue some $100 par preferred stock with an 11 percent dividend. The stock is selling on the market for $97.00, but Trivoli must pay flotation costs of 5 percent of the market price, so the net price that firm will receive is $92.15 per share. What is Trivoli’s cost of preferred stock with flotation considered? [2(383)] 4. Zwing-Zook Enterprises has a beta of 1.45. The risk-free rate is 6 percent and the expected return on the market portfolio is 10 percent. The company presently pays a dividend of $2 a share and investors expect it to experience a growth in dividends of 7 percent per annum for many years to come. a. What is the stock’s required rate of return according to CAPM? b. What is the stock’s present market price per share, assuming this required return? [1(77)]

Bullying in Schools

James Smith Sociology Nancy Rosen Bullying In Schools Many problems in society need public attention, bullying is one of the top problems. The problem of bullying affects everyone in some aspect whether it is by being the victim, victimizer, and both the victim and the victimizer, friend, or family member of the victim or just a bystander that does nothing to prevent this problem. When you think of bullying you might picture a young child. While bullying is most common in elementary and high schools, it is important for education programs to be aware that associated bullying behaviors begin early even into the preschool years.When one thinks of a bully, the image of a movie villain may come into their minds; this isn’t always the case. In reality, a victimizer of bullying can be male or female, small or large, young or old. Bullying has no social, financial, or cultural boundaries. Bullying is most common in middle schools, with 6th graders on the receiving end the most and 8t h graders handing out the most bullying. In a study of 15,686 students in 6th through 10th grade in private and public schools, it was found that 13-23% of boys and 4-11% of girls experience some sort of bullying. (Nansel 2003).Nearly one in six children in that age range fall victim to bullying each year, which means about 3. 2 million children, were being bullied. Whereas, 3. 7 million children are acting as bullies (Kerlikowske 2003). Six out ten children witness some form of bullying on a daily basis. In schools, bullying most likely takes place on the playground, followed by the classroom, then the hallways (Drake 2003). For the students at Dunn Middle School, a lot of the bullying occurs out of school. If it occurs in school, most students said bullying occurs in the hallways or in the lunchroom.One student even mentioned a fight that took place during an assembly, which was initiated because one student was bullying another. Although anyone can be a bully, there are many comm on characteristics found in most bullies. Most bullies are male, popular, and often athletes (Espelage 2001). They have excellent social skills, with the ability to attract many followers, and easily manipulate others (â€Å"Bullies†¦ † 2001). Bullies are psychologically strong and very popular among their peers. This peer status is important in terms of boosting their well-being. It's disturbing to think that bullies are feeling really good about themselves.Bullying behavior is self-reinforcing: When kids find that putting others down earns them approval from their peers, they are likely to do it again and again. Many times they can easily butter up to adults, making them unsuspecting bullies (Espelage 2001). In general, a bully is someone who teases and intimidates other students, although there are many other ways to bully a fellow student. Many people feel the typical bully comes from a broken home, but this is not necessarily true. Yet, the less supervision a child gets at home, the more likely he is to be a bully.About 30 to 40% of bullies show some levels of depression, and their bullying is often a cry for help. (Espelage 2001). I asked my little brother what he thought caused students to bully one another and I was impressed with his response. He felt bullies exist because they probably can’t get their way at home. Many of the other students felt very similarly. One student even thought that maybe bullies were bullied as little kids, which turned them into bullies themselves. Most bullies look for a victim to be smaller, younger, and weaker. Most likely the victim will be both less confident and popular. â€Å"Bullies†¦ † 2001). Many victims react by becoming upset or crying as a way of dealing with their anger and fear. Victims have a tendency to be depressed, anxious, shy and lonely (Drake 2003). Luckily, as they grow older, victims are less likely to stay a victim because they learn to cope, while the bullies tend to remain that way (Drake 2003). Tonja Narsel, a psychologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, says that from previous research victims tend to have a lower self-esteem and have a higher level of depression (Rubin 2003).When people think of bullying they will most likely think of a boy getting shoved into a locker by older boys or getting pushed as they walk through the hallways. While this is the most common form of bullying, especially with males, many girls experience a different form of bullying. Although it is a more indirect form of bullying, social manipulation is very prevalent within females. Social manipulation can include many actions, including spreading gossip, telling