Category: Sociology 7256

Introduction

Increased participation of women in the labor force is caused by different factors and social changes that occurred during the 20th century. New economic, social and political ideologies allow women to become equal to men and understand their role in society. Following Claudia Goldin, this process can be explained as an evolution of old principles and a revolution of ideology dominated during the 15-19th centuries. The differentiation of mens and womens mobility patterns from class origins to current employment turns out to be much on the lines that, all other things being equal, we would expect from the pattern of sex segregation that their current employment displays. This being the case, it is clearly of interest to go on to ask if, in fact, all other things are equalso that differences in objective opportunity structures can indeed be regarded as the sole source of variation in mens and womens mobility changes; or whether differences in underlying patterns of social fluidity, that is, in the association between class origins and current employment net of structural effects, are also in some degree involved.

Better education and Evolution of Family

Increased participation of women in labor force is a result of better education and evolution of the institution of family. The availability of mandatory leaves, without a series of guarantees of reinstatement at the same or a comparable level and without benefit and seniority protection, often was little more than a superficial gesture. Moreover, such a policy meant that women were often required to leave work well before they wanted to or thought they needed to. At the same time, post-childbirth job protection was almost nonexistent. The lack of consistency in the meaning of a maternity leave or a personal leave is dramatized in the range of policies on job security for employees on leave (Blau et al 95, 127). Some firms guarantee the same or a comparable job, but the definition of comparability varies widely. At companies having a large number of outlets, the definition of a comparable job may include a different but geographically related store or restaurant. Some companies do not guarantee the same job but say that turnover is so high that employees are likely to get a similar job back if they wish it. Other firms state that if the employee is out only for a brief time, the job will be held but not beyond a specified maximum (four weeks; six weeks; sixty days; six months). Often the job guarantee time is shorter than the maximum unpaid leave that is permitted (Goldin 16). State temporary disability legislation does not always require that a job be held for an employee; the only requirement is that the company policy is the same for all employees in the same firm or state (Blau et al 102). Several insisted that to maintain a nondiscriminatory policy, personal leaves for child care or adjustment to parenthood had to be the same for men and women, and, therefore, should be limited to a maximum of three or four months; otherwise demands other leaves would become prohibitive. Others were quite comfortable with explicitly labeled maternity leaves, which tended to be of somewhat longer duration than other types of personal leave. The mixed signal problem is more complex. Cultural change and legal action should gradually make it possible for a parent to exercise the right to a leave without facing career penalties. However, the process can be slow, particularly in the midst of a slack labor market. With more accurate expectations, they could better prepare by investing in formal education and they could assume positions that involved advancement. That is, they could plan for careers rather than jobs (Goldin 2006, p. 5).

Mobility

On this basis, women appear to be somewhat more mobile than men overall, once more an exception; but, more significantly, they are also more often downwardly mobile and show a lower ratio of upward to downward transition. So far as the class position of married women is concerned, what is here at issue can be illustrated if we consider the case of two such women who are in identical jobs as, let us say, part-time shop assistants, but with one being married to an unskilled manual worker, and the other to a business manager (Blau et al 130). )An exponent of the individual approach, relying on a work-centered conception of class, is obviously required to treat these women as having the same class position; their husbands employment is irrelevant. A major change has indeed occurred with the decline in the practice of women withdrawing permanently from the labor market on marriage or after the birth of their first child; increasingly, women have returned to work following their years of active motherhood or indeed for periods in between the births of children (Goldin 15). Thus, the possibility is in no way precluded that some inequality may exist within the general living standard of the household as between men and womenor, for that matter, as between persons in different age-groups; nor again that within decision-making processes some family members may be able to exert greater power than do others. Revolution in medicine and healthcare changed the labor opportunities of women. One of the reasons for the increase in the age at first marriage was the introduction of the contraceptive pill. (Goldin 2006, p. 14).

Resources and Power Within Family

Indeed, far from being inattentive to differences in resources and power among family members, sociologists who would maintain the class unitary nature of the family have underlined precisely such differences in seeking to justify the practice they have most often adopted in empirical research: that of taking the class position of the conjugal family as following from that of its male head (Blau et al 128). Womens mobility chances are shown to be differentiated by class on much the same pattern as we have earlier found to be persistent and prevalent among men and even when womens experience in marriage markets, as well as labor markets, are examined. In other words, inequalities of gender and of class are cross-cutting in such a way as to suggest that their effects at the level of socio-political consciousness and action are as likely to offset as to reinforce each other and, further, that they are created and maintained by largely different sets of factors (Goldin 18). Thus, as we have already argued, a convincing explanation of the gender inequalities that would appear a common feature of modern industrial societies will need to be developed for the most part outside the scope of class analysis; and, by the same token, the introduction of considerations of gender into the study of class inequalities will prove far less revelatory than it has of late been fashionable to suppose. The issue of equity is ever-present. For most working women, whether or not they have any kind of job and income protection at the time of childbirth is a function of where they live, where they work, whether or not they are married, and where their husbands work (Blau et al 129). Thus, women experiencing such conditions should qualify for the same benefits provided for any other disability. In other words, for social policy purposes, pregnancy and maternity are defined as disabilities. If job and income protection exist for any disability, maternity is covered in the same way; if such protection does not exist, employers are under no obligation to provide the benefit (Blau et al 95).

Conclusion

The womens movement clearly has played an important role in improving the status of women, maternity and other family benefits have not been at the forefront of its agenda. Indeed, not even the inadequacy of child care services an issue working mothers have identified as the single most important problem they face in coping with work and family life was high on the agenda of the womens movement until very recently. In some respects their broad goals have been more ambitious: an end to discrimination, achievement of equal rights and equal pay, and the end of occupational segregation. Their short-range targets have been more immediate, including particular attention to abortion rights and passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. Organized labor has not made these benefits a major cause despite the interests of a few female-intensive units and despite the growing numbers of their male members who have working wives.

Works Cited

Goldin, C. The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Womens Employment, Education, and Family, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 2006.

Blau, F.D., Ferber, M. A., TWinkler, A. The Economics of Women, Men, and Work. Prentice Hall; 5 edition, 2005.

Introduction

Communication can be roughly defined as the transfer of meaning from one individual to another. The tricky part about this is that the ideas held in one persons brain and made clear through their actions and speech are not necessarily the ideas the other person receives as a result of these same actions and speech. This general definition also illustrates that the idea of communication is not limited to the words and sounds that humans have developed as a means of expressing their ideas but can also extend to gestures and behaviors. Persons of any race, personality, background, or gender utilize an assortment of speech and conversational skills in an attempt to communicate appropriately in a specific situation. However, as these elements of nonverbal communication are studied, it is shown that the means people use to communicate differs from the spoken language that they use and the cultural meanings assigned to specific movements.

