Violence in the media Essay Example for Free

Violence in the media Essay Does violence in the media affect peoples social behaviour? A lot of research has been done on this matter. Even though the mass media cannot be solely blamed for the increase in violence this century, it is clear that the development has coincided with an increase in violence shown on television and video. According to the UN Childrens Convention, children should be able to have access to information from the mass media which promotes understanding, tolerance, equality and peace. Children also have the right to be protected, from violent and manipulating media. Even though 187 countries have signed this convention, few countries follow up, and even if they do they have little say about over international mass media such as satellite television and Internet. There was an interesting study on the web, about how many people get offended by violence on television (see below). It shows how many people are offended by violence and sex in the four main programmes. Major effects of children watching violent programs on television are: Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others Children may be more fearful of the world around them Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others. Children, who watch a lot of TV, are less aroused by violent scenes then those who only watch a little; in other words, theyre less bothered by violence in general and less likely to see anything wrong with it. Children, who have been watching violent programmes on TV, often behave differently. A study done at Pennsylvania State University showed that children who had just watched violent, even just funny cartoons, were more likely to hit, argue, disobey rules, leave tasks unfinished, and more impatient then the children who had just watched non-violent shows. It has been calculated that the average 16-year-old in Western society has  seen about 13,000 violent murders on television, and it seems reasonable to assume that this must have some effect on their behaviour. There is, indeed, a positive relationship between the amount of television violence children have seen and the aggressiveness of their behaviour. However, it is hard to interpret such co relational evidence. It may be that watching violent programmes cause aggressive behaviour. On the other hand, it may be that naturally aggressive children choose to watch more violent programmes than non-aggressive children. Lots of people also blame of having a bad influence on children and teenagers on violent computer games. There are two explanations of the effects of violence in video games: The social learning theory suggesting that children will imitate what they have seen on the screen; and the catharsis theory that suggests that violent video games channel a childs aggression and stop them from being aggressive in real life. (Catharsis theory) However observational studies (e.g. Irwin and Gross, 1995) have found that playing violent video games increases aggression in children in the short-term at least so supporting the social learning theorys view. Further Video game violence has more effect on young children, but far less effect on teenagers and no apparent effects on adults. There is, on the other hand, very little research into the long-term effects of violent video games and at the moment, it is entirely speculation of the effects. The media have pro-social effects as well as anti-social ones; if the catharsis theory is correct then it can relieve aggressive feelings and prevent aggression in real life. The media cannot be completely blamed for aggression; there are other factors to be considered that could influence the person particularly a child. Research portrays children as helpless victims of the medias influence but it has been shown that children can critically talk about the media at age seven. The childs upbringing, background, culture and peers could all influence any possible aggressive behaviour. The media alone cannot be blamed for all aggression; other  factors have to be taken into account. What can parent do to protect their children? We cannot fully protect children and teenagers from exaggerated violence on TV, video and PC games. But there are a few options for parents to protect their children. Its been suggested that parents should watch at least one episode of their childrens programme so that they can better understand the content and discuss it with them. Explain questionable incidents (e.g. random violence) that occur and discuss alternatives to violent actions as ways to solve problems. Children also should be taught to differentiate clearly between fiction and real life. Furthermore parents should teach their children not to bully others and make sure that they do not get examples of violence at home or at school. Another option is just to motivate the children to activities such as sports, playing with friends, drawing, etc, instead of let them watching TV all the time. Lots of experts argue that it is essential for parents and teachers to provide children with media education, to enable them to analyse the information around them. Children are bombarded with images and information, much more than they can absorb or understand. Strong influences from media take part in shaping peoples values and views, and it is therefore important that people, from a young age, are taught how to think for themselves and to view the media critically, as well as to respect and tolerate others. Parents should also learn, how to analyse films and to produce videos. They would achieve an insight in how images can be used as a form of expression. Many children and young people know more about computers and new technology than adults. Many adults are not aware what children watch on television and videos, or what images they can come across on the Internet. It is therefore important that both parents and teachers follow up with the new technology in order to be able to guide and protect the children. That simply means that we should be in control of the media rather than the media in control of us. Mass media and technology should be for our benefit, not for our  destruction. To make this possible the mass media have to reflect the communication needs of all members of society, and at the same time be able to protect the individual as well as the society. Sources used: http://www.st-edwards.poole.sch.uk/subjects/psych/new_page_5.htm http://www.abelard.org/tv/tv.htm http://www.duke.edu/~cars/vmedia.html http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/media/violab.html

