Teenage Drinking and Its Effects on the Development of Alcoholism Later

Teenage Drinking and Its Effects on the Development of Alcoholism Later Teenage drinking is something that goes on every day. No matter how many videos you show to kids about drinking they will still drink. Surveys show that the average teen seventeen and up spends $475.00 a year on liquor, mostly beer; that's more than books, soda, coffee, juice and milk combined. Most parents don't know about teenage drinking unless they catch their kids doing it. Parents usually say "oh, my my kid would never do that ", and they're the ones whose kids probably drink more that the average teen. One might ask, how do kids get alcohol? Alcohol is almost as easy to get as a carton of milk, except a teen has to get someone older like a friend, brother or even someone off of the street to purchase it. Another way underage teens get alcohol is a fake I.D. A lot of stores don't care, they just need to ask for an I.D. because they are being watched by security cameras. No matter what city your are in, one in every five stores will sell beer to a minor. If stores stop selling t o minors they would lose a lot of business. Looking at the surveys I took at Lincoln on this topic it can been seen what teens think about teenage drinking. The results were shocking! The first Question I asked was "Have you ever drank alcohol?" Of the students surveyed, 16% said no and 84% said yes. The second question was, "How often do you drink?" The results were on the average three to four drinks a week. The third question was, "How much do you usually drink?" The average number of beers was eight and the average number of shots was seven. The fourth question was, "Have you ever drank alcohol before driving and 68% said yes! One of the last questions I asked was, "What would you do if you killed someone drinking and driving?" The majority replied that they could not live with themselves. Just through talking to people and going to parties, I have seen most people drink to get drunk, not many people drink just a drink or two. Many students don't feel that drinking is a crime be cause they are not hurting any one unless they are driving drunk. Drinking is a crime and there are many penalties for the teen who chooses to break the law. For a first time offender a teen would be taken to jail , finger printed, and photographed. At the time of arrest, if drunk, one could be taken to detoxification (detox) ... ...His mother is a recovering alcoholic so he was familiar with what happened when he would lose control when he drank. His mother was very aware of the signs. His grades went down, he started skipping classes, he lied to his mother, he was hanging out with friends who drank a lot and were always in trouble. Fortunately, he was given a second chance and he is in a program that is helping him recover. Teen drinking and alcoholism can be treated if treatment is started early. There is no known cure for alcoholism, but alcoholics can lead productive lives with help. There are many organizations that can help alcoholics such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). and Rational Recovery Systems. There are also organizations that promote abstinence from drinking such as S.A.D.D. (Students Against Drunk Driving) and M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). It is important for parents to be aware of what their children are doing and who their friends are. Teenagers need to continue to be educated on the effects of alcohol and the dangerous situations it causes. Sources: #1. 1994 Monitoring the Future survey #2. Class notes Bibliography #1. 1994 Monitoring the Future survey #2. Class notes

Dancing to a Different Tune: Autism :: Personal Narrative Writing

Dancing to a Different Tune: Autism I’m sitting in Mrs. Morton’s kindergarten class at 9:37 watching her dark tan leather shoes move back and forth as she recites the alphabet. Unconsciously avoiding eyed contact, as she turns down the row and slowly moves towards my desk (Sperry 22). As Mrs. Morton approaches me, I cower back in fear, unable to deal with the unpredictable and inconsistent nature of human beings (Dawson 112). â€Å"Kenny, why are you not listening to me?† Feeling vulnerable I remain silent, unable to cope with this social situation (Williams 159). So again Mrs. Morton asks, â€Å"Kenny†¦why are you not listening to me?† Responding with echolalia, I pervasively mutter back her words in a monotone voice, â€Å"Not listening to me.† I Reply in a desperate attempt to convey meaning, but in the end only produce meaningless jargon (Sperry 45). When Mrs. Morton hears my reaction she throws her hands up in frustration and returns to reciting the alphabet as she softly mutters, â€Å"This kid must be deaf or something!† (DSM IV 68) Loosing interest in Mrs. Morton and her alphabet I begin to tap my pencil on my desk, unable to stop moving my hands. Repetitive behavior such as this provides an escape from the constant state of arousal that assaults me at this moment (Dawson 67). I twist around in my desk, fidgeting as I try to expel some of my energy (DSM IV 71). Hyperactivity eventually gets the best of me, as I start meandering up and down the isle in my own â€Å"Idiosyncratic fantasy world† as though Mrs. Morton does not exist (Sperry 52). That night as my mom cooks dinner I am drawn by fascination to the sparkling blue flame of our gas stove. Without fear I slowly reach my hands up towards the burner and touch this dangerous flickering light. My mother returns from the bathroom and catches a glimpse of me with my little hands in the flame of the stove. â€Å"No Kenny! The stove is hot. Very hot, do not touch the stove.† She screams at me as I withdraw my hand and look at her with a blank face. I didn’t even feel the burn, until the heat of the flame began scalding away layers of my skin because my threshold for pain is so great (DSM IV 68). Trying to comfort me from injury in which I am unable to express any emotion, my mother and I take a trip to James Beach which is just minutes away from my house in Rhode Island.