lies, betraying trust, passing notes, ignoring the victim, or excluding the victim (Bullies 2001).Many of the girls said there was a lot of bullying between girls. They said many girls would get bullied if they get a lot of attention from the boys. It seemed as if the girls wo uld get jealous, and then in turn make that girl the object of their bullying. They said the bullying most often consisted of calling names, pulling hair, and occasionally fighting. There are many repercussions from bullying that are quite shocking: 1) Children who are bullied are more likely to be depressed – 26% of girls who were frequently bullied reported depression as opposed to 8% of girls who were not; the boys were 16% vs. %; 2) Victims are more likely to be suicidal, with 8% for girls and 4% for boys, compared to 1% overall for non-victims of bullying; 3) Bullies are more likely to carry weapons, with 43% carrying a weapon to school at least once a week, compared to 8%. 4) Bullies are more likely to be injured, 46% vs. 16%. (Kerlikowske 2003). The topic of bullying entered the spotlight due to the numerous school shootings. In two-thirds of the 37 school shooting that were examined, the shooters felt persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked or injured by others prio r to the incident (Drake 2003).It is very important for teachers to be involved and to keep their eyes out for bullies to help keep the incidence of bullying at a low. All future teachers need to acknowledge the need for anti-bullying programs, which can significantly reduce the occurrence of bullying. Bullying prevention programs are interventions for the reduction and prevention of bully/victim problems. The program targets students in elementary, middle, and junior high schools. All students within a school participate in most aspects of the program. Additional individual interventions are targeted at students who are identified as bullies or victims of bullying.The core components of the program are implemented at the school, class and the individual level. To make sure this program is a success the staff and students must work together cooperatively. For a safe classroom environment against bullying, there must be the establishment and enforcement of class rules against bullyin g. Teachers need to teach and develop good interpersonal skills and values with the children. The students also need to be taught non-violent values, non-racist values, conflict resolution, and problem solving skills.If a child in a class is identified as a bully there needs to be interventions and discussions with parents. The school must do its part to ensure effective communication between itself and parents. Parents need to be informed of any bullying incidents right away. School counselors or school psychologists can assist teachers in this process. Children can be taught habits to lessen the possibility of becoming the target of a bully. If a child starts looking people in the eye, speaking up and standing up straight they can begin to develop self-confidence.Kids need help developing strategies to deal with the intimidating behavior of their peers, like walking away or telling the bully to stop, but they also need to know that adults can and will come to their aid. A teacher' s openness about bullying can give them that assurance (Feldman, 2004). Unfortunately, most of the students at Dunn Middle School felt fighting back was the best solution. One student mentioned going to an adult for help, but another student quickly responded, you snitch, you’ll get beat up worse. One student offered the solution of fighting back and got a weapon.I feel that there has to be a strict punishment for the bullies so the victims can be reassured that the bully won’t continue such behavior. Cyber bulling is another form of teen violence that can do lasting harm to young people. Statistics show that cyber bullying is a serious problem among young teens. This problems comes in many forms, such as sending mean messages through email or through text messaging, posting harmful or threatening messages on social networks i. e. Facebook or twitter or pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person. The behavior of bystanders who see bullying happen is to o often overlooked or excused.Bystanders provide bullies with an audience and sometimes even encouragement. When witnesses do nothing to stop abusive behavior, they also give their implicit approval. It should be made very clear to students that failing to stop or report an act of bullying makes them responsible and they too can get into trouble. Yet, it is very difficult to speak up against the bully. Many of the students don’t want to get involved because they don’t want to be the next victim. Yet again, I feel that strict punishment needs to be enacted for such bullies so the other students can have a sense of security.If anti-bullying programs are implemented the right way, results can be amazing. Many programs that are used in schools nationwide have had these results with their interventions: 1. A substantial reduction in boys and girls reports of bullying and victimization. 2. A significant reduction in student’s actions such as vandalism, fighting, theft and truancy. 