Physical Activity and Education Standards Essay Example for Free

Physical Activity and Education Standards Essay It is a matter of fact that with the increased accent on academic education, physical exercise programs are declining in public and private schools. Nowadays there are minimal opportunities for students to lead active life during school time. It was reported that the number of students who attend physical training every day had decreased to 29 percent in 1999 compared with 42% in 1990. It is possible to maintain ideal body weight and health due to physical education classes. Students must receive at least an hour of physical training daily. Such process should involve vigorous activity during 10-15 minutes daily. It is apparent that sport is available in public schools, although not all children like to attend these classes. (National Standards) It is necessary to design such physical activity for students which will firstly meet required standards and secondly arouse interest among children. The most interesting and exciting activity is school sports competitions, because they involve many kinds of physical activity and develop team spirit in participants. School competitions will involve all students who are physically fit and also who are weaker. The competitions will last two days and embrace different activities. The first day will pass through l team games such as basketball, volleyball for girls and football for boys. The second day will process through team competitions devoted to running: long-distance races, sprints, running on the spots, high jump and standing (running) broad jump. It is necessary to explain why such physical activity is chosen. The first reason is that students will demonstrate their competency in different movement forms and their proficiency in selected ones. The second reason is that during team activities students will demonstrate team spirit, responsible social and personal behavior. The last reason is that students are taught in such way to understand and to respect differences among students with different physical abilities.

Impact of Exchange Rates on Stock Market: Evidence from Pakistan

Impact of Exchange Rates on Stock Market: Evidence from Pakistan Today in the present world foreign currency is a key component or tool for different kinds of businesses, and many countries in the world did businesses in foreign currencies like in Dollars, Euros etc. on the other hand movement in the stock market index is a key indicator for the financial performance of a country. Stock market may have bullish or bearer trend which reflect its relative strength in specific period. It also shows the investor confidence and sentiments toward markets. The establishment of the relationship among the stock market and foreign exchange rates is important for some reasons. Initially, it can affect decisions about monetary policy and tax. Gavin (1989) analyze that financial market has a large impact on the aggregate demand. The policy maker should be aware about the relationship regarding stock market and demand. Secondly, the relation between the aggregate demand and stock markets may be used to forecast the direction of the exchange rate. It will be useful for multinational firms to actively manage their exposure associated to foreign contracts and exchange rate. Thirdly, currency is treated as a commodity or an asset in portfolio of investment funds. So the awareness about the relationship among currency and other assets in the portfolio of investment funds is important. This is not the first study to look at the exchange rate and equity markets in the world as well as in Pakistan. Like Aquino analyzed the foreign exchange exposure countenance by Philippine companies around the Asian financial crisis. It was concluded that stock returns were not statistically significantly affected by the instability in foreign exchange. But after the crises, there was a significant impact of the fluctuations in exchange rate on the stock returns (Aquino 2005, 2006). Yau and Nieh investigated the relationship between Taiwan dollar/Japanese yen and the stock prices for the period from 1991 to 2005. They found that among the exchange rate and the stock prices of both countries there was no long-term relationship. But this linkage exists only to shorten the period (Yau and Nieh 2006). But the present study is exceptional in the sense that it uses the most recent data of the exchange rate and stock market which may provide latest linkage to the investors and other policy makers in Pakistan. There are three stock exchanges known as Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) currently operating in Pakistan. Among these Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) is considered as major and the well known stock market of Pakistan. It is regarded as a representative of all three stock exchanges of Pakistan. Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) formed on September 18, 1947. It began its operation with five companies that have paid a capital of Rs.37 millions of dollars. The first index was the 50 index of trade and was done through open-out-cry system. But now KSE has 662 listed companies and considers a main economic and business hub of Pakistan. The daily KSE-100 Index published by the Karachi stock exchange is announced at 3:10 pm. Therefore KSE-100 index can be used as performance indicators of the stock market in Pakistan. KSE played an important role in the economy of Pakistan in different problems like political, social, financial and other i ssues (Karachi Stock Exchange, 2011). To identify the linkage of foreign exchange rate with equity market is significant because of above reasons. So in this study the researcher tries to identify this relationship by using various statistical techniques. Rationale of the study The currency  market may be linked with  equity market  in many different ways. It can be seen that if there is an upward trend in the stock market, then there will be a large influx of foreign capital in the country due to international investors. This influx of foreign money would