Creative and innovative management in General Electric cooperation

Introduction â€Å"Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things† (Pascale, 1990)John Kotter (1996) defined management as number of procedures which can keep the complex interaction between individuals and technology moving efficiently. He identified several phases of this complex interaction, but the most important pieces are considered to be the â€Å"planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling, and problem solving†. Similarly, leadership has been defined as â€Å"a set of processes that creates organisations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances†. Good leadership can help draw a picture for the future, support people with that vision, and motivate them to pass all the obstacles to achieve the targets. Basically, effective management and leadership can lead an organisation to successfully achieve its targets. Leaders are people ‘who inspire with clear vision of how things can be done better’ (Slater, 2001). As personality traits, leadership and management possess many similarities. Both need a certain level of influence, the ability to work as a team with a variety of people, as well as the skill to set goals and manage them realistically. Nevertheless, these two traits might be considered very different in when looking at different fields of expertise. Though leadership and management have been around for centuries, the actual classification and concept of both leadership and management have only been developed in the last 100 years. The key functions of managers have been classified by the theorist Henri Fayol (1949) as: â€Å"Planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling†. Good leadership motivates individuals to perform allocated chores willingly, competently and successfully. Leadership can improve people’s performance at work, thus encouraging them to work harder and achieve high quality results. This increases not onl y job gratification at personal level, but also productivity at company level. Managers can create a positive and encouraging work atmosphere by making the employees understand their responsibility for the work, as well as their role in planning and control. As such, managers can create a positive outlook in their teams. This sense of responsibility at employee level is required to develop and grow a business. â€Å"Leadership is management job† Deming (1997). To be a successful manager, one should take into account six important points concerning quality and competence. These include leadership skills as well as management skills, and they are the foundation for each managerial position. The following list contains additional skills which make a good manager: Building a trusting working environment; Promoting a creative atmosphere without fear of change; Ensuring the highest quality results are achieved in order to meet the needs of clients; Ensuring up to date information is available and making certain clear communication channels are active to support informed decisions; Ensuring all results and activities are completed within planned financial and time limits, whilst guaranteeing quality; Utilising the position of influence to persuade and motivate, as well as achieving personal goals. This aspect of self-management is important as a manager is often seen as a ‘role model ’. Types of Leadership Style Leadership style can be described as: Autocratic: Autocratic leaders often have the following characteristics: – Leader makes decisions without reference or consultation with others – Leader wants to have the final say and considers himself the most important person in any consultation – Due to the limited consultation, the leader might reduce morale and friendliness among other members of the team This type of leadership may be effectives in cases where a quick and bold decision is required. Democratic Democratic leaders often have the following characteristics: – Leader believes in their team and they stimulate others to engage in the decision-making process; – Leader believes that all employees are responsible for the success of the work, and thus ownership of the work may be emphasised throughout the organisation; – Leader takes the view of others into account and all relevant parties are consulted before final decision are made – Leader will try to convince or persuade others of his thoughts when a decision has to be made; – Leader may help the motivation and general morale in the work place through active involvement of employees; -Through the leaders’ efforts, the employees have a sense of belonging to the company’s ideas and ambitions; – Leader helps develop innovative ideas and development within the business. 3. Paternalistic A paternalistic leader often has the following characteristics: – The leader considers himself a ‘father figure’ and acts in this manner; – Leader does not always involve other people in decision-making; – The leader considers it important to guide and support the staff; Case study In this case study we will look Jack Welch, a well-known and influential business leader of the 20th century. Mr Welsh was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Electric Co. (GE) and he is considered a very good example of a born leader. During the 41 years he spent working with GE, he helped transform the company into a very successful, productive and thus valuable business. As a CEO, he is renowned for his creative and innovative leadership style. Jack Welsh commenced his career at GE as a Junior Engineer in 1960, just after receiving a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois. Not long after starting work at GE, Mr Welch accepted a different offer from International Minerals and Chemicals, as he was not satisfied with the bureaucracy at GE. However, this plan never materialised as Reuben Geutoff, an executive at GE at the time, convinced him to stay and helped reduce the bureaucracy. As such, Jack Welch remained with GE, and gradually p rogressed through the company, from head of the plastics division in 1968, to group executive in 1973. Only twenty years after starting at the company, Mr Welch became the youngest CEO at GE to date. During this time working in this post, the company grew from a relatively small manufacturer of light bulbs and simple electrical appliances, to a multi-billion industrial conglomerate by the turn of the century. Over 900 acquisitions, worth several billion dollars were under his supervision, and made the company several more billion dollars through the sale of part of businesses. The innovation management process One of Mr Welch’s most important skills was the fact that he was an intuitive strategist. Intuitive leadership sensitively opens opportunities for personal expansion among high value executives, enabling them to connect with and discover the hidden distinctions of transformational change that exist within themselves. For example: Implementation – the turning of prospective ideas into a new product or service, or resulting in a change in a process. Acquiring – the combination of existing as well as new knowledge and insight, both from the organisation itself as from external sources, to find an answer to the problem. Executing – turning information into a product, which can then be marketed and launched. Launching – Show the product to the market and ensure acceptance or adoption Sustaining – Ensuring the use of the project in the longer term Learning – Using the project cycle to develop, improve and change the manner in which the proje ct is managed The streategy used by Mr Welch provides an opportunity to reduce unnecessary rules and continually question the development of different rules, as well as implement a new structure or alter the way in which the organisation operates. Such changes may be necessary because the organisation’s circumstances have changed or it is taking on new activities. Mr Welch was known as a great communicator, skilled at building trust between staff throughout the organisation. At the same time, he was highly competitive. He believed that management should make sure that new ideas are encouraged and that obstackles be removed from product advancement. Companies should create a setting where staff-led initiatives are promoted, and where training and innovation was available to all that worked there. As a result of his competitive edge, Mr Welch believed such innovative projects should be carefully controlled and managed within the company. Innovative ideas can originate from anywhere in an organisational structure, but it is recognised that developing the â€Å"raw idea† to an â€Å"implemented idea† needs careful support. Managers should be provided the opportunity to be creative and try out new ideas and concepts (within pre-considered risks). Of course the manager should remain accountable and as such the project should be implemented with consideration for timing and budgets. Companies should ensure they have the capacity to accurately envisage potential risks and opportunities, and have the ability to act on any necessary changes. As such, they should ensure that their administrative rules provide support to the innovations in the workplace, instead of providing red-tape which may hold back ideas. It is important for leaders to have vision, authority, but it is more important for them to reach out to individuals all along the chain of command to make sure that everyone feels involved in the process o f change. Leaders who don’t do this, and attempt to impose their vision from the top-down instead, might manage to achieve something that looks like their vision, but which is essentially empty. To persuade stakeholders of the benefits of a creative and innovative idea, one must adopt a variety of approaches to make the ideas appear powerful and compelling. If the ideas you are promoting are congruent with your core beliefs and values, it will be easier to promote them with true passion. Hence, it is important to first consider as to why a particular change or improvement needs to happen, and also how you see this happening. The change will only happen if you truly believe in the results. The following notes can be used for guidance: 1. Get all the facts behind your idea 2. Link humen emotions to the facts supporting your idea 3. Describe your idea and support it by example 4. Create a clear implementation roadmap 7. Be ready for any questions Conclusion Mr Welch had a democratic style leadership- he was greater communicator and he shared information with his colleagues and employers. It is considered very important to include the employer in sharing information, as it if often the higher level managers who interact on a face to face level with the customers, and thus they need to have access to all necessary facts. Mr Welch had the ability to make decisions and change the rules and he possessed the has the spirit of competition. This competitive edge helped push the business towards success and his intuitive strategies helped lead the company accomplish a wide set of goals and targets. As a business leader, Jack Welch was able to work in harmony with the larger business entity and his specific business characteristics made him a successful business leader Recommendation I recommend that those who want to become great leaders like Jack Welch, build on their charisma. Every leader wants to be an excellent one, and follow in the footsteps of a good example, I believe Jack is very good example to follow.

Jane Goodall Research Paper

Jane Goodall Jane Goodall once said, â€Å"I wanted to talk to the animals like Dr. Doolittle. † Obviously you can tell from this quote that Jane Goodall was very passionate about animals. She was an ethologist, which is a person who studies the behavior of animals, and more specifically a primatologist. She studied chimpanzees in Africa and made ground breaking discoveries about the similarities between primates and humans. So in a nutshell, the research of Jane Goodall was revolutionary and it changed the way that we view ourselves.Before she was conducting powerful research in Africa, she started out as a normal child. She was born on April 3, 1934, in London, England. She had always loved animals and this was easily seen when at the age of 4 she slept with earthworms in her bed and stayed in a hen house for 5 hours to see her hen lay an egg. See loved all animals but her infatuation with primates stemmed from receiving a stuffed chimpanzee which she named Jubilee, at the a ge of 2. This was from Current Biography. Jane had always dreamed of going to Africa to be among nature but it took her several years to make it there.Finally, one of her friends invited her to her family’s farm in Kenya. She finally got to Africa in 1957 at the age of 23. Jane greatly enjoyed being in Africa and once there she was determined to find the paleontologist, Louis Leakey. She was able to meet him and when she did she found out he was doing a study on apes. He ended up letting her be the main field worker. The scientific community thought that it was crazy to let a woman with no science education run a study. Leakey was aware of these conceptions but didn’t pay them any mind.So in the year 1960, Jane set off for Gombe, Africa to begin researching. Just before Goodall was getting ready to start the study, many researchers discouraged her, telling her that she would never get close to the chimps and it would be a waste of time. Jane didn’t head any of t his advice. She knew that she was going to this study her way and that she would be successful. The first two months were a little disappointing for Jane. She would walk through the underbrush and only be able to hear the chimps screeching from high above and rarely, even catch a glimpse of a chimp.When she thought that everything was going terribly, she found a place she called, the â€Å"peak. † The peak was a clearing about 100 ft. above the jungle floor. Jane could sit there and observe the chimps’ natural behavior. It was here where Jane started gathering her first observations. She saw the chimps greet one another with hugs and kisses and walk hand in hand. Once she even witnessed a male take a female’s hand and gently kiss it. Jane was able to conclude from these first few observations that chimps are very social creatures like us.In no time at all, Jane had made a discovery that shocked the science world. She had observed chimps on several occasions stra tegically, hunt down and kill other animals. Until then it was believed that chimpanzees were herbivores. Another ground breaking discovery that Goodall made around that same time was that chimps made tools to help them do things. According to PBS, she saw a chimp pick out a grass stem, whittle it with his teeth, and use it as a sort of fishing pole to scrape insects out of the ground.No one had ever recorded seeing any creature other than a human create a tool. This made people rethink the definition of a human. Even though Goodall was making discoveries, she still wasn’t pleased with the fact that she wasn’t able to get close to any chimps yet. Her new focus was to do just that. She would sit on the forest floor and watch as the chimps walked by. Eventually they warmed up to her and came closer. Suddenly the chimps were aggressive toward her but after a few weeks it stopped and the chimps let her follow them while hunting for food.Soon she was even able to start inte racting with them a little. She had a special connection with a chimp she named David Grey Beard. He was the first chimp she actually made physical contact with. Many of Jane’s peers didn’t like her because she named her subjects, and told stories about them instead of recording data. A lot of them didn’t trust the authenticity of her discoveries. Jane disregarded all of this negativity. She called herself an â€Å"old fashioned naturalist. † In fact she said she would have stopped if she had had to things the official way.In the end, Goodall’s discoveries were validated and some of her research techniques have been adopted by the scientific community. So in conclusion, the research of Jane Goodall was revolutionary and it changed the way that we view ourselves. She discovered that chimps were omnivores ancd used tools; are social creatures just like humans; and was able to have contact with a wild chimp which no one else had done. So after hearing about Jane Goodall can you say that you are that much different than a chimp?

