Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the new social networking standards among the young adults and teenagers. The use of social media subjects youths to the dangers of cyberbullying. Indeed, cases of cyberbullying are on the rise in the United States. Scholars hold that children who are victims of cyberbullying are likely to suffer from depression, poor sleep, anxiety, and unhappiness among other psychological challenges. As more youths continue to use social media, there is a need for enactment of federal laws to curb cyberbullying and prosecute offenders. This report will discuss the impacts of cyberbullying on youths today.
Impacts of Cyberbullying
According to Craig et al., the victims and architects of cyberbullying exhibit numerous psychological signs, which include feeling nervous, agitation, helplessness, and loneliness (607). They claim that the victims of cyberbullying are always fearful and experience social difficulties. A study carried out on children in Norway confirmed that victims of cyberbullying have low self-esteem. Craig et al. claim that the youths remain with the challenge of low self-esteem for a long time. The challenge might persist even when they become adults. According to Craig et al. Youths who encounter different forms of cyberbullying are likely to engage in behaviors that might be self-harming. For instance, some victims suffer from eating disorders and self-mutilation. The girls who are victims of cyberbullying are at a high risk of experiencing eating disorders. The victims of cyberbullying also suffer from physical signs like stomachache, dizziness, backache, and headache. Craig et al. posit, The more frequent the bullying, the more the young person is likely to experience symptoms of ill health, whether physical, emotional or mental (608).
Craig et al. allege that youths who are victims of cyberbullying suffer from paranoia and phobic anxiety. The stress associated with the bullying can also lead to the teenage suffering from stress-related conditions such as skin diseases and stomach ulcers (Craig et al. 609). Some teenagers also suffer from binge eating and variations in sleep patterns. Craig et al. maintain that cyberbullying leads to the victims suffering from apnea or insomnia. The youths experience horrifying nightmares that disturb their sleep. Moreover, they exhibit psychosomatic signs like sleeplessness and abdominal pain. On the other hand, the young people who perpetrate cyberbullying suffer from a severe headache.
Donegan claims that cyberbullying subjects teenagers to stress and strain. In return, it leads to the young people exhibiting deviant behaviors. According to Donegan, many adolescents engage in criminal activities due to exposure to cyberbullying (35). Victims of cyberbullying go through a vicious cycle that compels them to participate in criminal activities as a defensive mechanism. As the youths look for ways to vent their frustration, they engage in antisocial behaviors.
Many youths who fall victims of cyberbullying are convicted of crimes. In most cases, the coping mechanisms that victims of cyberbullying adopt do not bear fruits. Instead, they exacerbate the overall quandary of improper conduct. Donegan supposes that youths do not prefer seeking assistance from counselors. Instead, they opt to resolve problems their way. Failure to settle the issue of cyberbullying leads to the youths becoming desperate. They become lost in emotional distress. The research by Donegan concludes that both the perpetrator and victim of cyberbullying are hurt emotionally. In return, they feel insecure. At times, the troubled youths may decline to go to school, thus performing poorly in their studies. Donegan cites violent thoughts and suicidal ideation as the extreme impacts of cyberbullying. He claims that homicide cases are prevalent among the victims of cyberbullying (37). Besides, cyberbullying is the third leading cause of fatality among the youths in the United States. According to Donegan, the victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying have a high chance of contemplating suicide, attempting to commit suicide and even committing it.
According to Faryadi, cyberbullying results in peer rejection among the young people (2253). The teenagers who suffer from peer rejection develop negative perceptions about the school, thus performing poorly in class. The adolescents fear getting scoffed at by their colleagues. As a result, they stop participating in group discussions and have difficulties in handling assignments. According to Faryadi, youths who are cyberbullied perform poorly academically. The bullying distracts the students making it hard for them to pay attention to academics. Cyberbullying leads to the students losing interest in studies. Additionally, the students start viewing school in a negative way. They start failing to report in class, therefore not being able to follow the classes consistently. Further, the teenagers stop participating in lesson.
Faryadi claims that cyberbullying has a wide audience. Information shared on social media reaches a wide audience. In most cases, victims of cyberbullying cease going to school due to fear that their colleagues know about the damaging information about them that is posted on social media. Eventually, some students end up dropping out of school while others perform poorly making it hard for them to progress to the next class. Faryadi holds that cyberbullying results in long-term changes in the mind of the victim. It becomes hard for the victim to remember whatever is taught in class. In other cases, the students are unable to concentrate in class or learn anything.
Faryadi claims that cyberbullying has adverse impacts on the perpetrators. The bullies spend a lot of time on the internet. They direct all their energy to cyberbullying, therefore having no time to study or do assignments. Besides, the perpetrators of cyberbullying experience anxiety since they fear being noticed. Hence, they are never at peace. Faryadi posits that it becomes hard for the bullies to study in a troubled environment. Accordingly, they do not do well in their studies.
Cyberbullying causes a lot of humiliation to young girls. At times, the girls are powerless and unable to deal with the challenge. The victims of cyberbullying decline to interact with their colleagues. Consequently, the turn to alcohol consumption to relieve the emotional pain associated with rejection or loneliness. Selkie et al. claim that youths who encounter unwarranted sexual advances through social media, suffer from severe depression. The study by Selkie et al. concluded that perpetrators of cyberbullying are at a high risk of engaging in alcohol and substance abuse. The survey found that a majority of the college girls who perpetrated cyberbullying were addicted to alcohol.
Conclusion
Cyberbullying has numerous adverse impacts on the youths today. Victims of cyberbullying experience emotional and physical challenges, which force them to indulge in alcohol and drug abuse. Further, some victims lose interest in studies, thus performing poorly in class. Cyberbullying also affects the offenders. Perpetrator of cyberbullying devote most of their time to perpetuating the vice. Hence, they do not have time to concentrate on studies, therefore failing academically. The offenders also indulge in alcohol and drug abuse.
Works Cited
Craig, Hase, Goldberg Simon, Smith Douglas, Stuck Andrew and Campain Jessica. Impacts of Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying on the Mental Health of Middle School and High School Students. Psychology in the Schools 52.6 (2015): 607-617. Print.
Donegan Richard. Bullying and Cyberbullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention and Analysis. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications 3.1 (2012): 33-43. Print.
Faryadi, Qais. Cyberbullying and Academic Performance. International Journal of Computational Engineering Research 1.1 (2011): 2250-2316. Print.
Selkie, Ellen, Rajitha Kota, Ya-Fen Chan and Megan Moreno. Cyberbullying, Depression, and Problem Alcohol Use in Female College Students: A Multisite Study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 18.2 (2015): 79-84. Print.
The Navys Child and Youth Programs are an essential part of the nations child and youth development aimed to promote quality, availability, and affordability of the care under the Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD currently offers support to children either directly or via third parties. The department oversees the CDCs, FCC, SACs, and R & R systems, Military one source, and NACCRRA that operates child care subsidies (Zellman, Gates, Cho, & Shaw, 2008). Furthermore, the DoD assistance is rendered as a family support service that is availed on a first come, first served basis; thus, many families may miss out. The installation commander gives a go-ahead command for the construction of any CDC.