be a key indicator  for the betterment of economic position of any country. The adversary also sustains that if there is a long downtrend visible on the stock market, foreign investors, the most likely rush to sell their shares that would have a substantial impact on the stock market of a country. This reasoning can be applied to all currencies and stock markets in the whole world (Kathy Lien, 2009). The basic idea behind this study is to provide a clue to the stock brokers, managers, planners, policy makers and regulatory authorities that they actively share information about the change in macroeconomic variables. AND also provide considerable information essential for them, which may be used for future decisions about stocks and stock markets of Pakistan especially about KSE noting the movement of the exchange rate in Pakistan. This investigation is also useful for executives, managers, responsible for the decisions, researchers and students who are not familiar with the exchange rate and securities markets in Pakistan. Problem identification Due to globalization and technological innovations any one can access the foreign markets. The business in foreign countries needed to intact with change in exchange rate dynamics. Since, the exchange rate can be defined as the price of currency of one country expressed in the currency of another country. So the change in the exchange rate might have some impact on the macroeconomic variables of any country. The stock market of Pakistan may be influenced due to change in exchange rate. So to identify this impact of exchange rate on the stock market is a matter which requires intentions. Problem Statement The main focus of this study is to know that, how exchange rate affects the equity market of Pakistan? It further explores the direction (positive or negative) and strength of relationship among exchange rate and stock market in Pakistan. For this purpose researcher links the exchange rate with equity market of Pakistan to see a clear picture about them as they influence several other variables. Research Question What is the possible impact of exchange rate fluctuation on the equity market of Pakistan? Objective This study aims to examine the effect of exchange rate on the Karachi stock exchange. The objectives of the study are: .To analyzes the impact of exchange rate fluctuation on equity market of Pakistan. .To determines whether the impact is statistically significant or not. Resources Resources include financial data of KSE, articles, books, newspaper and internet. The data will be collected from yahoo finance and the website of Karachi Stock Exchange. Scope of the research It is believe that the financial position of an economy is vulnerable to the foreign exchange rate. So it is very crucial to explore the linkage between the exchange rate and equity market. The present study is an effort to investigate this important aspect and it tries to analyze the impact of exchange rate on the equity market of Pakistan. LITERATURE REVIEW In the following section, there are some studies associated to this area of study that has been investigated earlier by other researchers. Hussain et al. examined the Impact of Macroeconomics Variables on Stock market by using the periodical data of some macroeconomic variables such as foreign exchange rate, broad money M2, whole sale price (WSP) index, industrial production index (IPI), gross fixed capital formation and foreign exchange reserve. The period of time to study was started from 1986 to 2008. The result showed that, after the reform in 1991, the pressure of the exchange rates and reserves effects significantly to the equity market, while the variables as IIP, and GFCF had no significant effect on the stock prices. In addition, concluded that internal factors of the companies such as increasing the production and capital formation had no significant effect while external factors such as the exchange rate and reserves significantly affected the stock prices. (Hussain et al. 2009). Nishat and Shaheen analyzed long-term relationships among set of macroeconomic variables and the equity market of Paksitan. The macroeconomic variables that were used in their study includes: industrial production index (IPI), the consumer price index (CPI), M1 and the value of an investment earning the money market rate. Vector error correction model was used to investigate the relationship from 1973 to 2004. It can be revealed that there is a fundamental connection between the equity market and the economy and showed that industrialized creation was the major positive determinant of Pakistani stock prices. On the other hand, inflation was the major negative determinant of equity prices in Pakistan. It was established that the macroeconomic variable granger caused stock movements in prices, the reverse causality was observed in the variable in industrial production and the stock prices. In addition, argued that statistically significant durations between fluctuations in the bag and changes in the real economy were relatively short. Additionally, it was further argued that statistically significant lag lengths between fluctuations in the stock market and changes in the real economy were relatively short (Nishat Shaheen, 2004). Bhattacharya et al. analyzed a case study to explore the linkage between stock market and macroeconomic variables such as Exchange Rate, Foreign Exchange Reserves and Value of Trade Balance. They used method of non-causation that was considered by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) for the period from 1990 to 2001. Proxy used in the investigation of stock market was Indian, the Bombay sensitive Index (BSI). The three major macroeconomic variables incorporated in the investigation was effective exchange rate, the foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade. The study revealed the attractive resulted in the structure of the stock market Indian, mainly as regards the exchange rate, the foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade. It is suggested that there is no relation between cost and equity the three macroeconomic