Investments Essay Example for Free

Investments Essay Checking account is a type of investment to manage personal finances that has both advantages and disadvantages. The primary advantages of checking are to save fees charged by storefronts that offer check cashing services and easy accessibility to funds by writing on checks compared to carrying cash. The disadvantages of checking accounts are overdraft fees when the balance is less than the maintaining balance and less security than ATM cards since it only requires a signature. Money market account offers advantages to account holders to hold emergency funds and money for periodic payments. A higher rate of interest is also offered compared to other types of accounts. Its disadvantages are limited transactions to only 3 deposits and 3 withdrawals every month; potential investment loss since only $250,000 is insured by FDIC; unguaranteed interest rate due to fluctuation; risk of spontaneous spending due to easy accessibility; and risk of withdrawing funds leading to a minimum balance especially when the account is tied to a checking account. Passbook savings account offers the advantages of safety as covered by U. S. federal government insurance companies (FDIC and NCUSIF); immediate access to funds based on the needs of the account holder; and it offers a fairly small interest. Its disadvantages are the limitation on federal insurance of a maximum of $250,000 coverage and the lowest interest rate of passbook accounts compared to all types of savings account. The interest also is subjected to tax returns for the depositor. Certificate of deposits additionally has advantages and disadvantages. It offers flexibility of the terms starting at three months up to five years or more. It means the longer the term, the higher interest rate the depositor will receive at the end of the term. Another advantage is the grace period it offers. Depositors are given commonly a seven-day period to come to a decision whether to extend the term or not. Its disadvantages are the interest rate is fixed, penalty fees when the deposit is withdrawn before maturity date, and automatic rollover when the depositor missed to make a decision on or before the grace period.

The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman

The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman, chronicles the influx of a large number of new players on the global economic stage that has created a strong force that is already starting to affect Americans. Friedman believes that these looming changes have the potential to produce both positive and negative results. An example that illustrates the range of Friedmans analysis is his argument about the impact of the dot-com bubble and its eventual bust. He suggests that although the bust was bad for some investors, it turned out to be good in opening up global markets. The overcapacity which produced the bust also produced very low prices for telecommunications, thereby enabling players from smaller economic regions to participate in a game usually reserved for bigger players. Friedman describes several examples of different firms in these regions that have emerged to provide technology services to American business. One example, involving an Indian firm that does basic tax-return work for an American accounting company, reflects his view that although cost advantages are important, the real significance are the competitive proportions and innovations made possible by this new technology. One of the most important acumens of his book is that Americans should get used to the fact that the United States will not long remain the strongest player on the field. From my point of view, the United States have badly needed a good dose of humility, and these global shifts Friedman identifies promise to move us that way. While many passages point toward the advent of a system of global cooperation where no one player claims dominance, many others assume a win-lose scenario, in which Americans will be dominated by the Indians and Chinese if they dont get their act together. Friedman starts one of his chapters with a brief recounting of what happened to Americas previous world dominance in basketball, describing it as a great metaphor for what is happening in the global economy. Instead of grasping the new flatness of the global economic system, he wishes for the glory days when the United States was still head honcho. He writes too often as if the only choice Americans have is to play and win, or to be losers. This propensity is particularly self-evident in his frequent references to the determination of high-stakes competition. There is no time to rest; we have to work harder; the Europeans are delinquent because they value having more holidays. Friedman writes as though this is not an option, but th ere are choices, or there ought to be. If the current system diminishes many of those choices, perhaps we should change the system. Globalization is about efficiency. But as Friedman admits, theres more to it than that. He considers the stresses and downsides in globalization in the chapter titled The Great Sorting Out, but he still seems reluctant to seriously explore the consequences. Friedman seems unwilling to acknowledge that the system is significantly affected by global political structures or the absence thereof. For example, he mentions the need for the United States to develop an energy-independence policy, especially to cope with the expected huge increases in the demand for energy by China and India. But most of this discussion occurs in a chapter on how to jump-start American science and technology education so we can stay competitive. Friedman does a pretty good job of acknowledging globalizations impact on workers. He recognizes that the world is not yet really flat yet because there are still millions of people who are not able to compete in the global market. But he is still reluctant to point at structural problems. Friedman offers an evaluation of how the non-democratic political structures of the Middle East do not include much of the population who live there from the benefits of expansion and improvement. I should think that we need more than hope; The United States needs to develop public policies that have global reach, that make certain that at least the key players are at the global dining table can cooperatively address some of the well-known problems. If the price of these policies produces a loss of efficiency, we should have an honest debate about this trade-off, rather than assuming that efficiency always wins.