The idea of the word gesture can have almost as many meanings to the individual as the gestures used to communicate ideas. For this discussion, however, the term gesture will refer to specific body movements of primarily the hands and arms that work to convey specific feelings, ideas, intentions, or attitudes.

Although they can be used to completely replace speech, such as in a signal sent across a room from a coach to a player to shoot the basketball in a mimed action, it can also be used to enhance speech by providing visual clues as to what is coming up next or to demonstrate an action or quantity (Nelson, 2004). Whether we use gestures consciously or unconsciously, participate in large or small movements, we all express at least some of what we have to say through the use of gestures which are necessarily governed by our gender and the culture in which we were raised.

Individual gestures

Like verbal speech, the language of gestures changes from one culture to the next. While one symbol might be universally accepted as meaning Okay in one culture, it can be used to express the most indecent actions in another. Not only individual gestures, but gesture styles differ across cultures as well so that a person growing up in Italy might demonstrate widely flailing arms and hands as a natural part of their speech while another person, raised in a strictly Jewish urban setting, might demonstrate very small, clipped emotions held close into their chests. It is hypothesized that these cultural differences in gestural styles have something to do with the space in which the culture traditionally moves as well as the importance they place on emotional content and expression and the degree to which they were required to either efface or promote themselves within their given group. Whether large or small, global or individual, these gestures can have a tremendous impact upon the reactions a leader within an intercultural setting might receive from his group as several gestures have taken on wide cultural meaning. For example, steepling, an action that involves placing the fingertips of each hand together in a pyramidal formation typically covering the face, is a control, power and status gesture employed primarily by men. The hands cover the face, so facial expressions are obscured (Nelson, 2004) at the same time that the hands convey a sense of power in the balanced structure of the pyramid. Other hand-to-face gestures such as beard stroking can communicate the message that serious thought is being given to something in constant motion, indicating thought in action. To help understand the meanings of these gestures, several studies have been conducted regarding the impact of the gesture on the group and the individual, particularly as they differ from one culture to another.

Racially inherited?

Early studies on gesture focused on the idea of whether gesture signals were racially inherited as a sort of rudimentary instinctual language.

These studies were reported in Gesture, Race and Culture (Elfron, 1941). This study was designed to prove that the gestures commonly used in Jewish as opposed to Italian discourse were not inborn, but rather learned communication styles that were a direct result of their culture and environment. Efron discovered that though both cultural groups used gestures vigorously, they were distinctive in the ways they used their head, body, and hand motions as well as in the point of action. The study showed that those raised in a Jewish cultural environment tended to use arm motions that were primarily initiated from the elbow through the hand. The upper arms were generally held closer to the sides of the body. Efron suggested the reason for this communication style was predominantly the result of the cramped living quarters many Jewish people occupied within the upper east side of New York. This was different from the nonverbal communication styles of the Italian cultural group who, the study argues, were more accustomed to wider spaces. These people tended to display very fluidly, expansive movements that remained open and welcoming to the world. In addition, Efron determined that the first three generations of immigrants would retain strong ties to the gesture styles of the home country, but the more integrated they became with the American environment, the more they would adopt a more generic style to the area in which they live.

Within this study, although not addressed, is the suggestion that the gestures one makes are suggestive of the culture as a whole  Italians being thought of as welcoming and open-hearted and the Jewish people as confined, closed-in and secretive  while also being suggestive of something different to those within the culture itself (i.e. Jewish people likely do not consider actions developed from the elbow to indicate a secretive, closed-in nature).

Focus of research

Emerging from this type of study, several schools of thought regarding the role of nonverbal communication in everyday communication patterns have been developed. A number of them have been compared within a study conducted by Charles Duke entitled Nonverbal Behavior and the Communication Process (1974). Rather than limiting the discussion to a single field, such as psychology, though, Duke explored the meaning of gesture through a variety of fields. Members of the psychological school view nonverbal communication as simply the expression of emotions, but those individuals in the communicational school  mainly anthropologists and ethnologists  are concerned with behaviors of posture, touch, and movement as they relate to social processes like group cohesion and regulation (Duke, 1974). As a result of this comparison, Duke illustrates that these studies are themselves flawed in the way in which their approach tends to limit and shape understanding as well as by the cultural background and understanding of the interpreters. However, Duke also illustrates that even within an intercultural group setting it remains largely recognized through the cultures studied that the natural leader will tend to gravitate toward the end position of the meeting table or the more elevated positions within a given environment while the more vocal participants tend to move toward the center of a table or meeting space. These nonverbal clues thus emerge as being nearly universal perhaps due to simple logistics  the person in the center of the room has a greater chance of being heard by all while the person at the end of the room or in the higher position has a greater chance of commanding attention without peripheral competition. As will be seen in several other studies, the context of the nonverbal meanings must always be taken into context with the culture of the individual displaying them as well as the context in which they are made for accurate interpretation.

Relationship between speech and gesture

Researcher Adam Kendon explores how speech and gesture are integrated to present a coherent meaning as well as how these meanings are different depending upon the culture involved in his article Gesture (1997). For his study, Kendon conducted a microanalysis of communication that was video-recorded for this purpose. The microanalysis made possible by audiovisual recording technology of the relationship between speech and bodily movements reveals that speech and gesture are produced together and that they must therefore be regarded as two aspects of a single process (Kendon, 1997). Within the study report, Kendon provides examples of how the gestures used during recorded conversations function to more clearly define meaning, such as the huntsman slicing open the wolfs belly in Red Riding Hood or the staves holding up the branches of the pear trees that are heavy with fruit, but also how these gestures had to be thought of before the words they helped illustrate to get the arms and hands in their proper positions for the movement. This suggests a preparation process in operation before the speaking engagement rather than a spontaneous communication combination. While this study helps illustrate how gesture might be consciously used during communication as an attempt to clarify meaning, particularly in an intercultural setting, it does not shed light on whether or how nonverbal communication is used within the intercultural setting spontaneously.

Art as a clue to intercultural use of nonverbal communication

Some of the best examples we have that gesture can and does convey sometimes even more meaning than speech can be found in art, which is the ultimate communication of multiple cultures throughout sometimes very lengthy periods. E.H. Gombrich (1966) points out how art builds upon direct observation of life, often using the symbols seen in everyday communication to imbue images with specific meaning and emotion. It makes use of gestures that have their meaning in human intercourse. The gesture of the oath is quite an interesting case (Gombrich, 1966). Although he details the various features of the oath-taking gesture, this discussion goes to great length about how these gestures are different from or similar to those gestures that are seen as particularly powerful or directive gestures.

