Working Construction Essay Example for Free

Working Construction Essay Introduction The issue of discrimination by class, race and gender in the society is the subject of hot debates our days. Though most people consider themselves as very tolerant persons, the fast show women and dark-colored people are still discriminated in society. Two books are under analysis in this essay: â€Å"Dream from my father† by Barack Obama and â€Å"Well Call You If We Need You: Experiences of Women Working Construction† by Susan Eisenberg. Both this books are autobiographical, written on the base of author’s personal experience. The events on both books go back to the time of twenty-thirty years ago. Both of them allow understanding the real situation with the race, class and gender discrimination in the USA in the end of the twenty century. The common ideas in the books of Obama and Eisenberg The first chapter of Obama’s book describes the very beginning of his career in Chicago. In 1985 Barack Obama arrived to Chicago to work as a community organizer. The history of this city in the second part of the twenty century led to the corruption of the government, the stratification of the society and the high level of unemployment among the lowest-income colored population. After the â€Å"white flight† in 1960th (when the whites left areas where non-Whites are settling, mostly for suburbs) poor districts were left to their own resources. Industry changed and there were not work for low-level workers. City government did not try to change the situation; anyway, poor blacks did not want to get help from Whites. â€Å"†¦the last thing we need is to join up with a bunch of white money and Catholic churches and Jewish organizers to solve our problems â€Å"(Obama, 89) In thus way Chicago was polarized and there was not way to solve the problem. Whites didn’t try to help the poorest part of the population, and Black didn’t want to get help, but their life was awful and having no prospects. However, at the beginning of Obama’s work in Chicago Harold Washington, the first African American, was the mayor of Chicago that time and his administration really tried to reduce the unemployment of the ethnic blacks. Obama started his work like every enthusiastic young manager in the Altgeld, one of the poorest districts of Chicago not far away from city dump, but soon he understood; to help these people he had to learn them. A lot of money from city budget (Obama tells about $500,000) was granted for the employment program in such districts, but money went away and programs did not work. However soon young Barack succeed in some of his objectives, for example he took part in the opening of new MET (Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training) station. Most analytics think that this period of Obama’s career was unsuccessful. However it is obvious that Obama have got a great experience. During his first period in Chicago Obama understood that he could not press to the politic machine from the outside. Thus, when he returned, he began his path to the â€Å"sanctum sanctorum†. He tried to meet important and influential people and to work with them. The upper stage of his career is the position of the President of the United States, so the experience of that man is very useful to learn for those who want to know more about the real situation of the American society. For those who consider the book of Obama insufficient or isn’t interested in the problems of African Americans the book of Susan Eisenberg can be interesting. The author describes her career as the electrical apprenticeship. That year President Jimmy Carter started new program of the inclusion of women in apprenticeship programs to increase the percent of working women. Many of young women at the beginning of their careers were excited with this new perspective and started to work. However the reality happened to be severe and merciless. Eisenberg used not her only experience, but the memories of thirty women approximately of the same age, who believed in the historical transformation of the society and pioneered as carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, painters. They hoped under Carter’s program they will obtain challenging job, the support of the trade union, the respect in society and the better attitude. In reality the gender barrier was still tough and no changes were seen. Eisenberg Reminds when she arrived as the electrical apprenticeship to work in some building, the guard didn’t let her in. He decided she was a terrorist. Though is has happened thirty years ago, the chance to meet terrorists seemed more probable to this guard than a chance to meet female electrical apprenticeship. Conclusion The authors of two books under analysis are different people – by gender, by race, by the development of their carrier. However the one common feature is in this two books: both authors describe how they faced the discrimination and in what way they struggled with it. References Obama, Barack. â€Å"Dreams from my father† New York: Random House (January 9, 2007); eBook; ISBN 0-3073-9412-3 Eisenberg, Susan. â€Å"Well Call You If We Need You: Experiences of Women Working Construction† Cornell University Press 1999. ISBN-13: 9780801486050