Zellman et al. (2008) report that the CDCs are available for children of active-duty military members, civilians employed by the DoD, and military retirees. Under this provision, low-income families pay $43 a week for up to 50 hours of childcare, while those with high income pay $126 a week. However, parents with children under five years pay twice as much as others. Moreover, although the DoD provides funds to the CDCs, the commander has the mandate to determine the extent to which the resources will be used to support the care program. Therefore, the priority should be directed to such family types as single-parent and dual military families, who have a higher demand for childcare (Bushatz, 2017). Under this provision, several types of families and child care processes are available to ensure that people serving in the military have appropriate care for their families and children. Bushatz (2017) states that the Department of Defense child centers are distributed in different parts of the world and are 800 in number. Child care facilities are available for children aged from six weeks to twelve years.
The centers are typically available for access from Monday to Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6: 30 p.m. However, in the event that parents work schedule is tight, the provision allows extra hours. Besides, fees paid for these services depend on the total family income, the type of center, and the nature of services that are available (Bushatz, 2017). Some of the possible kinds of care include:
In-home child care providers: The plan allows for home-based infant care, both on-base and off-base, for those that are certified through the service. Home care accepts a smaller number of children as compared to other available childcare facilities.
Off-base child care: The program is managed by Child Care Aware. It provides help to active-duty service members and activates Guard and Reservists (Trautmann & Gross, 2015). The program is also designed for those who do not live near an installation. It is applicable if the available military child care center is full and cannot take any extra number of children.
The economic status and other background disadvantages of families support the need for having appropriate family care. Cozza and Lerner (2013) state that reasonable care for children in a military family improves the quality of life of the family. For instance, military spouses face a range of economic and financial problems as compared to their civilian counterparts. Their wages are relatively lower because of their work schedules, and their constant movement makes it hard for them to acquire an extra job to boost their income. Military families have different demographic capacities. For instance, in 2011, the force had 726,500 spouses with more than 1.2 million children that lived in the household. In addition to this, 743,736 children were part of Guard and Reserve families. Out of the values mentioned above, the demographics breakdown is: 30.4% of white, 47.3% of black, and 37.4% of Hispanic military people have children and the need for better care (Cozza & Lerner, 2013).
Rationale and How the Funds Will Be Used
A large number of children in the Navy and military forces shows that there is a need for better systems of taking care of these children and their families. This provision includes an outdoor natural learning environment for children. The program helps every child develop self-regulation and concentration. Kemple, Oh, Kenney, and Smith-Bonahue, (2016) strongly suggest that outdoor games may improve the self-control and attention of the child, contrary to the commonly seen inappropriate behaviors. Trautmann and Gross (2015) state that over 40% of children in military families are less than six years old, which is a valuable time when they need physical and emotionally available parents. However, continuous deployment results in increased parent stress, child maltreatment, and child behavior problems (Trautmann & Gross, 2015), which has augmented the demand for outdoor programs to improve the behavior of children of all ages.
Also, children who have lost their parents in military actions have low motivational spirits. An outdoor learning environment improves ones motivation and increased enthusiasm as compared to an indoor learning program since the child is helped to have a better attitude to the surrounding environment (Trautmann & Gross, 2015). Outdoor learning environments have been found to improve the communication skills of children who are enrolled in the program as the child is encouraged to lead a discussion, give contributions to the debate, resolve conflicts, and speak out. Although indoor activities can do the same, outdoor practices have proved to be more significant. The research conducted by James and Countryman (2012) shows that children in families that have a deployed parent have behavioral problems (the number has increased by 11% during the recent years), while 18% of the children have stress-related issues. It is thus a serious concern that requires an appropriate measure to resolve the issue. The main reasons for the increasing need for a child care program include;
Frequent Permanent Change of station makes it hard for parents to have any likelihood of extending childcare to extended family members.
Long working hours beyond those of a typical workday makes it challenging to obtain needed care. Therefore, there appears a need for a non-standard child care program for such personnel.
Unmet requirements for child care present another problem. In research by RAND, 9% of military families said there was a dire need to satisfy their requirements. However, such requirements are not easily met as most CDCS have a long waiting list (Zellman et al., 2008).
For these reasons, the program needs grant funding to achieve success and to provide for all the children and families that require these services the most. The current funding sources (namely, federal funding, state funding, and foundation provision) are not sufficient to cover all the needs (Trautmann & Gross, 2015). Thus, grant funding will go a long way to ameliorate the present situation. For example, the federal funding sources are under the Childs Bureau, which is a branch of the administration of children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services. The source mainly funds child welfare in accordance with the requirements of the federal government (Child Welfare, 2013). The second source of funding is the Alliance of Childrens trust and prevention under State funding. Hence, it is only designed to provide support to community prevention programs through a set of policies, funds, and invocations, which cannot efficiently cater to all the vital services. Besides, the foundations and organizations involved in child care provisions are not consistent with their funding as well as service provision.
Evaluating the Sources of Grant Funding
The Navys Early Childhood Management Programs success is ascribed to many factors, including qualified and skilled Early Childhood experts, standardized guidelines and processes, operative and competent management organizations, and a high-quality assurance team (CNIC, 2015). The Navy Early Childhood Management Program cannot accomplish its objectives without backup and prized donations of significant partnerships and grants they provide. Part 2 of this report presents a precise description of some of the potential grants and resources, which are associated with the Early Childhood Management Program (Bushatz, 2017). Its implementation ought to create extra affiliations at the community level concerning the demands of the implementation exercise.
Potential Grant Fund Supporters and Resource Centers (Organizations, Programs, and Government Partnerships)
4-H is the USs biggest child empowerment establishment, serving over seven million 4-H children in urban, suburban, and rural inhabitants (Captain Planet Foundation, 2014). Stimulated by the university-based syllabus, 4-H members participate in hands-on learning events in science, healthy staying, and food security. Every Navy Youth Program (YP) is associated with 4-H, and due to the Commander, Navy Installations Commands (CNIC) partnership and prescribed contract with 4-H, every YP has access to all the 4-H program curriculum, workforce development exercise, technical support, and grant funding.
Boys and Girls Program of America (BGCA) is another organization offering connections and YP with grants and programs associated with healthy and harmless undertakings and mentoring for children (Sargent, 2016). The emphasized fields are health, physical fitness and recreation, education and professional development. Each Navy Youth Program is linked with BGCA, CNICs association, and contract arrangement with BGCA, which permits every YP member to enjoy numerous BGCA program courses, workforce development training, technical support, and grant support.
Child Care Aware: This establishment provides broad information for guardians and child care workers. The Navy CYP allies with CCA on many initiatives, including Military Kid Care and Operation Military Kid Care.
Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC): Its role is to facilitate the transition and other learning activities connected with military kids (The School Funding Center, 2014).
Zero to Three: It offers services in the child-family field, in the sector of kid health, child development, and strategy creation for infants. Some of the Zero to Three common resources are:
Free Parent Brochures & Guides: These are free documents given to guardians.
Zero to Three Journal: It is published twice a month for early childhood teachers, childcare experts, and early intervention personnel.
Public Policy: The standard policy subjects covered include but are not limited to infant policy topics, creating early childhood organizations, Federal Rules, and State Policies (Child Care Lounge, 2010).
Family Readiness & Fleet & Family Support Centers: This organization backs personal and family willingness via a complete array of plans and grants like relocation help to families shuffling from one place to another, kin employment activities, family occupation readiness, psychotherapy services, individual finance management, social skills, and advocacy services (Captain Planet Foundation, 2014).
Military Family Life Consultant Program (MFLC): This program resorts to services of licensed physicians for carrying out social duties, providing counseling services, and performing other related clinical duties to offer both short and long-term services to Navy members (FMCD, 2013). Likewise, consultants are also skilled in military-based disciplines, common alignment with the disposition cycle, military culture, and reporting necessities in line with the Navy Family Advocacy Program.
Loyal Kids Grant: Project Outline
Describe your what if& opportunity and how your schools Creative Leadership Team will meet your schools creative professional development needs (100-200 words or less)
The teams what if.. is to work with an open budget through accountability and transparency with the assistance of multifaceted team members to etablish a fully engaging and practical formula that can produce the anticipated results. The aim of this is to ensure that the budget is not fully committed to an initiative that will not produce the desired outcome (FMCD, 2013). Particularly, the team will look at the prevailing situation, funding sources, and available funds to determine the most appropriate and result-oriented actions to partake in. The team will also review the opportunities and challenges in the initial phase of the program to assess its efficacy and align it with the best actions that can be taken with regard to the programs goals.
Outline goals and objectives of your Creative Leadership Teams proposal
The teams proposal goals and objectives are to:
set up permanent stations with the help of organizations, policy-makers, and government agencies to support and extend childcare to all families;
initiate and model partnership approaches for childcare service provision;
carry out research regarding the need for childcare support in order to develop rewarding care options that can fulfill the wishes of families;
avail information about training and support initiatives designed to enhance childcare quality.
Define what success would look like and how you will measure progress. Be sure to describe any ongoing assessment
A successful program will guarantee that at least more than half of the parents in need of childcare programs have the provisions available for their children. It will also ensure that all the children in the program have a chance of experiencing outdoor learning activities (Zellman et al., 2008).
One of the ongoing assessments is measuring the number of favorable child care provisions within a time frame of six months. The assessment aims to monitor if the communication skills and interaction capacity of the children are improved, to determine any behavioral changes, and most importantly, to conclude whether the program is effective (Kemple et al., 2016).
How will you identify and share Creative Leadership capacity building promising practices so other schools can benefit from your experiences?
Joint programs with the care providers from the different schools, in which they are allowed to experience ways of appropriate outdoor learning, will be used to share the idea. Such programs will include seminars and visits to other schools that can benefit once the program is up and running (Zellman et al., 2008).
Why is your Creative Leadership proposal innovative?:
The program takes into consideration the availability of a natural learning environment for the children. The children will also be given a chance to lead group discussions for them to express their emotions and thoughts adequately (Kemple et al., 2016).
Describe the collaboration planned for your Creative Leadership program. How will you foster school-wide partnership and collaborate with others beyond your school?:
Continued meetings and seminars to lure other schools to enroll in the program will be an imperative strategy. In a bid to facilitate this, collaborations and agreements with different institutions will be made available for those willing to join, practice, or be part of the program.
Describe the sustainability of your proposal and how you will implement aspects of it beyond the grant funding
Apart from the grant funding, the program will also depend on the payments made by the parents. What is more, the outdoor environment will limit the expenses, thereby guaranteeing that the program will run for a longer time (Child Welfare, 2013). The success of the program will also attract more organizations that will be willing to take it to the next level as the numbers of military families are on the rise (Cozza & Lerner, 2013).
List critical contacts and the role each leader of this project will play (e.g., superintendent, principal, art teachers, other teachers, budget coordinator, public relations manager, parent liaison, and community partners roles
The commander has the mandate to determine the extent to which the resources will be used to support the care program.
The budget coordinator will be responsible for assessing the needed resources and their costs to start and run the program.
Parents will have to indicate the possible period in which they would like to have the services provided for their children and the potential payments they find convenient.
Caregivers (teachers) will provide education and care to children.
Project timeline (indicate key milestones) and describe work plan spanning October 2017 May 2018:
Obtaining funding from the grand funding institution at least one month.
Structuring of the leading team and the program milestones, including licensing policies from the military and state departments almost three months.
Initialization of the program in the schools, including registrations and enrolling children as well as teaching staff about two months.
Coordination and scheduling of the programs working periods through the week. It will include holding meetings with the parents and families enrolled in the program. After the joint approval, it is estimated that successful implementation of the plan will take at least one month.
Table 1. Project Timeline.
Activity
Month 1
Month 2
Month 3
Time-period for obtaining funding
Structuring of the leading team and the program milestones, including licensing policies from the military and state departments
Initialization of the program in the schools, including registrations and enrolling children as well as teaching staff
Outline budget, including how $2,500 will be used. List other resources/in-kind contributions that are being applied to this program, provided by your school/district or community
Activity
Budget($)
Payment of Teachers and Program personnel
$1000
Installation of the facilities
$300
Collaboration and seminars
$100
Licensing
$100
Upkeep of the program
$1000
Other resources provided by the community/school:
training/coaching materials from schools;
teaching and coaching volunteers from schools/community;
community campaigns/advocacy to create awareness about the program;
James, T. & Countryman, J. (2012). Psychiatric effects of military deployment on children and families. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 9(2), 16-20. Web.
Kemple, K. M., Oh, J., Kenney, E., & Smith-Bonahue, T. (2016). The power of outdoor play and play in natural environments. Childhood Education, 92(6), 446-454.
At midnight of 27 June 1969, few New York City police officers raided Stonewall Inn, which was a gay bar in Greenwich Village. A false warrant was served to the bar for selling illegal liquor and customers were asked to leave. This led to an upheaval and many movements, like the feminist supporters and the hippie movement advocating sexual liberation came into being.
Gay Liberation Front
In accordance to the Stonewall documents, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was formed during this time, which believed that homosexual women and men had the same rights as their straight sisters and brothers. This was the first time that thousands of homosexual people raised their voice in protest to the injustice which existed towards them in New York City. It was formed by an innovative group of people who believed that until and unless the present social establishments are abolished, homosexual men and women will never be able to attain absolute sexual liberty. They wanted to be exactly who they are and if required create new public relations and forms. They believed that since their oppression is due to sex they must properly understand the different sex roles and their meaning. They also believed that every lesbian and homosexual solely survived in misery and not tolerance or patience. Not only was their kindness questioned, but their employment was made tenuous and their choice of housing restricted. They wanted the homosexuals to understand and make others understand that their being homosexual means that they are emotionally attached to their own sex.