The Pearl :: essays research papers

The Pearl by John Steinbeck   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino, the main character, did not succeed in his dreams of a luxurious life. There where many reasons why Kino did not succeed. One may believe that it was a combination of fate, the pearl buyers, and his own greed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fate was a major aspect to why Kino did not succeed in his dreams of having a luxurious life. When Kino discovered the Pearl he thought that it would take him out of poverty and into a life of happiness. â€Å"But the pearls were accidents, and the finding of one was luck, a little pat on the back by God or the gods both†(Chapter 2). This quotation occurs when Kino is about to go pearl diving for the Pearl of the World. This quotation also shows that certain things happen that we have no control over, therefore one can feel that Kino’s downfall is not entirely his own fault. The Pearl ended up bringing ultimate unhappiness to Kino and Juana.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The pearl buyers were also major reasons to why Kino did not succeed. If the pearl buyers had given Kino a fair price for the Pearl, then Kino would have sold the Pearl. If Kino sold the Pearl then Coyotitio would have never been shot. This would give Kino a chance to succeed in his dream of a luxurious life. This did not happen. The pearl buyers did not give Kino a fair price, they said that the pearl was fools gold and worth nothing. This caused Kino to decide not to sell the pearl to them . This leads to Coyotitio eventually being shot by the gunfire between the trackers and Kino. This ultimately destroys Kino’s dreams.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kino not succeeding was also partly his own fault. Kino’s desire for the Pearl was a major conflict in the parable. If Kino wasn’t greedy and gave up the Pearl when he found out his family was in danger, his son wouldn’t have been

Life of Pi Animals Essay

Acting and speaking before THINKING, this goes back to a humans’ primitive stage. We are all animals, in the sense that we are mammals. Manifested through our psyche or personality, each animal has a different representation. From personality traits, behavior or even symbolism, animals have the ability to portray these features in humans. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, four distinct animals are manifested in the main character’s (Pi Patel)spirit. These four animals a zebra, which symbolizes the struggle to survive and docility, the orangutan – a nurturing mother personality, the hyena for desperation and evil, then lastly the tiger, Richard Parker which represents perseverance and companionship. When one visits the zoo, the most submissive creature there to see is the zebra. Marked with bold black and white stripes to show endurance, the zebra is still indecisive and unassertive. Relating back to Pi Patel, even from the beginning of the novel he cannot make up his mind about which religion to follow. This shows when his indetermination leads him from being a Muslim, to Hinduism, to Christianity. Also, as the hyena attacks the zebra for food, the animal strives to defend himself by thrashing about the boat. Severely wounded and painfully struggling to fight the battle, zebras determination to stay alive and survive the attack from the hyena. This is also a small wake up call to Pi who is also growing weak day in and day out while a hungry Bengal tiger sleeps only a few feet away. However the need to survive and the life of force is a character trait that the zebra and Pi Patel have in common, not to mention uncertainty.