variables studied ( Bhattacharya Mukherjee, 2001). Dimitrova examined the association between stock prices and the exchange rates using multivariate model. He focused on the stock markets in America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) during the period 1990-2004. The result of the study shows that there was a relationship between the exchange rate and the stock market. The examiner stressed that there was a positive correlation when the price of actions were the main variable and be expected negative when exchange rates were the main variable. (Dimitrova, 2005). Sohail et al. conducted a study on Lahore stock exchange (LSE), the objective of that study was to observed the long-term, as well as the short-term associations between Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and some important variables. Using the monthly data for the variables from 2002 to 2008, it was found that there was a negative impact of the consumer price index (CPI) on the stock market returns in Pakistan while industrial production index (IPI), real effective exchange rate, the money supply had an important positive long-term effect on stock returns to Pakistan(Sohail Hussain, 2009). Robert Gay investigated time series relationship between stock exchange index and some of the macroeconomic variables of the price of oil and the type of change in China, India, Russia and Brazil, using the Box-Jenkins auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. It came to the conclusion of his study in which there was no significant association between exchange rate and the price of oil on the index of the stock market of these countries. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between past and present yields of the stock markets in these countries (Gay, 2008). METHOD Sample Since there are 660 listed companies in Karachi stock exchange of Pakistan on November 7, 2010. This research uses KSE-100 Index as a benchmark to find out the impact of exchange rate fluctuation on equity market of Pakistan. Instrument and Measures This research will be based on secondary sources, thus no questionnaire will be distributed. The study uses the financial data of last 6 years of Karachi stock exchange (one of the major stock exchange in Pakistan) and exchange rate. This study will investigates the impact of foreign exchange rate on equity market in Pakistan. This study uses KSE-100 index as a proxy of equity market of Pakistan and uses exchange rate between dollar and rupees to analyze the impact of exchange rate fluctuation on equity markets of Pakistan. So, this research treats KSE-100 index as the dependant variable and exchange rate as independent variables. Procedure The following statistical tools will be used to examine the impact of exchange rate fluctuation on equity market of Pakistan. Descriptive statistics Correlation matrix Regression analysis Descriptive statistics illustrate the main features of a collection of data quantitatively. It may include mean, median, mode, standard deviation, maximum and minimum. Correlation model will be tested to observe the linkage between the exchange rate and equity market of Pakistan. It will also enlighten about the direction and strength of relationship between the variables. Further to find out the impact of exchange rate on stock market of Pakistan, the study will performed the regression analysis. The data of Karachi stock exchange will be compared with the data of exchange rate of Pakistan. Statistical tools including timeline graphs and others will be constructed and made use of to determine the respective effects and a comparison between exchange rate and equity market. Research papers of various authors related to the study will be studied and judge against with the results of this particular research. REFRENCES Bhattacharya, B., Mukherjee, J. (2001). Causal Relationship Between Stock Market And Exchange Rate, Foreign Exchange Reserves and Value Of Trade Balance: A Case Study For India. Website: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/7297/ Cruz, M., Walters, B. (June 2008). Is the Accumulation of International Reserves good for Development.  Cambridge Journal of Economics. website: http://cje.oxfordjournals.org/content/32 Dimitrova, D. (August 2005). The Relationship between Exchange Rates and Stock Prices Studied in Multivariate Model.Issues in Political Economy  , 14. Website: http://org.elon.edu/ipe/Dimitrova Elizabeth. (2006).  the oxford dictionary of Phrase and Fable.  Retrieved February 10, 2010, from Encyclopedia. website: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214 Encyclopedia. (2009).  The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. Retrieved February 14, 2010, from Encyclopedia. website:http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999 Gay, R. D. (March 2008). Effect of Macroeconomic Variables on Stock Market Returns for Four Emerging Economies Brazil, Russia, India and China.  International Business Economics Research Jornal  , 7. Website:http://www.cluteinstitute-onlinejournals.com Gulf News. (2008).  Investment. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from gulfnews. website:http://gulfnews.com/business/investment/pakistan Hussain, D. I. (2009). Why does Pakistan have to accumulate foreign reserves? Website: http://ishrathusain.iba.edu.pk/papers Karachi Stock Exchange. (2010).  introduction. Retrieved February 2010, from Karachi Stock Exchange website: http://www.kse.com.pk Ministry of Finance Islamabad, Govt of Pakistan. (n.d.). Capital Markets.  Economic Survey of Pakistan  . Islamabad, Pakistan: Govt of Pakistan. Mohammad, S. D., Hussain, A., Ali, A. (2009). Impact of Macroeconomics Variables on Stock Prices Emperical Evidance in Case of KSE.  