The Homophile Youth Movement
The Homophile Youth Movement (HYMN) was also formed during this time, it believed that until, and unless homosexual people themselves took some action, their intolerable situation will not improve. They did not rely on the various government agencies to improve their condition, as they were aware that nothing was being done to help them. They wanted everyone to understand their position.
This understanding was demanded from the authority and society too. Society disapproves such attractions and the authority works in favor of the society thus forming a nexus to oppress the homosexual movement. Thus, when they say things like oppression, freedom, revolution, or equality, it means that they want a recognition of their sexual preferences and they demand their rights to be maintained and sustained by the law and the society as a whole. To put it in simple terms, their demand was to be treated as a fellow citizen and not discriminated on the parameters of sexual orientation.
The Student Homophile League Manifesto
As a result, they formulated a strategy. The Student Homophile League Manifesto was one of the most radical manifestos of all times. They believed that homosexuals were harassed to oppress the minorities, like the hippies, blacks and other radicals of society, and make them powerless. They assumed that their fate was also linked to the minorities and only through common struggle could they achieve victory. All the homosexuals and bisexuals supported the young students, hippies, Spanish-Americans, feminists, blacks and other victims of discrimination. They also asked for the support of these groups in return. They declared heterosexual standards to be immoral and demanded equality. They demanded that homosexuals develop their own esthetics and ethics, and consider themselves a part of a better community.
The Manifesto also demanded that all limitations on sex between people of any orientation, sex or age be removed regardless of place and money matters. They also wanted removal of censorship. They also urged the churches to support them and authorize homosexual liaisons between agreeing partners. They did not bother about a clean and good image in the public, but were more concerned about the youth. Since it was also the time of the war in Vietnam, they did not support the causes of the war and completely rejected it. They refused to participate in the war and support the war machines which could, in the future, be used against them. They also opposed to obtaining security authorization for the homosexuals as it meant contributing to the machines. This movement continuously engaged in political struggles in all directions. They wanted the homosexuals to see how cruel the society had become toward them.
Conclusion
The actions taken paid off quite well. Carl Wittman indicated in 1969 that due to the action taken it as possible the group consciousness has evolved and he further indicates that in future it would grow and that would be a better world to live in and today we know most of it has come true. The society and the law is much open to this cause of the movement and homosexuals are treated equally as citizen and can exercise the rights of the citizen without fear.
Works Cited
Stonewall Documents; Homophile Youth Movement Flier
Non-consensual intimate image distribution is typical in the modern life of young people all around the world. Most of the time, such actions are performed as an act of anger or revenge. However, even though this is not new, people often do not know how to react to this blackmail. That is the reason why the topic of an article called Young People Just Resolve It in Their Own Group is relevant and needs to be discussed. This paper aims to analyze the article and study the strengths and weaknesses of the work. Young people need respect and no condemnation to feel safe to talk about their problems.
Over the last decade, the problem of non-consensual sexually explicit images has become even more frequent. Often named revenge porn, this type of harassment leaves a significant mark on the victims reputation, career, and mental and psychological state. Even though such behavior has become criminally convicted recently in many countries, young people continue to have trouble seeking help in such situations. The main reasons for these difficulties are the criminalization of the offender, often the victims classmates or other people from the close circle, and the fear of overreaction or being blamed by adults.
The study claims that they may still avoid seeking help from an adult due to a perceived lack of non-judgemental and helpful supports (Dodge et al., 2022, p. 313). It is also mentioned that one of the most vital things for supporting young victims without judgment is to respect them as sexual beings that should not be blamed for any sexual acts. The consensual image-sharing taboo forms the truism about sex being a danger. This statement is relevant and should not be disputed.
Teenagers that experienced non-consensual sexually explicit images being published or sent need to feel no pressure and judgment to be able to share their issues with adults. It is declared that sex-positive approaches among adults help teenagers to liberate and become more open about their sexual acts of any kind. This is crucial for young peoples openness at the right moments instead of trying to solve their problems independently.
However, one of the weaknesses of this articles text is the difference between people and the need for a unique approach. Another suggestion the study offers is educational design in collaboration with young people. This statement is absolute because most of the time, no one knows what is better for youth except for themselves. Many experts declare that non-criminal alternatives should be made available to allow for expedient, individualized, victim-centered, and restorative responses (Dodge et al., 2022, p. 315). However, this statement is debatable because every person should be equal before the law and receive deserved treatment. Disobedience to the law and human rights is a severe mistake that needs to be punished for society to stay just.
To conclude, it is crucial for young people to be accepted to be able to trust and be open to adults. Many teenagers were left alone with their sexual issues because they feared rejection and condemnation from adults. Different kinds of support should be provided to help young people to receive assistance. The main aspects that help to open teenagers to dialogue are sexual openness, accepting them as sexual beings, and uncompromising support. Such actions provide favorable conditions for their development as individuals and do not allow them to be emotionally or psychologically hurt by their peers.
Background: Rural-urban migration and youth in Bhutan
Rural-urban migration is a universal concern across the globe. Just like other nations, Bhutan is experiencing mass movement of people, especially youths from rural to urban areas. The bulk of Bhutans population is composed of the youth. Actually, more than half of Bhutan population is aged below 25 years.
Due to the increasing youth population, the government faces a challenge of ensuring equilibrium between contemporary beliefs and modernity. Bhutan is experiencing massive changes in its personnel due to rural-urban migration. In addition, the mass movement of people to urban areas has led to unemployment and poverty in urban centers.
According to the 2012 labor survey, over 0.7% of the rural populace migrated to towns. Further, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization showed that about 33% of Bhutan populace is in deficiency of food safety. The poverty analysis report (2007) exhibited that approximately one-third of the rural populace is poor compared to 2% in the urban areas.
Over the last fifty years, Bhutan has experienced rapid growth of its urban areas due to mass movement of populace from the countryside to urban areas. This trend is a major public concern to the state and the government has experienced a number of obstacles in tackling the challenge of rural-urban migration (Rinzin et al., 2005). A number of factors have been proposed in explaining the trend (Yeung, 2005).
Bhutans urban populace augments at a yearly rate of 6.5 percent. The prolonged rural-urban inclination is expected to grow four-fold in the coming twenty years, among which a significant proportion are youth. Studies contend that increased need for education by youth has been a significant factor in influencing the movement of people to towns as well as the growth of urban settlements within Bhutan (Kasarda, 2001).
