Negotiable Instruments in Business Law Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Negotiable Instruments in Business Law - Article Example Sections 134 to 137 of CHAPTER XVI of the Act relate to International Law. Section 134 regulates the jurisdiction of a foreign instrument;. The liability of the drawer of the instrument will be governed by the law of the place. Likewise, the liability of the holder or acceptor will be regulated by the law of the land of the receiver. Section 135 deals with the place of honoring the instrument. If the place of payment differs, then the matter of honoring it will be decided upon by the law of the place of payment. As per S. 136, if a negotiable instrument is drawn outside India (but) according to Indian Law, that instrument will be valid in India, even though the same is invalid in the place of drawing and accepting it. The last Section promulgates that any foreign country is considered as India in the matter of transacting the negotiable instrument, if not proven otherwise. The legal issue raised in this article is about the provisions contained in Indian Negotiable Instrument Act 1881. Here the modus operandi of the fulfillment of the transaction and its subjectivity and objectivity together with its bindings are discussed in detail. Additionally, the liability and stipulations about the governing jurisdiction on the negotiable instrument transacted are explained. One... Discuss realistic solutions supported by sound legal and business principles.) One can find many defenses to shun responsibility on negotiable instruments and elements connected with forgery, fraud and alterations in relation to negotiable instruments. For instance a drawer of a check can escape its payment by stopping its payment. But such stopping of payments through checks can be done by the drawer in case the check is declared missing or lost. But this loop hole in the law of negotiable instruments Act has been used by many a drawer so that they can escape their debt or liability. Even the amendmentof 1988 to Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act remained silent about stopped payment. Section 138 of the negotiable instruments act of 1881 deals with statutory offence in the matter of dishonour of cheques on the argument of deficiency of funds in the account preserved by a person with the banker. Section 138 of the Act can not be termed as falling in criminal act but they are prohibited under the penalty in public interest. Generally in criminal law presence of guilty intent is an important ingredient of a crime. But the Legislature has the right to create an offence of unlimited liability or stern liability where 'mens rea' is not at all required. The Kerala High Court in K. S. Anto v. Union of India held that: "Knowledge or reasonable belief, that pre requisite could be statutorily dispensed with in appropriate cases by creating strict liability offences in the interest of the Nation." In addition the creation of the strict liability is an efficient measure by promoting greater alertness to avert usual heartless or otherwise stance of drawers of cheques in release of debts or otherwise. The terms as

Common Core Essay Example for Free

Common Core Essay The common core is a set of standards which were developed by state leaders along with teachers, school administrators and many other people, not the Federal Government. The common core has standards. Standards which are not curriculum. Standards that â€Å"do not tell principals how to run their schools, and they do not tell teachers how to teach. Local teachers, principals, and district administrators ultimately decide how the standards are to be met and the curriculum to be use† (Laine and Minnich). The school districts still have to choose which textbooks to use and, which curricula they wish to add and drop. The basic standards of the common core are: Aligned with college and workforce-training expectations; Rigorous in content and include the application of knowledge through higher-order skills; Built on strengths and lessons taken from state standards; Informed by standards in top-performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in the global economy and society; and Evidence-based, clear, and aligned across a child’s K-12 education. The common core has many pros and cons to reforming the education system. In the Article The common core is a change for the better the authors mention that the common core provides a good foundation on what needs to be taught (Gardner and Powell). The authors also touched on the fact that students nowadays are â€Å"more mobile than ever†, families have to move around more to follow and find available jobs. With the common core all across the Country have the same standards. There is some consistency within all schools in America. If a family was to move from Maine to Nevada, it would be quite impossible to expect things to be the exact same. However, you can still have an idea of the standards and know what to expect. This is a great thing about the Common Core. Every Student this way is exposed to the same standards. Once students are mingled together in colleges and universities across the country the professors can expect almost every student to be able to do the same things, to a degree. Not to say that every student knows the  exact same co ntent, however they will all have graduated high school with the same skills. Skills that may be taught in a variety of styles, none the less resulting in the same skills. The common core requires teachers to be very specific and hand out rubrics, stating exactly the quality of work that is expected. This eliminates the confusion that can arouse from complicated projects or open research topics. The students will know exactly what the teacher is requiring of them. Ultimately making it easier on the students to provide what the teacher wants and getting the highest grade possible if the students puts in the effort required to meet the expectations. Effort: defined as â€Å"an earnest or strenuous attempt† by dictionary.com, is where a problem arises in the common core. The common core standard â€Å"Rigorous in content and include the application of knowledge through higher-order skills† is asking 21st century students to put in lots of effort, they can’t ask Siri to write their English paper or do their history project. Most high school aged students in the United States are not going to put in the required effort to achieve rigorous assignments. I know that when I was in high school my attitude was ‘if I wait to the last minute it only takes a minute’. That’s not because I was swamped with assignments or didn’t understand it. It was because I would rather be doing anything else, after having spent all day in classrooms with new information being drilled