Comparing the Myth in Ovid’s Echo and Narcissus and Wilde’s Dorian Gray

Contemporary Ancient Myth in Ovid’s Echo and Narcissus and Wilde’s Dorian Gray  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Each time a story is told, elements of the original are often changed to suit new situations and current societies, or to offer a new perspective. Over the centuries, Ovid’s tale of "Echo and Narcissus" has been told many times to new audiences, and in the late nineteenth-century, it took the form of The Picture of Dorian Gray. "Echo and Narcissus" is the tale of a beautiful boy who fell in love with his reflection in a pond, and spurned others who loved him because he was so fixated upon himself. As a result of his extreme self-worship and consequent inability to love another, Narcissus perishes. Although several aspects of the original myth are retained in Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray is shocking and its characters commit acts that lead to ultimate decay and destruction. By changing elements of Ovid’s original tale, Wilde expands the myth of Echo and Narcissus to express the inevitable punishment and ruin that excessive desire brings. The prophet Tiresias in Ovid’s "Echo and Narcissus" can be compared to Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray in that all play a role in determining the protagonists’ fate. Tiresias enigmatically determines Narcissus’ fate by revealing that Narcissus will "live to see ripe old age...If he never knows himself" (Hendricks 93). In foreseeing the boy’s future, the prophet acts as a sort of father figure to Narcissus, whose real father is absent from his life. Narcissus cannot escape from Tiresias’ prophecy, and when he gains knowledge of his beauty, or "knows himself," Narcissus is plagued by self-love which destroys him. Thus, the prophet influences the boy’s fut... ...ge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. 141-175. McCormack, Joshua. "The Mirror of Dorian Gray." The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde. Ed. Peter Raby. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. 112-114. Miller, Robert Keith. "Oscar Wilde." Twentieth Century Literary Criticism 41 (1982). 384-389. Nassar, Christopher. "The Darkening Lens." Modern Critical Views: Oscar Wilde. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. 107-114. Nassar, Christopher. Into the Demon Universe: A Literary Exploration of Oscar Wilde. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974. Shewan, Rodney. Oscar Wilde: Art and Egotism. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1977. Spivey, Ted R. "Oscar Wilde and the Tragedy of Symbolism." Twentieth Century Literary Criticism 8 (1980). 501-502. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Penguin Books, 1949.

Redistibution of Wealth Essay -- essays research papers

Redistribution Of Wealth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  October 1929 the United States of America went into a state of great depression. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes and went deeply in debt. The reasons for the great depression were the over production of goods, higher tariffs, over speculation of the stock market, unregulated banking and the misdistribution of wealth. The president of the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt enacted a solution called The New Deal. This plan included emergency measures for industrial recovery, agricultural recovery and short-term emergency relief of the jobless. Huey Long a senator from Louisiana was the biggest opposition to Roosevelt. Long proposed taxing the rich to give to the poor. The government should not use its taxing power to redistribute the wealth in America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huey Long’s plan of reform bordered on socialism. He proposed that every family have the reasonable comforts of life up to 5,000,000 dollars. All family fortunes should be between 1,500,000 and 5,000,000. The yearly income should be no less then 2,000. Long wanted to regulate working hours, and provide pensions for people over 60. Huey planned on paying the veterans of wars and provide equal and free education. Finally Huey Long wanted to raise the revenue and tax on the top inheritance. â€Å"Share Our Wealth by soaking in the rich, he would make every man a king.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first reason that the governm...