Rural-urban migration has affected negatively on the development of the rural economy. For instance, a number of youths who migrate to urban centers deprive the rural economy of productive labor that is a significant factor of production leading low agricultural performance and high production costs (Kasarda, 2001).
The movement of youths to towns can also be attributed to Bhutan landscape that ranges from subtropical plains to sub-alpine Himalayan Mountains as well as rugged geographical terrains making farming difficult.
According to the Human Development Report (2009), Bhutan accounts for the highest rate of rural-urban migration in South Asia. The government acknowledged the positive impact of the trend since it alleviated the pressure on agricultural land that only composes approximately 9% of nations overall area.
However, with steady increase in rural-urban migration over the last fifty years, diverse views have been devised to address the issue. For instance, mitigation of rural-urban migration involves the investment of explicit initiatives such as linking rural development with tourism as well as encouraging youths to go back to the villages and help in the transformation of the economic landscape through farming.
The National Statistical Bureau Report (2005) showed that majority of youths migrate to urban centers to pursue employment prospects as well as better education. Further, the increased inclination of the youth towards moving to urban areas arises from the challenges that the youth face in rural areas such as poor health facilities, unemployment, poor living standards as well as poor lifestyles (Kasarda, 2001).
However, in moving to cities, youth encounter a number of challenges including discrimination, unwelcoming communities, financial deficiencies, lack of parental guidance and harassment. According to Zurick (2006), sexual exploitation, as well as emotional and psychological trauma, poses serious concerns for the youth.
Factors for rural-urban migration in Bhutan
Education
The need for education by the youth has been identified as a major concern contributing to mass rural-urban migration in Bhutan. Due to an inadequate number of secondary and tertiary institutions in rural areas, a large population of youth move to urban centers to pursue educational needs (Frame, 2005).
In essence, education is significant in the acquisition of skills and training that provide a path for the youth to develop their skills leading to securing of jobs in the industries and factories. In fact, a number of youths in the urban vicinities of Bhutan attend training school offering computer, technology and construction courses, thereby increasing their chances of being employed.
Lack of social amenities and facilities in the village
Yeung (2005) asserts that the pace of rural-urban migration in Bhutan is a serious anxiety for the government, owing to its implication on the socio-economic aspects. Several factors play significant roles in encouraging mass movement of populace to urban centers.
Firstly, developments experienced in infrastructure in terms of hospitals, housing, road connectivity and transportation facilities continue to encourage mass movement of populace from rural to urban areas (Radcliffe, 2006). In fact, the UNDPs human development report (2009) found Bhutan forms the bulk of annual rate of urban migration in South Asia at above five percent.
Family issues
Family issues have been a major factor contributing to rural-urban migration. For instance, families move to cities due to job transfers. In addition, marriages in cities have influenced urban migration. Moreover, relocation desires by family members to settle in urban areas to escape monotony and poverty has shown an increasing trend over the recent past (Radcliffe, 2006).
Rural poverty
Poverty is a major concern for the general Bhutan population accounting for over thirty percent. Over ninety percent of the population in Bhutan resides in the rural areas.
Further, the countrys topography is mainly composed of mountains and valleys, which constrain the prospects of producing food as well as the generation of cash proceeds. Moreover, the rugged terrain leads to deficiency in accessing good quality land resources and diminishes the prospective irrigation facilities (Radcliffe, 2006).
In addition, the rural populace is faced with scarce external inputs and services together with low farm expertise. Therefore, many people have no option but to move to urban areas to search for better livelihoods. Further, Bhutan is characterized with natural catastrophes, including landslides that increase the cost of goods.
Employment prospects and new experiences
Since the bulk of jobs in the rural vicinities of Bhutan are majorly agricultural-oriented, many youths are moving to the cities in search of white-collar jobs. As such, farming activities in the rural neighborhoods compel the youth and other members of the society to move to urban areas in search for employment prospects (Rinzin et al., 2005).
Moreover, a number of people move to towns to fulfill their spirits of adventure and experiences. Through migrating to the urban locations, the people are presented with diverse prospects of arts, living standards, foods as well as leisure activities.
Increasing population
The high population in the rural areas is a major aspect contributing to rural-urban migration. The large percentage of youth (15-24) in Bhutan accounting for over 22% continues to rise steadily. The implications of the rise in the rural areas include poor provision of education services, poor health amenities and unemployment (Frame, 2005).
The factors put pressure on the youth to move to urban centers to look for better services. Further, the increase in the rural youth population increases the pressure on the need to acquire secondary and tertiary levels of education.
However, the pressure results in deficiency of space as well as teachers prompting many people to move to urban vicinities to gain education services.
Impacts of rural-urban migration in Bhutan
Swelling of urban populace
A larger percentage of Bhutan population resides in the rural vicinities accounting for approximately seventy percent. However, over the recent past, the tempo of urbanization has been alarming.
According to the Bhutan Nation Urbanization Strategy 2008, the urban populace has significantly increased over the last decade (1994-2005) by over 100%. The increase in the urban population presents twice the growth of the national population experienced in the same decade (Rizal, 2002).
The rapid growth of population in urban areas comes with its disadvantages. For instance, the unprecedented growth strains the exploitation of the urban services leading to propagation of shanties, inadequate medical facilities, and inadequate drinking water.
Further, the increasing urban population, rates of unemployment, environmental problems including and poor sewerage systems are common in the cities of Thimphu and Phuentsholing.
Land dilapidation and pollution
Bhutan continues to face a serious concern of land dilapidation resulting from human activities as well as innate occurrences such as landslides and floods. In fact, the increasing youth population in the urban centers in search of employment prospects in the industries wields pressure on the ecological and the innate resources in the town vicinities.
For instance, there has been escalating encroachment to forestlands as the populace numbers swell in towns leading to internal biophysical and chemical corrosion (Potter et al., 2004). Further, the increasing populace of the youth in the urban neighborhoods contributes to the emergence of new industries. The industries, in turn, release dangerous emissions into the atmosphere, posing dangerous health concerns to the urban society.
Actually, Bhutan cities continue to record an augmenting inclination of respiratory ailments among its urban populace. Further, the escalation of land fragmentation has increased the deficiency of economies of scales among the youth, thereby blighting their prospects of attaining self-reliance.
Increasing health concerns and social crimes among the youth
The prevalence of early marriages, teenage pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted diseases have been on the increase among the youth in urban cities (Kasarda, 2001). Most importantly, increasing trends in HIV/AIDS infection prevalence have been realized over the past among the youth in Bhutan towns.
Further, due to the increase in the dominance of the HIV/AIDS scourge in the international arena and the neighboring states of Bhutan, the predominance of the virus is expected to increase. Moreover, the increasing rates of unemployment in the urban centers has prompted a number of youths to engage in acts of prostitution thereby posing their lives to the danger of acquiring HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Increased cases of substance abuse by the youth in the urban vicinities of Bhutan also contribute to the predominance of the malady.