“Not So Quiet” as representative of gender in WWII Essay

Evadne Price wrote the book â€Å"Not So Quiet† in 1930 under the pseudonym Helen Zenna Smith. Price was an established author and playwright by the time she wrote â€Å"Not So Quiet,† best known for her serialized romance novels. She also wrote children’s books and articles for women’s magazine. But â€Å"Not So Quiet† was a very different kind of piece, partly because of its far more serious nature, partly because it was somewhat autobiographical. She was initially approached by a British publisher to write a satire on â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front† by Erich Maria Remarque, but Price argued that she would rather write an account of a woman’s experience with war instead. Price then contacted a British ambulance driver who had kept war diaries as a basis for her story, then elaborating the story to revolve around a fictional version of herself named Smithie. Taking this very personal, intimate story of a woman, as well as her already inherent skill of writing for women, Price created a novel whose voice is distinctly female. The reader feels Smithie’s confusion, anger and isolation in her struggle to build a new identity in the wake of a total loss of innocence. In this, more then anything, Price has created a war story that is not only about women, but one that speaks to women and resonates with them, a true rarity. It is through Price’s novel that a distinct view of the war through the eyes of a very female, upper-class experience help give the reader a very clear idea of many of the issues faced by women of the war years as they try to maintain what society has always told them is feminine behavior in an increasingly bloody reality. The nature of the book â€Å"Not So Quiet† is reflective of â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front† in that both are pacifist responses to war, but in the case of â€Å"Not So Quiet,† the pacifist voice is female. The ideas about war expressed by Smithie are often reminiscent of other pacifist women’s responses to war and draw attention to the women’s peace movement that started during the First World War. Many of Smithie’s comments, such as her sarcastic annoyance with Mrs. Evans-Mawning for being proud that she could be proud her son was murdered for murdering another mother’s son, is phrased very similarly to thoughts of leading female pacifists. Clara Zetkin, a German socialist feminist, is one who comes to mind and her words â€Å"Who endangers the well-being of the fatherland? Is it the men who, clad in other uniforms, stand beyond the frontier, men who did not want this war any more  than your men did and who do not know why th ey should have to murder their brothers?† (Zetkin, pg. 145). Zetkin’s radical ideas, formed during the first war, are a display of the already changing disposition, pushing to action for the cause of peace. Lida Gustava Heymann, another female pacifist during World War I, reflects another aspect of Smithie’s pacifist transformation-anger. Like Smithie, who spends much of the novel searching for people to blame for her pain, Heymann puts blame directly on men, describing male nature as inherently violent and fundamentally opposed to female nature, which is pacifist. Another important pacifist during World War I who is reminiscent of Smithie is Sylvia Pankhurst, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, organizer of radical women’s groups, and Richard Pankhurst. Her radicalism led to a major rift with her mother after the groups they belonged to decided not to commit arson, which, to Sylvia, made them not radical enough. She also felt her mother and her sisters were to focused of fostering middle class privilege and gave to little attention to the needs of all women. During the war, when she joined the women’s peace army, she found herself at even greater rift with her mother and sister, who both supported the war. Her lifetime of feelings of anger and alienation from the older generation, despite her mother’s staunchly liberal ideas, manifest Smithie’s exact feelings that pushed her toward the distaste for the war that the novel ends on. Smithie’s anger and large transformation are a result of her unmasked experience with war. For most women, however, the experience of war was masked and covered behind nationalism and propaganda. Although much of the book takes place on the front, hints of what is happening back home are frequently given, mostly through letters received by Smithie from her mother and through the character of B.F. Mrs. Evans-Mawning, throughout the novel, serves as a figure of the worst kind of feminine nationalism, boasting about Roy but not having the edge on Smithie’s mother because she has only her one son to sacrifice as opposed to Smithie’s larger family. Smithie also notes that she is sick of reading positive news about wonder war girls in the news, comparing her experience to having a baby because once you get started â€Å"your trapped in it.