into my head. The absolute last thing I wanted to do was go home and spend more hours on homework. Making high school more rigo rous is going to prevent kids from being kids. Students in the United States are less motivated to learn and value education less and less. Stephen Krashen says that another problem with very rigorous assignments is â€Å"CCSS are so demanding that in English language arts classes, educators and students will have little time for anything not directly linked to the standards† (Krashen). I do not quite agree with this statement because the standards are not the curriculum being taught, just the way it is being taught. Teachers and schools have some free space to spend as much time as they feel necessary to focus on aspects they feel more important. The common core has pros and cons, just like anything in life. One set of standards isn’t going to please everyone in the United States. My personal opinion is that the common core has good intentions, but may be a bit unrealistic. If every school in America was teaching the same skills to the same degree, all students would have the same experiences entering college. There are 50 states with thousands of different schools in each states. Within those thousands of schools there are teachers who all have their own style of teaching. Not to mention the millions of students that all learn a little differently at a different pace. What are the odds that every state school, and teacher are able to provide every student with the exact same skills, using the exact same standards? There are good intentions behind it, and the United States can give it a chance, but I feel as though it may be unrealistic. Works Citied Fine, Sarah. Moving Forward With The Common Core. Education Week 30.8 (2010): 18-19. Professional Development Collection. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Gardner, Nancy S. Powell, Rod. The Common Core Is A Change For The Better. Phi Delta Kappan 95.4 (2013): 49-53. Professional Development Collection. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Krashen, Stephen. THE COMMON CORE. (Cover Story). Knowledge Quest 42.3 (2014): 36-45. Professional Development Collection. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Richard, Laine, and Chris Minnich. Common Core: Setting the Record Straight. Education Week 32.36 (2013): Web. 16 Mar. 2014

Bullying: Types, Effects and Government Initiatives

Bullying: Types, Effects and Government Initiatives Abstract The UK Government defines bullying as; Repetitive, wilful or persistent behaviour intended to cause harm, although one off incidents can in some cases also be defined as bullying; internationally harmful behaviour, carried out by an individual or a group and an imbalance of power leaving the person being bullied feeling defenceless. Bullying is emotionally or physically harmful behaviour and includes; name calling, taunting, mocking, making offensive comments, kicking, hitting, pushing, taking belongings, inappropriate text messaging and emailing, sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet, gossiping, excluding people from groups and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours. (HOC 2007, Frederickson et al 2008). Contents (Jump to) Introduction Chapter 1: The Types and Effects of Bullying Chapter 2: Educational Provision within Secondary Schools Chapter 3: Government Initiatives and the Education of Children who are being bullied Conclusion References Introduction This dissertation is going to investigate the links between education and bullying within secondary schools. Chapter One will give an overview of what bullying is and why is such a serious issue within secondary education, the chapter will then focus on the different types of bullying that happens within schools and what effects bullying has on both the person who is doing the bullying and their victims. It will include statistics concerning how many children/young person who have reported getting bullied, as well as the types of bullying these children have had to deal with. The remainder of the chapter will focus on the bully or bullies experiences before their started bullying another child/young person, paying particular attention to their educational experiences and disadvantages, but also taking into account any additional contributing risk factors which can affect a childs/ young persons behaviour and their education. These risk factors include risk around the childs/young per sons family, along with wider risks associated with poverty and deprivation. Risk factors such as peer pressure, jealously and being bullied themselves, which relate to education more directly, will be discussed in more details. The following chapters discuss the educational provision available to those children/young people who are being bullied and also those who doing the bullying, analysing the types of bullying the effects of bullying and also the types of provision and factors related to the reasons of why bullying happens. Chapter Two focuses on the educational provisions for the children who have been bullied, but Chapter Three addresses issues around reintegration and wider Government policy. Both chapters critically analyse current provision, whereas the conclusion will draw this analysis together and consider the extent to which the current system can be seen to be working in the interests of all concerned. Chapter One: The Types and Effects of Bullying The UK Government defines bullying as; Repetitive, wilful or persistent behaviour intended to cause harm, although one off incidents can in some cases also be defined as bullying; internationally harmful behaviour, carried out by an individual or a group and an imbalance of power leaving the person being bullied feeling defenceless. Bullying is emotionally or physically harmful behaviour and includes; name calling, taunting, mocking, making offensive comments, kicking, hitting, pushing, taking belongings, inappropriate text messaging and emailing, sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet, gossiping, excluding people from groups and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours. (HOC 2007:7-8, Frederickson et al 2008:176-177). Bullying takes many forms. It can be physical bullying, this is when a child is being pushed, beaten or thumped by bare hands. It can involve a weapon and threats. Bullying can also be verbal and emotional, racial or sexual. Elliott (1997a:2) it would seem that boys are more likely to be physical in bullying, while girls tend to be cruel verbally. Research by Olweus (1993:19) indicates that girls are more often exposed to harassment such as slandering, the spreading of rumours and exclusion from the group rather than physical attacks. Olweus (1993) continues it must be emphasised that these gender