For example, part of the gesture being discussed includes an upraised arm with two fingers extended. The author argues that while this can be seen as an oath-taking gesture symbolic of old days when the oath-taker would reach forward to lay their fingers upon the holy relic upon which theyre swearing, it has also been interpreted in modern times as the symbol of blessing extended by the holy man over his flock. In this respect, it is as much a gesture of benevolent leadership as it is a gesture of fealty. At the same time, this gesture uses two fingers to prevent it from turning into a point. Children are still taught, I believe, that pointing is rude because in some form it implies a command, a sign of dominance universally understood (Gombrich, 1966). Gombrich even mentions the importance the famous Italian Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci placed upon the gesture, advising artists to take pleasure in carefully watching those who talk together with gesticulating hands, and get near to listen what makes them make that particular gesture (Gombrich, 1966). This highlights how nonverbal communication has been a source of study for generations.

Where nonverbal communication is learned

In Charles Galloways study entitled The Challenge of Non-Verbal Research (1971), he outlines the various problems inherent in trying to decipher nonverbal behavior, what creates the meanings, when they are used and how they are different from verbal communication. In this discussion, he lists several activities that are learned early in the teacher/student relationship that doesnt seem to spring from any specific source yet have widespread meaning in most developed countries. Certain sets of cues and responses are learned by teachers and students as part of their role-taking activities in the classroom (Galloway, 1971). These actions include the habit of teachers to snap their fingers in a noisy classroom as a more effective means of gaining attention than shouting over the noise or of holding a finger to their lips to indicate she wishes the students to fall silent. Other gestures that have been observed in teachers on a widespread basis include crossing their arms in front of their chest as a symbol of disapproval, staring at students for lengthy moments as a means of indicating a negative impression, and pointing to students to gain their attention. Students, on their part, have shown a widespread understanding that the best way to get the attention they desire is to raise their hands above their heads while in the classroom and are often observed participating in this same activity outside of the classroom when they have something they wish to say. These signals are well understood by students and any observer can see the results (Galloway, 1971).

Gestures continued into adulthood

In a special report by Kendall Zoller (2004), it was revealed that a large proportion of adults still follow the rules they learned in the classroom, which comes as a great advantage for those who wish to discover more about how gestures mean different things to different cultures. Studies he quotes indicate that 82 percent of the communication that happens in the classroom is nonverbal and hand gestures used in conjunction with speech help listeners remember the message much longer than speech alone. Studying the gestures used in the classrooms of various regions was considered an effective means of discovering gestures that might have near-universal significance.

In doing so, Zoller indicates there is a particular type of hand gesture that is proven effective in gaining the greatest degree of attention in the shortest period in an intercultural group. This is a gesture he refers to as the frozen hand. This skill is best used during a pause. When a speaker holds the same hand gesture throughout a pause, it indicates to the group that more information is coming. It can also indicate that the next item is more important than the previous item (Zoller, 2004). In addition to learning the importance behind the gesture of holding up a non-moving hand, Zollers report provides a clue as to how to analyze nonverbal language.

The strength of gestures

Julius Fast reveals the degree to which nonverbal communication can convey messages as he illustrates how a superior in an office complex, not wearing any styles or symbols of rank, was able to convey the sense of superiority to others in his book Body Language (1970). According to Fast, the study utilized silent films depicting two actors, one playing the part of a visitor and the other playing the part of a company executive shown to audiences who were then asked questions regarding how they read the scene.

Several patterns emerged from the answers provided. According to the researchers, the visitor was seen to have the least status when he stopped just inside the door and talked to the executive from across the room and most status when he walked right up to the desk before speaking. Another factor that governed status in the eyes of the observers was the time between knocking and entering, and for the seated executive, the time between hearing the knock and answering. The quicker the visitor entered the room the more status he had. The longer the executive took to answer, the more status he had (Fast, 1970, p. 48). These factors boil down to a question of who controls the territory with the speed and depth of penetration indicating the personal status and position of both parties. In addition, Fast discusses the importance of positioning in establishing status. As a gestural move, the leader might purposefully place himself at a lower level than his subordinates to help them feel more confident and dominant or suggest a more comfortable setting in which to discuss issues to encourage less formal conversation.

Nonverbal miscues

A survey of previous literature on the subject offered by Ridgeway et al in Nonverbal Cues and Status (1985) indicates the most important nonverbal clues that signify one person as being of higher rank than another exist primarily in eye contact and verbal clues within most societies. The first of these cues, eye contact, was seen in the varying level, length, and type of eye contact made among groups of equal status, inequal status, and in dyads of male/female or dominant/minority culture.

In these studies, the person making eye contact more frequently both while listening and while speaking demonstrated the higher rank. Equal status participants tended to make eye contact less frequently when they were speaking than when they were listening and low-status individuals tended to make infrequent eye contact when speaking. Verbal cues were focused on especially in terms of the rate of speed with which the participants spoke as well as how quickly they responded to being spoken to by someone of higher, equal or lower rank. The higher the status, the quicker the individual begins to take part in the general discussion or problem-solving scenario.

Several gestures are believed, within the western culture, to denote power and status, but that end up portraying a different conception. These gestures are discussed in some detail in Nick Morgans When Body Language Lies (2002). Because of the tendency of Prince Charles to stand with his arms behind his back, Morgan says a large number of people in the western business world felt this posture was a stance of power. However, because we cant see what the hands are doing, this posture induces a deep-seated sense of mistrust. Steepling, on the other hand, the action of touching the hands to the lower part of the face, does not automatically indicate the intellectualism that is often intended but does have leanings in that direction. A final cultural myth is that high-status people initiate instances of touching with subordinates, such as a pat on the shoulder. The research shows that in almost all cases, lower-status people initiate touch. And women initiate touch more often than men do (Morgan, 2002).

Conclusion

While there have been numerous studies conducted on the various elements of nonverbal communication in a variety of settings, it can be seen from this overview that there remains much that is unknown. In An Agenda for Gesture Studies (2003), Adam Kendon outlines several areas in which gesture studies still need to be conducted. One of these areas that need further explanation and study includes how people determine which actions are conscious motions associated with what is being said and which are random movements of the body that have little or nothing to do with the context. Another concern exists in the so-called gesture phrases in which an action or series of actions take place between one position of rest and another in conjunction with phrases of speech. In discussing the importance of understanding the uses of gesture and the significance of the gesture, Kendon indicates that the more abstract the concept behind the gesture becomes, the more generally accepted a gesture will be within the wider culture. Related to this is the question of how well individuals can divorce themselves from their cultural expectations when dealing with people of another culture to more accurately assess the others nonverbal cues. Arguing that gestures are at a level of control that is more conscious than the level of emotions, Kendon indicates the degree to which they are less conscious than the use of speech could provide important clues as to how much they convey what the speaker is saying and, by extension, the degree to which they interfere with intercultural understandings.