Nursing Research Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nursing Research Portfolio - Assignment Example Indeed, although I had difficulties earlier in the interview and field observation, the hardship I experienced during the creation of the codebook was more difficult because it was much longer. I had to read the transcript over and over again in order to get a â€Å"feel† of the thoughts in the interview, and then I had to read them again in the coding of the transcript, and then again in the creation of the codebook. Looking at the steps, they can be almost considered as easy; however, what made them rather difficult was the fact that I grew tired of my transcript, to the point that I almost could not get new ideas in the succeeding times that I read it. Nevertheless, when I allowed myself some rest and then revisited the paper a few days after, I was able to appreciate the paper better. Somehow, the patterns and the recurrent concepts became more apparent and coding became a little easier. In addition, there were also some methodological/analytical insights that I realized f rom the coding process. One of these realizations is the fact that all the qualitative data are related to each other, although seemingly unconnected. Indeed, a response to one question could actually a supporting idea for another response in a later question. Another realization involves the fact that the researcher affects the way by which the coding is carried out, not only in the selection of methodology but in the actual choice of concepts itself. From my experience in the coding of my interview transcript, I observed that the interpretive process is shaped by my own spiritual beliefs and orientation. An example of this would be my inclusion of the principal characters involved in the maintenance/observation of religion and spirituality. Some people may have overlooked this aspect of the transcript, but because I believed that religion and spirituality involves a collective effort, I included the said principal players. Furthermore, when I compared my codebook with those of my group mates, I observed some significant differences. For example, my group mates included the characteristics of a spiritual person, as well as the different perceptions of spirituality, but these were not included in my code book. Also, my group mates did not include the principal characters involved in the maintenance/observation of religion and spirituality. I also noticed that the transcripts of my group mates did not really explore the role played or the influence of the workplace in the maintenance of religion and spirituality, which was, ironically, supposed to be the main topic of the coding exercise. Perhaps, the most basic explanation for these differences lies in the fact that I am different and unique from my group mates, and that although we share the same religion, we may not have the same spirituality. Week 6: Reflections on the Thematic Analysis If I thought that the creation of the codebook was difficult, then I guess I was greatly mistaken because it would seem th at the thematic analysis was much more difficult. I had two options in making the thematic analysis: I could either present the themes with written summaries and data excerpts illustrating the themes or I could choose to present my thematic analysis with the use of a concept map and a narrative describing the said map.

Internet Piracy - Preventing the Distribution and Downloading of Essay

Internet Piracy - Preventing the Distribution and Downloading of Copyrighted Material - Essay Example Internet piracy is considered unethical and is said to be no different from stealing. Information should not be free and sharing of copyrighted material is illegal as stipulated in rules and regulations regarding freedom of information. Basing on the ethical argument and the negative economic repercussions of internet piracy, companies and all other entities handling copyrighted information should put in place measures to prevent the distribution and downloading of copyrighted material. Copyright A copyright generally refers to a collection of rights granted by an authority to an innovator of an original piece of work for a specific period of time and in return their work will be disclosed to the general public inclusive of the right to duplicate or adapt their work of art. Usually copyright owners do not have to be registered. They have the absolute right to control copying and other manipulation of their piece of art for a limited duration after which the particular piece of work g oes into the public domain. Copyright owners are however getting themselves in trouble in the modern world because of the beast that has been manifested through internet piracy (Sheri 68). The essay discusses some of the methods that can be used by companies to protect data against internet piracy. Copy protect This is among the most commonly used methods by film, music, video game and software companies. Copy protect is an exceptional application that majorly prevents illegal distribution (New Softwares. net, Inc). It is distinct data copy protection software that inhibits the replication of information i.e. copyrighted CDs/DVDs. It can be described simply as a technology that prevents duplication and sharing of copyrighted material. It is important to protect pictures, documents, videos, software, story scripts, designs and audios as they can be easily shared. It has been noted that companies that use copy protection to make higher profits. Although implementation of the copy prot ection is expensive, it is countered by increased profits which are gained by preventing piracy of copyrighted files. This application has strong copy protection for documents, videos, audios, software, video games and information. Additionally, they are user-friendly with navigate user interface that does not require added programming skills. Companies can safely distribute their songs, software, films, video games and graphical designs using distribution media such as CDs, DVDs, Blu- ray disc and many others (New Softwares. net, Inc.). This application has been modified to fit the needs of different customers. It also eliminates the need to set up the application on the other end that opens the copy protected documents. Finally, the application prevents internet piracy, file sharing and illegal distribution. A joint venture that seeks to prevent the illegal download of copyrighted material: Two global companies: ContentX Technologies and Cybermesh International Corp. have worked h and in hand to help companies deal with the problem of illegal downloading of copyrighted materials (Bokdawalla). ContentX deals in internet security, monetization and security applications that will be valuable in venture. On the other hand, Cybermesh International Corp. develops technologies that are used in the online distribution in the media, entertainment and telecommunication

A Property, Market and Class-based Foundation of Disney Essay

A Property, Market and Class-based Foundation of Disney - Essay Example The Walt Disney Corporation conforms to this model suggested by Rifkin. Firstly, it is akin to a gated, networked community where a virtual reality is created through networking. Secondly, the diversification of its capital and business interests – the shift away from property into internet-based leasing, outsourcing and primarily marketing. The third aspect is the shifting emphasis placed on cultural and intellectual capital as opposed to material goods. Rifkin’s theory is grounded in the basic premise that in the age of access, the foundation of commerce is shifting away from the property and out into cyberspace. The Hollywood organizational model is a manifestation of this phenomenon. It consists of individual productions where actors, directors, production personnel, investors and a host of ancillary talent comes together for a short period in order to take advantage of an opportunity offered by a particular market, only to dissolve again once the production is completed (Rifkin 28). For subsequent productions, different elements will be brought together. The idea behind this is a partial synergy of sorts wherein capitalistic self-interest in a networked economy is completely governed by the prevailing market at a particular time.This principle may be seen to operate in the case of Disney, especially in its mergers with other companies that have been carried out at strategic times. Disney’s latest acquisition of a c omputer animation company Pixar is only one of a long line of mergers and strategic partnerships that have helped Disney to adapt successfully to changes in the environment. The creative elements supplied by Pixar when working in synergy with the financial clout of Disney have served to produce a superior product.The strategic move of acquisition of Pixar is a response to the technological environment where success is inherent in intellectual products that are a source of revenue through the provision of the license to access. In a similar manner, Disney and ABC television have merged, in order to strategically exploit the combined market that belongs to both companies through one entity.

Reaction paper to the article The Role of Children in the Design of Essay

Reaction paper to the article The Role of Children in the Design of New Technology - Essay Example Is this was Druin proposes three main roles for children in the design process. Specifically these involve: user, tester, informant, and design partner. In this way children are tasked with becoming directly involved in the design process through engaging with the games and providing feedback. At later stages in the development they are tasked with actually giving advice to the designers about how the technology or game could be changed. The research then gives expansive consideration to the specific processes within these stages. A considerable amount of past research is advanced that considers how child-design interactions have been advanced in the past. Eventually the researchers advance the notion of cooperative inquiry. This aspect of the collaborative framework articulates how the child can best be utilized to gain insights on the design process. During the article’s conclusion the researchers establish a graph that articulates the historical evolution of human-computer interaction (HCI). This demonstrates that children have increasingly been given the opportunity to provide their insight into the design process. There are a number of considerations related to this article. One of the most prominent considerations is that the divisions the author establishes -- user, tester, informant, design partner – are highly simplistic in nature. In this way they constitute less an innovative framework and more a way of articulating common sense ways of engaging with children. While the author advances a number of research on the subject, in many instances this past research does not form a functional gestalt. Instead, it merely offers disparate ways that children have been used in the design process. Still, the researcher’s perspective on cooperative inquiry is effective in that it provides a structured process that can be used for a large variety of applications. In this way the researchers argue that the child and adult collaboration

Critical Thinking and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Critical Thinking and Ethics - Essay Example This is because what can be seen as ethical in a particular situation may be viewed as unethical in a different context. Location or culture of communities also illustrates significant roles in understanding the ethical considerations relevant to that situation. This process is greatly improved through critical thinking applications. To give an instance in business ethics, a practice or product acceptable in one culture can be totally unacceptable in a different culture. Also, some cultures ethically embrace women in the workplace, but other cultures discriminate at women at the workplace. Critical thinking application, enable individuals understand situation so as to develop appropriate ethical considerations in a particular context (Moore, 2012). Critical thinking is connected to ethics through diverse thinking of individuals in relation to approaching ethical issues or practices. Individual eliminate the most probable approaches; this is until (s) he reaches or settles on the most appropriate approach for the given situation (Moore, 2012). Critical thinking is also linked to ethics through considerations of approaches individuals utilize in differentiating personal ethical concepts with organizational ethical concepts. Individuals have unique ethical considerations; they must separate these from organization’s concepts. Ethical decision making is important regardless of adherence to rule of logic. This is because ethical issues differ from one context or environment to another (Solomon, 2004). Decisions should be made in accordance to the acceptable practices of the applicable or relevant organization and

High preformance work system in HRM (humen resource management)enhance Essay

High preformance work system in HRM (humen resource management)enhance the effectiveness of the orgnization - Essay Example Also, more involvement in the organization makes the employees more empowered leading to a more committed workforce which in turn affects the productivity and effectiveness of the organization. According to Kling (1995), training, which is the second component of HPWS makes the company more adaptable to changes and enables it to improve the quality of output that leads to the increase in profitability. The third component, incentives, motivates employees to come with "outcomes that are beneficial to themselves and the organization as a whole" (Brown 2006). This results in a more productive workforce and a more effective organization. There are also specific reasons why HPWS can enhance the firm's HRM, effectiveness, productivity, and profitability. There were studies that linked HPWS with 14.8% growth in productivity, 12.2% improvement in workforce innovation and 7.7% reduction in employee turnover (FAS). These increases in the significant aspects of the organization can have substan tial effects that enhance the organization's status. One specific reason is workplace participation. Since HPWS allows workers to participate in the decision making, a culture of decentralization and responsibility will be present in the workplace (Kling 1995). This can create job rotation and cross training that result in more job satisfaction, reduced absenteeism and employee turnover. Also, decentralization will allow more employee involvement. This is a good thing because better decisions will be made since the employees have direct involvement with the issues at the workplace, so they know exactly what to do (Kling 1995). Together with the knowledge of the management and the experience of the employees, the organization can come up with better decisions. There are also evidences that prove HPWS as successful in enhancing the organizations' productivity, effectiveness, and profitability. In 1995, Huselid and Becker conducted a study that would assess the strategic impacts of HPW S. They estimated that one standard deviation change in the firm's HPWS will lead to an increase in the firm's market value of $38,000-$73,000 per employee. On the other hand, a study by Scotti, et al., (2007) found out that for every one standard deviation increase in HPWS in the healthcare sector, the organization will show a 0.29 standard deviation in customer satisfaction. The study also found out that there is a strong relationship between employee perceptions and quality customer service. There is also a study by Bartel in 1994, as cited by Kling (1995), that concluded that training with HPWS increases a firm's productivity by 9 percent. In relation to this, Kling also reviewed a study by Holzer in 1993 that doubling the training will decrease scraps in production by 7%. Another one by Tyson and Levine (1993) concluded that employee participation and involvement is positively correlated with productivity. Cooke (1994), as cited by Kling (1995), found out that establishments in crease its value-added by 5% to 25% if the employees have incentive pay. According to FAS, the University of Limerick and University of Kansas, USA conducted a study and concluded that HPWS "can make a significant contribution to profitability, productivity and staff retention". The study found out that firms with progressive