differences are general and that is some schools, girls are also expose to physical bullying. In more recent times there have been cases in the UK in which girls have violently and aggressively attacked other girls. An example of this was fourteen year old girl was cornered in the playground by a gang of ten boys and girls. She was stripped to the waist and had to beg on her knees to get he r clothes back. She was pushed, punched and had her hair pulled. Tell and youll get worse was the parting words from one of the girls. The victim did not tell until they did it again and took photographs. When her mother confronted the school, she was told it was only horseplay. The victim, who attempted suicide after the latest incident, was transferred to another school in which she is now thriving. (Elliott 1997b:1), this incident had a more positive ending, which is not always the case. There have also been deaths caused by bullying within schools, mainly in secondary schools. An example of this was in 2000 a 15 year old school girl committed suicide after being bombarded with anonymous calls on her mobile phone, the inquest into her found that she was being bullied through her mobile phone Mobile Phone Bullying/Cyber Bullying (The Independent, 2000). The incidence of girls being violent does seem to be increasing and is a trend that must be viewed with concern, as female bulli es, especially in groups or gangs are getting just as violent if not more violent then male bullies. Studies show that bullying takes place in every type of school. Studies on bullying within schools date back to the 1980s, were the first UK nationwide survey was conducted by Kidscape from 1984 to 1986 with 4000 children aged 5 to 16. The survey revealed that 68 per cent of the children had been bullied at least once; 38 per cent had been bullied as least twice or had experienced a particularly bad incident; 5 per cent of the children felt it had affected their lives to the point that they had tried suicide, had run away, refused to go to school or been chronically ill (Elliott and Kilpatrick 1996). Subsequent studies have found very similar results. Researchers at Exeter University questioned 5500 children aged 13 and found that 26 per cent of boys and 34 per cent of girls had been afraid of bullies sometime in their lives (Balding 1996). Bullying calls to ChildLine are growing at a rapid rate, ChildLine (2006) counselled 37,032 children about bullying between 1st April 2005 to 31s t March 2006. A further 4018 called ChildLine for other reasons but went on to talk about bullying. Every Month ChildLine counsels more than 3,000 young people about bullying, that is a quarter (23%) of all calls to the services. One area of growing concern is homophobic bullying. (ChildLine 2006). Bullying is not only a UK problem, it happens throughout the world. Olweus (1993:19) has been researching the problem of bullying in Norway since 1973; he estimated that one in seven pupils in Norwegian schools has been involved in bully/victim problems (Olweus 1993). Similar findings in other countries indicate that if adults are willing to listen and investigate, children will tell them that bullying is one of the major problems children face during their school years. There are different forms of bullying behaviour that has been identified, such as indirect and direct, as involving individuals or groups, verbal and physical. It is generally agreed that the most common form of bullying is verbal abuse is and name calling, followed by various forms of physical bullying. Within this type of behaviour/bullying, there are some important differences, based on age, gender, sexuality and ethnicity. The main types of bullying within school, especially within secondary schools, these are physical school bullying, emotional/verbal school bullying, electronic bullying or Cyber bullying and sexual/homophobic bullying. Physical bullying is when an individual bully or a group of bullies physical harm their victim, examples of this type of bullying are punching, shoving and slapping, and this can also be direct bullying. Emotional/Verbal school bullying is when a bully or bullies use poor and offensive language. Examples of emotional bullying includes the spreading of bad rumours about their victims, keeping their victims out of a group, teasing the victim in means ways and cussing them, getting other people/bullies to gang up on the victims, name calling, harassment, provocation, tormenting, whispering to another/others in front of the victim, walking in groups around school and keeping secrets away from a so called friend(s). Electronic bullying or cyber bullying is when bullying happens online or electronically. It occurs when the bully or bullies bully their victims through the internet, mobile phones or other electronic means and devices. Examples of this type of bullying are sending mean spirited text messages, emails and instant messages, posting inappropriate pictures, messages about their victims in blogs, on websites or social networking sites and using someone elses user name to spread rumours or lies about their victims. Sexual bullying/homophobic bullying is any of the above bullying behaviour, which is based on a victims sexuality or gender. It is when sexuality or gender is used as a weapon by boys or girls towards their victims, although it is more commonly directed at girls. This type of bullying can be carried out to the victims face, behind their back or through the use of technology (cyber bullying). However, it is also argued that sexist bullying or harassment in school is frequently dismissed as inoffensive or legitimised as part of the normal process of gender socialisation, and that it is a form of abuse engaged in by male teachers and male pupils alike (Stainton Rogers 1991). Furthermore, sexual harassment, of a physical as well as verbal kind, has been described as part of the hidden curriculum of many co educational schools (Drouet 1993). Indeed, Duncan (1999:128) presents a complex scenario in relation to what he terms gender abuse in schools. In deconstructs bullying as a manifestation of gender conflict in the pursuit of a desired sexual identity'. He concludes that both girls and boys can adopt a variety of active and passive roles in relation to bullying, but that sexualised nature of much gender abuse serves to remind girls that power is gendered. The threat of rape was identified as a potential sanction against girls who do not conform to male expectations: rape may be (comparatively) rare but physical and sexual assault are not and the lower range of conflictual sexualised gender practices keeps that threat alive on a daily basis. Some school girls have identified sexual assault and even rape within their understanding (and possibly experience) of bullying. Duncan (1999:128). The pervasive nature of homophobic abuse in schools has been widely commented upon, whether the intended target is known to be gay, or not. There is evidence to suggest that homophobic abuse serves to police gender identities, and establish norms of sexual behaviour and gender identity (Mac An Ghaill, 1989:273 286, Douglas et al, 1997) Rivers (1996:19) argues that a significant feature of homophobic bullying is the severity of the abuse. In a retrospective study of gay men and lesbians experience of bullying, one gay man reported having been raped by a teacher, others reported having their clothes set alight, and being burnt with cigarettes while being held down. One lesbian reported having been raped by a male pupil, and another of having been dragged around the playing field by her hair. Other types of bullying are gender bullying which could be linked directly to sexual and homophobic bullying and another type of bullying that is increasing is racist bullying or racial harassment, number of studies on the relationship between bullying and racism. However there appears to be some ambivalence concerning the conceptualisation of racist bullying. Tizard et al (1988:2), for example, report that name calling relating to physical appearance, personal hygiene and race represented the three most frequent forms of teasing reported among 7 year olds. Loach and Bloor (1995:18 20) and Siann (1994:123 134) argue that bullying can function as a cover for racism. A report by the Commission for Racial Equality (1988), describes various case studies of what is defined as racial harassment in schools. Regardless of the terminology used, Gillborn (1993) argues that racism in schools reflects a wider and racially structured society, and consequently, racist abuse carries extra weight . In terms of prevalence, Kelly and Cohns (1988) survey of first (year 7s) and Fourth Year (year 10s) pupils in school in Manchester found that two thirds of pupils said that they had been bullied. Racist name calling was recorded as the third most common form of bullying. In recent survey of Black and ethnic minority pupil in mainly white schools, 26% said that they had experienced racially abusive name calling during the previous week, while at school, or while travelling to and from school (Cline et al 2002:1). However, it is common with many surveys on bullying, that it is likely that racist bullying or harassment is under reported. There is some debate in the literature concerning both the value and validity of identifying typical victim or bully characteristics. Stainton Roger (1991) for example, argues that any child can be a bully or a victim, and that neither denotes an individual psychopathology: bullying is a reflective practice. Bullying creates victims, victims create bullies. On the other hand, Sharp et al (2002:139) claim that some children are more likely to fall into a bully role or victim role, and that is how children learn to manage aggression and assertion in interpersonal skills represents a key contributory factor. Olweus (1993:19) described bullies as physically stronger and victims as having characteristics that differed from the norm, for example in appearance sporting or academic ability. Boulton and Underwood (1992: 73 87) also found that children who perceived themselves to be different in some way, felt more vulnerable to bullying. Olweus (1984:58) found that approximately 20 per cent of bullies were also victims, and that they represented a particularly disturbed group. Others have claimed that some children fall neither into the victim nor bully category and that they therefore provide a useful normative contrast with which to analyses bullying and victim behaviour (Schwartz 1993 and Glover et al 1998). The effects that bullying has on both the bully and especially the victim can be life changing, in a negative way and have severe consequences not just short term, bullying can also have a long term effect on the victims. The effects of bullying have been said to be very serious, it has been reported that around ten children in the UK kill themselves each year because their lives have been made so miserable by being subjected to bullying (NSPCC 2009). There are many effects of bullying, these are include feeling depressed and sad most of the time, having sleeping problems such as insomnia or having nightmares, not wanting to go to school, not eating or over eating, suffering from stomach aches and headaches, feel less confident and also lose their self confidence and stop believing in themselves, feel unhappy and miserable which will result in enjoying life less. The longer the victim is subjected to bullying will probably in turn become a bully themselves, it will take longer for th e victim to recover from it and may continue to destroy the self confidence of the victim, leading to possible suicide. In 1999 Kidscape conducted the first ever retrospective survey of adults to discover if bullying at school affected those who had been bullied in later life. The survey showed that being badly bullied as a child had a dramatic, negative, knock on effect throughout life. The extensive survey of over 1000 adults, showed that bullying affects not only your self esteem as an adult, but your ability to make friends, succeed in education, and in work and social relationships. Nearly half (46 per cent) of those who were bullied at secondary school contemplated suicide compared with only 7 per cent of those who were not bullied. The majority of the adults reported feeling angry and bitter now about the bullying they suffered at school as children. Most received no help at the time to stop the bullying and telling either made the bullying worse or had no effect. Of the 1044 adults who took part in the survey 828 were bullied at school and 216 were not and of those bullied 70 per cent were w omen and 30 per cent were men and of those who were not bullied, 49 per cent were women and 51 per cent were men (Kidscape 1999:1). However, problems may occur if the school fails to recognise and resolve bullying within school, whereby a child may become at risk of truanting and disengagement from education, which could then lead to the risk of self harming and possible suicide. Should a child not experience an educational experience supportive of building resilience against bullying, then those exposed to bullying can turn to someone before it is too late. The following chapter aims to discuss the educational provision available for children who are victims to bullies and the consequences of those who do the bullying. It focuses purely on those children who get bullied in secondary schools. Chapter 2: Educational Provision within Secondary Schools This chapter aims to discuss the educational provisions available for those children