References

Duke, Charles R. (December 1974). Nonverbal Behavior and the Communication Process. College Composition and Communication. Vol. 25, N. 5: 397-404.

Efron, David. (1941). Gesture, Race, and Culture. New York: Kings Crown Press.

Fast, Julius. (1970). Body Language. New York: M. Evans and Company: 48-51.

Galloway, Charles. (1971). The Challenge of Nonverbal Research. Theory into Practice. Vol. 10, N. 4: 310-14.

Gombrich, E.H. (1966). Ritualized Gesture and Expression in Art. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences. Vol. 251, N. 772: 393-401.

Kendon, Adam. (1997). Gesture. Annual Review of Anthropology. Vol. 26: 109-128.

Kendon, Adam. (2003). An Agenda for Gesture Studies. Semiotic Review of Books. Vol. 7, N. 3. Web.

Morgan, Nick. (2002). When Body Language Lies. Working Knowledge. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School. 2009. Web.

Nelson, Audrey. (2004). You Dont Say: Navigating Nonverbal Communication Between the Sexes. New York: Prentice Hall: 183-189.

Ridgeway, Cecilia L.; Berger, Joseph; & Smith, LeRoy. (1985). Nonverbal Cues and Status: An Expectation States Approach. The American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 90, N. 5: 955-78.

Zoller, Kendall. (2004). Keeping an Eye on the Hand: Nonverbal Communication is Part of a Leaders Arsenal. National Staff Development Council. Vol. 25, N. 1.

I am currently a citizen of Australia but not a native (an aboriginal) I am a descendant of Chinese immigrants to Australia many years ago.

Many decades ago, people of different origins moved to Australia from all parts of the world, settling there and becoming citizens of the country. This migration consisted of people like the Chinese, an origin that makes up a big percentage of the population according to a research done during the Australian 2006 national census 669,890 Australian residents (or 3.4% of the resident population) identified themselves as having Chinese ancestry.

Most of these Chinese immigrants are said to have originated or rather migrated Brawley(1995)from the villages of the Pearl River delta of southern Chinas will be discussed later, these Chinese immigrants were attracted to Australia by the famous period of Gold Rush.

In ancient times China was East Asias dominant civilization with other societies  notably the Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese  strongly influenced by China, adopting features of Chinese art, food, philosophy, government, technology and written language. For many centuries, especially from the 7th  14th centuries BCE, China was the worlds most advanced civilization. Inventions such as paper, printing, gunpowder, porcelain, silk and the compass originated from China and spread to other parts of the world.

During the first half of the 20th century China experienced severe famines, civil unrest, military defeats and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under Mao Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring Chinas sovereignty, ended up imposing strict controls over everyday life of the citizens.

The structure of Chinas government follows a Leninist model of one-party rule. Political controls remained tight, even while economic controls continued to weaken since the mid-1980s. The Chinese Communist Party continued to set major policy and to restrict political activities that promoted views contrary to those that were upheld by the Partys objectives. A well-known example of political tensions in China was the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.

By the war period numbers had nevertheless fallen greatly and Australian-born people of Chinese background began to predominate over Chinese-born people especially during the period of the Japans war in China and the pacific and many refugees entered Australia

Chinese migration to Australia goes back 150 years according to Shirley (1995). Convict transportation in Australia ceased and this led to many Chinese nationalities moving to Australia to work as shepherds and irrigation experts for private landowners and Australias Agricultural company.

Some records claim that in 1829 Moon Chow was that first Chinese to settle in Western Australia, Price (1987.pg.176). It was however not until 1847 that the First group, made up of 51 Chinese immigrants arrived from Singapore as a source of cheap labour for the growing colony. Most of them were employed as cooks and domestic servants while others worked in the farms.

Between 1848 and 1853, over 3,000 Chinese workers on contracts arrived through the Port of Sydney for employment in the NSW countryside. As soon as this labour arrived, it was resisted, and, like such protests later in the century, this resistance was mixed up with racism. Little is known of the habits of such men or their relations with other NSW residents except for those that appear in the records of the courts and mental asylums. Some stayed for the term of their contracts and then left for home, but there is evidence that others spent the rest of their lives in NSW. A Gulgong resident who died at age 105 in 1911 had been in NSW since 1841 while in 1871 the Keeper of Lunacy still required the Amoy dialect from his interpreters.

It is also claimed that majority of the immigrants were poor farmers lured away from there homes by a man they referred to the agent of the crimp.a man who is said to have been the one recruiting workers for Australia or as it was known to themXinjinsham (New Golden Mountain)Some of the men who had done well sent home for brothers, sons or other men from their village to follow to this land of great wealth. Many were advanced their passage and were expected to work it off once they landed in Australia.

The ships, that were used to transport immigrants were so badly overcrowded, many slept three or four to a bunk. The small amount of food they were given was often rotting and the water fetid. It was a common occurrence for a dozen or more men or boys to die during the trip, their bodies being dumped overboard like the carcass of an animal.

An entry tax was placed on immigrants entering into the state of Victoria, and many unscrupulous shipping captains would collect the tax before leaving Hong Kong, where almost all the immigrants departed from, with the promise of paying the tax on entry to Victoria, but then dump the immigrants off the South Australian coast at Robe, leaving them to their own devices to make their way to the Victorian Goldfields of Ballarat or Bendigo. In most cases this was done on foot. With so many being brought into the country in this manner, it is not surprising that few have official records of entry into the country or any form of shipping records.

After reaching Australia they were treated with despise and contempt by the majority of British and European migrants who felt threatened by the sheer numbers of these strangers they knew so little about. At one time In Australian History, There were more Chinese in Australia than any other Nationality. These other migrants also disliked the Chinese sending their gold back to China as they felt it was robbing the Country of its economy.

In 1901 due to the violence against Chinese and other perceived minority races, the White Australia Policy was implemented which prevented non white people from immigrating at all to Australia. The policy however excluded American Negroes. This policy remained in the rules and was followed until the 1960s. Even before this, another act had been passed many years before in 1855 Act to Make Provisions for Certain Immigrants in Victoria, which restricted the number of Chinese arrivals.

The Federal Immigration Restriction Act OF 1901 put a stop to further Chinese settlement, and the population in Australia declined to fewer than 21,000 in 1921 and some 5,000 in 1947. Between 1947 and 1973, Chinese migration to Australia brought in many business people and professionals such as accountants, architects, engineers, doctors, dentists and teachers. In the mid 1960s the Chinese born population rose to over 23,000 and by 1988 the annual Chinese settler arrival numbers were in the top ten.

By the 1960s and 1970s many Chinese descendants did not know their family history. This is because names had been changed to prevent persecution and harassment because of their origins.