European Journal of Scientific Research  , 38 no. 1, 96-103. Website:http://pdfcast.org/pdf/impact-of-macroeconomicse Nishat, D. M., Shaheen, R. (2004). Macro-Economic Factors and Pakistani Equity Market. State Bank of Pakistan. (2010, January). Foreign Reserves. Lahore, Pakistan: State Bank of Pakistan. Should Children of Illegal Immigrants Get an Education? Should Children of Illegal Immigrants Get an Education? Should Children of Illegal Immigrants Be Able to Get an Education? Education is a very important topic that impacts our nation as a whole. Some American citizens think education is needed for everyone while others dont. With the rise of illegal immigration, more and more people are wondering whether or not the children of illegal immigrants should have the same rights as the children of American citizens. Many people say that it is too expensive to give them an education, but if they dont get an education, the United States can see negative effects in the future. It is only right that children of illegal immigrants have the opportunity to get an education in order to learn the skills to make their lives and the country better. Illegal immigrants come to the United States knowing that they are at the risk of getting caught, going to jail, and getting deported out of the country. This causes a lot of fear and anxiety in their every day lives. The main reason many immigrants come here is for work and to better their familys lives. To better their familys lives, their children need an education. Today, children of illegal immigrants still have the chance to get an education because of the 1982 case, Plyer v. Doe, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that a 1975 Texas law denying public-school education to children of illegal aliens violated the 14th Amendments equal-protection clause (Miller). Having this law is very helpful for those who do not have a citizenship. Most children of illegal immigrants face many obstacles throughout their schooling. Some start out not knowing English very well and do not have the help they need from their parents at home. Giving them the basic studies and a place for them to learn can help these kids develop in a way that would not be possible without a public education. The numbers of illegal immigrants continue to go up in the US, but mostly in states like Texas, Florida, and California. According to Berna Miller, the education of these children is important because California is already facing a shortage of highly skilled workers. If children of illegal immigrants are not allowed an education, they may turn to gangs and crime because they do not have a good foundation. If these kids grow up with violence and drugs around, it only makes their communities more dangerous for everybody. And not having a good education does not help in getting a job in the future. The same happens when the situation is turned around. If children of illegal immigrants are given an opportunity to become more skilled, they can get a better job later on which will help out the economy. Some argue that the costs of educating these children is too high, but when compared to the possibility of these children developing into adults who contribute to the economy, the United Sta tes can see itself having positive long term effects. Although some people feel that illegal immigrants shouldnt come to the United States, others feel the opposite. Teachers, schools and universities are standing up for the rights of undocumented children or children with undocumented parents. In November 30, 2016 presidents of 27 Jesuit colleges and universities pledged themselves to protect to the fullest extent of the law undocumented students on our campuses and to promote retention of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program' (A pledge to protect Dreamers). It is important that these schools stand up for the rights of illegal immigrants children because not all had a choice when coming to this country.   The presidents that stood up for these kids said their communities are immeasurably enriched by the presence, intelligence, and committed contributions of undocumented students, as well as of faculty and staff of every color and from every faith tradition (A pledge to protect Dreamers). That statement shows that h aving people from other cultures in the same education system helps everyone. Children of illegal immigrants are getting the chance to educate themselves while they also make their school better with their culture. Another problem that comes up with educating children of illegal immigrants is that even though they can get a public school education, most do not go to college.   In 2008, about 65,000 illegal immigrants graduated from American high schools, but only 5 percent went on to college (Preston). This can be because most immigrants do not have a lot of money and cannot apply for financial aid to help their kids. And if their children are illegal as well, they can feel afraid of being exposed when going to a university. Not helping these kids can be harmful in the future because they will remain low-skilled workers. In this day and age it is very important that people get a good education to get higher paying jobs. This is why the DREAM act helps these kids a lot. The idea behind the Dream Act is that the U.S. should assimilate, rather than expel, dedicated young people who are not at fault for their illegal status (Preston).   By giving these kids the chance to better themse lves, the United States can advance more in the future. By helping children of immigrants, we are creating members of a society that can contribute economically or even culturally. This helps the whole nation. It is true that even people who dont support these kids now will see a good change in this country later. Even if theyre illegal, these kids can create the next invention that can change the world. Many people are supporting the higher education of illegal immigrant children. According to Rosa Ramirez, a student at Miami-Dade College was classified as an out-of-state student because she could not provide the legal status of her parent. In the case, it is said that the student was born in Florida and that she had graduated high school in the state. The universitys rule was making her pay a lot more because of her parents status. It should not matter where her parents stand, what really matters is a persons motivation to get a good education. By making her pay extra, she had another obstacle to face before she