Television Violence and Its Effects on Children Essay -- Argumentative

Television Violence and Its Effects on Children Television violence affects all who view it, but its biggest effect is on children. Children’s minds are like a blank page. Television is writing violence on that page. Television violence is one of the causes of aggression and violent behavior in children. This problem is not new, but in recent years it has gotten worse. In the last few years, violence in television programs has increased greatly. A study in 2000-01 compared to a study done in 1998-99 showed that violence is, in fact, on the rise. Verbal violence, coarse language, alone increased by a staggering 78% (Lavers). How did violence become so prevalent on television? Sadly, violence is what the people wanted to see; it sells. Society has slowly put its guard down allowing violence to creep in. Now we are faced with this detrimental situation which we have created. Young children, starting at about age three, begin to really watch a television program designed for their age. They will begin to imitate what they have seen on the television. Children ages six through about ten often do not fully understand the difference between reality, and what they see on T.V. (Ledingham). With that in mind, consider the violent content in television programs. A recent content analysis, The National Television Violence Survey, had several interesting findings in regard to violence in television programs: 1. 61% of television programs contain some violence, and only 4 percent of television programs with violent content featured an â€Å"antiviolence† theme. 2. 44% of the violent interactions on television involve perpetrators who have some attractive qualities worthy of emulation. 3. 43% of violent scenes involve humor either... ...iolence†. Mar. 1995. Media Awareness Network. 30 Oct. 2002 Kirkey, Sharon. â€Å"Violent TV, Video Games Don’t Make Kid Kill.† 20 May 2002. CanWest Global Communications Corp. 30 Sept. 2002 Lavers, Daphne. â€Å"The Verdict on Media Violence†. 13 May. 2002. Regional Business News. 30 Sept. 2002. Ledingham, Jane. â€Å"The Effects of Media Violence on Children.† The National Clearing House on Family Violence. 13 Sept. 2002 Office of the Surgeon General. 13 Sept. 2002. U.S. Government. 28 Sept. 2002 Virtue Media. 2002. Virtue Media. 28 Sept. 2002

Reaching Adulthood: Completing Human Developmental Stages

The human development is a very complex yet fascinating part of our lives. We look back at the point we first remembered how young we were, the things we did that were so different from the things we do today. More often than not, we take for granted the stages where significant amount of changes that shaped us took place.Our infancy and pre-school years show much of our earlier attitudes and behaviors which became cemented as we grow older. Our environment played such a significant role in making us the way we are today. As I have mentioned in the first project, we understand our being a male or a female when we realize the roles and activities attached to one’s gender.Even our parents dictate how we should act or what toy to play and we get punished by disobeying them. And at this stage we develop a concept of what makes us happy or sad, we can adapt to our environment and we avoid doing things that would result to an unfavorable consequence.These things we undergo during ou r earlier years further have an effect on the next stage of our lives. What we liked to do, how well we can adapt to other people, how we behave or act upon exposure to a stimulus etc. continue in our middle childhood and adolescence years.The middle childhood prepares us for what we will face in our adolescence years, the same way our infancy and pre-school years prepared us for the later years.During our middle childhood and adolescence, we are thrust into a great deal of changes, whether mentally, physically, socially and emotionally. We like to be independent and to go out of the familial circle that surrounded us when we were young.In my experience, it was this time when I started making friends in school and in my neighborhood. I could also face other people who were not my age. This stage marks the awakening of cognitive and emotional aspects of one person. We learn to judge the people around us, to be curious of the things which we cannot easily understand, to feel different emotions that seemed so new.The countless and various experiences we undergo during this stage further hone, change, influence or impact the way we are. They make our personality unique, mold our behavior and attitudes and develop our skills. Everything we have learned we apply to our present lives.Our infancy and pre-school years show much of our earlier attitudes and behaviors which became cemented as we grow older. Our environment played such a significant role in making us the way we are today. As I have mentioned in the first project, we understand our being a male or a female when we realize the roles and activities attached to one’s gender.Even our parents dictate how we should act or what toy to play and we get punished by disobeying them. And at this stage we develop a concept of what makes us happy or sad, we can adapt to our environment and we avoid doing things that would result to an unfavorable consequence.These things we undergo during our earlier years furthe r have an effect on the next stage of our lives. What we liked to do, how well we can adapt to other people, how we behave or act upon exposure to a stimulus etc. continue in our middle childhood and adolescence years. The middle childhood prepares us for what we will face in our adolescence years, the same way our infancy and pre-school years prepared us for the later years.During our middle childhood and adolescence, we are thrust into a great deal of changes, whether mentally, physically, socially and emotionally. We like to be independent and to go out of the familial circle that surrounded us when we were young. In my experience, it was this time when I started making friends in school and in my neighborhood. I could also face other people who were not my age.This stage marks the awakening of cognitive and emotional aspects of one person. We learn to judge the people around us, to be curious of the things which we cannot easily understand, to feel different emotions that seemed so new and to try things which pique our curiosity.My interview’s particular experience shows this. He started using prohibited drugs during his adolescence. This kind of deed roots from many factors such as family problems, inferiority complex or social dilemma.Dale says that all of his family’s attention was on his younger sister, Mikaela. No matter how much good he does, his family doesn’t seem to notice. So what he did was involve himself in things that would get him into trouble, if only to get his parents’ attention.The countless and various experiences we undergo during this stage further hone, change, influence or impact the way we are. They make our personality unique, mold our behavior and attitudes and develop our skills. Everything we have learned we apply to our present lives.Changes and phenomenon in middle childhood, as noted in my first project, are stepping stones for the adolescence; changes and phenomenon in adolescence, as noted in my second project, are preparation for adulthood.AdulthoodAdulthood is a hazardous and difficult journey for many people to take, and not just a destination of security and safety that we reach once and for all. It is a reference point from which other life stages are judged.The experiences which became imprinted in our memories and the self beliefs and social standards that we have molded within ourselves affect us in our present actions and how we see ourselves. But, these beliefs and standards change when we are exposed to different stimuli or situation.At this stage, I can already foresee my own future, in what is called self-schema. These are the templates of our future, and they tell us what we can be after several years, what our career would be etc. Still, I ask myself, what will I be really in the next years?Since I would not be able to answer this question, I have interviewed Emelita Sacra, a 49-year-old single mother and currently taking over as line leader and quality cont rol officer in a garment corporation. She was separated from her husband, but she manages to raise her daughter well.Emelita used to dream of finishing just high school, since her family’s source of livelihood is barely enough for the 11 members of the family. She studied hard and eventually earned a scholarship, her ticket to college.But her dream faded when she chose to help her parents in meeting the family’s needs.   She was able to send two of her siblings to college, and that was enough for her even if she had sacrificed her own dream.This shows that what she desperately wanted before was put aside by the emergence of a more important situation. She said that though there were many events in her life which affected her, only few values and interests changed. Some of which were the earthly things she wanted before, such as clothes, cosmetics and leisure moments.But now, these things became unimportant because her daughter became her priority. Her situation now i s a far cry from her situation before. Now that her daughter is in college, she has to work hard and limit the luxuries of life. Every spare time was spent doing extra works to be able to provide for her only child.When she was a teenager, all that mattered was helping her family to earn money and send the children to school. Now, what matters is raising her daughter well and providing her education. This attitude is better explained by Jean Piaget’s generativity, wherein Emelita thinks of the future of her daughter instead of her own life.Emelita says that the values she learned from her younger years didn’t change much. As to the moral aspect, nothing changed, but some things were added. She instilled to her daughter the moral values her parents taught her.Basically, when we reach the adulthood stage, as I viewed my interviewee, there are changes in our self concept. For example, we might have low self efficacy before, which is our competence in accomplishing things. But because we have gone through many things, and we were able to endure the pains and dilemmas of life, we have increased our self efficacy considering the fact that we are older than before, we could handle and do things better now.Another example of self concept that had changed during our adulthood years is the self awareness. Adults tend to be more focused and are aware of their responsibilities at their age. For example, my interviewee became aware of her role as a mother and father solely to her daughter. Aside from that, she also became aware of her priorities in the present time compared before. At this point in life, most people have grown matured, as to how they should act, how they should be, and what they should do.Generally, lots of things have made their contribution to each of stages in life. Some factors that might affect each life stage are inherent and gene factor. Biologically speaking, this could really happen, such that our behavior and character could be attr ibuted to the innate potentials of ourselves.However, we could not deny the fact that the environment that we are living in has contributed big changes not only in our lives, but more specifically, in ourselves.Those external factors are the ones we experience during our infancy stage to childhood, then adolescence stage, and lastly adulthood stage. The events in our everyday lives have impacts such that, we are not aware that those events molded us into what are now, and what we are going to be in the near future.Thus, the human development is a very vicious path, if we are going to consider all the details. Yet, we could say that human development is like a metamorphose process of butterfly. The only difference is that, the butterfly would surely fly if it comes out from the pupae, but each of us has no assurance if we can soar high in our lives.REFERENCESBoeree, G. Personality Theories. (NO DATE). Erik Erikson, 1902 – 1994. Retrieved August   29, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/erikson.htmlJames, W. The Principles of Psychology. Retrieved August 29, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/prin10.htmLerner, R. Concepts and Theories of Human Development. Retrieved August 29, 2007 from the site of UAH Library on World Wide Web: http://libdblist.uah.edu/browse.php?list=P&source_id=17Myers, D. Exploring Social Psychology. 3rd ed. November 2003. McGraw-Hill Companies.