In 1989 due to the famous events of Tiananmen Square 40,000 students were granted Australian permanent residence by the Australian Prime Minister of the day, Bob Hawke, and it is estimated that a further 40,000 nationals were given access to Australian residence through the Family Reunion Program.

This was followed by the establishment of new institutions for the arrivals and old ones such as the Chinese Chamber of Commerce revived; Chinese language newspapers were once again published. The equality of citizenship laws and family reunion immigration after 1972 meant that an imbalance of the sexes, once a dominant feature of the Chinese communities in Australia, was not an issue in these later migrations.

Even up to today Chinese newspapers are published in Australia and three shortwave radio channels continue to broadcast in Cantonese and Mandarin. The Australian public broadcaster SBS also provides television and radio programming in both languages. The Chinese language is available as a subject in some secondary schools as well as private language schools that operate on weekends. Several Chinese Australians have received the Order of Australia award and there are current representatives in both State and Federal parliaments.

References

Brawley, Sean1995, The White Peril  Foreign Relations and Asian Immigration to Australasia and North America 1919-1978, UNSW Press, Sydney.

Cushman, J.W.1984, A Colonial Casualty: The Chinese community in Australian Historiography, Asian Studies Association of Australia, vol.7, no 3.

Fitzgerald, Shirley, 1997 Red Tape, Gold Scissors, State Library of NSW Press, Sydney.

Macgregor, Paul (ed.) 1995, Histories of the Chinese in Australasia and the South Pacific, 1^st edn, Museum of Chinese Australian History, Melbourne.

May, Cathie 1984, Topsawyers: the Chinese in Cairns 1870 to 1920, James Cook University, Townsville.

Price, Charles, 1987, p 176. Asian and Pacific Island Peoples of Australia in Fawcett, James T and Cariño, Benjamin V. Pacific Bridges: The New Immigration from Asia and the Pacific Islands. New York: Centre for Migration Studies.

2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics.

2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Languages other than English spoken at home Aboriginal Art and Culture: THE DREAMTIME-40,OOO YEARS OF HISTORY.

Caldwell, J. C. (1987). Chapter 2: Population, in Wray Vamplew (ed.): Australians: Historical Statistics. Broadway, New South Wales, Australia: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, pages 23 and 26.

Adolescents with juvenile detentions previous experience face multiple social barriers such as neglect, lack of financial support, biased attitude, ineffective policies, and high risk of recidivism when trying to rehabilitate and acquire the appropriate education.

Outline

1. Introduction

   1. Background

      1. The rates of juvenile detention continue to grow today, which means that the problem becomes more topical. The increasing number of young people with juvenile detention experience preconditions the need for strategies to address the issue and resocialize them to avoid recidivism and new problems in the future (Key facts about juvenile incarceration, n.d.).
   2. Problem statement

      1. The rehabilitation of adolescents with the experience of juvenile detention depends on their ability to find a job, which is impossible without appropriate education. However, their attempts to acquire the demanded skills and knowledge might fail because of the social barriers limiting their opportunities.
   3. Thesis

      1. Adolescents with juvenile detentions previous experience face multiple social barriers such as neglect, lack of financial support, biased attitude, ineffective policies, and high risk of recidivism when trying to rehabilitate and acquire the appropriate education.
   4. Significance of the issue

      1. The improved understanding of social factors preventing young people from acquiring education is vital for creating a practical solution to the problem. Inclusion of adolescents in social life is central for further development of communities and reduction in crime rates, which remain unacceptably high today.
   5. Expected outcomes

      1. It is expected that the project will create the theoretical framework for the in-depth investigation of the issue. Additionally, the problems analysis will contribute to a better understanding of existing limits and how the problem can be resolved using specific strategies.
2. Body

   1. Definition of the issue

      1. Juvenile detention presupposes imprisonment of people under age as a form of punishment for various crimes. However, the given measure might have multiple adverse effects on young peoples future life and prevent them from socialization and integration.
   2. Social barriers

      1. Tracey and Hanham (2017) state that adolescents with the experience of juvenile detention experience multiple social barriers such as poor financial states, neglect, biased attitude, and strategies failing to assist them. Communities have prejudiced perspectives on this group, which prevents them from achieving success in the future.
   3. Lack of financial support

      1. The inability to find money becomes a serious problem affecting adolescents with juvenile detention experience and might impact their behaviors. Ho and Rocheleau (2020) state that education programs might be unavailable or unaffordable for such individuals, which means that they cannot find jobs and turn back to criminal activity.
   4. Neglect

      1. Neglect also affects the ability of adolescents with juvenile detention experience to acquire appropriate education in the future. Akhtar (2015) assumes that most peers and some social workers might demonstrate inappropriate attitudes linked to the given experience and deteriorating the cooperation.
   5. Biased attitude

      1. Nichols and Sullivan (2016) admit that biased attitude is one of the most important factors influencing the lives of adolescents with juvenile detention experience and their attempts to acquire the needed education. Most of the cohort representatives report the negative attitude and biased judgments influencing their relations with peers.
   6. Ineffective strategies

      1. Akhtar (2015) emphasizes that educators who work with this cohort might apply methods with reduced effectiveness because of the poor understanding of the current needs of adolescents and their moods. It introduces the need for reconsideration of existing practice and implementation of new strategies to work with the youth.
   7. High risk of recidivism

      1. The failure to educate might precondition the growing recidivism rates. Tracey and Hanham (2017) assume that the social barriers mentioned above can make adolescents with the experience of juvenile detention to commit a crime again to attract attention to their problems or as the only way to survive and find the money.
   8. Need for socialization and rehabilitation

      1. Activities aimed at involving adolescents from this cohort in social actions are vital for successful education and rehabilitation (Nichols & Sullivan, 2016). For this reason, educational programs should be supported by attempts to make individuals a part of the collective and socialize them to help to understand how to cooperate with peers.
3. Conclusion

   1. Concluding statement

      1. Adolescents with the experience of juvenile detention suffer from neglect, lack of support, and biased attitudes preventing them from acquiring the needed education and finding a job. For this reason, some steps should be made to improve the situation and help this cohort to rehabilitate.
   2. Thesis reworded

      1. The information proves that multiple social barriers such as neglect, lack of financial support, biased attitude, ineffective policies, and high risk of recidivism affect adolescents with juvenile detentions previous experience and deteriorate their attempts to become educated.
   3. Recommendation for further action

      1. The data shows that the outlined barriers have a strong influence on adolescents and contribute to multiple adverse effects. For this reason, there is a need for strategies to improve the current situation.
   4. Future research

      1. Future research should be focused on how these barriers can be eliminated to provide adolescents with an opportunity to rehabilitate and find appropriate jobs.

References

Akhtar, Z. (2015). Young offenders, secure colleges and reforming criminals. The Journal of Criminal Law, 79(3), 211228.