could go to college. If she did not speak up, she would have lost the chance to continue getting a higher education. Luckily a Florida judge ruled that making her pay out-of-state tuition violates the equal protection of the laws guaranteed under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. More and more cases like this are being won by children of illegal immigrants. This shows that people are opening up their eyes to the importance of education for everyone and that if someone is willing to put in effort to get an education, then they deserve it. It has not been easy in the past years for children of illegal immigrants to register for public schooling. Even if the law says they should get an education, a lot of schools in the country are making it hard for these kids to enroll. According to Tim Walker, one 17 year-old student recounted to the researchers that she was told that she could not start school until after exams, delaying her enrollment by four weeks. This is because some schools think that children of illegal immigrants are going to fail when taking standardized tests. These schools are afraid of looking bad by accepting these students. Education should be about making people better not just caring about grades. Another thing that some public schools do is make up a lot of rules that have to do with residency or they make the enrollment process too hard for some immigrant families to understand. Sometimes if a public school does not want to accept a student, they will steer students to alternative education programs , including, but not limited to, those intended for children with serious behavioral problems, even if the student in question displays no such issues (Walker). This is another unfair way to treat children of illegal immigrants. If a student does not have behavioral problems and only wants to succeed, they should not be forced to take another step back. Even though it seems like the country is split up over this problem, it is good to see things through a humans plain point of view. If a human did nothing wrong and is being denied an education which only makes a them better, then there is a problem. If we let children of illegal immigrants follow their dreams and make something of themselves then we can expect good results. By giving these kids the tools, they can create a better America in the future. Many of them have different talents and intelligence that can be a good thing for this country. Their parents risked a lot to help them have a brighter future. If we deny education to children of illegal immigrants, we are denying the American dream. Works Cited A Pledge to Protect Dreamers. America 19 Dec. 2016: 10. General OneFile. Web. 9 Feb. 2017. Miller, Berna. Educating the other Children. American Demographics Oct. 1997: 49. General OneFile. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Preston, Julia. Raised in the U.S., but Still Illegal: How Should the U.S. Treat a Million Young People Who Were Brought Here Illegally as Children? New York Times Upfront 15 Mar. 2010: 8. General OneFile. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Ramirez, Rosa. Judge: U.S.-Born Children of Undocumented Parents Can Pay In-State Tuition. Nationaljournal.com 6 Sept. 2012: n. pag. General OneFile. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Walker, Tim. How Undocumented Students Are Turned Away From Public Schools. NEA Today. N.p., 23 Apr. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2017. Interactive Whiteboards: Advantages and Disadvantages Study Interactive Whiteboards: Advantages and Disadvantages Study Having personally conducted surveys whilst studying at University in England and Australia, I found at times it was frustrating, time consuming and the strike rate less than 5%. At other times it was very rewarding with the strike rate at a healthy 30%. Firstly the paper will take a look at four different papers and what pro and cons they gathered on IWBs Secondly the paper will contain a model for conducting a large scale research survey. It will contain: The initial phase to implement the survey The methodology used to collect data The questions used in the survey Analysis of the data Justification The research is very important for teachers as it let them know if the IWB improves the pedagogy in teaching and learning. It will also help the teachers understand their weaknesses and strengths using new technology in the teaching and learning environment. They will then be able to plan their lessons so the students are able to get a full understanding of the IWB as a teaching tool and not a plaything. The teachers may find they have to teach basic computer skills to the students, such as: Terminology (literacy) How to turn their computers on How to log in and out Software use How to access the internet Key board skills The teachers may say that they do not have time to teach a separate subject as it will encroach on the lessons they are teaching. Without recognising the weaknesses of the students, in using the IWB, the students may miss out on valuable opportunities that are fundamental in their pedagogy growth Quotes According to Sudgen that something, â€Å"as bland as a projected image could be used interactively in this way† (Sudgen 2002). The difficulties he experienced with the IWB showed that there were logging on problems by the students and if the IWB was knocked it had to be re-calibrated (Sudgen 2002) Other problems encountered were light shinning on the IWB caused shadows making it difficult to see the images, the key board only shows lower case letters, making it hard for some students to recognise letters and problems caused by the students resting their hand on the IWB whilst writing (Sudgen 2002) Even with the difficulties Sudgen encountered during the lesson, he found the students worked with each other on how to find the correct word and its’ spelling using the IWB (Sudgen 2002). He also found by the end of the lesson the students had gained confidence in using the IWB even if they put in the wrong answer, they all supported each other by offering alternative answers (Sudgen 