† (Smith, pg. 134). Women on the home front were being coddled into believing everything was going well because this was still a  time in which men saw women as more sensitive then they were intelligent and therefore needed to be protected (Thebaud, pg. 95). This sort of â€Å"sugar-coating† gave women false impressions about the war, which was particularly disappointing to those who enlisted. In one letter from Smithie’s younger sister, Trix, she writes â€Å"Why the dickens they dress you up in a pretty cap and make you think you’re going to smooth the patients fevered brow beats me hollow.† (Smith, pg. 84). Another letter in the book that is very reflective of home front feelings is the one Smithie receives from B.F, who described her encounter with Tosh’s uncle and comments on his lack of patriotism because of his being more upset about Tosh’s death then the war. In her own, somewhat ignorant, way B.F is describing the shifting attitudes felt by people bac k home whose nationalism faded with sorrow over lost loved ones. While this war marked an incredible change in society in a variety of areas, no group was more changed by the two wars then women were. Women, even those who were educated and â€Å"gently bred† were called in to be a part of a gruesome war and through the experience of Smithie the loss of innocence is felt. Heymann, after the First World War, noted that everything in the past is in a state of man, which makes force, authority and fear its principles. Heymann felt that women had so long been slaves to men that presently their very natures were enslaved (Heymann, pg. 149). However, war forced women into very different position then they had ever been in before, the wars forced them to take a more aggressive role in public life and start to reclaim their own identities. Zetkin also notes during the war how the existence of it threw in women’s faces the view of society that men need to go die in order to protect their â€Å"weak women,† but the death of their men ca used a much larger burden to fall upon their apparently small shoulders. The change experienced by women is manifested not just in Smithie and other named characters, but also in the two most notable events that involve girls just â€Å"passing through† the ambulance-driving world. The first, in which Smithie shows two new girls to their bunk and they tell her they shall â€Å"have a tea,† represents the old woman- even faced with clearly dire circumstances, the female is to sensitive for it and buries her head in frivolous desire. However, later on, on page 132, when the ‘seeing-Francer’  stands up to explain why she is leaving, she not only well articulates her complaint, but also shows a lot of bravery in doing so. The moment displays women’s changing levels of aggression as more and more of them took jobs they never would have before. There are also signs of the sexual emancipation experienced by many women, most clearly manifested by Smithie when she actually says aloud how not shocked she is by the general’s proposition of sex (Smith, pg. 145) and then when she sleeps with a soldier, Robin, whom she barely knows. This was directly following the interwar years, in which novelists and magazines already began to prominently feature the new woman, with her short hair and sexual liberation. While there were many positive changes for the overall position of women as a result of the war, the novel â€Å"Not So Quiet† also notes the physical trauma it brought for them. This aspect of the book might be its finest one in that it describes difficulties faced by women, who were not regarded with the same sensitivity as returning soldiers. After Smithie returns home for a few days, clearly traumatized, she is chastised by her mother for â€Å"mooning about† for days and how strange it was that she was still not over her traumatic experience with war. Ernst Simmel, who wrote about war as a cause of mental illness, described â€Å"war psychosis† as rarely curable, caused by all things to horrible to grasp. Simmel also described war psychosis as a damage that can be seen even when all external wounds are healed, making it therefore invisible. The feelings of this illness’ onset is manifested by Smithie in the most beautiful passage of the book when she describes her desire for â€Å"men who are whole† and her concern for what is to happen like people like her, if they survive, how they are meant to lead a normal life after experiencing such horrific things and being so internally broken. Bibliography Herminghouse, Patricia A., and Magda Meuller, eds. German Feminist Writings. Vol. 95. New York: The German Library, 2001. Simmel, Ernst. â€Å"War Neurosis and â€Å"Psychic Trauma†Ã¢â‚¬  The Legacy of the War. Smith, Helen Z. Not So Quiet†¦ New York: The Feminist P, 1930. Sohn, Anne-Marie. â€Å"Between the Wars in France and England.† A History of Women in the West, Volume V Toward a Cultural Identity in the Twentieth Century (History of Women in the West). By Georges Duby. Vol. 5. New York: Belknap P, 1994. 92-119.