Ho, T., & Rocheleau, G. C. (2020). A follow-up study on recidivism among adjudicated juveniles with special education in the juvenile correctional facility. Youth Justice.

Key facts about juvenile incarceration. (n.d.). Child Trends. Web.

Nichols, J., & Sullivan, B. M. (2016). Learning through dissonance: Critical service-learning in a juvenile detention center as field experience in music teacher education. Research Studies in Music Education, 38(2), 155171.

Tracey, D., & Hanham, J. (2017). Applying positive psychology to illuminate the needs of adolescent males transitioning out of juvenile detention. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(1), 6479.

Diversity is the term generally used to denote the various difference in the cultural, traditional, religious, geographical, gender, and racial differences that may be present in human beings. For example, America is a highly diverse country encompassing Hispanics, African Americans, Latinos, and Asians, etc., thus America is a country with people from diverse nationalities. An example of a religiously diverse country would be an Asian country for instance India. In India, people practice many religions including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, etc. and there is no one majority religion. Hence we can say that India is a religiously diverse nation.

The term diversity is used to denote the differences in the characteristics of people which make them unique from one another. Diversity among people can be based on several characteristics including age, culture, education, gender, language, political preference, and many other factors. Variations among human beings may be a result of any of the factors, which may distinguish one individual or individuals from the other members of society.

Diversity is an important aspect of human co-existence and to live peacefully and productively, diversity needs to be accepted. Diversity opens up minds to newer perspectives. Diversity also enables people to be sensitive to one another irrespective of the background or milieu to which different people belong. Diversity provides insight into the different cultures, traditions, beliefs, and lifestyles of different people all over the world and enables humans to interact with each other and to learn new things in life. It is a medium for exchanging knowledge about the way things function in the world with different people.

Diversity brings more experience about the different people and enables to gain insight regarding diverse perceptions, and helps to clear the prejudices people may hold regarding different people from different cultures, races, and religions. For example, the culture of Asian countries like India is very dissimilar to the culture of Western countries like America. In India, emphasis is laid on the upbringing of the children from a traditional and religious perspective.

Cultural values are imbibed in children by way of the family set-ups which are mostly joint family systems. This proves to be highly beneficial for the psychological and physical growth of children. In this way, our knowledge about the different ways different societies function is enhanced and we can develop newer means and methods to alter our perceptions for the betterment of our society as well.

Diversity helps in strengthening our communities and helping in the development of our personalities in unselfish ways and gets rid of our stereotyped preconceptions. Diversity also initiates competition and provides us with varied choices. For instance, the diversity of political candidates in the selection of governments enables us to choose the best candidate based on their credentials. Political diversity thus helps in the development and progress of nations as diverse candidates will work harder to achieve success. Diversity presents the nation with a multitude of talents in different fields, which can be put to use for the progress of the country.

For instance, there are several stereotype images regarding various communities. The Indians are believed to be smart, the Chinese are supposed to be hardworking, the Japanese are supposed to be meticulous and precise, Africans are supposed to be strong, etc. If all the virtues of the multiple societies are found and utilized in any country, the nation is most likely to prosper due to the multiple talents found in that country. Since diversity also creates competition, people are likely to work harder to stay ahead in the race.

The interesting aspect of the article by Ramjattan (2019) is the strategies adopted by English language teaching (ELT) non-native professionals to resist racist nativists. Racist nativism refers to false perceptions about non-whites being non-native of countries like Canada and the United States because of racial differences. This perception is regardless of citizenship and generates whites supremacy over the non-native ELT professionals. Conformist and transformational resistance are the strategies used by ELT experts to cope with racist nativism.

Conformist resistance involves complying with the conception that the white Canadian teachers have a dominant position in ELT. The non-white teachers conform to the whites supremacy by changing their names to the white ethnic groups ones to cover their racialized identities. Although changing names does not make ones ethnicity invisible, it allows an individual to conform to the whites culture. The main factors that motivate the teachers to adopt the conformist resistance strategy are to show that one is qualified as an English teacher and the need to be seen as more multicultural. Teachers who conform become role models for the students who would like to be part of Canadian culture.

Transformational resistance involves changing the belief that white Canadians are the countrys true inhabitants and automatically have the English languages instructional expertise. Teachers who adopt this strategy regularly participate in professional development workshops and training to enhance their linguistic knowledge and pedagogical skills. By doing that, they show students that race is not a limiting factor in excelling at ELT. Consequently, they change learners racist nativist, thinking that race makes them unqualified instructors. Nevertheless, the two strategies can promote white Canadian supremacy despite helping teachers resist racist nativism.

Reference

Ramjattan, V. A. (2019). Racist nativist microaggressions and the professional resistance of racialized English language teachers in Toronto. Race Ethnicity and Education, 22(3), 374-390. Web.

Introduction

Racial injustice is a topical controversial issue, and today it is almost impossible to not be involved in the discourse regarding its influences in modern society. The problem is not limited to individual cases and recognized as systemic, concerning all societal spheres from the legal system to the sports industry (Jenkins). The analysis of two articles on racial injustice has shown that they differ in their kairos, pathos, and visual rhetoric, while being similar in logos and ethos, because of the audiences expectations.

Article 1

The first text chosen for the analysis is an op-ed by Barry Creamer called Our Faith and Ethics Must Challenge Our Norms on Race. In his work, the author addresses racial injustice and the ways white people, the primary stakeholders, can follow to resolve it. Its kairos is justified by the topical issue he is discussing and his intended audience, which is the conservative population of Dallas since the article is published in the Dallas Morning News, a conservative newspaper. He says that systemic racial disparities are caused by the centuries of oppression of black people and offers several steps to tackle the problem. The text is organized according to a traditional structure: first, he presents the introduction, then follows his main ideas, and finishes with the conclusion.

The first rhetorical feature is the articles logos, which constitutes itself in the form of logical arguments made by Creamer and his explanation of the current situations causes. Speaking of the problem of racial discrimination, he refers to historical events, saying that black people were enslaved during the first 250 years of American history and oppressed under Jim Crow (Creamer). The author refers to historical events that are well-known to his audience since southern conservatives are mostly older people. Some of them may have witnessed the Jim Crow atrocities themselves, which helps the author evoke readers feelings.

The conservative audience is accustomed to a more reserved style of writing; this explains the moderate level of pathos present in Creamers article. Yet there are instances where the author turns to literary devices to add emotion to the text, for example, I already have to nudge, cajole, persuade or compel people (Creamer). Here, he uses climax, aiming at impacting readers and stress his efforts in trying to bring racial justice.