The night mother Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The night mother - Essay Example It is mentioned she is a lonely girl who doesn’t find much interest in talking to other people, but struggles to put herself together. Unlike her daughter, Thelma Cates is described as chatty and nosy yet as we read the play we realize that she is just as lonely as her daughter. She is in her late fifties and is quiet aware of her age. She tries to take this in positively, but cannot ignore the obvious that she is getting older and her time will soon come too. The play takes places in Thelma’s house and from there on Jessie has made the decision to take control of her life, thoughts and feelings. By the very first look of â€Å"Night Mother† we are able to determine that the play revolves around gloom and loneliness, from Jessie and Thelma, and grows around the issues they have had throughout life with a failed marriage, her epilepsy, and her delinquent son, Ricky. The main issue revolving the story sets around the fact that Jessie has decided to commit suicide, and straightforwardly tells her mother of her plans. â€Å"Jessie is full of vengeance and decides to commit suicide; oblivious to the fact that it might hurt her mother† (Brustein 160.) Before she does so, she must complete the list of things she has set herself to make before she kills herself, or as she told the people around town, â€Å"taking a vacation† (Norman 15). ... The author makes a remark by indicating that the appearance of the house shouldn’t be associated with the personality of Jessie, given that her mother is the one who is most outgoing. Norman adds on to the dialogue invisible characters that come up, meanwhile the two of them are having a deep conversation about how and why Jessie has taken the decision she has. While talking, they bring up characters like Dawson, Jessie’s brother, Loretta; Dawson’s wife, Ricky; Jessie’s son, and Cecil; Jessie’s ex husband. In addition to these characters, Jessie’s dad plays a very important role. From the conversation she and her mother are having, her mother admits to never loving him, but unlike Thelma, Jessie loved her father very much. I believe the importance of Jessie’s father plays after his death, since she did not have a father figure and her mother did not seem to worry about other than herself. It is also mentioned in the play that Cecil, wa s a handy man that made the porch and Thelma ended up marrying him to her daughter. Such actions have made the character of Jessie to submerge herself in the memory of her father, because â€Å"she never saw an environment in which love and harmony were abundant† (Burkman 36). In my opinion, Jessie’s suicidal thoughts come from the lack of affection she has received throughout her life. Cecil, her ex-husband has also taken most of her happiness since she became epileptic and fell off a horse and he divorced her. Her ideal marriage never really came together, and to only see her son grow to be somewhat of an antisocial or a delinquent. Although her mother wants to convince her that this is just a phase Ricky is going through, she

The Impact of Consumer Culture on the Advertisement of Oligo.Dx Assignment

The Impact of Consumer Culture on the Advertisement of Oligo.Dx - Assignment Example The representation of the body as promotional material and the connection of the same with the prevailing consumer culture of the catered customer base also is being critically evaluated. The advertisement does the extension of the product through directly noticeable images and also through critically relevant promotional text. The advertisement basically can be analyzed in two portions of which the first is the picture of a lady highlighting the cellulitis in her thighs. This image is captioned by the catchword, ‘90% of all women have cellulite’. This picture and the caption intend to cater for a broader range of customer base. This caption gives the reader a feeling that she is also included in the target group. This automatically adds to the range of the customer base. On the other side, this has an important link with the consumer culture as well. Featherstone (18-33) has opined that within a consumer culture, advertisement materials and other promotional media provides a proliferation of stylized images of the body. This has caused acute changes in the consumer culture of the society as the same has influenced their attention on both inner and outer body maintenance (Featherstone, 18-33). It should be taken into account that the advertisement of ‘Oligo. Dx’ caters to such a consumer base whose consumer culture is heavily influenced by these changes. Thus this caption along with the image contributes much towards the expansion of the consumer base. In this context, it can be well stated that the image and the caption in the advertisement successfully connect with the consumer culture and resultantly broadens the customer base for the product. In other words, these components the in the advertisement could successfully drag the reader into the customer base by utilizing the consumer culture pattern.  

School bullying Essay Example for Free

School bullying Essay Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others. The behavior can be habitual and involve an imbalance of social or physical power. It can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion and may be directed repeatedly towards particular victims, perhaps on grounds of race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability.[2][3] The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target.( Wikipedia), also according to stopbullying.gov bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems , and another statement from childparenting.com bullying is intentional aggressive behavior. It can take the form of physical or verbal harassment and involves an imbalance of power (a group of children can gang up on a victim or someone who is physically bigger or more aggressive can intimidate someone else, for instance). Bullying happen in different places but according to Wikipedia Bullying is a common occurrence in most schools. According to the American Psychological Association, approximately 40% to 80% of school-age children experience bullying at some point during their school careers.[16] Regardless of the grade level, socioeconomic environment, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, bullying can happen to anyone. However, various studies point out that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more bullied than students from higher socio-economic background. Most children experience bullying at some point in their academic careers. The following is a list of statistics that illustrate the severity of bullying within classrooms:[16] * 20-40% of bullying victims actually report being bullied * 70% of middle school and high school students experience bullying in school * 7-12% of bullies are habitual and pose a serious threat * 23% of 9th graders have carried a weapon to school recent ly[18] * 5-15% of students are constantly bullied * 27% of students are bullied because of their refusal to engage in common sexual practices * 25% of students encourage bullying if not given proper education and support in anti-bullying techniques[15] Due to the low numbers of students who actually report incidents of bullying, teachers need to have a certain level of awareness that will thwart any potential problems. This awareness starts with understanding bullying. Bullying can happen in school, so it is the responsibility of students to protect their classmates and to show everyone the dignity and respect they would like to be treated with. The first line of defense in bullying is in student’s own behavior. But when that fails, it must be brought to the attention of someone in authority, like a teacher. The concept of someone in authority failing to address the problem is simply not acceptable. This is why you must speak to a teacher you trust and know will do something to stop the bullying. There are different kinds of bullying; one of those is verbal bullying. Verbal bullying mostly happen in schools. In many cases, verbal bullying is the province of girls. Girls are more subtle (and can be more devastating), in general, than boys. Girls use verbal bullying, as well as social exclusion techniques, to dominate others and show their superiority and power. However, there are also many boys with subtlety enough to use verbal techniques for domination, and who are practiced in using words when they want to avoid the trouble that can come with physically bullying someone else.( bullyingstatistics.org). Examples of this are name calling, insults, teasing, and intimidation, homophobic or racist remark. In the Philippines, it is common to have a group of friends and teased those people who are isolated. One example that shows verbal bullying happens in schools is the news regarding the teacher who bullied her disabled students, the today shows reported the incident and the recorded tape said: Wilt, who did not respond to requests for an interview, can be heard on the recordings alongside Chaffins calling Cheyanne â€Å"lazy† and â€Å"dumb.† â€Å"Cheyanne, are you kidding me? Are you that damn dumb? You are that dumb?’’ Chaffins can be heard saying in one instance. â€Å"Oh my God. You are such a liar. You told me you don’t know. It’s no wonder you don’t have friends. No wonder nobody likes you because you lie, cheat.’’ On the other hand, the more serious and dreadful regarding the issue of bullying is the physical bullying, About 42 percent of kids have been bullied while online with one in four being verbally attacked more than once, 80% of the time, an argument with a bully will end up in a physical fight, 43% fear harassment in the bathroom at school. Physical bullying mostly happens between boys. It is usually their way of getting their anger out. Physical bullying can be pinching someone on the arm, to kicking someone in their stomach, and everything in between. Physical bullying is also stealing or destroying someone else’s property. According to Wikipedia.com, cyber-bullying is defined as: â€Å"when someone repeatedly makes fun of another person online, or repeatedly picks on another person through emails or text messages, or uses online forums and postings online intended to harm, damage, humiliate, or isolate another person whom they don’t like.† Online bullying, termed â€Å"cyber-bullying†, happens when teens use the internet, cell phones or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. Cyber-bullying researchers, Hinduja and Patchin define cyber-bullying as â€Å"willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text†, and recently updated the definition to account for cyber-bullying through internet that occurs without actual text, such as videos being uploaded from â€Å"You Tube† for example. In schools, bullying may take the form of repeated name-calling, physical abuse, and continually making fun of diff erences. In the workplace bullying may be characterized by harassment, scapegoating, name-calling, physical abuse, or unfair work pressures. Although people who bully exude a tough exterior, they are often motivated by insecurity, feelings of social rejection, lack of control, and stress. Stressors that can motivate a person to bully include poor academic or work performance, an unsupportive peer network, and strained parental relationships. Commonly, people who bully have been the victims of abuse and express their anger by directing it toward others. Bad behavior frequently gets more attention then good behavior; the need for attention may influence a person to act out and bully another individual. According to abs-cbn news site, In a study led by Plan International and Unicef on Violence Against Children in Public Schools in 2009, it revealed that 4 out of 10 children in Grades 1 to 3 and 7 out of 10 in both Grades 4 to 6 and high school have experienced some kind of violence in school. The study also said that verbal abuse is the most prevalent form of violence experienced by children at all school levels. This includes being shouted at and being cursed, ridiculed, teased or humiliated. It also revealed that children experience violence both from their peers in school and from school personnel. Reccie Oliveros, a volunteer for Volunteers International for Development, Education and Service of Young People and Women (VIDES), has for many years dealt with children who have been bullied as well as the bullies themselves. She said some signs that your child is being bullied are when he or she becomes iyakin, biglang tumatahimik, may fear sa mukha, ayaw ng manood ng mga violent shows. Yung iba ayaw ng pumasok sa school. Oliveros said parents should talk to their children who are victims of bullies. Tanungin ang anak, baka may nasabing di maganda, may nagawa na di sinasadya. Tapos kausapin ang teacher at tapos hikayatin sila na dalawin ang pamilya ng batang bully, she said. Oliveros said the bullies usually have problems at home like parents who are absent all the time. Insecure sila. Kulang sa atensiyon. Minsan nam-bubully pag walang pumapansin sa kanila, said Oliveros. Social factors also contributed in bullying, In two studies, McKown and colleagues had a total of 284 children, ages 4 to 16 years old, watch movie clips and look at photos before judging the emotions of the actors based on their facial expressions, tones of voice and body postures. Various social situations were also described and the children were questioned about appropriate responses. The results were then compared to parent/teacher accounts of the participants friendships and social behavior. Kids who had social problems also had problems in at least one of three different areas of nonverbal communication: reading nonverbal cues; understanding their social meaning; and coming up with options for resolving a social conflict. A child, for example, simply may not notice a persons scowl of impatience or understand what a tapped foot means. Or she may have trouble reconciling the desires of a friend with her own. It is important to try to pinpoint the area or areas in a childs defici ts and then build those up, McKown explained. When bullying continues and a school does not take action, the entire school climate can be affected. The environment can become one of fear and disrespect, hampering the ability of students to learn. Students may feel insecure and tend not to like school very well. When students don’t see the adults at school acting to prevent or intervene in bullying situations, they may feel that teachers and other school staff have little control over the students and don’t care what happens to them. The effects of bullying are so devastating and profound that over the last few years at least 37 state laws against bullying have been adopted. There have also been civil suits brought against schools and school systems over bullying incidents, some with damages in the millions of dollars. It is important to realize that, like sexual harassment and racial discrimination, some forms of bullying are illegal actions. Bullying is a serious issue that will impact the school experience of all children involved. This is why it must be taken seriously and effective measures to prevent it must b e put in place. Van der Kolk, McFarlane, and Weisaeth (2007) state, â€Å"Trauma in childhood can disrupt normal developmental processes. Because of their dependence on their caregivers, their incomplete biological development, and their immature concepts of themselves and their surroundings, children have unique patterns of reaction and needs for intervention.† Many of the children who are affected by traumatic stressors such as bullying can have their developmental processes and parts of their brains affected by the traumatic events (Ziegler, 2002). Many psychologist said that bullying is related to the person’s view of him/her self according to Tammy Wilgenbusch, a clinical psychologist with University of Iowa Childrens Hospital, said that at this age, children are developing their personalities and independence so they may be more likely to take their insecurities out on or try to wield power over others. By later adolescence, they have a better sense of self and are less likely to take insecurities out on others, Wilgenbusch said in a statement. Bullying is a negative or aggressive act that is systematic and ongoing that can be instigated by one person or a group of individuals, Wilgenbusch explained. Meanwhile if bullying can cause a stress and anxiety, it has a lot of tendency lead to suicide attempts. The statistics on bullying and suicide are alarming, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it. Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University. According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying. The correct definition to this question is bullycide is suicide caused from the results of bullying. Children and teens who are bullied live in a constant state of fear and confusion in their lives. Many feel the only way to escape the rumors, insults, verbal abuse and terror is to take their own life. Bullycide is clearly a serious issue. Bullying has been a major topic since last year in mainstream media news and has become a problem everyone is taking awareness on — more than ever these days. Kids and teenagers are scared to talk about the issue they are facing. It even happens with high school students, where according to U.S. News studies done by the National Center for Education Statistics states that, only a quarter of high school students speak out on being bullied. There are various things that a parent or teacher can do to teach their children and their students about the effects of bullying. Information on the facilities and action that can be taken to educate the young can be found in the Scholastic article, â€Å"Bullying and Teasing: No Laughing Matter† that explains the issue to parents. From my own personal experience with bullying for nine years, victims are set to believe students/kids become bullies because of their insecurity and issues at home, which they cast on the victims; which usually turn out to be the school â€Å"underdogs.† From my own experience, I noticed that when victims, such as myself, approach a counselor or someone else for help in school, we hear the bullies are trying to take their own rage and aggression due to insecurity or personal problems at home out on the victims. Serious action and consequences however are not being taken by counselors, and/or deans until the situation of bullying goes to the extreme, forcing the school in jeopardy of getting a bad reputation for bullying. Even though the idea that, bullying is wrong can be taught through anti – bullying organizations, and advocates against bullying, we also have to realize there are problems that the perpetrator is facing and needs help with. Therefore, while helping the victim, the perpetrator should also be helped. With so much awareness on bullying by mainstream media news, there have been various organizations that have made it their mission to put an end to bullying. A couple of years ago, anti-bullying organizations, including STOMP OUT Bullying and Champions Against Bullying took a stand to bring awareness to this problem. However, the effects of bullying, like Ty’s case, has brought more awareness to this problem which is making organizations come together to teach the youth on why bullying is wrong. Therefore, and organization made up of 52 other organizations was created in April 2011 called â€Å"Be a STAR Alliance. Be a STAR Alliance was founded by the Creative Coalition and World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) to educate children on bullying. Even though some might take what WWE is doing as promoting bullying when they are doing their wrestling shows, they strongly continue to advertise what they do is being done in a safe environment by trained professionals and should not be done at home, school or anywhere else. Ironically, the WWE is promoting bullying through wrestling but they are doing this to entertain fans through wrestling not to promote bullying. As a victim of bullying, I have joined the Be a STAR Alliance organization and its partners to bring awareness on bullying as well as to end it. Be a STAR Alliance has a pledge they encourage members and others to take to put an end to bullying through their Public Service Announcements (PSA). The way to put an end to bullying is to educate young students who will form the next generation. If they get educated to not be a bully from their youth, then they will know how to show tolerance and respect to their friends, peers, and anyone they meet in their lifetime. That is exactly what the goal of the alliance is. Be a STAR stands for Show Tolerance and Respect; hence STAR is capitalized due to the value of the letters for this organization. At the same time, there are steps and help for both victims and perpetrators that need to be strictly enforced in a school environment. With bullying on the rise, more student, parents, and educators are encouraged to take a stand by organizations like Be a STAR alliance to put an end to bullying. Hopefully, with more people and organizations standing up to stop bullying, everyone can put their foot down to end this problem once and for all so the effects of bullying stops short of death or suicide for children, as in Ty Smalley’s case. Bullying behaviour is seen all over the world and almost in all sections of society. It might start at an age as early as preschool and might intensify in the transitional teenager years. There can be various reasons behind this kind of aggressive behaviour. Often the victim is shy and introvert and weak in built as compared to bully. On the other hand, bullying is a behaviour which does not necessarily demand a great built. A bully tries to attract the attention of others in a negative manner. It can be correlated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Similarly children coming from aggressive or disturbed family background showcase the bullying behaviour. Sometimes bullies just gives around what they have been through as retaliation. The affected child is most of the times submissive and docile in nature. It is extremely hard to identify if the child is facing bullying at school or community. Generally the affected children don’t talk with their parents about the incidences. They are either too scared or feel embarrassed to admit such behaviour happening to them. But parents might notice a quite withdrawal of the children from daily situations. The kid may repeatedly complain of false aches and avoid going school. Frequent crying or getting upset often over trivial matters is also sign of bullying. Any kind of unexplained bruises or abnormal behaviour of the children must be checked and investigated thoroughly. On identifying the problem the foremost thing is to build confidence in the child. It is important to make him understand that he is listened to and his feelings are respected. Pay attention to each and every detail the child narrates. Sometimes it is hard to identify the gravity of the situation and any loose thread may lead to serious consequences. School authorities, or teachers, or counsellors at school may be approached regarding the matter. If necessary, parents of the bully can also be approached but it is always advisable to do so in front of counsellors only. Bullying is a serious matter and should be strongly dealt with. Even if the child has not yet faced any such situation it is important to explain him such prevalent behaviours in the society and ways to tackle it. If left unattended, this childhood problem can have serious effects on the personality of the child throughout his life. Recent shootings at various schools in US are thought to be an expression of physical bullying only. This is enough to explain the gravity of the situation and early remedial measures should be taken. Bullying is a serious problem that can dramatically affect the ability of students to progress academically and socially. A comprehensive intervention plan that involves all students, parents, and school staff is required to ensure that all students can learn in a safe and fear-free environment. â€Å"When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sand paper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end, you end up polished and they end up useless.† ― Chris Colfer