Advertising: Information or Manipulation Essay

Advertising, also known as a part of the marketing process, has a rich background. When we talk about marketing the first things that come to our mind are high profit, goods and services and of course consumers. Advertising’s role should only exist in order to help society by real information about products and services. Moreover, it helps consumers decide what to purchase according their actual needs. Advertisements are located everywhere and no one can avoid seeing them. Thus, every individual in exposed to seeing at least one advertisement. Advertising is a form of mass communication with the public. It is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade the potential customers to purchase or consume more of a particular brand of product/services. We could separate advertising in two categories. Giving information through advertising about a product is the first category that is innocent when facing the costumers. The second category has a manipulative effect on people. Thus, People exposed to specific advertisements are led to buy goods and services or do things that don’t actually want to do. And in order to attract audiences, some advertisers use different extreme technique that does more damage on the consumer’s life then with helping him. Therefore, we can say that advertising is based on manipulation and thus should be limited because it harmful. To start with, advertising reaches the mind of people and is dangerous when it is not real especially on children and youth. By unreal advertising we mean a shallow advertising that focuses on the desire and wants of people so the firms producing this product achieves sales and high profits. Young children are unable to understand advertising messages and the information given by these advertisements, therefore, children may consider these advertisements as the truth and the real world thus it will affect their behavior. According to the Washington post and their researches, â€Å"Federal regulators should restrict television advertising aimed at children 8 and younger because research shows youngsters lack the skills to question a commercial’s claims as anything but fact, the American Psychological Association said yesterday†. (Washington post article). Moreover, children will be affected by cartoons, kids’ shows†¦ Thus, manipulation is being forced on children by using the popular faces in cartoons like Hannah Montana, Dora†¦ For instance, during my childhood, there was a chocolate commercial for Disney (picture of the product) and the same chocolate bar was next to it. The price range was very apart since the chocolate by Disney was a brand name. And as a Disney fan I cried and begged for the chocolate bar that was by Disney. Thus, we can see here that manipulation in advertising is being implemented through the mind of children and is affecting their behavior.

Research Analysis of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Cultural Baggage Essay

Barbra Ehrenreich’s â€Å"Cultural Baggage† essay found in Greene and Lidinksy (2012), expresses the author’s views on traditional values that come from a family’s heritage. Ehrenreich is motivated to write about this subject because her way of being raised was challenged. She was raised to find new things to try, and not succumb to the mindset of just accepting something because it’s always been there. Her Father said, â€Å"’think for yourself’ and ‘always ask why’† (Ehrenreich, 2012, p. ). The purpose of the content is to show Barbra Ehrenreich’s disconnection from holding family traditions, and then argues that it’s not a necessity for every family to pass down traditions. Barbra insists that people from very traditional based religions will be disappointed and appalled that her family is always looking for new things to try (Ehrenreich, 2012). In the author’s opinion, there is nothing wrong for not following, or neglecting to start, family traditions. Ehrenreich’s biggest claim in her essay is that she steadfastly disagrees with recurring traditions and expresses her intent for individuality in her family. She made a statement at the end of the essay saying, â€Å"My chest swelled with pride, as my mother’s would have, to know that the race of †none† marches on† (Ehrenreich, 2012, p. 3). This shines light on the fact that they are a happy family with out traditions and have no intentions of ever adopting any. Also, Ehrenreich (2012) goes on to explain that her Grandmother would suggest that just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s right, or necessary to continue. Barbra is satisfied and proud to announce â€Å"none† as her ethnic background and â€Å"none† for her traditions. Barbra has a tone in the paper that exemplifies an informal conversation among women; particularly mothers. Her intention was to target mothers because she is justifying the guilt she felt when she realized her children weren’t growing up with traditions. Her question then was: Am I doing the right thing by not having any traditions for them? So, Barbra nervously asked her children if they were fine with not having any family traditions, and they eplied, â€Å"yes† (Ehrenreich, 2012). This was a relief for Barbra as it would be for most mothers. My final contention in this matter would be to agree with Barbra Ehrenreich in saying that family traditions are not necessary, and it is important to branch out to new ventures. When Barbra asked her children about traditions they said, â€Å"and the world would be a better place if nobody else did either† (Ehrenreich, 2012, p. 3). The reason they say the world would be a better place is because people would be more interesting from branching out and learning new things. In addition, the reasons there is a lot of conflicts in society, and on a global scale, are from radical people feeling their traditions or belief have been imposed upon by someone else. Examples include: Islamic religion, Al Qaeda, the Civil rights movement, the Civil War, and Gang Violence. Barbra is correct with her position on traditions with calling it â€Å"baggage,† because it weighs down the minds ability to see things in a new light, and that is the most important thing to me.