Socio- Cultural Issue and Education - 1249 Words

Final Paper Socio- Cultural issue and education Education gives us knowledge of the world around us. Education is not only about what we learn in our textbook as students but about the lessons we learn from those text books. It helps students develop a perspective on how to look at life. Education is the basic foundation for every one. It is instrumental in the development of our values and virtues. The future of our nation is safe in the hands of educated individuals, which is why they say â€Å"our children are our future†. Education is attached to everything that happens in this nation. In schools, students are taught languages, mathematics, science, history and a number of other subjects. They get to participate in sports†¦show more content†¦This puts them at a disadvantage, when compared to the students who go to some good private schools. It’s sad to have to put it that way but it’s the truth. The socioeconomic status of the parent has a lot to do with this. APA states â€Å"Low SES an d its correlates, such as lower education, poverty, and poor health, ultimately affect our society as a whole, in particular, America’s children. Children in the United States face one of the highest rates of poverty within the industrialized world.† If a parent spends hours at work to make ends meet then that takes away from parent involvement in home assignments. The parents also influence on the attitude the child brings to school and how important school is to the student. The values of school start at home, if a parent doesn’t believe that school is important factor in an adult’s life then that rubs off on the student, they carry that same attitude about school. Economic hardships manifest a number of challenges. From having a stable home, basic needs to medical care, all these things create challenges for students and teachers as well. 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