Impact of New Media on Civil and International Conflict

Impact of New Media on Civil and International Conflict Introduction In this essay I am going to elaborate on the role that the media play on civil and international conflict in today’s world. I will start with a brief introduction of war and its causes and effects, the roles that the media plays and the impact of their coverage before, during and perhaps after the conflict. War as we know is characterised by extreme violence and violence goes with the destruction of people, human societies are deeply affected by wars as residential areas, public infrastructures, hospitals and the very basis of human existence are destroyed. Education is completely denied the youth, no hope and aspirations for the future. Crops for livelihood will be completely destroyed and causes stagnation all over the place, no economic development, and no access to basic needs. Suffering lingers, poverty and backwardness become the people’s heritage. The last two decades have witnessed a lot of conflicts that are mainly dominated by civil wars which are classified armed conflict, very deadly and devastating takes place between the people in the same country, and these countries are usually experiencing sectarian or political transitions/changes, because it (democracy) is sweeping across the countries of the world today. And as nature will have it, such changes must not come without opposition and violence. When these wars occur the media is used as a tool. The mass media is the platform through which the people receive information. This information can be transmitted either through radio, television broadcasting, newspapers/magazines, internet or mobile phones. This makes the media very powerful and influential. Because of its ability to inform the entire population at the same time could produce a positive or negative result. The media’s role in spreading incorrect information or hostile propaganda becomes an issue of great significance. For the fact that these wars often occur in remote areas and have complicated histories, the international community’s view of them will depend to a large extent on how journalists present and explain the conflict. On the other hand some of the deadliest conflicts receive little or no publicity in the global media. An example was the Sierra Leone war which received little mention globally (Hamburg, Vance, 1997) a number of examples in the 1990s suggest that the impact of media reporting may generate political action. Michael Beschloss wrote in 1993 that the war in Bosnia was only â€Å"the latest example of an overseas crisis in which hunting television pictures arouse the American people to demand their government do something.†(Rotberg, Weiss, 1996) also in the late 1980s before the Bosnia war there was famine in Somalia that killed a lot of people through starvation that led to the decision of the United States to launch Operation Restore Hope. It was the presence of media and their reporting clearly the true situation at hand that made it politically difficult for the government not to intervene to rescue the situation. The presence or absence of media attention may mean life or death for affected populations. Accuracy is one of the most important concerns about media reports, this is particularly important when distance and time limitations are involved so as to avoid delays before the situation gets out of hand. The role mass media play in today’s conflicts around the world is very important. This role can be classified into two different categories. The media could take: An active part in the conflict and has responsibility for increased violence, Or stay independent and out of the conflict, thereby contributing to the resolution of conflict and alleviation of violence (conflict and the role of the media, 2006). The role taken up by the media in any conflict at any period whether before and after depends on a complex set of factors. This strictly depends on the media’s relationship with the actors in the conflict and the independence the media has to the power holders in society. It is because of the challenges and difficulties that the media faces during conflict that led to the establishment of International Media Support (IMS) in 2001. This was prompted after the Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia massacres that took place in the 1990s; situations in these conflicts and in fact other conflicts in the past where the media was being manipulated and used as a tool to fuel violent conflict. For instance, during Rwandan genocide the media (radio and newspaper) means were used to instigate killing, mobilize the majority, the Hutu’s to constantly remind them about the already made plans to totally wipe out the Tutsi minority. The international media turned a blind eye, and before the world could actually know what was going on nearly a million people had been killed. The purpose for setting up the IMS: To support local media so as to maintain operations and conduct their work as professionals. To work and enable media to seek to promote peace, reduce conflict, Strengthen democracy and bring about dialogue in close partnership with local media And media support organisations nationally as well as internationally. Taking broad sector approach to media development, this means the media sector must be addressed to achieve well-functioning and independent media that ensures a free media environment, a strong media infrastructure and professional media content. South Eastern Europe is one such region where ethnic tensions have had such a disintegrating effect. In the last decade, political and civil changes in the region have changed citizen’s ideas on democracy, civic participation, and cultural tensions. Throughout the New Europe, hate speech has been increasingly in general use online (Gaines, 2000). Racist and nationalistic discourse continues to be spread widely on regional media. Press radio, and television programs all increase to the severity of already existing tensions (Thompson, 1994). George Krimsky (1996), cofounder of the International Centre for Journalists (ICJ), notes that â€Å"irresponsible and inaccurate journalism (or its wicked cousin, the hate-mongering media) can fan the flames of violence in ethnic or communal confrontations.† Irresponsible journalism has played a huge role in the increase of conflict in the region, that media practitioner Maida Bebic of radio Kameleon in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovinian, has announced, â€Å"The media started the war in the former Yugoslavia; they will have to end it, too.† (Cited in Burton, 2001) The international community can help to prevent conflict and assist people affected by war to recover. This can be achieved through different ways. This can be achieved through building local capacity in broadcast and print media, and introducing new media, in order to produce and distribute objective and accurate local content. In the developing world radio broadcasting is particularly very vital considering the availability of other media accessibility, like internet, satellite television or smart phone which could be scarce or limited and plus the high rate of illiteracy and poverty; majority of the people can afford radio, so it can be used as a medium to dispatch information. Independent journalists face very serious challenges in the conflict areas, and some of the journalists/editors get harassed, kidnapped, put in prison, even murdered. There is need for every government, especially government from the developing countries to stop harassing and jailing journalists. Egyptian government is holding Aljazeera journalists in prison and has now sentenced some of them to ten years imprisonment on false accusations including other journalists that were also sentenced to serve several years imprisonment, and some of them like Peter Greste have spent over three hundred days in jail without trial. All these arrests and detentions are to intimidate and silence journalists and to tag them with bad reputations (The Print edition, Al Jazeera, June, 2014) some of these journalists have been sentenced in absentia, without them being present in court. Rather than government putting journalists in prison, they should provide them with security, especially international journalists; make environment conducive and if possible provide training facilities for them so as to be able to execute their job even though they are already working in a war-torn zone. It is very vital and essential to encourage the use of media to promote peace, nonviolent problem solving and decent understanding between ethnic groups. UNESCO has long supported the development of local independent film, radio, television, and internet-based media in developing and transitional countries, including in conflict and post-conflict areas. UNESCO’s extensive work program includes sponsoring research and knowledge-sharing conferences, defining best practices, offering in-field professional training and financial and operations support (Stauffacher, 2005) beyond media development, it has employed innovative techniques in conflict zones; for example, funding NGOs in Afghanistan to create travelling cinemas that move from village to village to present educational and health information. UNESCO held a conference in Belgrade in May 2004. This was to support the media in violent conflict and countries in transition and the concluding Belgrade Declaration. (World Press Freedom day, 2004) Conference was organised in Copenhagen for two days the 26th and 27th of November 2004 to build upon the conclusions presented in the Belgrade Declaration from the UNESCO conference. The subject of discourse of the conference was the perplexing situation facing media development in the wake of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid operations in conflict-affected areas. The need for rapid and effective dissemination of information from aid organisations and peacekeeping forces sometimes collides with the development of an independent media sector (IMS, 2004) The attitude towards the media in Burma, Myanmar is now much more clearly defined, though not for better. Even the lowest attempts to report the facts are ruthlessly crushed. The military Junta keeps a strict control on the media, leaving no freedom either to local or foreign journalists. The Burmese press operates under strict censorship and citizens risk jail if they are found guilty of giving false information domestically or internationally (Herbert, 2013) International Media Support has been working to assist in alleviating the problems of strict control on the media for some time now. IMS is carrying out a comprehensive media development programme comprising a wide range of activities including working to support policy reforms, capacity building of media and journalists. IMS in collaboration with Myanmar Peace Centre providing conflict sensitive journalism training workshop throughout the country. The BBC Afghan Education Projects (BBC AEP). The aim of this program is to bring reconciliation among different groups and raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in other to avoid an epidemic in post-conflict Afghanistan. BBC AEP produces these programs in different formats, drama, soap opera, educational features and cartoon magazines, all these reach more than half of Afghan population. (Stauffacher, 2005) In Sri Lanka and Nepal the journalists are under constant harassment and intimidation because of civil wars and internal conflicts going on in these places. The Sri Lankan government who is fighting against the Tamil separatist movement, imposed direct censorship of military news under emergency regulations (Herbert, 2013, p. 104) The Philippines president Joseph Estrada took office in1998, since then several developments has brought his administration’s commitment to freedom of the press into question. He has been accused of curtailing media freedom in a country that has embraced the principles of free expression in recent times. The Philippians most widely circulated paper the Philippian’s Daily Inquirer was being boycotted in retaliation for criticizing the government. Turkey is said to have the most