For example, the statistical yearbook 2007 reported that crime occurrences related to drugs and narcotics tripled within four years jumping from twenty cases in the year two thousand and one to sixty-five cases in the year two thousand and five. Additionally, unsafe abortions have been on the rise among the urban youths leading higher maternal deaths.
Increasing unemployment rates among the youth in urban centers
Unemployment levels have been on the increase within the urban vicinities of Bhutan. In other words, the large number of people from the villages has created pressure on the available job prospects, waste disposal systems, as well as housing (Zurick, 2006). As a result, many people compete for the inadequate number of jobs rendering a higher percentage of the populace unemployed.
Government initiatives to curb rural-urban migration
The royal government of Bhutan has made remarkable steps to counter the menace of rural-urban migration. First, the government recognizes the constrictions that the increasing urban populaces pose to the resource limits in the towns.
To stem out the increasing rate of rural-urban migration, the production-access-market policy has played significant role in improving living standards within the countryside neighborhoods (Rizal, 2002). In essence, the policy tries to get better rural education systems as well as introduction of market-receptive crops.
Additionally, the initiative aims at improving the access to local road networks, thereby enhancing living standards and retention of larger proportion of populace in the rural areas. Improving the education facilities in the local areas prevents many youths from moving to urban centers since education is the major factor contributing to rural-urban migration among the youth.
The policy also attempts to eliminate factors that encourage movement of families into urban areas through promoting the development of urban centers in vicinities with large number of people as well as commercially feasible areas (Frame, 2005). Further, the government has made tremendous steps in expanding and relocating the rural neighborhoods into new local towns, thereby absorbing the large populace moving to towns.
For instance, the development of Khuruthang town, a commercial and education hub is a success of the initiative. In fact, the center has been significant in absorbing migrants from rural vicinities (Frame, 2005).
Bhutans national urbanization strategy has also been invaluable in stemming out the increasing number of youths in urban areas. The policy focuses on improving the well-being of poor rural populace as well as maintaining the sustainability of the ecology.
Further, through the construction of roads in different parts of the country, linkages between different areas of Bhutan have been efficient leading to development of new urban centers (Frame, 2005).
The government has increased awareness among the members of the public on the effects of population growth. Actually, the government has disseminated data related to population growth implications to the citizens through publications as well as electronic media channels.
In addition, the government has increased its focus on the provision of accessible education services and reproductive health services to the youth in both urban and rural vicinities preventing mass movements to urban areas (Frame, 2005).
The creation of an enabling environment where the rural populaces have access to financial and investment opportunities has proven invaluable in containing rural-urban migration. In fact, there have been increased systems that have tremendously expanded employment and benefits to the rural fraternity slowing down the rate of rural-urban migration.
The dynamism experienced in the global fraternity has forced the government to provide solutions to the problems affecting youths and keep them posted on the contemporary issues in the society. A large proportion of Bhutan youths abuse drugs such as marijuana and inhalants as well as alcohol.
The porous frontier of India and Bhutan has increased rates of drug trafficking among youths. The government is addressing the concern of drug abuse through the establishment of treatment and rehabilitation centers. For instance, the youth development fund supports several one drop-in centers.
Education is a major aspect influencing the migration of youth to urban centers. The Bhutanese government is tackling this concern through a number of initiatives. For instance, the government is posting more graduates in the rural education facilities. Further, the government also encourages the media coverage on challenges experienced in urban areas to bring out clearly the real picture of turban environment.
The escalating joblessness in urban centers has occasioned a number of youths to engage in petty crimes and prostitution. However, the Bhutan Foundation has played major roles in countering such concerns. The foundation engages the youth through offering scholarships and education prospects, promotion of sports, music and arts as well as employment opportunities.
The royal government of Bhutan also continues to focus on improving vocational education among the youth in the rural areas through expansion of science, information technology as well as crafts (Rinzin et al., 2005). In addition, strengthening of the training institutions capacities in the rural population has proven significant in the prevention of further migrations to the urban centers.
Unemployment among the youth has been found to be one of the major factors contributing to rural-urban migration (Rinzin et al., 2005). As such, the government has focused on a number of initiatives to reduce unemployment as a way of curbing rural-urban movement. For instance, the government is diversifying job prospects across the country.
The development of coordinated and planned urban expansion systems that are equivalent to the rate of migration has been invaluable (Rinzin et al., 2005). Further, the government has been encouraging regional equality through provision of quality services and employment prospects across the country.
Through the establishment of the rural livelihoods funds, the government has been able to mitigate rural-urban migration by initiating programs that improve rural revenue and livelihoods through agricultural development (Frame, 2005).
In fact, the program has realized massive achievements concerning poverty alleviation through the construction of revenue-generating enterprises in the rural areas such as Lamtang and Pam-Chaibi, among others.
References
Frame, B. 2005. Bhutan: a review of its approach to sustainable development, Development Practice, vol.15 no.2, pp.216-221.
Kasarda, JD 2001, Third world urbanization: dimensions, theories, and determinants, Annual Review of Sociology, vol.17 no.3, pp.467-501.
Potter, RT, Elliott, BJ & Smith, D 2004, Geographies of development, Pearson /Prentice Hall, Harlow, England.
Radcliffe, S 2006, Culture and development in a globalizing world: geographies, actors, and paradigms, Routledge, London.
Rinzin, A, Chophel, T, Peljor, N & Jambayang, T 2005, RuralUrban migration in Bhutan: policy and planning, Urban Studies, vol.33 no.7, pp.1045-1060.
Rizal, D 2002, Administrative system in Bhutan: retrospect & prospect, Asian Affairs, vol.30 no.3, pp.284-295.
Yeung, HWC 2005, Rethinking relational economic geography, Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, vol.30 no.1, pp.37-51.
Zurick, D 2006, Gross national happiness and environmental status in Bhutan, Geographical Review, vol.96 no.4, pp.657-681.
Mass shootings in schools, gun homicides, non-fatal and fatal street shootings, and other types of gun violence have recently become a highly disturbing and urgent social problem. Its significance is determined by the fact that gun violence strongly affects young people physically and mentally. In the United States, more than 3,000 children and adolescents aged from 0 to 19 years old are shot and killed every year ( The impact of gun violence on children and teens, 2021). Moreover, approximately 15,000 young people are shot and injured in other words, 51 young Americans are affected by gun violence every year ( The impact of gun violence on children and teens, 2021). At the same time, the victims of gun violence are people who witnessed how their family members, friends, or unknown people have been killed by the gun or heard gunshots, as well.
In general, firearms may be regarded as the leading cause of death among young people, and it is a purely American problem not typical for other high-income countries ( The impact of gun violence on children and teens, 2021). The cases of gun violence that affect children and adolescents include homicides, suicides, street shootings in urban areas, and mass shootings in schools and other education facilities. As a matter of fact, the intersection of gun violence and domestic violence has the biggest impact on youth almost 60% of young people affected by gun violence every year are affected by homicides ( The impact of gun violence on children and teens, 2021). Children are killed in the home or witness the death of family members. Another major reason for gun deaths among young people is suicides, the number of which has dramatically increased over the past several decades. In addition, high rates of suicides are also determined by increased access to a weapon for young people, and the combination of a loaded and unlocked gun at home with suicidal ideation may be lethal.