2002) Research by Dorothy Walker at the Royal Docks Community School in 2003 found some surprising results IWBs’ had on the pedagogy of the students and how it improved the time teachers spent actually teaching. With the help of the deputy head, Tom Smith, Walker found that the teachers where getting 20 – 25 per cent more time teaching (Walker 2003) The school was that impressed with the value of the IWB; they have 54, which are housed in a purpose built building (Walker 2003) Smith has asked to be benched marked against other schools, but as yet Ofsted â€Å"can’t find anyone like us† (Walker 2003) The Docklands school has 1,200 who speak over 48 languages, this made Smith search for innovative technologies to help the students, whose special needs exceeded 10 times the national average. When Smith first saw the IWB he knew it would help with literacy, as many of the students are visual learners (Walker 2003) The students are enthusiastic in helping new teachers use the IWB as well, (the teachers) receive extensive in house training (Walker 2003) The students use the IWB to interact with each other’s ideas by sharing their work, with over 600 PCs in the school the students can access the IWB to evaluate what they have be presented with in the previous lessons as well as being able to download their homework. Hull University together with Promethean (the maker of IWBs) and with funding from NESTA carried out research in August 2002, to find out how effective IWBs are in delivering excellence in the teaching and learning environment (Hull University 2002) The aim of the project over two years, focused on 200 classroom observations in schools and colleges. During the observations the researches noted the strengths and weaknesses of the teachers using IWBs in teaching and learning. The data collected helped them develop digital resources used for research in the learning environment. The researchers found that teachers have to consider that IWBs can be beneficial for teaching if they make sure the students can see the fonts from all areas of the classroom, they can all hear the IWB and that light entering the room may make the IWB hard to read. They found that teaches could use wireless technology so they don’t have to go back to their computer, also the teachers could use the IWBs technology to save time by saving the WEB sites accessed on the hard drive (Hull University 2002) Using an interactive whiteboard (IWB) The research taken out relied on a single researcher observing lessons using an interactive white board and conducting interviews with teachers The primary school was purposely built for teachers to use ICT and how it would enhance pedagogy in learning and teaching (Beauchamp 2004) Over the period of two years the teachers where trained on how to use ICT, giving them differing levels of confidence. When they started in the new school the IWB was new to them. The researcher divided the data collection into four stages: Data collection Validation Interpretation Action (Beauchamp 2004) The researcher had the consent of the teachers and management to observe seven teachers using the IWB over a two day period (Beauchamp 2004) During the lesson the researcher took contemporaneous notes and after the lesson the researcher had an unstructured interview with the teacher on any issues they had using ICT and the IWB During the initial stages the teachers where given plenty of notice by the researcher what lessons would be observed The researchers noted the amount of skills the teachers had in using ICT, and teachers’ pedagogic practices in using ICT. It was noted that there was a range of skills and competencies in using ICT. The researcher categorised the skills and competencies of each teacher by: Black / white board substitute Apprentice user Initiate user Advanced user Synergistic user (Beauchamp 2004) Validation After the initial phase of the observation the researcher was able to table the characteristics of the teacher and how they progressed. The second stage of observation carried out a year later allowed the teachers’ time to develop their skills and pedagogy in using ICT During the second stage of the research, the focus of the observations matched the skills on the framework developed from the data collected from the initial stage. The interviews conducted with the teachers were taped in order to validate and ground the findings (Beauchamp 2004) During the second stage interviews the teachers were given the frameworks developed from the first stage. Unlike the initial interviews, the framework provided a structure to the questions asked by the researcher The research did not take into account the years of experience and age of the teachers, as its’ aim was to get an overall representation of all primary school teachers. This eliminated any variables to ensure a model was developed which represented all teachers (Beauchamp 2004) Interpretation and Action A qualitative analysis was used to analyse the data collected by the researcher. The data collected identified common features as well key differences in areas of cognitive and pedagogical development of how teachers used ICT and IWB The variables noted were: Operating system use Mechanical skills Program variables Classroom management and pedagogy (Beauchamp 2004) The researcher noted on occasions there where advancements predominantly in the pedagogical and mechanical skills of the teachers. Difficulties The research conducted in the primary school looked at how the teachers used and implemented ICT and IWB in the learning and teaching environment. The research was conducted over two days observing and interviewing the teachers in two stages, with a gap of one year between each stage. The length of time between each stage may of led to a belief by the teachers that they had plenty of time to improve their skills. The evidence presented by the researcher does not suggest the skills where improved in leaps and abounds over the year. Seven teachers took part in the research; all had prior knowledge of which lessons would be observed. The small number of teachers used in the research would