number of journalists in detention more than any other country in the world. Those journalists are advocating for the independence of Kurdish people and at such being thrown in jail. NGOs play very important role in media development. For instance, All Africa Global Media is a multimedia content service provider, systems technology developer, and the largest electronic distributor of African news and information worldwide. The website posts over 1000 stories daily in English and French and offers multilingual programming as well as over 900,000 articles in a searchable archive. Conclusion This essay has highlighted the critical role and importance of the media during wars and crisis and of course the power and influence they have. Most conflicts occur in domestic political settings where there are signs that the means of mass communications continue to increase in importance, this is suggesting that continued efforts are needed to understand the role of national media in conflict. Bibliography Blankson, I. A, and Murphy, P. D. (2012) ‘Negotiating Democracy: Media transformations in  emerging democracies’ (Google eBook) Suny Press Blondel, Y. I (2003) ‘Violent conflict and roles of the media’ Uppsala University Publishers Hamburg, D. A and Vance, C. R. (1997) ‘Preventing deadly conflict’ DIANE Publishing Herbert, J. (2013) ‘practicing global journalism: Exploring reporting issues worldwide’  CRC Press Puddephatt, A. (2006) ‘Conflict and the role of the media’ International Media Support  Publication Rotberg, R. I. and Weiss, T. G. (1996) ‘from massacres to genocide: The media, public policy, and humanitarian crisis’ (Google eBook) Brookings Institution Press Stauffacher, D. (2005) ‘Information and communication technology for peace: The role of  ICT in preventing, responding to and recovering from conflict, Vol. 198 United  Nations ICT task Force. The Print Edition, (June, 2014) ‘Egypt Court sentences Al Jazeera journalists,  Al Jazeera Publications Thompson, E. P. (1994) ‘Witness against the beast: William Blake and the moral Law’  Cambridge University Press

Impact of Parenting Styles: A Review

Impact of Parenting Styles: A Review Farah Nazneen Impact of Parenting Style in Bangladesh: A  Systematic Review Introduction Parents are teachers, guiders, leaders, protectors, and providers for their children. Our behavior, thought, motivation, belief, value, personality etc all are directly or indirectly depend on our parenting style. Research on parenting style is so important to determine the positive impact and negative impact on children. There are mainly four types of parenting styles. They are: Authoritative parenting style Authoritarian parenting style Permissive parenting Style Uninvolved parenting style Figure 1: Types of parenting style Bangladesh is a small south Asian country. Very few research has been conducted on the general picture of parenting style in Bangladesh. The majority of the research shown that there are positive correlation between parental acceptance and positive personal characteristics of children. Figure 2: Parents of Bangladesh The Review Information about the Studies: For the review 6 original papers of Bangladesh were selected based on the research on parenting style. All of the research was conducted through quantitative method. The samples (in total 744) of the studies were both school children and adult person. Table 1 depicts the studies with necessary information such as sample size, design, variables studied, data analysis techniques and results. Table 1. Description of the Studies Impact on Personality: Parental rejection can influence our personality (Shahid et al. 2009). In an investigation researcher found significant positive correlation of maternal rejection and neuroticism (anger, loneliness, anxiety, and depression) of adults. But they found no significant correlation between paternal rejection and neuroticism. It may be because in Bangladeshi culture mother used to play all the roles of child rearing and father only play the role in economic wellbeing of family. So father rejection merely affect the childs personality (Shahid et al. 2009). On the other hand, it was found that there is a significant positive correlation between paternal rejection and psychoticism. People with psychoticism have biological causes rather than neuroticism. Therefore, for biological causes, person would be less able to cope with the negative experience like paternal rejection (where some of the participants gave less priority to paternal rejection). That could be the possible explanation of positive correlation between paternal rejection and psychoticism (Shahid et al. 2009). It was also found that there is a negative correlation between parental (both paternal and maternal) rejection and extraversion (being outgoing, talkative, high on positive affect). As parental rejection is negative experience that may prevent them to be high on positive affect (Shahid et al. 2009). This study work with only 3 categories of personality. Further studies are needed to find the correlation between parenting style and other categories of personality like as introversion, openness,conscientiousness,agreeableness etc. Impact on Cognitive Emotion Regulation In an investigation among children researchers found that authoritative parenting was the strongest predictor of overall adaptive emotion regulation while authoritarian parenting was the strongest predictor of overall less adaptive emotion regulation. Permissive parenting has no impact on adaptive and less adaptive emotion regulation (Karim et al. 2013). This study offers some inconsistent results. Here, authoritarian parenting contributes significantly in both the adaptive and less adaptive cognitive emotion regulations. This was unpredicted and failed to explain by the present data. Marital adjustment of parents can also affect the cognitive emotion regulation of children. Because due to marital adjustment balance of parenting style between mother and father could vary. As better marital adjustment of parents help children to handle the negative experiences it is strongly and positively associated with childs adaptive emotion regulation (acceptance, positive refocusing, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal and putting into perspective strategies) and negatively with childs overall less adaptive emotion regulation (self-blame, rumination or focus on thought, catastrophizing, and blaming others strategies) (Ansary and Karim, 2011). Research evidence also shown that fathers positive affect (enthusiasm, active, and alert) is strongly and positively associated with childs overall adaptive emotion regulation; and negatively associated with childs overall less adaptive emotion regulation (Ansary and Karim, 2011). But in the case of mother it is little bit difference. Mothers positive affect and negative affect were not significantly associate with childs overall adaptive cognitive emotion regulation. In the case of less adaptive cognitive emotion regulation picture is different, researcher found strong positive association (Ansary and Karim, 2011). Impact on Self-esteem: In a research it was proved that parental rejection is significantly and positively correlated with lower self-esteem of person (Yasmin and Hossain, 2014). This result also suggests thatmaternalrejectionhasgreaterimpactonselfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ esteemthanpaternalrejection. However sample size of this research is so poor only 60. Which is not sufficient to generalize the finding. Again maternal rejection as a good predictor of self-esteem in early adulthood in which self-esteem had significant negative correlation with remembrance of maternal rejection in childhood (Din and Huque, 2013). In this research they didn’t see the effect of paternal rejection in early adulthood. Impact on life-satisfaction: Yasmin and Hossain (2014) shown that both maternal and paternal involvement in childhoodisimportanttodevelopoffspring’slifesatisfactioninadulthood. This result also suggests thatmaternalrejectionhasgreaterimpactonlife satisfactionthanpaternalrejection. However sample size of this research is so poor only 60. Which is not sufficient to generalize the finding. Impact on Academic Achievement: In a study with tribal and non-tribal student researchers found significant negative correlations between both maternal and paternal acceptance scores and academic achievement scores. It was also found from the results of the study that there were significant differences in maternal acceptance, paternal acceptance and academic achievement between tribal and non tribal children. That is, non tribal children were more maternally accepted, more paternally accepted and showed higher academic achievement as compared to their tribal counterpart (Aktar, Shahrier, and Rahaman, 2013). Conclusions Existing literature on parenting style of Bangladesh shown relatively same findings. Most of the research approved the positive impact on children for acceptance parenting style and negative impact due to rejected parenting style. Parental acceptance help to develop our positive aspect of personality and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation, increase self-esteem and life (Shahid et al. 2009; Karim, Sharafat, and Mahmud, 2013; Yasmin and Hossain, 2014; and Din and Huque, 2013). But in the case of academic achievement we get controversial finding from other research in different culture. In the study of tribal and non-tribal children parental acceptance does not facilitate child’s academic achievement (Aktar, Shahrier, and Rahaman, 2013). May be our educational system failed to evaluate our children in terms of academic achievement. Further studies are needed to establish a clear relationship between parenting style and academic achievement, and evaluating academic achievement. All of the research on parenting style were conducted with few samples. Here highest sample size was only 206. Few sample is not reliable tool to predict the nature of parenting style especially in survey research. The research finding of above studies are failed to generalize the overall finding for large population of Bangladesh. Again participants of the research are presentable for different class of people in our society like age, race, socio-economic status, occupation, locality etc. There are also no broad, reliable research on overall population of Bangladesh to establish norm of general parenting style in Bangladesh. Again most of the research in parenting style are conducted on quantitative research method. Qualitative research on parenting style could facilitate to understand the cause of different impact of parenting style in the context of Bangladesh. In conclusion further research is needed on this sector to establish a clear relationship between parenting style and positive impact on children. So parent’s awareness in raising child could be increase. We can also work with different types of variables related to parenting style. References Aktar, R., Shahrier, M. A., Rahaman, M. M. (2013). Parental acceptance and academic achievement of tribal and non-tribal children of Bangladesh. Journal of Life and Earth Science, 8, 31-39. Ansary, T. M., Karim, A. K. M. R. (2011). Cognitive emotion regulation in children as predicted by parents marital adjustment and their nature of affect. Bangladesh Psychological Studies, 21, 1-16. Din, F. A., Huque, P. (2013). Maternal rejection in childhood: its effect on self-esteem in early adulthood. Bangladesh Psychological Studies, 23, 15-28. Karim, A. K, M. R., Sharafat, T., Mahmud, A. Y. (2013). Cognitive emotion regulation in children as related to their parenting style, family type and gender. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Science, 39(2), 211-220. Shahid, S. F. B., Mullick, M. S. I., Nahar, J. S., Naher, J., Khan, S., Morshed, N. M., Shah, M. A., Qusar, M. M. A. S. (2009). Relationship between Parental Rejection and Personality. BSMMU Journal, 2(2), 61-65. Yasmin, S., Hossain, A. (2014). Relation of parental rejection with selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ esteem and life satisfaction of young adults. Dhaka University Journal of Biological Science, 23(1), 69-76.