At the same time, gun violence is represented in multiple ways in American schools as well. Students are frequently impacted by intentional and unintentional shootings that cause injury or death, gun homicides, and gun suicides. In addition, Black and Hispanic young people are more affected by gun violence in comparison with White children and adolescents due to racial segregation and deliberate underinvestments in their neighborhoods and communities ( The impact of gun violence on children and teens, 2021). Nevertheless, gun violence causes highly severe physical and psychological harm for youth regardless of age, race, and family socioeconomic status. Injuries may cause irreparable negative consequences to health, and being a witness to shootings substantially affects mental health. Young people exposed to any type of gun violence experience various negative psychological effects that include posttraumatic stress, desensitization to violence, anger, withdrawal, constant fear, anxiety, and even suicidal ideation. In addition, for students, these short-term and long-term psychological effects may cause a lack of concentration, distraction, and, as a result, poor school performance (Bergen-Cico et al., 2018).
Modern findings suggest classifying young peoples exposure to gun violence as an adverse childhood experience in order to initiate more research for efficient preventative and responsive measures (Rajan et al., 2019). In the present day, almost all suggested and already implemented measures are concentrated around gun sales control. In other words, a weapon should be inaccessible to children, adolescents, domestic abusers, and mentally unstable people to prevent shootings and suicides. Moreover, schools should implement particular thread assessment programs to identify students vulnerable to the risk of violence committing to prevent tragic incidents.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is faced with a serious problem of the high unemployment rate and low political participation of youth. To address the problem, the authorities offer a wide range of opportunities to its young people to acquire and develop their potential. The UAE seeks to increase civic responsibility and leadership skills of youth because young people are considered to be an essential resource for the development of the country. It is the governments responsibility to provide its young citizens with healthcare, housing, jobs, education, as well as opportunities to participate in decision- and policy-making processes.
Around 40 percent of the UAEs population are young people, and the authorities understand that youth is a significant resource in driving the UAE forward. There are various platforms and programs which are available for the UAEs young people to become leaders and be involved in the policy-making process. One of them is the UAE leadership development program that is designed to help young citizens get knowledge and experience to become political leaders (Kamali, 2018).
Young citizens have the opportunity to participate in various workshops, seminars, and training. Capacity-building is needed for long-term sustainability; therefore, the country seeks to engage the young generation in the policy-making process. The programs aim to encourage UAE youth to take ownership of assigned actions and tasks, drive governmental initiatives, enable collaboration, and analyze global trends. Another significant governmental initiative to inspire youth to become leaders is called Youth Circles, which are forums enabling youth to express their opinions on political, cultural, social, and economic issues.
Each Youth Circle participant has the right to voice his/her opinion to shape a policy or solution. Participants of the circles are young citizens of different genders, ages, and fields. Researchers note that Youth Circles are designed as a means of transmitting recommendations from inspired young citizens to the UAE authorities (Al Saleh, 2018). The main purpose of Youth Circles is to help both current political leaders and future leaders among youth to find the best solutions for specific issues.
There have already been many achievements through Youth Circles, including positive results in solving the problem of UAE youth unemployment. Researchers note that Youth Circles resulted in partnering with Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai to develop youth enterprise support initiative and launching of Kafaat Internship Fair, a partnership with Emirates Foundation to provide internship opportunities for students ( Youth Circles UAE , 2017, para. 6).
The partnership and internship offer significant opportunities for career development to young people of the UAE. Through the internship, a young person can improve his professional skills. Moreover, it is an excellent opportunity for networking with future employers. Also, the UAE authorities help young citizens to become a part of the decision-making process by opening youth hubs and centers.
According to Alowais (2017), youth hubs aim at creating strategic partnerships with public and private sector entities to create tangible data that could guide youth policy (p. 33). The places are focused on maximizing the passion and potential of youth and encouraging their talents by creating an empowering space. The UAE Youth Programme, Youth Circles, and youth hubs empower young citizens to participate in the decision-making process. The active participation of youth in forums and programs fosters a new generation of leaders who will be capable of moving the country forward.
Kamali, A. A. (2018). Leadership Development Programs (LDPs): Factors Impacting on Learning Transfer in Dubai Government Organisations. (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia). Web.
Literature, whether it is a long novel or a short story, has a way of exploring some of the most difficult issues faced by people today. This is true even if the story is based on events that happened long ago. The benefit of stories set in other times, though, is that they also offer some insight as to how everyday life was affected by events we learn about in history class. This is the case with Charles Chestnutts short story The Wife of His Youth in which the significant disruption of life experienced by the institution of slavery and the Civil War is illustrated through the story of the husband, the story of the wife, and the events in the period of the story itself.
The story of Mr.Ryder
Rather than being told chronologically, the story of Mr. Ryder is told backward beginning in the present when he decides to throw a ball as a means of building up to a marriage proposal to a very refined woman he has grown to admire. The struggle he went through to attain a position of respect and responsibility is revealed in the first section beginning with his arrival in the city is told as if this is when his life began. He remembers how he had come to Groveland a young man, and obtaining employment in the office of a railroad company as the messenger had in time worked himself up to the position of stationery clerk, having charge of the distribution of the office supplies for the whole company. He is described as being very industrious as if he is distracting himself from something. These hints only become clear at the end of the story as he is explaining himself to his guests.
Just as Mr. Ryder has finally overcome the grief and guilt he felt as a young man after having lost his first wife, she shows up at his door attempting to put her own life in order as he had been doing. As she tells her story, it becomes clear that her life also suffered a great disruption not once but twice, and resolving this disruption was her lifes goal. The first was caused by slavery as her husband had to run away, although he was already free, to avoid being sold. The second was a combination of slavery and war as Liza Janes hint to her husband was discovered and her master first beat her and then sold her further south. However, through it all, she knew her husband was out there, trying to find her and always loving her. I know hes ben lookin ferme. Fer he sot a heap er sto by me, Sam did, an I know hes ben huntin fer me all dese years lessn hes ben sick & er outn his head, so he couldn member his promise. Even though she expects shell have to work to support him, she envisions their reunion as the happy days to come.
Conclusion
The great disruption that caused Mr. Ryder to adopt a new name and dedicate himself so strongly to intellectual pursuits rather than remember a love he lost and left Liza Jane with only one hope in life is emphasized by the great disruption that occurs in both peoples lives at the end of the story. When Mr. Ryder acknowledges the wife of his youth in front of the entire literate and somewhat snobby members of his community, he not only gives up the future he had hoped to share with Mrs. Dixon, he also gives up the life he has worked for the past 25 years to achieve. At the same time, Liza Jane is brought from the ignorant world she has struggled and survived in for so long into a world of much greater material comforts but one that she cant yet understand and perhaps never will. Both characters worlds are changed in an instant and cause the reader to reflect on how sudden and significant great disruptions can happen in life at any time.