3. Significant improvements in the aspect of the class, such as students reports of improved order and discipline, more positive social relationships, and a more positive attitude toward schoolwork and school (Svoboda, 2004).Preventing bullying is just one important aspect of maintaining good discipline in school environments. Children who feel secure want to go to school, enjoy school, and therefore learn more. Teachers who are in classrooms that are safe, orderly, and free of bullies can accomplish many things. All children can benefit from lessons about treating each other with respect. Bullying is one childhood memory no youngster should have.Works Cited Bullies and their Victims. Harvard Mental Health Letter. 2001, 4-7. Drake, J. Teacher preparation and practices regarding school bullying. Journal of School Health. 2003, 347-356. Espelage, D. Schoolroom torment. People. 2/05/2001, 91-92. Feldman, S. Bullying prevention. Teaching PreK-8. 2004, 6. Kerlikowske, G. On e in six students fall prey to bullies. Inside School Safety. 2003,6-9. Nansel, T. Bullies found to be at risk for violent behavior. Inside School Safety. 2003, 1-4. Rubin, R. Study: Bullies and their victims ten to be more violent. USA Today. 4/15/03 Svoboda, E. Everyone loves a bully. Psychology Today. 2004, 1-20. Bullying in Schools James Smith Sociology Nancy Rosen Bullying In Schools Many problems in society need public attention, bullying is one of the top problems. The problem of bullying affects everyone in some aspect whether it is by being the victim, victimizer, and both the victim and the victimizer, friend, or family member of the victim or just a bystander that does nothing to prevent this problem. When you think of bullying you might picture a young child. While bullying is most common in elementary and high schools, it is important for education programs to be aware that associated bullying behaviors begin early even into the preschool years.When one thinks of a bully, the image of a movie villain may come into their minds; this isn’t always the case. In reality, a victimizer of bullying can be male or female, small or large, young or old. Bullying has no social, financial, or cultural boundaries. Bullying is most common in middle schools, with 6th graders on the receiving end the most and 8t h graders handing out the most bullying. In a study of 15,686 students in 6th through 10th grade in private and public schools, it was found that 13-23% of boys and 4-11% of girls experience some sort of bullying. (Nansel 2003).Nearly one in six children in that age range fall victim to bullying each year, which means about 3. 2 million children, were being bullied. Whereas, 3. 7 million children are acting as bullies (Kerlikowske 2003). Six out ten children witness some form of bullying on a daily basis. In schools, bullying most likely takes place on the playground, followed by the classroom, then the hallways (Drake 2003). For the students at Dunn Middle School, a lot of the bullying occurs out of school. If it occurs in school, most students said bullying occurs in the hallways or in the lunchroom.One student even mentioned a fight that took place during an assembly, which was initiated because one student was bullying another. Although anyone can be a bully, there are many comm on characteristics found in most bullies. Most bullies are male, popular, and often athletes (Espelage 2001). They have excellent social skills, with the ability to attract many followers, and easily manipulate others (â€Å"Bullies†¦ † 2001). Bullies are psychologically strong and very popular among their peers. This peer status is important in terms of boosting their well-being. It's disturbing to think that bullies are feeling really good about themselves.Bullying behavior is self-reinforcing: When kids find that putting others down earns them approval from their peers, they are likely to do it again and again. Many times they can easily butter up to adults, making them unsuspecting bullies (Espelage 2001). In general, a bully is someone who teases and intimidates other students, although there are many other ways to bully a fellow student. Many people feel the typical bully comes from a broken home, but this is not necessarily true. Yet, the less supervision a child gets at home, the more likely he is to be a bully.About 30 to 40% of bullies show some levels of depression, and their bullying is often a cry for help. (Espelage 2001). I asked my little brother what he thought caused students to bully one another and I was impressed with his response. He felt bullies exist because they probably can’t get their way at home. Many of the other students felt very similarly. One student even thought that maybe bullies were bullied as little kids, which turned them into bullies themselves. Most bullies look for a victim to be smaller, younger, and weaker. Most likely the victim will be both less confident and popular. â€Å"Bullies†¦ † 2001). Many victims react by becoming upset or crying as a way of dealing with their anger and fear. Victims have a tendency to be depressed, anxious, shy and lonely (Drake 2003). Luckily, as they grow older, victims are less likely to stay a victim because they learn to cope, while the bullies tend to remain that way (Drake 2003). Tonja Narsel, a psychologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, says that from previous research victims tend to have a lower self-esteem and have a higher level of depression (Rubin 2003).When people think of bullying they will most likely think of a boy getting shoved into a locker by older boys or getting pushed as they walk through the