Why is Beowulf considered a hero? :: Epic of Beowulf Essay

Why is Beowulf considered a hero? Many epics have been written and forgotten. Yet, the epic of Beowulf has stayed as one of the premiere examples of a heroic epic. This brings an inevitable question to mind. Why is Beowulf considered a hero? In the beginning of the story, a mythical monster named Grendel who is attacking King Hrothgar’s mead hall Herot. When Beowulf hears of this tragedy, he volunteers to go and fight the mythical beast. The author wrote, â€Å"So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find the bravest and the best of the Geats, fourteen In all.† Once Beowulf arrives, he is given a feast and then decides to stay in Herot overnight to confront Grendel. Grendel then arrives and kills one of the Geats before Beowulf can get into the battle. Beowulf then goes hand-to-hand against Grendel and ends up tearing off Grendel’s shoulder. Grendel then retreats to his lair to die. This is only a mere example of why Beowulf is a hero. After Beowulf tears off Grendel’s arm, he hangs it from the rafters of Herot. Grendel’s irate mother attacks Herot and takes her son’s arm and retreats back to her lair. Beowulf is called upon again to defeat this monster. Beowulf puts on his armour and takes the sword Hrunting and descends into the monster’s lair. Grendel’s mother quickly grabs Beowulf and takes him to the battle arena. Once there, Beowulf fights and finds his sword cannot pierce the monster’s hide. So once again, Beowulf throws his sword aside and fights hand-to-hand. Yet, he could not defeat her with his hands alone. Then Beowulf sees, â€Å"hanging on the wall, a heavy, Sword, hammered by giants, strong And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons.† Taking the sword and holding it high above his head he strikes the monster in the neck cutting deep into the skin, breaking bones and all. Thus ending his second heroic battle with a mythical beast and proving that he is indeed worthy of praise. Yet, this is not the greatest of his deeds. Then 50 years later an event occurs that undoubtedly classifies Beowulf as a hero. A dragon attacks Beowulf’s kingdom and his terrorizing his people. Rather than send warriors to fight the dragon, Beowulf goes himself to fight the dragon. Taking sword and shield he engages the beast in combat. However, Beowulf runs into complications with this beast, â€Å"the iron Shield, and for a time it held, protected Beowulf as he’d planned; then it began to melt. Why is Beowulf considered a hero? :: Epic of Beowulf Essay Why is Beowulf considered a hero? Many epics have been written and forgotten. Yet, the epic of Beowulf has stayed as one of the premiere examples of a heroic epic. This brings an inevitable question to mind. Why is Beowulf considered a hero? In the beginning of the story, a mythical monster named Grendel who is attacking King Hrothgar’s mead hall Herot. When Beowulf hears of this tragedy, he volunteers to go and fight the mythical beast. The author wrote, â€Å"So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find the bravest and the best of the Geats, fourteen In all.† Once Beowulf arrives, he is given a feast and then decides to stay in Herot overnight to confront Grendel. Grendel then arrives and kills one of the Geats before Beowulf can get into the battle. Beowulf then goes hand-to-hand against Grendel and ends up tearing off Grendel’s shoulder. Grendel then retreats to his lair to die. This is only a mere example of why Beowulf is a hero. After Beowulf tears off Grendel’s arm, he hangs it from the rafters of Herot. Grendel’s irate mother attacks Herot and takes her son’s arm and retreats back to her lair. Beowulf is called upon again to defeat this monster. Beowulf puts on his armour and takes the sword Hrunting and descends into the monster’s lair. Grendel’s mother quickly grabs Beowulf and takes him to the battle arena. Once there, Beowulf fights and finds his sword cannot pierce the monster’s hide. So once again, Beowulf throws his sword aside and fights hand-to-hand. Yet, he could not defeat her with his hands alone. Then Beowulf sees, â€Å"hanging on the wall, a heavy, Sword, hammered by giants, strong And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons.† Taking the sword and holding it high above his head he strikes the monster in the neck cutting deep into the skin, breaking bones and all. Thus ending his second heroic battle with a mythical beast and proving that he is indeed worthy of praise. Yet, this is not the greatest of his deeds. Then 50 years later an event occurs that undoubtedly classifies Beowulf as a hero. A dragon attacks Beowulf’s kingdom and his terrorizing his people. Rather than send warriors to fight the dragon, Beowulf goes himself to fight the dragon. Taking sword and shield he engages the beast in combat. However, Beowulf runs into complications with this beast, â€Å"the iron Shield, and for a time it held, protected Beowulf as he’d planned; then it began to melt.

Is Love A Key Element When Choosing A Marriage Partner? Essay -- essay

A famous quote by John Lennon saying that â€Å"love is the answer and only you know that for sure† was not entirely truthful the fact not realised was that, for the many people in today’s contemporary â€Å"dating† grouping, truly knowing what the answer actually is in regards to dating is often easier said than done. Therefore, the answer certainly is not love. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (1974), love is defined as a â€Å"strong affection, a warm attachment, attraction based on sexual desire, cherish, to feel passion, devotion or tenderness for ~, caress and to take pleasure in ~ â€Å" (p.417). In the modern-day world where the preferences and choices of human mate selection has become a topic of broad exploration, it is highly questionable as to whether or not â€Å"love† is the principal influence that leads an individual’s decision of choosing a life-long partner. The choosing of a marriage partner today seems to be a crucial aspect of life decisions that makes all other choices in one’s life seem to be more or less trivial when comparing accordingly. When you come to a decision as to who you want to marry, share the rest of your life with and become one with, you are changing every aspect of your once single and independent life. For the reason that life changes so significantly when a marriage partner has been chosen, there are countless factors that have an effect on the choices that individuals make. Firstly, Botwin et al. (1997) insist that â€Å"personality plays a critical role in mate selection and marital happiness† (p.128) but many other attributes such as the many dating processes, the many problems that often occur in relationships, and individual preferences all highly motivate, aspire and aim to encourage people in today’s society toward finding their preferred marriage partner. Society often questions the difficulty involved for an average person to simply decide â€Å"who† they desire to marry. What's more is the reality that many people also criticize the individuals who have no idea who they want to marry. Research by Doosje et al. (1999) shows that â€Å"both men and women value most in their partner that she/he is kind and considerate, socially exciting, creative and intellectually stimulating† (p.46) which goes to prove that couples want their marriages to work and do not even consider them to eventually fail. Buying a car or buying a house is a diff... ...enges that young adults face in today’s society but even more importantly, it is the largest challenge that the future of the family life will be facing for years to come. Bibliography Botwin, D., Buss, D., & Shackelford, T. (1997). Personality and Mate Preferences: Five Factors in Mate Selection and Marital Satisfaction. Journal of Personality, 65(1), 107-136. Doosje, B., Rojahn, K., & Fisher, A. (1999). Partner Preferences as a Function of Gender, Age, Political Orientation and Level of Education. Sex Roles, 40 (1/2), 45-163. Nock, S. (1995). Spouse Preferences of Never-Married, Divorced, and Cohabitating Americans. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 22(3/4), 91-108. Simpson, J., & Gangestad, S. (1992). Sociosexuality and Romantic Partner Choice. Journal of Personality, 60(1), 31-51. Townsend, J., and Levy, G. (1990). Effects of Potential Partners’ Physical Attractiveness and Socioeconomic Status on Sexuality and Partner Selection. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 19(2), 149-163. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. New York: Pocket Books New York, 1974. New International Version Youth Walk Devotional Bible. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

Helping Children with Cerebral Palsy: Locomotor Treadmill Training or S

INTRODUCTION Cerebral Palsy is a condition that involves the brain and nervous system which results in disorders in movement, learning, hearing, seeing and thinking. There has been a rise on the number of children who are diagnosed with CP since the 1960’s (Mattern-Baxter, 2010). After a child has been diagnosed with CP, it is important to help them regain their ability to walk. Cerebral palsy is a permanent but not unchanging condition that requires the help of medical professionals, the children and their families (Mattern-Baxter, 2010). Since the recent increase of the number of children diagnosed with CP, researchers has emphasized the importance of intensive intervention at an early stage (Prosser, Lee, VanSant, Barbe, & Lauer, 2010). Ways to help improve the gait kinematics of children with CP are through locomotor treadmill training (LTT) or strength training. There are advantages and disadvantages with both methods. There are also different cases of CP so the effects of these metho ds vary between the children. A disadvantage for locomotor treadmill training is that it is less effective on children with CP less than 4 years old (Mattern-Baxter, 2010). Strength training may improve walking function to some patients but may cause no change or undesired outcomes to others (Damiano, Arnold, Steele & Delp, 2010). It is important to look at the best method that can help improve ambulation in children with CP since the number of children diagnosed with this condition is becoming more frequent. The purpose of this paper is to compare the different studies and determine which strategy is more effective for children with cerebral palsy, treadmill training, or strength training. METHODS In searching for references, the sea... ...aining and which will not. The research on muscle activating pattern should be helpful in determining why strength training helps some patients and not others. Researchers should also include more participants for these studies. REFERENCES Damiano, D., Arnold, A., Steele, K., & Delp, S. (2010). Can Strength Training Predictably Improve Gait Kinematics? A Pilot Study on the Effects of Hip and Knee Extensor Strengthening on Lower- Extremity Alignment in Cerebral Palsy. Physical Therapy, 90(2), 269-279. Mattern-Baxter, K.. (2010). Locomotor Treadmill Training for Children With Cerebral Palsy. Orthopaedic Nursing, 29(3), 169-175. Prosser, L., Lee, S., VanSant, A., Barbe, M., & Lauer, R. (2010). Trunk and Hip Muscle Activation Patterns Are Different During Walking in Young Children With and Without Cerebral Palsy. Physical Therapy, 90(7), 986-997.