The Anniversary Party :: Personal Narrative Writing

The Anniversary Party By 1947, my grandfather had returned from World War II and married a French girl he had met while going to college at Emory University in Atlanta. This was my grandmother. He looks at her sometimes in their kitchen when we are down to visit and loudly claims to have known from the moment he saw her that she would be the woman he'd marry. My grandmother Geva, short for the lovely Genevieve, smiles and shakes her head and takes a coconut cake into the other room while she remembers the hot day in Georgia when she lost her French name - Bertat. Bertat, Bertat. That name - incredibly beautiful, with the little lilt at the end lifting it up. She remembers becoming "Mrs. Alexander" and then incorporating the name when they started the "ALEXANDER'S OFFICE SUPPLIES" stores in Milledgeville, Macon, and Dublin, Georgia, where they live. And she puts the coconut cake down where it goes, where it will sit to be nibbled at in times of boredom by the men she made it for, and she thinks on where she is now - fifty years she's been married to him. Their stores are all three going strong, and she is still working at the Dublin branch every day, including today, her 50th wedding anniversary. She is still as sharp as the ten thousand tacks she ordered for Macon this morning. We are down to visit and to celebrate this anniversary, this fairly amazing accomplishment of my grandparents. Their marriage has been full of love, and today their house is full of children and grandchildren. I am the oldest and long ago was dubbed "#1 Grandson" by my grandfather. My cousin Chris, a year younger than me, is "#2," my younger brother is "#3," and Chris's brother Scott is "#4." It's hardly a creative labeling system, but it works well when yelled from across the house if one of the dogs is bothering him or if anyone comes to the door. Chris has had a hard life and has made the lives of those around him hard as well. He is not in Dublin right now - he is in South Carolina at a military school, but he probably won't stay there long. He was kicked out of one school for breaking into their computer system and messing with their records. He is fairly a genius with anything mechanical or technological, the exact opposite of me and my brother, who throw up our hands like the prissy city-boys we are when Chris talks about taking apart hard drives or fixing cars.

Is Global Peace an Illusion

Q. 6 Over several centuries, the collaborative goal of the world has been to attain the harmony, understanding and interdependent relationships between nations that brings peace, security and stability to the world. However, although global peace is attainable, much collaborative effort is needed to turn global peace into a reality, instead of living in a world of deception where global peace is merely a false belief. Therefore, the world aims to attain global peace via international efforts and individual contributions, to counter the problems that prevents global peace of being attained, such as due to the lack of understanding and collaboration between nations, as well as due to selfish demands and the lack of initiative from individuals to make it work. Some people may think that global peace is simply too good to be true due to the lack of collaboration and understanding between nations. As the people of different nations have their own set of ideologies and beliefs, this leads to conflicting ideologies between nations which could spark an international dispute such as in the case of the cold war which occurred between the United States of America which practiced capitalism, as well as the Soviet Union which practiced communism. This vast difference in belief thus led to conflicts between the nations, which sparked feelings of hatred and resentment between the people of the two nations. This prevented the success of efforts to call for further global peace. Additionally, differing interests of the nation could lead to violence, as well as terrorism, such as in the case of the Bali Bombings in 2005 which involved a terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) of Al Qaeda. They bombed specific tourist sites in Bali to display their displeasure towards people of another nation, as well as to rebel against the newly adopted democratic practice. This led to great instability within the country, as well as many people from around the world to feel dubious about the Indonesians in general. This led to an even greater segregation as well as isolation of the Malay race and Muslim religion as they were thought to be terrorists, deterring the progress of the world to achieve global peace and harmony. Secondly, the lack of individual initiative to push for greater global peace leads to the inefficiency of the world to achieve global peace. As individuals make up the largest percentage of the country, they have arguably the most influence to ensure that efforts to achieve global peace are successful. Hence, individuals are the key driving force for the achievement of global peace, and not relying solely on governmental efforts. However, as many individuals are simply pushing the responsibility to the government, global peace cannot be achieved However, commendable efforts have been made by international organizations (IGOs) and governments to make global peace a reality, which includes international governmental organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Such organizations aim to promote regional and international peace and stability, and to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance between countries which would foster stronger bonds, thus promoting harmony between nations. An example is when the UN started the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to alleviate income inequality between nations to prevent conflict between nations due to growing income disparity between the rich and the poor. On 1 December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly also adopted a resolution on the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict, breaking the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict, as a contribution to prevention and settlement of conflicts. The ASEAN-Korea Summit in 2009 also contributed to greater understanding between the countries involved, and thus helped to bridge differences. Hence, international efforts by IGOs, along with the cooperation from respective governments, are able to pave the way towards attaining global peace and harmony by promoting mutual understanding between nations which would promote the forging of strong bonds between the nations, instead of conflicts due to differences in beliefs. In conclusion, although global peace is able to be attained, it is not able to be sustained for a long period of time. Global peace is also not able to be achieved universally as efforts to call for peace are inadequate as lack sufficient support from the people in the world. Thus, the ephemeral nature of peace inevitably causes global peace to be nothing but a false belief, seemingly attainable yet out of reach.