hallways. While this is the most common form of bullying, especially with males, many girls experience a different form of bullying. Although it is a more indirect form of bullying, social manipulation is very prevalent within females. Social manipulation can include many actions, including spreading gossip, telling lies, betraying trust, passing notes, ignoring the victim, or excluding the victim (Bullies 2001).Many of the girls said there was a lot of bullying between girls. They said many girls would get bullied if they get a lot of attention from the boys. It seemed as if the girls wo uld get jealous, and then in turn make that girl the object of their bullying. They said the bullying most often consisted of calling names, pulling hair, and occasionally fighting. There are many repercussions from bullying that are quite shocking: 1) Children who are bullied are more likely to be depressed – 26% of girls who were frequently bullied reported depression as opposed to 8% of girls who were not; the boys were 16% vs. %; 2) Victims are more likely to be suicidal, with 8% for girls and 4% for boys, compared to 1% overall for non-victims of bullying; 3) Bullies are more likely to carry weapons, with 43% carrying a weapon to school at least once a week, compared to 8%. 4) Bullies are more likely to be injured, 46% vs. 16%. (Kerlikowske 2003). The topic of bullying entered the spotlight due to the numerous school shootings. In two-thirds of the 37 school shooting that were examined, the shooters felt persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked or injured by others prio r to the incident (Drake 2003).It is very important for teachers to be involved and to keep their eyes out for bullies to help keep the incidence of bullying at a low. All future teachers need to acknowledge the need for anti-bullying programs, which can significantly reduce the occurrence of bullying. Bullying prevention programs are interventions for the reduction and prevention of bully/victim problems. The program targets students in elementary, middle, and junior high schools. All students within a school participate in most aspects of the program. Additional individual interventions are targeted at students who are identified as bullies or victims of bullying.The core components of the program are implemented at the school, class and the individual level. To make sure this program is a success the staff and students must work together cooperatively. For a safe classroom environment against bullying, there must be the establishment and enforcement of class rules against bullyin g. Teachers need to teach and develop good interpersonal skills and values with the children. The students also need to be taught non-violent values, non-racist values, conflict resolution, and problem solving skills.If a child in a class is identified as a bully there needs to be interventions and discussions with parents. The school must do its part to ensure effective communication between itself and parents. Parents need to be informed of any bullying incidents right away. School counselors or school psychologists can assist teachers in this process. Children can be taught habits to lessen the possibility of becoming the target of a bully. If a child starts looking people in the eye, speaking up and standing up straight they can begin to develop self-confidence.Kids need help developing strategies to deal with the intimidating behavior of their peers, like walking away or telling the bully to stop, but they also need to know that adults can and will come to their aid. A teacher' s openness about bullying can give them that assurance (Feldman, 2004). Unfortunately, most of the students at Dunn Middle School felt fighting back was the best solution. One student mentioned going to an adult for help, but another student quickly responded, you snitch, you’ll get beat up worse. One student offered the solution of fighting back and got a weapon.I feel that there has to be a strict punishment for the bullies so the victims can be reassured that the bully won’t continue such behavior. Cyber bulling is another form of teen violence that can do lasting harm to young people. Statistics show that cyber bullying is a serious problem among young teens. This problems comes in many forms, such as sending mean messages through email or through text messaging, posting harmful or threatening messages on social networks i. e. Facebook or twitter or pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person. The behavior of bystanders who see bullying happen is to o often overlooked or excused.Bystanders provide bullies with an audience and sometimes even encouragement. When witnesses do nothing to stop abusive behavior, they also give their implicit approval. It should be made very clear to students that failing to stop or report an act of bullying makes them responsible and they too can get into trouble. Yet, it is very difficult to speak up against the bully. Many of the students don’t want to get involved because they don’t want to be the next victim. Yet again, I feel that strict punishment needs to be enacted for such bullies so the other students can have a sense of security.If anti-bullying programs are implemented the right way, results can be amazing. Many programs that are used in schools nationwide have had these results with their interventions: 1. A substantial reduction in boys and girls reports of bullying and victimization. 