who have been bullied and are still getting bullied. It focuses first on the provisions available for children who have been bullied throughout secondary schools, before examining the experiences of those who are living through bullying and also those who are the bullies. The importance of education as a preventative measure against bullying will be discussed along with how education is delivered to those children who are suffering at the hands of bullies. The Government has made tackling bullying in schools a key priority and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has made it clear that no form of bullying should be tolerated. Bullying in schools should be taken very seriously, as it is not a normal part of growing up and it can and will ruin lives. It is compulsory for schools to have measures in place to encourage good behaviour and respect for others on the part of pupils, and to prevent all forms of bullying. The DCSF supports schools in designing their anti bullying policies and their strategies to tackle bullying, by providing comprehensive, practical guidance documents. Regional advisers with expertise in the field of bullying are also on hand to help schools implement the guidance and draw on best practices. Teachers can help to reduce bullying both by the way they teach and by what they teach. In terms of approaches to teaching, although it may seem obvious, it may be helpful to consider teaching approaches along a spectrum with, at one extreme approach which actively promote bullying and at the other ones which specifically seek to prevent bullying. An example of actively promoting bullying is whenever a teacher deliberately humiliates a pupil, then the teacher is quite simply engaging in bullying. It really does not matter to the pupil whether the intention is merely to exert control or gain personal gratification. It would be pleasant to assume that this kind of teacher bullying was something that only happened in the past. Unfortunately most secondary school pupils, at least, will tell you that in their school there are one or two teachers who regularly use intimidation, sarcasm, belittling or harassment towards pupils, and that most teachers, on occasions, will resort to this kind of behaviour (Lawson 1994), showing the pupils that it is acceptable to bully others. The contrast from actively promote bullying is bullying preventive teaching. This is an approach to teaching which is alert to and aware of the condition which makes some pupils vulnerable and avoids endorsing these. This is about treating all pupils with a level of respect and avoiding making jokes at the expense of the weakest. It is about not contributing to a pupils vulnerability, about not setting up victims. It is also about acting as a good role model, as somebody who does no misuse the power they have. More proactively bullying preventive teaching is about publicly acknowledging that bullying is not acceptable, putting it specifically on the agenda within the secondary school and in the classroom, and creating opportunities which will help staff and pupils to develop strategies to counteract bullying. Overall what is needed is to change the way that pupils behave towards each other. To do this the pupils themselves must want to change and they need strategies and they must know how to change. The 1996 Education Act placed responsibility on head teachers for discipline and behaviour in schools, and in 1994 the Department for Education encouraged head teachers, in consultations with their governing bodies, staff and parents, to develop whole school behaviour policies and approaches which are clearly understood by pupils, parents and the school staff. The guidance recommended that schools should also have an anti bullying policy; School staff must act and importantly be seen to act firmly against bullying whenever and wherever it appears. School behaviour policies and the associated rules of conduct should, therefore, make specific reference to bullying. Governing bodies should regularly review their schools policy in bullying. School prospectuses and other documents issued to parents and pupils should make it clear that bullying will not be tolerated. Prospectuses should also explain arrangements through which pupils troubled by bullying can draw their concerns to the att ention of staff in the confidence that these will be carefully investigated and, if substantiated, taken seriously and acted upon. Individual members of staff must be alert to signs of bullying and act promptly and firmly against it. Failure to report incident may be interpreted as condoning the behaviour (Elliott 1997c:118). In more recent times, when a secondary school uses SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning), if used effectively it contributes to the work secondary schools are doing to reduce bullying. When a school implements SEAL effectively across the whole school it establishes strong foundations to its work to prevent bullying. At the core of SEAL are the social and emotional skills, which are all important because high levels of these skills create social climate that does not tolerate bullying behaviour (DCSF 2007) The partnership between ChildLine and Schools is a recent initiative, called CHIPS which was established by ChildLine aiming to work directly in schools, youth clubs and other settings with children and young people across the UK. In 2007/2008 CHIPS worked with more than 66,000 children and young people across more than 700 primary schools and secondary schools and almost 100 special schools and youth groups, to endorse the view that children and young people can help each other, can play a part in making changes to improve their own lives, and have a right to be listened to and respected. CHIPS provides a range of services from awareness raising assemblies, workshops dealing with bullying issues, to setting up peer support schemes, that encourage children and young people to support each other (NSPCC 2008), all of those services are done within the schools. There are many implications when it comes to initiatives and provision, the first is less attention appears to have been paid to childrens support needs during periods of transition, for example between primary school and secondary school. Children often fear bullying at points of transition in their lives, or at particular turning points, for example, during the move from primary to secondary school. Children in their last year of primary school may be seen as the leaders of their school. Primary schools are generally smaller, both in the fabric of the building and in the size of the school population. Secondary schools are, by contrast, frequently viewed as fearfully large places, where newcomers represent the lowest rung of a long ladder. Children who