Works Cited
Chestnutt, Charles. The Wife of His Youth. The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line, 1899. New York: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1898.
It now represents a commonplace assumption that, in order for young people to be able to attain a social prominence, they must be capable of understanding how the matter, in which they address life-challenges, will affect their future. Unfortunately, that is not something they may expect learning in schools and colleges the places where students are being simply exposed to the professionally relevant knowledge, often without given the chance to reflect upon this knowledges discursive significance.
Therefore, in order for young people to learn how to act wisely, as something that has the value of a thing in itself, they are usually being left with no other option, but to socialize with individuals that happened to be much older than themselves, such as their grandfathers and grandmothers. As practice indicates, this kind of a socialization, on the part of the representatives of younger generations, often proves beneficiary, in respect of encouraging the latter to act wisely hence, increasing their chances to make proper choices in life.
The validity of this statement can be well explored in regards to the essay Inspired Eccentricity by Bell Hooks, in which the author expounds on her memories of its grandparents Baba and Daddy Gus. It is well worth noting that at the essays very beginning, Hooks suggests that her own individuality has been formed by what happened to be the individualities of the two earlier mentioned persons: Reflecting on the eclectic writer I have become, I see in myself a mixture of these two very different but equally powerful figures (Baba and Daddy) from my childhood (Hooks 291).
As we are well aware of, despite having been raised in the impoverished Black family, during the course of the fifties, and despite having been forced to deal with White peoples racism, Hooks was nevertheless able to overcome the impossible odds and to become Americas famous female writer. Therefore, given the authors admiration of her grandparents, stated early in the essay, we can well assume that there is nothing accidental about it.
Apparently, the very manner in which Hooks reflects upon her childhood memories of Baba and Daddy, implies that the authors possession of certain psychological qualities, which allowed her to attain a literary fame later in her life, came about as a direct result of Hooks have been taught wiseness by its grandparents.
For example, while talking about her grandmother Baba, Hooks points out to the fact that, despite having been an essentially illiterate person, she was nevertheless smart enough to recognize the sheer fallaciousness of the idea that, in order for just about anyone to be considered an upstanding citizen, he or she has to attend church on a regular basis.
As the author noted: Baba had no use for church. She liked nothing better than to tell us all the ways it was one big hypocritical place: Why, I can find God anywhere I want to I do not need a church (293). It goes without saying, of course, that Hooks exposure to Babas anti-religious attitude helped the author to recognize an organized religion, as to what it really is the tool that the rich and powerful use, while striving to keep the societys unprivileged members in the state of an intellectual arrogance.
In its turn, this created preconditions for Hooks to become a feminist later in her life a person who is being perfectly aware of how, throughout the course of history, the religion of Christianity has been used to legitimize mens patriarchal oppression of women (Comaroff and Comaroff 10).
Hooks intellectual progressiveness can also be partially explained by the fact that, due to her fondness of grandpa, she learned early enough to remain critical to the claims of the officially sponsored ideology especially if the latter promotes the idea that young men should be happy serving as a cannon meat, during the time of war.
According to the author: It was my grandfather who taught me to oppose war& I saw him as a man of profound beliefs, as a man of integrity& He was not gonna let anybody tell him what to do with his life (292). Apparently, Daddy was wise enough to understand that there can be very little glory in risking the chance of being killed, while killing other young men, who happened to be enemies, so that the weapon-manufacturing companies on both sides would able to increase their profits dramatically (Barkey and Parikh 527).
Had those young men, who volunteer to join the army, while facing the opportunity come back home in coffins or armless/legless, been fortunate enough to have a chance to socialize with the person like Hooks Daddy, they would have thought twice, before rushing to prove the sheer strength of their patriotic feelings.
As it was mentioned earlier, by having succeeded in becoming the Americas famous female-writer, Hooks did manage to beat the impossible odds for this to happen, in the first place. In its turn, this can be partially explained by the fact that, ever since her young years, the author affiliated herself with the virtue of self-reliance.
In this respect, the authors close affiliation with her grandparents came as a particularly valuable asset, because by listening to their life-stories, Hooks grew to realize the fact that, allegorically speaking, ones endowment with the strongly defined sense of a will power can move mountains. As Hooks noted: In their own way my grandparents were rebels, deeply committed to radical individualism.
I learned how to be myself from them. Mama hated this& (world) where folks made their own vine, their own butter, their own soap& (294). This, of course, contributed rather substantially towards the authors emotional comfortableness with the existential mode of a fully self-reliant individual, who in fact likes addressing life-challenges.
Consequently, throughout the course of her life, Hooks was able to tackle hardships in the particularly courageous manner, without referring to worlds injustices, as such that deprived her of a rationale to even try making the best of its life quite unlike to what it happened to be the case with many of todays young people of color.
Thus, what has been said earlier, does confirm the soundness of the papers initial thesis young people are indeed in a position to learn much about life, in general, and about what may account for life-challenges/opportunities, in particular, while remaining in close touch with their elderly relatives.
In its turn, this will help them to act wise in times when they make important decisions that will affect their future. Apparently, even ones illiterate grandparents are much more capable of giving him or her the lessons of wisdom, as compared to what it happened to be the case with the concerned individuals parents or teachers. I believe that this conclusion fully correlates with the papers original thesis.
Works Cited
Barkey, Karen and Sunita Parikh. Comparative Perspectives on the State. Annual Review of Sociology 17.3 (1991): 523-549. Print.
Comaroff, Jean and John Comaroff. Christianity and Colonialism in South Africa. American Ethnologist 13.1 (1986): 1-22. Print.
The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program is a unique opportunity for many American students to learn the language that is usually less commonly taught. I would like to participate in this program to improve my knowledge of the Russian language and develop my writing and reading skills. There are three main reasons why I choose this program: the possibility to learn the host culture and traditions, the necessity to improve my understanding of the Russian ideology, and the opportunity to develop my communication and critical thinking skills.
Today, American-Russian relations are complicated indeed, and it is necessary to have enough information about the countries, their histories, and cultures. This program helps to study the language through understanding its culture, traditions, and social norms, as well as its history and development through different epochs. The differences between American and Russian ideologies are impressive. I wish to comprehend this gap and identify the strengths and weaknesses of both countries in comparison to each other. Finally, this program aims at developing students writing, reading, and communicative skills. My participation is my chance for self-improvement and the development of the required academic skills.
Respect for history, culture, and traditions is what people should strive for. The NSLI-Y program proves that the process of language learning is actually many-sided. It is not enough to learn the peculiarities of the language. It is necessary to explore the cultural impact on the language and consider the social ideologies of the country.