2. A significant reduction in student’s actions such as vandalism, fighting, theft and truancy. 3. Significant improvements in the aspect of the class, such as students reports of improved order and discipline, more positive social relationships, and a more positive attitude toward schoolwork and school (Svoboda, 2004).Preventing bullying is just one important aspect of maintaining good discipline in school environments. Children who feel secure want to go to school, enjoy school, and therefore learn more. Teachers who are in classrooms that are safe, orderly, and free of bullies can accomplish many things. All children can benefit from lessons about treating each other with respect. Bullying is one childhood memory no youngster should have.Works Cited Bullies and their Victims. Harvard Mental Health Letter. 2001, 4-7. Drake, J. Teacher preparation and practices regarding school bullying. Journal of School Health. 2003, 347-356. Espelage, D. Schoolroom torment. People. 2/05/2001, 91-92. Feldman, S. Bullying prevention. Teaching PreK-8. 2004, 6. Kerlikowske, G. On e in six students fall prey to bullies. Inside School Safety. 2003,6-9. Nansel, T. Bullies found to be at risk for violent behavior. Inside School Safety. 2003, 1-4. Rubin, R. Study: Bullies and their victims ten to be more violent. USA Today. 4/15/03 Svoboda, E. Everyone loves a bully. Psychology Today. 2004, 1-20. Bullying in Schools Bullying in schools: Bullying Paula Bergbreiter Com. 220 3/21/2010 Valerie Black Bullying and cyber-bullying have become an increasing problem in the schools Everyday there is more and more stories on the outcome of what can happen when a person becomes a victim of bullies. Suicide and violence has risen in schools because of children being bullied. Adolescent children are among the highest at risk for bullying. What are the risk factors for bullying? Is one type of person more likely to be bullied? What are the schools doing to protect children from becoming a victim? Bullying is a form of intimidation ( Baldry, 2010, Farrington, 2010 ): A bully may use force or coercion to gain what they want from a weaker person. This is their way to establish superiority over an individual. Bullying has been around for many years. Today, it has become a serious issue for children in schools and on the internet. According to ( Roberts,2010, Harlow, 2010 ) bullying was more common in children who were less physically attractive, overweight, and had disability problems such as sight, hearing, or speech deficits. There are different types of bullying verbal taunting, physical assaults and exclusion. Some signs That a teacher or parent can look for to identify a child who is a bully may be aggression towards other’s, has little empathy, easily frustrated, and views violence as a positive way to solve problems. Some signs that a child is a victim of bullying may be fear of going to school, signs of depression, withdrawn, and signs of physical altercations such as bruises, and or scrapes. According to the National Center for Education Statistics report shows that middle school and elementary school children are bullied more than high school children. According to the Table below done at a Baltimore City public school, shows the number of tudents who were bullied or know someone who is a bully. Table I Percentage of Students who are bullied daily |Students verbally assaulted daily |70% | |Students who are threatened daily |60% | |Students who know a bully |80% | |Students who are the bully |30% | Bullying has been around for as long as anyone can remember. Not only do schools need to tr y to find a way to stop bullying but, in recent years the schools are seeing an increase in cyber-bullying among adolescents. Cyber-bullying is, the modern communication technologies to embarrass, humiliate, threaten, or intimidate an individual to attempt gain power and control over them ( Stutzky, 2006 ). Cyber-bullying has become has become an increasing problem in schools today. I believe that this form of bullying is more severe and has much worse outcomes. Everyday the media writes stories of children who have become victims of cyber- bullying. In 2006 statistics showed that 75 to 80 percent of 12 to 14 year olds had been cyber bullied ( Meech, 2008 ). Because of the use of modern technology this type of bullying can be one without being face to face. The use of computers today by children to cyber-bully makes it harder for authorities to pinpoint who is posting negative messages toward another person. A person who bullies on-line can send text messages, and photos. Cyber-bulling can spread through the internet fast and damage a persons reputation. Most times children who are being cyber-bullied do no t report it to their parents or an adult. Children are taught that home is where you feel safe, when an individual is being cyber-bullied they don’t have that feeling of safety. Parents need to look for signs if they feel their child is being cyber-bullied. Some signs may be depression, becoming withdrawn, a decline in school activities, and how they may view themselves. One of the big problems that authorities have with cyber-bullying is, a bully can use the help of another person to do the bullying for them. This is called cyber-bullying by proxy. When this happens it makes it harder to identify the real bully. The different forms of cyber-bullying can range from embarrassing rumors to