make it very difficult and probably bias to come to a general consensus. The interviews in stage one were unstructured, whereas in stage two they were taped and structured. The problems of having an unstructured interview would of made the analysis of the data unreliable and complex in being able to validate the findings. Stage Two The initial phase to implement the survey I would look at getting backing from the Education Department to conduct the survey. This would give the survey credibility and help to get participation from the schools’ management and teachers. The letter to the Department of Education will contain this preamble: Problem Definition i.e. The use of the Interactive White Board (IWB) in the teaching and learning environment and how it improves pedagogy. With the event of new technologies used in the classroom there is a need for the system to be investigated. Increasing the knowledge of teachers in the use of IWB will give them knowledge of its’ potential as a tool in the pedagogy process. If teachers feel more comfortable using the IWB it will benefit them in lesson planning, understanding the needs of their students and how to combat any difficulties their students may have. The IWB is expensive, but it is here to stay, with the emphasis on using Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the 21st century classroom. If a teacher feels incompetent in using the IWB they may not use it in primary schools. This could disadvantage the students when they go to higher education. The aim is to ask primary schools to participate in a wide scale research project. Data will be collected by way of: An online questionnaire Interviews Observations The survey will not contain any personal information on teachers or students. Note: The preamble would be written as a letter The letter will include the questionnaire and any other relevant material that will support the proposal. Bu way of a bulletin, primary schools will be asked to participate in a large scale research project. The rational of which is to improve the use of new technologies in teaching and learning. The schools will be told that the survey will be online and conducted by way of observation and interviews. They will be able to pick which ones they would be happy to participate in. The schools will be asked to register at an encrypted WEB site. After registration the schools that register will be given a registration number. The schools will be required to provide: Size and type of school i.e. private, public, special ed etc Subjects taught using IWB The range of teachers experience Location; city suburban, country The schools will be then asked to fill in the online questionnaire (below) The survey: After collecting the online survey an analysing by way by way of graphs the second phase of the survey will come into place. This will entail a suitably qualified person going to schools and conducting the observations and interviews e.g. retired teacher The observation and interview will be conducted with an arrangement between the teacher and data collector. The observer will note: The subject being taught. The grade being taught. What the IWB was used for e.g. Internet, research etc. Length of time the teacher used the IWB. Whether it improved pedagogy or complemented it. The competency of the teacher. During the interview, the observer will ask the teacher: How the IWB complimented their pedagogy. Had they had training on the use of the IWB How long had they been using the IWB Would they like more training Any issues they have with the IWB Any improvements The interviews should take no longer then five minutes with a tick box sheet and a small comment section. The data collector will then log into the WEB site and upload all the data Conclusion Without large scale research it is very easy to generalise and come to conclusions that the researcher wants. As we found at Docklands, Smith could not get a benchmark that would help him assess the effectiveness of using the IWB Other researchers collected data from a small group, compared to the amount of schools, yet they tried to generalise their finding to the overall schools populace. It seems that IWBs are going to be the future of teaching, therefore the Education Departments and Governments need to make certain data collected on the benefits of IWBs needs to quantitive and qualitive, without which could lead to problems in literacy and pedagogy that will impact on teachers and students alike. Bibliography Internet Druin A, et al, http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/, Sydney Australia,  13 May 2006 Beauchamp Gary, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/, Sydney Australia, 15th May 2006 Hull University et.al, http://www.thereviewproject.org/about.htm,Sydney Australia,   27th May 2006 Roschelle J, http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/, Sydney Australia 13 May 2006 Sudgen D, http://ferl.becta.org.uk/ , Sydney Australia, 27th May 2006 Walker D, http://www.tes.co.uk/, Sydney Australia, 27th May 2006 The complete addresses http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.0266-4909.2003.00028.x http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/1475939x.asp http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=2640 http://www.tes.co.uk/section/story/?section=Archivesub_section=Online+Educationstory_id=373324Type=0 http://www.thereviewproject.org/about.htm Bibliography Internet Druin A, et al, http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/, Sydney Australia 13 May 2006 Beauchamp Gary, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/, Sydney Australia 15th May 2006 Roschelle J, http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/, Sydney Australia 13 May 2006 The complete addresses http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.0266-4909.2003.00028.x http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/1475939x.asp

history :: essays research papers