Shadow Kiss Chapter 23

Twenty-three OTHERS IN THE HALL stopped and stared. I felt like I had just been hit in the face. Only it hadn't been my face. It had been Lissa's. I shifted into her mind and became instantly aware of her surroundings and everything happening to her – like the next time rocks flew up from the ground and slammed into her cheeks. They were guided by a freshman I didn't know anything about, save that he was a Drozdov. The rocks hurt both of us, but I withheld my screaming this time and gritted my teeth as I shifted back to the hallway with my friends. â€Å"Northwest side of campus, between that weird-shaped pond and the fence,† I told them. With that, I broke away from them and headed out the door, running as hard as I could toward the part of campus where they were holding Lissa. I couldn't see all of the people gathered there through her eyes, but I recognized a few. Jesse and Ralf were there. Brandon. Brett. The Drozdov guy. Some others. The rocks were still hitting her, still cutting into her face. She didn't scream or cry, though – she just kept telling them over and over to stop while two other guys held her between them. Jesse, meanwhile, kept telling her to make them stop. I only half-listened to him through her mind. The reasons didn't matter, and I'd already figured it out. They were going to torture her until she agreed to join their group. They must have forced Brandon and the others in the same way. A suffocating feeling suddenly overwhelmed me, and I stumbled, unable to breathe as water smothered my face. Fighting hard, I separated myself from Lissa. That was happening to her, not me. Someone was torturing her with water now, using it to cut off her air. Whoever it was took their time, alternately filling her face with water, then pulling it back, then repeating. She gasped and sputtered, still asking them to stop when she could. Jesse continued watching with calculating eyes. â€Å"Don't ask them. Make them.† I tried running harder, but I could only go so much faster. They were at one of the farthest points of campus's boundaries. It was a lot of distance to cover, and with every agonizing step, I felt more of Lissa's pain and grew angrier and angrier. What kind of a guardian could I ever be to her if I couldn't even keep her safe here on campus? An air user went next, and suddenly, it was like she was being tortured by Victor's henchman all over again. Air was alternately taken from her, leaving her gasping, and then slammed back into her, crushing her face. It was agony, and it brought back all the memories of her capture, all the terror and horror she'd been trying to forget. The air user stopped, but it was too late. Something snapped inside of her. When Ralf stepped up next to use fire, I was so close that I actually saw it flare up in his hand. But he didn't see me. None of them had been paying attention to their surroundings, and there'd been too much noise from their own spectacle to hear me. I slammed into Ralf before the fire could leave his hand, pulling him to the ground and punching his face in one skilled maneuver. A few of the others – including Jesse – ran to help him and tried to pry me away. At least, they tried until they realized who it was. Those who saw my face immediately backed off. Those who didn't quickly learned the hard way when I went after them. I'd taken out three fully trained guardians earlier today. A group of spoiled royal Moroi took hardly any effort. It was ironic, too – and a sign of how unwilling some Moroi were to lift a hand in their defense – that while this group had been so eager to use magic to torture Lissa, none of them had actually thought to use it against me. Most of them scattered before I could even lay a hand on them, and I didn't care enough to go after them. I just wanted them away from Lissa. Admittedly, I gave Ralf a few extra punches even after he'd gone down, since I held him responsible for this whole mess. I finally left him alone, lying on the ground and groaning, as I straightened up and looked for Jesse – the other culprit here. I quickly found him. He was the only one left. I ran over to him and then skidded to a halt, confused. He was just standing there, staring into space, mouth hanging open. I looked at him, looked at where he was staring, and then looked back at him. â€Å"Spiders,† Lissa said. Her voice made me jump. She stood off to the side with wet hair, bruised and cut, but otherwise okay. In the moonlight, her pale features made her look almost as ghostly as Mason. Her eyes never left Jesse as he spoke. â€Å"He thinks he's seeing spiders. And that they're crawling on him. What do you think? Should I have gone with snakes?† I looked back at Jesse. The expression on his face sent chills down my spine. It was like he was locked in his own private nightmare. Scarier still was what I felt through the bond. Usually when Lissa used magic, it felt golden and warm and wonderful. This time, it was different. It was black and slimy and thick. â€Å"I think you should stop,† I said. In the distance, I heard people running toward us. â€Å"It's all over.† â€Å"It was an initiation ritual,† she said. â€Å"Well, kind of. They asked me to join a couple of days ago, and I refused. But they bugged me again today and kept saying they knew something important about Christian and Adrian. It started to get to me, so †¦ I finally told them I'd come to one of their sessions but that I didn't know anything about compulsion. It was an act. I just wanted to know what they knew.† She tilted her head barely at all, but something must have happened to Jesse. His eyes widened further as he continued to silently scream. â€Å"Even though I hadn't technically agreed yet, they put me through their initiation ritual. They wanted to know how much I could really do. It's a way to test how strong people are in compulsion. Torture them until they can't stand it, and then, in the heat of it all, people lash out and try to compel the attackers to stop. If the victim manages any sort of compulsion at all, that person's in the group.† S he regarded Jesse carefully. He seemed to be in his own world, and it was a very, very bad one. â€Å"I guess this makes me their president, huh?† â€Å"Stop it,† I said. The feel of this twisted magic was making me nauseous. She and Adrian had mentioned something like this before, this idea of making people see things that weren't there. They'd jokingly called it super compulsion – and it was horrible. â€Å"This isn't how spirit is supposed to be used. This isn't you. It's wrong.† She was breathing heavily, sweat breaking out along her brow. â€Å"I can't let go of it,† she said. â€Å"You can,† I said. I touched her arm. â€Å"Give it to me.† She briefly turned from Jesse and looked at me, astonished, before fixing her gaze back on him. â€Å"What? You can't use magic.† I focused hard on the bond, on her mind. I couldn't take the magic exactly, but I could take the darkness it brought on. It was what I'd been doing for a while now, I realized. Every time I'd worried and wished she'd calm down and fight dark feelings, she had – because I was taking it all from her. I was absorbing it, just as Anna had done for St. Vladimir. It was what Adrian had seen when the darkness jumped from her aura to mine. And this – this abuse of spirit, using it to maliciously harm another and not for self-defense, was bringing the worst side effects of all in her. It was corrupting and wrong, and I couldn't let her have it. All thoughts of my own madness or rage were completely irrelevant at this moment. â€Å"No,† I agreed. â€Å"I can't. But you can use me to let it go. Focus on me. Release it all. It's wrong. You don't want it.† She stared at me again, eyes wide and desperate. Even without direct eye contact, she was still able to torture Jesse. I both saw and felt the fight she waged. He'd hurt her so much – she wanted him to pay. He had to. And yet, at the same time, she knew I was right. But it was hard. So hard for her to let go †¦ Suddenly, the burn of that black magic vanished from the bond, along with that sickening sensation. Something hit me like a blast of wind in the face, and I staggered backward. I shuddered as a weird sensation twisted my stomach. It was like sparks, like a coil of electricity burning within me. Then it too was gone. Jesse fell to his knees, free of the nightmare. Lissa sank with visible relief. She was still scared and hurt over what had happened, but she was no longer consumed with that terrible, destructive rage that had driven her to punish Jesse. That urge within her had disappeared. The only problem was, it was in me now. I turned on Jesse, and it was like nothing else existed in the universe except him. He had tried to ruin me in the past. He'd tortured Lissa and hurt so many others. It was unacceptable. I lunged for him. His eyes had only a moment to widen with terror before my fist connected with his face. His head jerked back, and blood spurted from his nose. I heard Lissa scream for me to stop, but I couldn't. He had to pay for what he'd done to her. I grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him hard against the ground. He was yelling now too – begging – for me to stop. He shut up when I hit him again. I felt Lissa's hands clawing at me, trying to pull me off, but she wasn't strong enough. I kept hitting him. There was no sign of the strategic, precise fighting I'd used earlier with him and his friends, or even against Dimitri. This was unfocused and primal. This was me being controlled by the madness I'd taken from Lissa. Then another set of hands ripped me away. These hands were stronger, dhampir hands, backed by muscles earned through years of training. It was Eddie. I struggled against his hold. We were closely matched, but he outweighed me. â€Å"Let me go!† I yelled. To my complete and utter horror, Lissa was now kneeling at Jesse's side, studying him with concern. It made no sense. How could she do that? After what he'd done? I saw compassion on her face, and a moment later, the burn of her healing magic lit our bond as she took away some of the worst of his injuries. â€Å"No!† I screamed, straining against Eddie's hold. â€Å"You can't!† That was when the other guardians showed up, Dimitri and Celeste in the lead. Christian and Adrian were nowhere in sight; they probably couldn't have kept pace with the others. Organized chaos followed. Those from the society who remained were gathered up and herded off for questioning. Lissa likewise was taken away, led off to get her injuries treated. A part of me that was buried in all that bloodthirsty emotion wanted to go after her, but something else had caught my attention: They were also removing Jesse for medical help. Eddie was still holding onto me, his grip never faltering despite my struggles and pleas. Most of the adults were too busy with the others to notice me, but they noticed when I started shouting again. â€Å"You can't let him go! You can't let him go!† â€Å"Rose, calm down,† said Alberta, her voice mild. How could she not get what was going on? â€Å"It's over.† â€Å"It is not over! Not until I get my hands around his throat and choke the life out of him!† Alberta and some of the others seemed to realize that something serious was happening now – but they didn't appear to think it had anything to do with Jesse. They were all giving me the Rose-is-crazy look I'd come to know so well in recent days. â€Å"Get her out of here,† said Alberta. â€Å"Get her cleaned up and calmed down.† She didn't give any more instructions than that, but somehow, it was understood that Dimitri would be the one to deal with me. He came over and took me from Eddie. In the brief change of captors, I tried to break away, but Dimitri was too fast and too strong. He grabbed my arm and started pulling me away from the scene. â€Å"We can make this easy or difficult,† said Dimitri as we walked through the woods. â€Å"There's no way I'm letting you go to Jesse. Besides, he's at the med clinic, so you'd never get near him. If you can accept that, I'll release you. If you bolt, you know I'll just restrain you again.† I weighed my options. The need to make Jesse suffer was still pounding in my blood, but Dimitri was right. For now. â€Å"Okay,† I said. He hesitated a moment, perhaps wondering if I was telling the truth, and then let go of my arm. When I didn't run off, I felt him relax very, very slightly. â€Å"Alberta told you to clean me up,† I said evenly. â€Å"So we're going to the med clinic?† Dimitri scoffed. â€Å"Nice try. I'm not letting you near him. We'll get first aid somewhere else.† He led me off at an angle from the attack location, toward an area still at the edge of campus. I quickly realized where he was going. It was a cabin. Back when there had been more guardians on campus, some had actually stayed at these little outposts, providing regular protection for the school's boundaries. They'd long since been abandoned, but this one had been cleaned up when Christian's aunt had visited. She'd preferred hanging out here than in the school's guest housing where other Moroi regarded her as a potential Strigoi. He opened the door. It was dark inside, but I could see well enough to watch him find matches and light a kerosene lantern. It didn't provide a huge amount of light, but it was fine for our eyes. Glancing around, I saw that Tasha really had done a good job with the place. It was clean and almost cozy, the bed made up with a soft quilt and a couple of chairs pulled up to the fireplace. There was even some food – canned and packaged – in the kitchen off to the side of the room. â€Å"Sit down,† said Dimitri, gesturing to the bed. I did, and in about a minute, he had a fire going to warm the place up. Once it was in full blaze, he grabbed a first aid kit and a bottle of water from the counter and walked back over to the bed, dragging a chair so he could sit opposite me. â€Å"You have to let me go,† I begged. â€Å"Don't you see? Don't you see how Jesse has to pay? He tortured her! He did horrible things to her.