change schools as a result of moving home may also feel vulnerable to bullying. It would therefore seem useful for more research to be conducted on the support needs of children as they learn the ropes of their new environment. Another implication is making sure that all schools have an anti bullying policy within school and that it is used effectively and at all staff knows how to use it. Some of these studies were prompted by the concerns raised by parents and pupils that anti bullying policies and strategies were having a limited effect). The evidence shows that adopting an anti bullying policy is not enough; policies need to be effectively implemented and sustained over the long term (Glover et al, 1998). Parents and teachers is another implication as they are not seen to be working together or not working together as much as they should. It is every childs democratic right to attend school in safely. As education is one of the very few compulsory activities that parents and the government impose onto children, it involves all adults, in whatever capacity, to ensure that this is possible. Parent and teachers, being the most closely involved have the most valuable role to play. Parents are often extremely anxious to have a bully situation speedily resolved and so will offer the highest level of commitment. Their level of distress can often be reduced by inviting them to become actively involved in any plan as feelings of helplessness may be increasing their concern (Besag 1992:155). It may be easier for the victim to confide in a teacher rather than in their parents who are often bewildered by the childs reluctance to discuss the matter and refusal of their offers of help. The situatio n in such cases remains shrouded in mystery, and parents rely heavily on teacher to support the child and communicate with them appropriately. Another implication is when a parent does not feel that the school of their bullied child has not dealt with the bullying in an effective way and stopped it, and they withdraw their child from the school where the child is getting bullied and either moving them to another school or even educating the child at home, this may have a negative effect on the victim, as if they attended a new school, they would have to make new friend and there in not certainty that they will not get bullied at the new school, it will also have an effect on the childs education because they may possible be at different stages in the curriculum at the new school compared to the school that they were previously at. If the parents of the bullied child decide to educate their child at home, they would have to sort out materials and resources themselves, and this could take time and money. Parents should be warned that if they decide to educate their child at home, they have opted out of the state education sys tem and should not expect any assistance in educating their child from the LEA (Local Education Authority). Under the Education Act 1996, parents have a legal duty to ensure that their child receives an efficient full time education suitable to the childs age, ability and aptitude, whether this be at school or otherwise in some kind of education. (Elliott 1997d:124). Chapter 3: Government Initiatives and the Education of Children who are being bullied The barriers to education both before and after the point at which a child is bullied set out above can be institutionally specific, but it is also clear that some barriers and some of the problems of provision difficulties around reintegration are dependent on government policies and the wider educational system. This chapter will analyse the effectiveness of Government policies, initiatives and how these influence educational systems and may both increase educational involvement or attainment and reduce bullying. However, because of the plethora of local initiatives the chapter will focus on the larger scale initiatives, which aim to tackle the main problems (as set out and evidenced in previous chapters), therefore the primary discussion will focus on how the current Government has tackled the issues as mentioned above since they came into power in 1997. For almost two decades, bullying in schools has attracted the interest and concern of governments and policy makers. In the late 1980s a public enquiry was launched into unruly behaviour in schools, the result of this enquiry was the Elton Report (1989). The Report highlighted the issue of bullying, and suggested that a positive school ethos provides the essential factor in facilitating academic success and positive pupil relations. A positive school ethos has, however, proven a difficult concept to define or quantify. Instead, research has tended to focus on the relative merits of different approaches or interventions designed to reduce or prevent bullying (Mackinnon et al 1995:43). In the 1990s an extensive research funded by the DfEE, indicated that bullying was far more prevalent in some schools than others, and that the reasons for this pattern could not always be attributed to single cause (such as social deprivation, or geographical location). Some schools were also shown to be more effective than others at introducing and sustaining anti bullying work. Despite these complexities, the research provided much needed evidence on what had up till now remained a largely hidden phenomenon, and provided the basis for the governments first major attempt to provide schools with evidence based research on effective anti bullying strategies (DfE 1994, DfEE 2000). Almost a decade later, bullying continues to represent an important issue for public policy, not least because of the links between bullying, academic underachievement and mental health problems Guidance issued to teacher and school governors highlights their duty to prevent all forms of bullying: the emotional distress caused by bullying in whatever form be it racial, or as a result of a childs appearance, behaviour or special educational needs, or related to sexual orientation, can prejudice school achievement, lead to lateness or truancy, and in extreme cases, end with suicide, low report rates should not themselves be taken as proof that bullying is not occurring' (DFEE, 1999:24- 25). The National Healthy School Standard (DfEE 1999) also recommended the development of anti bullying initiatives as part of a whole school approach to raising educational standards, improving the health of children and young people, and reducing social exclusion. The DfES has also recently announced that, as part of the governments national behaviour and attendance strategy, guidance and training will be offered to all secondary schools on tackling bullying from September 2003. However, while the whole school approach might be interpreted as echoing the notion of a school ethos, in other respects the issue of bullying appears to be beset by a numb