The authors situated ethos is established through his credentials listed below the article and his statements at the beginning of the text. He starts the article by presenting his identity, I am a 57-year-old white man with a long history and some influence in Southern, conservative Christianity (Creamer). Targeting other white southerners, he invites them to follow his own example, and the fact that he is a professor makes his words sound reasonable and gives him credibility. Creamers invented ethos is built with the help of the steps to minimize racial injustice and their general acceptability among the intended audience.

The articles visual rhetoric lies in the illustration that pictures minorities faces against seemingly lost in the crowd of white people who are painted in toneless, dull colors. This highlights the topic and corresponds to its kairos, stressing that black people are often neglected in the white-majority society. The picture does not contain any violent imagery, for example, of lynching, that would be unpopular with the conservative audience.

Article 2

The second article, called All People of Color Should Fight Anti-Blackness, is written by Grace Pai, and its kairos is based on the topical problem of racial prejudice among other people of color. The author argues that all ethnic minorities have to overcome their own negative attitude towards black people and promote their interests instead. The articles intended audience is liberal minorities living in New York since it is published in the New York Daily News, a left-leaning publication. The topics stakeholders are the aforementioned readers who are willing to change the current status quo. The text is organized according to the standard layout of the introduction, body, and conclusion, and its message is clear.

The articles logos consists of various data, statistics and can be explained by the liberal readers need for trusted sources. For example, speaking of black students racial discrimination in schools, Pai presents precise figures, only 1% out of over 3,300 students at a specialized high school like Stuyvesant are black (Pai). This shows the intended readers that the author has thoroughly studied her topic and can support her claims.

Pais text contains a significant pathos level since she employs different literary devices and primarily appeals to emotions. The author writes that racial justice will not emerge if we dont first do our part to fight the anti-black racism that is ingrained in our families and communities (Pai). This kind of claim is extremely emphatic and is chosen specifically for the liberal audience, which is predisposed to being highly responsive to emotions (Rotenberg).

The situated ethos of the author is created by the examples of how she was subjected to discrimination. Pai tells about her experiences as a victim of racism, has been racially profiled by police in Oregon (Pai). Her identity and background justify her ability to say that her racial group is racist towards black people in liberal readers eyes. The invented ethos of the article, based on the authors suggestion, is also appropriate for the audience.

The visual rhetoric is expressed through a picture of a building on fire shot during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, the events referenced in the article. Pai demonstrates a photo of the events that occurred relatively recently and are known to the generally young liberal audience. It also reminds the intended readers of the riots that, according to them, were a respective response to injustice.

Synthesis

In the first article, the kairos concerns the current moment when white people need to address their privilege, while Pais kairos concerns the high time for other racial minorities to discard anti-blackness. The same can be said about the pathos, Creamers article is reserved in its style, matching the conservative audiences expectations. Pais article is emphatic, which is dictated by the liberal readers penchant for emotional responsiveness. The first article references the Jim Crow times, the topic which many southerners have strong feelings about. The second article refers to the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, which the liberal public considered to be a reaction to injustice. Also, the violent visual rhetoric of the second article would not be approved by conservative readers. As a white man, Cramer presents himself to his readers as an example of what his group can do to bring racial justice. The liberal audience is concerned with peoples identity, so, as an Asian woman, Pai strictly addresses the readers of her own ethnicity.

Conclusion

Racial justice is a topical issue that affects different spheres of society, which inevitably leads to its extensive coverage in the media. Both authors referenced the events which were known to the intended readers and evoked an emotional response. They proposed actions that would be well regarded by their audiences and used language that would be most suitable for their readers. The authors also integrated their personal experiences and backgrounds to add credibility to their words among their readers.

Works Cited

Creamer, Barry. Our Faith and Ethics Must Challenge Our Norms on Race. The Dallas Morning News, 2020.

Jenkins, Malcolm. What Protesting NFL Players Like Me Want to Do Next. The Washington Post, 2017.

Pai, Grace. All People of Color Should Fight Anti-Blackness. The New York Daily News, 2020. Web.

Rotenberg, Becca. Liberal and Conservative Brains Handle Emotions Differently. Axios, 2017.

The issues of race and ethnicity have always been rather important for human beings. The modern society tries to be more tolerant and polite towards the identities of every single race or ethnic group. However, in the past discrimination according to the racial identity was a usual phenomenon. Only the people of art, especially writers, promoted racial equality in the society. One of the writers of such kind was Charles Waddell Chesnutt, and this paper will focus on his ideas about race and ethnicity.

To strat with, it is necessary to state that the above mentioned author was a person of the African American origin. However, this fact was unknown to the readers of Charles Waddell Chesnutt until the latest years of his literary career. Writing mainly short stories and novels, Charles W. Chesnutt was an acknowledged genius of the prose of realism. However, his creative work faced considerable challenges that were conditioned by his identity. From this, as well as from the typical features of his writing style and imagery, it should have been obvious for the readers that their favorite author was an African American.

In more detail, the major feature of the works by Charles W. Chesnutt was their simplicity and readability for the least educated groups of the American society. His short stories and novels are distinguished by clear description of the lives and misfortunes of the African Americans and other discriminated or enslaved minorities of the American society. Thus, for example, The Conjure Woman by Charles W. Chesnutt is a bright example of his literary genius that managed to combine the realism and fiction in one work. Accordingly, another feature of his work that demonstarted his racial belonging was a great appeal to the descriptive and figurative language. Finally, the open support of the discriminated minorities in the pro-slavery Southern states in the time after the Civil War was another sign of his belonging to the African American ethnic group.

Moreover, about 60 years before Matin Luther King, Charles W. Chesnutt created his speech in support of the African Americans and granting them the equal rights with the white Americans. It is universally known that the 19^th century and the early 20^th century was the time of discrimination, segregation and various other kinds of the violation of rights of African Americans. Thus, in his famous speech of 1905, Charles W. Chesnutt proclaimed such values as rights equality and the supremacy of law as the basic ones for the American society. Making references to the Independence Declaration and the United States Constitution, Charles W. Chesnutt made the American society think about the ideals for which Lincoln died and numerous sodliers gave their lives during the Civil War. Abolition of slavery and recognition of the equality of all human beings were to become fundamental for the construction of the society of the future.

Thus, all the above discussed facts prove that the African American identity of Charles W. Chesnutt was obvious throughout his whole life. Despite the fact that his appearance did not allow his contemopapries to consider him an Adfrican American, his own attitude towards his race was simple  he represented the African Maericans on the arena of the American cultural and social life, and his literary career was one of the proofs to this point of view.

Racial and ethnic relations have always been quite a controversial issue in the present American society and undoubtedly, these relations require in-depth analysis from different points of view.

The main problem we have to discuss is the interdependence of class and race (or ethnic group). Such interdependence can gradually turn into racism ( in fact, it is racism), the belief that race is the predominant indicator of human behavioral features and capacities, and those racial distinctions can give a certain race a right to superiority, especially, as far class stratification is concerned.