† Dimitri wet some gauze and dabbed it to the side of my forehead. It stung, so I apparently had a cut there. â€Å"He'll be punished, believe me. And the others.† â€Å"With what?† I asked bitterly. â€Å"Detention? This is as bad as Victor Dashkov. Nobody does anything around here! People commit crimes and get away with it. He needs to hurt. They all need to.† Dimitri paused his cleaning, giving me a concerned look. â€Å"Rose, I know you're upset, but you know we don't punish people like that. It's †¦ savage.† â€Å"Yeah? What's wrong with that? I'd bet it'd stop them from doing it again.† I could barely sit there. Every part of my body trembled with fury. â€Å"They need to suffer for what they did! And I want to be the one to do it! I want to hurt them all. I want to kill them all.† I started to get up, suddenly feeling like I'd explode. His hands were on my shoulders in a flash, shoving me back down. The first aid was long forgotten. His expression was a mixture of both worry and fierceness as he held me down. I fought against him, and his fingers bit in tighter. â€Å"Rose! Snap out of this!† He was yelling now too. â€Å"You don't mean any of it. You've been stressed and under a lot of pressure – it's making a terrible event that much worse.† â€Å"Stop it!† I shouted back at him. â€Å"You're doing it – just like you always do. You're always so reasonable, no matter how awful things are. What happened to you wanting to kill Victor in prison, huh? Why was that okay, but not this?† â€Å"Because that was an exaggeration. You know it was. But this†¦this is something different. There's something wrong with you right now.† â€Å"No, there's something right with me.† I was sizing him up, hoping my words distracted him. If I was fast enough, maybe – just maybe – I could get past him. â€Å"I'm the only one who wants to do anything around here, and if that's wrong, I'm sorry. You keep wanting me to be some impossible, good person, but I'm not! I'm not a saint like you.† â€Å"Neither of us is a saint,† he said dryly. â€Å"Believe me, I don't – â€Å" I made my move, leaping out and shoving him away. It got him off me, but I didn't get far. I'd barely gotten two feet from the bed when he seized me again and pinned me down, this time using the full weight of his body to keep me immobilized. Somehow, I knew I should have realized it was an impossible escape plan, but I couldn't think straight. â€Å"Let me go!† I yelled for the hundredth time tonight, trying to free my hands. â€Å"No,† he said, voice hard and almost desperate. â€Å"Not until you break out of this. This isn't you!† There were hot tears in my eyes. â€Å"It is! Let me go!† â€Å"It's not. It isn't you! It isn't you.† There was agony in his voice. â€Å"You're wrong! It is – â€Å" My words suddenly dropped off. It isn't you. It was the same thing I'd said to Lissa when I watched, terrified, as she used her magic to torture Jesse. I'd stood there, unable to believe what she was doing. She hadn't realized she'd lost control and was on the verge of becoming a monster. And now, looking into Dimtiri's eyes, seeing his panic and love, I realized it was happening to me. I was the same as she'd been, so caught up, so blinded by irrational emotions that I didn't even recognize my own actions. It was like I was being controlled by something else. I tried to fight it off, to shake off the feelings burning through me. They were too strong. I couldn't do it. I couldn't let them go. They would take me over completely, just as they'd done to Anna and Ms. Karp. â€Å"Rose,† said Dimitri. It was only my name, but it was so powerful, filled with so much. Dimitri had such absolute faith me, faith in my own strength and goodness. And he had strength too, a strength I could see he wasn't afraid to lend me if I needed it. Deirdre might have been onto something about me resenting Lissa, but she was completely off about Dimitri. What we had was love. We were like two halves of a whole, always ready to support the other. Neither of us was perfect, but that didn't matter. With him, I could defeat this rage that filled me. He believed I was stronger than it. And I was. Slowly, slowly, I felt that darkness fade away. I stopped fighting him. My body trembled, but it was no longer with fury. It was fear. Dimitri immediately recognized the change and released his hold. â€Å"Oh my God,† I said, voice shaking. His hand touched the side of my face, fingers light on my cheek. â€Å"Rose,† he breathed. â€Å"Are you okay?† I swallowed back more tears. â€Å"I†¦ I think so. For now.† â€Å"It's over,† he said. He was still touching me, this time brushing the hair from my face. â€Å"It's over. Everything's all right.† I shook my head. â€Å"No. It's not. You†¦you don't understand. It's true – everything I was worried about. About Anna? About me taking away spirit's craziness? It's happening, Dimitri. Lissa lost it out there with Jesse. She was out of control, but I stopped her because I sucked away her anger and put it into myself. And it's – it's horrible. It's like I'm, I don't know, a puppet. I can't control myself.† â€Å"You're strong,† he said. â€Å"It won't happen again.† â€Å"No,† I said. I could hear my voice cracking as I struggled to sit up. â€Å"It will happen again. I'm going to be like Anna. I'm going to get worse and worse. This time it was bloodlust and hate. I wanted to destroy them. I needed to destroy them. Next time? I don't know. Maybe it'll just be craziness, like Ms. Karp. Maybe I'm already crazy, and that's why I'm seeing Mason. Maybe it'll be depression like Lissa used to get. I'll keep falling and falling into that pit, and then I'll be like Anna and kill – â€Å" â€Å"No,† Dimitri interrupted gently. He moved his face toward mine, our foreheads nearly touching. â€Å"It won't happen to you. You're too strong. You'll fight it, just like you did this time.† â€Å"I only did because you were here.† He wrapped his arms around me, and I buried my face in his chest. â€Å"I can't do it by myself,† I whispered. â€Å"You can,† he said. There was a tremulous note in his voice. â€Å"You're strong – you're so, so strong. It's why I love you.† I squeezed my eyes shut. â€Å"You shouldn't. I'm going to become something terrible. I might already be something terrible.† I thought back to past behaviors, the way I'd been snapping at everyone. The way I'd tried to scare Ryan and Camille. Dimitri pulled away so that he could look me in the eyes. He cupped my face in his hands. â€Å"You aren't. You won't,† he said. â€Å"I won't let you. No matter what, I won't let you.† Emotion filled my body again, but now it wasn't hate or rage or anything like that. It was warm and wonderful and made my heart ache – in a good way. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and our lips met. The kiss was pure love, sweet and blissful, with no despair or darkness. Steadily, though, the intensity of our kissing increased. It was still filled with love but became much more – something hungry and powerful. The electricity that had crackled between us when I'd fought and held him down earlier returned, wrapping around us now. It reminded me of the night we'd been under Victor's lust spell, both of us driven by inner forces we couldn't control. It was like we were starving or drowning, and only the other person could save us. I clung to him, one arm around his neck while my other hand gripped his back so hard that my nails practically dug in. He laid me back down on the bed. His hands wrapped around my waist, and then one of them slid down the back of my thigh and pulled it up so that it nearly wrapped around him. At the same time, we both pulled back briefly, still oh so close. Everything in the world rested on that moment. â€Å"We can't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he told me. â€Å"I know,† I agreed. Then his mouth was on mine again, and this time, I knew there would be no turning back. There were no walls this time. Our bodies wrapped together as he tried to get my coat off, then his shirt, then my shirt. †¦ It really was a lot like when we'd fought out on the quad earlier – that same passion and heat. I think at the end of the day, the instincts that power fighting and sex aren't so different. They all come from an animal side of us. Yet, as more and more clothes came off, it went beyond just animal passion. It was sweet and wonderful at the same time. When I looked into his eyes, I could see without a doubt that he loved me more than anyone else in the world, that I was his salvation, the same way that he was mine. I'd never expected my first time to be in a cabin in the woods, but I realized the place didn't matter. The person did. With someone you loved, you could be anywhere, and it would be incredible. Being in the most luxurious bed in the world wouldn't matter if you were with someone you didn't love. And oh, I loved him. I loved him so much that it hurt. All of our clothes finally ended up in a pile on the floor, but the feel of his skin on mine was more than enough to keep me warm. I couldn't tell where my body ended and his began, and I decided then that was how I always wanted it to be. I didn't want us to ever be apart. I wish I had the words to describe sex, but nothing I can say would really capture how amazing it was. I felt nervous, excited, and about a gazillion other things. Dimitri seemed so wise and skilled and infinitely patient – just like with our combat trainings. Following his lead seemed like a natural thing, but he was also more than willing to let me take control too. We were equals at last, and every touch held power, even the slightest brushing of his fingertips. When it was over, I lay back against him. My body hurt†¦yet at the same time, it felt amazing, blissful and content. I wished I'd been doing this a long time ago, but I also knew it wouldn't have been right until exactly this moment. I rested my head on Dimitri's chest, taking comfort in his warmth. He kissed my forehead and ran his fingers through my hair. â€Å"I love you, Roza.† He kissed me again. â€Å"I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you.† The words were wonderful and dangerous. He shouldn't have said anything like that to me. He shouldn't have been promising he'd protect me, not when he was supposed to dedicate his life to protecting Moroi like Lissa. I couldn't be first in his heart, just like he couldn't be first in mine. That was why I shouldn't have said what I said next – but I did anyway. â€Å"And I won't let anything happen to you,† I promised. â€Å"I love you.† He kissed me again, swallowing off any other words I might have added. We lay together for a while after that, wrapped in each other's arms, not saying much. I could have stayed that way forever, but finally, we knew we had to go. The others would eventually come looking for us to get my report, and if they found us like that, things would almost certainly get ugly. So we got dressed, which wasn't easy since we kept stopping to kiss. Finally, reluctantly, we left the cabin. We held hands, knowing we could only do so for a few brief moments. Once we were closer to the heart of campus, we'd have to go back to business as usual. But for now, everything in the world was golden and wonderful. Every step I took was filled with joy, and the air around us seemed to hum. Questions still spun in my mind, of course. What had just happened? Where had our so-called control gone? For now, I couldn't care. My body was still warm and wanting him and – I suddenly stopped. Another feeling – a very unwelcome one – was steadily creeping over me. It was strange, like faint and fleeting waves of nausea mingled with a prickling against my skin. Dimitri stopped immediately and gave me a puzzled look. A pale, slightly luminescent form materialized in front of us. Mason. He looked the same as ever – or did he? The usual sadness was there, but I could see something else, something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. Panic? Frustration? I could have almost sworn it was fear, but honestly, what would a ghost have to be afraid of? â€Å"What's wrong?† asked Dimitri. â€Å"Do you see him?† I whispered. Dimitri followed my gaze. â€Å"See who?† â€Å"Mason.† Mason's troubled expression grew darker. I might not have been able to adequately identify it, but I knew it wasn't anything good. The nauseous feeling within me intensified, but somehow, I knew it had nothing to do with him. â€Å"Rose†¦ we should go back†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Dimitri carefully. He still wasn't on board with me seeing ghosts. But I didn't move. Mason's face was saying something else to me – or trying to. There was something here, something important that I needed to know. But he couldn't communicate it. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"What is it? A look of frustration crossed his face. He pointed off behind me, then dropped his hand. â€Å"Tell me,† I said, my frustration mirroring his. Dimitri was looking back and forth between me and Mason, though Mason was probably only an empty space to him. I was too fixated on Mason to worry what Dimitri might think. There was something here. Something big. Mason opened his mouth, wanting to speak as in previous times but still unable to get the words out. Except, this time, after several agonizing seconds, he managed it. The words were nearly inaudible. â€Å"They're †¦ coming†¦.†