Depression and Adolescents Essay -- essays research papers

Depression and Adolescents   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Depression. Is depression possible in young adults? Not until recently doctors thought that kids were not prone to depression. They thought that depression was purely an â€Å"adult† disease. Nowadays, every doctor knows that a child could be depressed too. The causes of adolescent depression and treatment outcomes were explored in the article by Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz â€Å"Young and Depressed† that I will discuss.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article illustrates a couple of real-life stories of teenagers who faced depression and had to somehow deal with it. One of the teenagers, Brianne, described how she tried to kill herself because she was so depressed. She described her mental state by saying: â€Å"It was like a cloud that followed me everywhere. I couldn’t get away from it.† She started drinking and experimenting with drugs. At a certain point, Brianne could not take it anymore. Once, she was caught shoplifting at a store and after her mother brought her home, Brianne swallowed every single Tylenol and Advil that there was in the house. She was rushed to the hospital and survived. Brianne has been treated for her depression and is now in college and leads a very healthy lifestyle. She is one of the lucky kids that survived, but a lot of times, when depression in kids goes unnoticed, the outcomes are very tragic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Until about ten years ago, children’s mood swings and irritability were considered nothing but a phase that kids go through and would eventually outgrow. It has been proven that if depression in teenagers goes unnoticed and, therefore, untreated, the children gradually will turn to doing drugs (â€Å"self-medication†) and consuming alcohol, will drop out of school, will become promiscuous, and for a lot of them it even might lead to suicide.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The adolescent depression is basically treated as the adult depression. Unfortunately, most of the antidepressant drugs are still not approved by the FDA for children under 18 years old. Luckily, the doctors do indeed prescribe antidepressants to adolescents that dramatically help them deal with their depression. This practice is called an â€Å"off-label† use and is not uncommon for many illnesses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The article also mentions that, of course, besides medication... ... done by a professional. Unfortunately, even some professionals still don’t recognize certain behavior such as violence (often mistaken for hyperactivity) as a symptom of adolescent depression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my opinion, the teachers are people who see and observe the kids for most part of their day. They should be able to somehow notice if there are any sudden changes in a particular child’s behavior. It might not be noticeable at first, but, I am sure, sooner or later some signs will be displayed. The teacher should right away meet with the parent of that particular child and advise them of his or her observations. Sometimes teachers do not exactly do this because in some cases the parents overreact and say that the teacher is just knit-picking on their child. It’s understandable because no parent suspects or even wants to think that their kid could be prone to depression or any other mental disease, for that matter. But, I think, it’s their obligation to listen to the teachers’ observations and comments and address them in a proper manner. Otherwise, their precious child might be in danger of developing a much more sever mental illness than just depression.

Compare and Contrast: “All the Years of Her Life”

The thing about synonyms is that even though they though they might seem like they are the same thing, if put in a different context they can mean something completely different. It's interesting how two characters with very similar traits, goals and morals can be so different when placed In different stories, Like when you switch a word for Its supposed â€Å"synonym†. Don Ansell and Mrs†¦ Higgins are two very salary people. Both are traditional, respected, a little on the old-fashioned side and good at being seen as proud and confident.But It's their greatest lining factor, their love for their families and communities, which divides them. Don Ansell is a proud, traditional and very well respected man who has kept up the tradition of planting a tree for every child in the village to the point where a â€Å"gnarled but beautiful† orchard had become a part of his property. And when he is confronted with the request to ask the children to refrain from playing in the orchard, he explains that it is not his choice nor his place, as â€Å"the trees do not belong to him†. To him, nothing is more important than respecting the honor of his family.And to him, every child in that village whether they're related to him or not, is his family. On the other hand, Mrs†¦ Higgins has too close of an association with her son to the point where she sees his problems as hers. She has a proud and confident facade that hides a spirit broken by reasons that are out of her control. She appears to blame herself for her son's inability to keep a steady Job and lead a good life. Like Don Ansell she closely identifies herself with her family that in her case seems to have an ill effect on her lifestyle. â€Å"You've disgraced me again and again,† she toldAlbert as they left the pharmacy. She feels as if her son's shenanigans are her fault and this causes her spirit to crumble. This isn't the first time that her family has failed her, which in her eye s translates Into falling as a mother. So as you can see, both characters have almost Identical personality building blocks. On one hand, Don Ansell has used his love and respect for family to create a bond between him and his village that lead to a tight knit community. And on the other, Mrs†¦ Higgins chose to use her tolerance and pride to create a poisonous relationship teen her son's lifestyle and her happiness.Compare and Contrast: â€Å"All the Years of Her Life† and â€Å"The Gentlemen of ROI en Media† By Leila-Gaylord can be so different when placed in different stories, like when you switch a word for its supposed â€Å"synonym†. Don Ansell and Mrs†¦ Higgins are two very similar people. Both are traditional, confident. But it's their greatest linking factor, their love for their families and failed her, which in her eyes translates into failing as a mother. So as you can see, both characters have almost identical personality building blocks.