threats, harassment, or stalking. Young adults and tenagers are among the most common victims. In the schools today computer technology is part of a child’s curriculum. Some schools are implementing a internet usage contract ( waiver), this contract or waiver will make the schools exempt from liability. students will be liable for what they do on-line. If schools are using these types of contracts they are not addressing the problem of cyber-bullying. If the issue of cyber-bullying is not addressed children will make the decision to take matters into their own hands. When this happens children think that revenge is their only option to protect themselves. Revenge can then urn into violence. This is when children start bringing guns and other types of weapons into school. Studies show that each day 100,00 students carry a gun to school ( American Justice Department). The impact that bullying can have children in schools is overwhelming. Some of the children that are bullied will develop mental and emotional problems, which they will carry into adulthood. Some children wi ll become violent towards their peers. In most severe of cases children or youths begin to feel like the only way to protect themselves is to threaten the bully with a gun or weapon. This can lead to shootings in schools or off of school property. At times when this happens the victim will take their own life. It can also lead to suicide. The suicide rate among adolescent children has gone up in recent years along with cyber-bullying. There have several reported cases of suicide in the last few years among teenage children due to cyber-bullying. The first steps that parents and teachers need to take when trying to stop a bully is to make sure to intervene when they see a child bullying another child. Watch for signs that a child is being bullied, or signs that the child is a bully. Most schools have a zero tolerance for bullying but, there needs to be more interventions put in place for children who are victims to feel safe at school. Parents need to talk to their children on a daily basis about what goes on at school. If a parent talks to their children on a regular basis they may know if something is wrong. I believe that bullying is something that is learned from an early age. Children who are subjected to violent situations daily it will show in the childs behavior. The child may not be the bully but aides the bully. All children in school need to be aware that bullying an happen to anyone and if they are a victim they should report it. Teachers and parents need to inform children that if they bully someone that they will have consequences. Children also need to be told that it’s not their fault, they did nothing wrong and that no child deserves to be bullied. My son was a victim of bullying in 4th. Grade, he reported it to the principle like we had taught him. It stopped for a while and then it started again, he reported again to the principle but, this time it didn’t stop. As parents we felt it was time to step in and try to find a way to intervene with the bully. The school informed us that they would address the situation and let us know what the outcome was. After some time we started to notice changes in our son, he was withdrawn, didn’t want to go to school, and his grades were dropping. The was notified and we set up a meeting with the principle. At the meeting we were told that our son needed to grow thicker skin because this is something that happens in school everyday. As parents we were shocked to be told this by people we trusted to keep our son safe. We removed him from the school and put him into a private school. His grades improved soon after e started he wasn’t withdrawn anymore and he wanted to go to school. My hope is that no child has to go through what our son went through. In conclusion, bullying in schools has become an increasing problem. It is our job as teachers and parents to make sure that our children feel safe at school. If children do not feel that the environment they are in is safe then, they will find ways to protect themselves. When this happens violence can occur. Teachers and parents are working to try to find a solution to stop children from being victims of bullying. As parents we should also work with our schools to elp find the solution. In the end the person that we are helping is our child. References: Farrington, D. P. & Baldry, A. C. (Jan. 2010). Individual risk factors for school bullying: Journal of Aggression, Conflict, and Peace Research. 2(1) 4-16. Ford, A. , (July 2009). Journal of Law & Education: School Liability: Holding Middle schools liable for Cyber-bullying despite their implementations of the Internet Usage Contracts. 38(3) 535-543 Harlow, Kirk C. , and Roberts, Roe ( Jan. 2010). An exploration of the relationship between Social and Psychological Factors and Being Bullied: Children & Schools; 32(1), 15-26. 2p. Hymel, Shelley and Swearer, Susan. Bullying Special Edition Contributor, education. com: Bullying: An Age Old Problem That Needs New Solutions . 1-6 Meech, Scott. (August 2008), Tech & Learning: Cyber Bullying: Worse Than Traditional Bullying, article7284 Stutzky,Glen. M. S. W, Clinical Instructor, ( 2006), School of Social Work, MSU, Cyber_bullying_information, 3p. Unnever, J. & Cornell, D. (2003). School of Education, University of Virginia, The culture of bullying in middle school. Journal of School and Violence, 2, 5-27.