In the present American society, the problem of racial discrimination remains a very acute one. A famous American writer and scholar, David Roediger, described this interdependence between class and race in his book The Wages of Whiteness. He researched the genesis of white identity or whiteness among European-American workers in the North during the prewar period. Naturally, the effects of this phenomenon in other words superior attitude of white people towards people of color are still very noticeable. The author focused his attention on

1. the role of race in defining how white workers look not only at Blacks but at themselves
2. the pervasiveness of race;
3. the complex mixture of hate, sadness, and longing in the racist thought of white workers;
4. the relationship between race and ethnicity.

David Roediger made an effort to explain such a phenomenon as whiteness (David Roediger, 22).

In his book, Roediger focuses attention on the behavioral aspects of the so-called whiteness He emphasizes even though white laborers earned low wages, their compensation went beyond the monetary reward but also a public and psychological wage. Roediger says that: Status and privileges conferred by race could be used to make up for alienating and exploitative class relationships, North and South, black and white. White workers could, and did, define and accept their class positions by fashioning identities as not slaves and as not Blacks (Roediger, 148).

These processes are deeply rooted in the ways that these non-black people have experienced not only the beginning but also the development of a new American industrial society. They have lived disappointing lives within a society that raised their expectations of dignity, and material gain, and then denied them the realization of the same. Nevertheless, they had privileges and power in this society, not only to live above the levels accorded most people of color but also to wield power over the lives and main representations of black people. So, with the collaboration of white media owners, politicians, workers, they created the so-called blackness just because of their own unachieved ambitions.

They tried to suppress and deny their desires, and then defined themselves as white, as not being what they had created as black. They have known that they are white because they have known that they are not black.(Roediger, 131). Evidently, that gives that illusion of power and control.

If we look at the present American society, we may see that the phenomenon of the so-called whiteness still exists, but it does not necessarily go for African Americans, that also includes Latinos and even those, who came from Eastern or southern Europe. Such a phenomenon can also be explained by the fact that some people want to vent their spleen on those, who are unprotected. In other words, people are simply looking for a scapegoat whom they can bully.

The so-called white privilege has a great number of manifestations, for instance, in such spheres of life as education, employment status, justice, etc.

Thus, we may arrive at the conclusion that the interdependence between race and social status still exists in modern American society and it is extremely difficult to eradicate this disease. Naturally, some acts of legislation are aimed at protecting national minorities but that does not seem to be enough. Probably, the only way is to get rid of that prejudiced attitude or as some may call it xenophobia (inexplicable fear of everything new or foreign, different).

The only way we can get rid of it is to be tolerant because tolerance is the basis of any rational society. If such diseases as racism, profiling, discrimination are not cured, they will gradually lead any society to its destruction.

Bibliography

David Roediger. The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class. New York; 1999.

Life is full of surprises; we all know this, and yet are never ready for them. Coronavirus pandemic was indeed a surprise that brought fears, losses, unexpected discoveries, and controversial decisions. When there is a burden of doing the same thing day by day, it feels that nothing is going to change. However, when looking back, I realize how many things have become different. It is a lot easier to reflect on past events in 30 or 40 years because the outcomes are already clear. In this memoir, I want to share how my life values have transformed after the global lockdown.

The Gift of Time

We tend to take time for granted, believing it has no limits. During the self-isolation, my vision and sense of time took a turn. Every day I woke up with the feeling of missing something intact, observing how life was passing by. There was no more routine, no more traditional classes or gatherings, picnics, and hiking. I felt numb and paralyzed, left out at the brink of the universe. Slowly, my mind started to push me in another direction.

I began to read more poetry, practiced meditations, and upgraded my culinary skills. I opened a forgotten diary to write down my feelings and experiences. Time is a precious gift, and it is in everyones power to unlock its untapped potential. There is no need to be busy, but rather to know how to spend time wisely. Nowadays, it is the most valuable asset that allows me to stay active and energized, implement all plans and dreams.

Building Bridges

Everybody got scared of people and contacts; the whole world never felt so lonely and abandoned. Suddenly, I became a stranger, someone that should be avoided at any price. I felt very isolated and broken, recalling previous gatherings with friends and siblings. Social life was undergoing a significant transformation, with gadgets and laptops at its heart. Undoubtedly, I communicated with friends and schoolmates online before, but it was more for fun. In a blink of an eye, this online communication turned out to be a new reality.

It was an opportunity to reconnect with family and close friends, maybe even call relatives in another state or country. I found that I had been too self-centered, sometimes ignoring the needs and concerns of my family and friends. Therefore, I attempted to reconsider this behavior and listened more and talked less. When I let people express themselves and show sincere interest, they revealed their deepest feelings. I am very proud that my loved ones trust me, and we have no secrets to hide.

Believing in Yourself

When an individual is losing ground, motivation to move forward disappears too. From time to time, I was reluctant to study and learn because all the knowledge seemed useless. It is a dangerous idea that ambitious activities and hard work do not matter in the time of disaster. On the contrary, it helps to stay focused and determine goals to be achieved. Therefore, I made a schedule to organize and track all the activities and duties. It is way harder to be disciplined when you are by yourself. However, this discipline starts to pay off once there is an understanding that you are the one responsible for your life and personal growth. In short, your inner value should not be challenged by external factors.

Growing Conscious

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, communities all across the globe united in solidarity. Every action, voice, and contribution counted in the battle against the pandemic. People got to know their neighbors, cashiers at a local grocery store, and nobody hesitated to ask for help. It seemed that we had underestimated the importance of relationship, kindness, and empathy. Despite the increased physical distance, the emotional connection between individuals grew narrower. Everybody needed support, a piece of advice, and a shoulder to cry on. It was an opportunity to see how similar our hopes and fears are, regardless of the ethnic background, religious beliefs, or skin color.

More than that, the anthropogenic impact on the planet became more evident than ever before. The earth was slowly regenerating when factories closed down, and the tourist traffic decreased. I reassessed the way we have to treat our environment and the natural world. Instead of being exploiters and destructors, we must take on the role of creators and guardians. Human beings are part of an enormous ecosystem that sustains the well-being of every living creature. I decided to make ethical choices and take small steps on the way to environmentally friendly living.

The pandemic demonstrated that humanity was not ready to grapple with the crisis. We are more vulnerable and indecisive under conditions of uncertainty. Nonetheless, I used this period of turbulence to reassess values and guiding principles in life. Time is a powerful tool that gives us unique opportunities to learn and develop every day. Family and friends are the sources of encouragement, and keeping relationships strong requires effort. Finally, humankind should get united to conserve the environment and provide support for those who need it the most.