Study of the 2009 Influenza H1N1 emergence Pandemic The WritePass Journal

Study of the 2009 Influenza H1N1 emergence Pandemic Introduction Study of the 2009 Influenza H1N1 emergence Pandemic IntroductionConclusionRelated Introduction Pandemic influenza is an epidemic of infectious disease that can spread among human population across the world. Its first appearance was in 1918 (Spanish Influenza H1N1), where it caused an epizootic outbreak in swine causing the most devastating and terrifying pandemic in history. Pandemic influenza H1N1 was then re-emerged again in 2009 (Swine Flu).   According to the World Health Organization (WHO) several factors must be present to be considered a pandemic such as:   infected droplets released into the air and breathed in by others or close contact with infected pigs. Swine influenza is caused by Influenza A virus, which belongs to family orthomyxoviridae. They are pleomorphic-enveloped viruses therefore Influenza viruses are named based on the major surface antigens: Hemagglutinins (HA) and Neuraminidase (N).   Neuraminidase is an enzyme that is responsible for releasing the progeny virus from infected cells, by cleaving sugar molecules that bind to the virus. By contrast, hemagglutinin is a lectin that mediates binding of the virus to the host cell and entry of the viral genomes into the host cell. Overall, there are at least 16 different HA subtypes named H1 through H16.  The first three hemagglutinins, H1, H2, and H3 are the main HA subtypes present in Influenza viruses. It is important to understand the emergence of 2009 pandemic influenza, for which one has to recognize its genetic origins. Influenza A viruses are composed of a protein-studded coat that surrounds a genome made up of eight single-stranded RNA segments (PB2, PB1, PA, HA, NP, NA, MP and NS).   These RNA segments of pandemic 2009 have resulted from co-mingling of genomes from two influenza viruses- N. American H1N1 and Eurasian swine H1N1. This concept helps to explain how viral genetic re-assortment has resulted in the emergence of the pandemic strain, with a mixture of swine, human and avian influenza viruses. One would predict that changes in the genetic makeup of this virus requires us to develop new vaccines on an annual basis to attempt to prevent this virus especially in those that are elderly or chronically ill, since for them, influenza can be extremely fatal.   According to CDC (Centers for disease control and prevention) epidemiological data indicates that elder people (65 years) tend to be less affected by H1N1 virus. Perhaps this explains the age-related pre-existing immunity. Figure 1- shows age groups most affected by the H1N1 influenza reported to CDC in the United States from April 15 to July 24, 2009.As can be seen, the number of reported cases per 100,000 population was highest among individuals five to twenty-four years of age group (26.7 per 100,000). Recent research on the crystal structure of the HA from the pandemic virus A/California/04/2009 has revealed the similarity of the Sa antigenic site located on the hemagglutinin molecule, in particular, of the 2009 H1N1 virus with the early 1918 human H1 viruses.   Exposure to older viruses circulating from 1918 through the 1930s or 1940s are likely elicited 2D1-like antibodies that can cross-react with the 2009 viral protein HA. As a result individuals exposed to these viruses, now over the age of 65 have some protection from swine flu by antibodies originally elicited more than 50 years ago.   Further research has shown that 2D1- antibody can bind to identical Sa antigenic site in the 1918 and 2009 pandemic and cross-neutralize both 1918 and 2009 pandemic viruses  in vivo.   Perhaps this provides a strong explanation for the age-related pre-existing immunity and the low levels of mortality rate in elder people, in the current H1N1 pandemic. Today in this 21st century, new advanced vaccines and antiviral drugs have been introduced to prevent this virus especially in those who are unable to produce immunity against Influenza viruses. Compare to the third world where only small proportion of people were fortunate to have vaccines as a safety precaution. Even then, 3% of the worlds population (1.8 billion people) at the timedied of the disease. Nowadays scientists and many health organizations such as CDC or WHO are intensely looking in to whether or not the same virus will strike again.   They have the knowledge and the discipline to get the world ready. Recently, CDC recommended a seasonal flu vaccination (trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine) as the most important step in protection against influenza viruses. This seasonal influenza vaccination has been recommended for every individual from the age of 6months onwards as not only it protects against H3N2 virus but also Influenza B and H1N1 Influenza A virus. This proves that seasonal influenza vaccine can still be used to protect against various viruses including 2009 H1N1 Influenza and H3N2. Recent research on neutralising influenza antibodies also proves that seasonal influenza vaccine can lead to increase in the production of neutralizing antibodies up to 80%. But vaccination with plasmid DNA encoding H1N1 influenza (HA) and boosting with seasonal vaccine can stimulate a greater than 50 fold increase in neutralizing antibody than that produced by one does of seasonal vaccine alone or DNA alone. Conclusion The future impact of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus is not yet possible to predict as to which strain will cause the next pandemic or epidemic.   On the one hand, the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus is still expected to continue to circulate as a seasonal influenza strain. Due to this, more people will now develop immunity to this current version of the virus. Despite of that, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned many countries including Africa and Asia to prepare for more devastating flu epidemics in the future. This concern has been promoted due to the possible mixture of swine flu viruses with seasonal strains during the winter months and can transform in impulsive ways. The best possible way for an individual to protect against 2009 H1N1 influenza virus and other influenza viruses is through defensive measures such as covering mouth when sneezing or coughing, good hygiene and vaccinations against H1N1 influenza virus when possible.