The Shaping of America: Consumer Culture, Suburbanization and Automobile The trends that have been most instrumental in the shaping of America over the past sixty years have been suburbanization and the development of our consumer culture. These two phenomena have changed not only the face of America, but also the fabric of our society, our values and aspirations. Suburbanization and consumer culture are broad, sweeping terms that encompass many different catalysts of change. However, the automobile is an important product and tool of both of these institutions. This paper examines the inundation of American society by the automobile during the post war era as a key catalyst for the rise of consumer culture, its role in facilitating suburbanization and some of the negative impacts the automobile has had on America. Over the past sixty years America has changed greatly to become what it is today, and these changes have largely been driven by our national love affair with the automobile. Starting in the 1920’s America began its shift towards a consumer culture as the economic growth of the nation began to depend more on the proliferation of consumer goods than of capital goods. Even at the outset of this trend, the automobile held a significant place in the new consumer economy. The automobile, which was once thought of as a rare luxury, was being sold by the millions. Assembly lines were becoming more efficient, thus allowing cars to be made more cheaply allowing the price of automobiles to drop. The growth of the automobile helped stimulate the economy through its dependence on other industries such as glass, rubber and steel, which were connected to the production of cars. These automobile related industries created new jobs, greater affluence and more spending power for millions of American consumers. Even at the beginning of America’s transformation into the consumer culture of today the automobile was at the forefront this conversion. The automobile, besides being a product of the new consumer culture in America, also quickly became a major tool to increase this trend’s influence. The automobile, and its cousin the truck, were increasingly used by corporations and businesses to market and distribute their products. Corporations could transport products further and faster for less money to reach the consumer. This, in turn, allowed for wider market areas in commerce, selling more products to more people and generating greater revenue. The automobile also worked to the benefit of consumerism because the increase in privately owned automobiles gave more people the ability to travel.

Global savings Essay -- essays research papers

Question 1: (i) Briefly, what is the issue? What impact does it have on different regions’ GDP, prices, exchange rates and Interest rates? The issue is an unprecedented level of world surplus savings (especially in the Asian economies) that faced with weak investment opportunities serve to fund a growing US current account deficit which creates dangerous world imbalances. The Euro-zone and Japan have slow GDP growth and their savings increase due to a lack of confidence in both financial and social security systems as well as the inability of the private sector to find investments. Also we see increasing fiscal deficits, very low real interest rates and low inflation. The Euro appreciated vs. USD, creating loss of export competitiveness that added up to a weak demand. The yen has been down in real terms (to avoid deflation). Therefore, most of the countries (specially Asia and specifically China) are using this surplus to lend money to the US, thus making the US both borrower and spender of last resort (to finance mainly US consumption, its current account deficit and to some extent its fiscal deficit). Furthermore, any FDIs from Europe and the US into developing Asian economies are recycled (although the Asian countries keep the technology) into Asian Central Banks’ purchase of US Treasuries. The banks also use this as a mechanism to maintain export competitiveness by fixing their currency against the USD, which increases their foreign reserve accumulations. Tight monetary and fiscal policies as well as direct interventions in credit markets have helped to sustain this high domestic savings. China’s economic growth rate is 9%, due to: increasing exports & spending in capital goods and construction; very low interest rates; increasing (but still low) inflation and real exchange rate depreciation. (ii) Why does it put the world economy at high risk? What is the worst possible outcome? The US current account deficit has increased to 6.5% of GDP, because of low and falling savings as well as private spending rising faster than disposable income. The US net external liabilities have also increased to levels that had never been seen before. Thus, in order to achieve a growth of output in line with full employment, US domestic demand needs to grow more than GDP (since imports grow also 6% more than exports). Therefore the US has increased its current ac... ...sp;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Depreciation of the dollar: necessary but not sufficient. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Decrease US fiscal deficit: i.e. increasing taxes and decreasing government expenditure. Increase in domestic savings (for instance by increasing interest rates) is paramount. Increase exports would also be of help. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Expansionary policies in Asia: decrease their excess savings and stimulate domestic spending (through structural reforms in financial system) and favor internal lending. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allow a real exchange rate appreciation of Asian currencies: a new competitiveness policy would have to be based in productivity than current exchange rate intervention. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Euro-zone should create new investment opportunities: structural reforms like social security, labor legislation, tax system, public sector services and enterprises, should allow the creation of new investment opportunities in Europe. Also EUR would appreciate vs USD, causing exports to US to reduce; but a depreciation against Asian currencies could be a gain in competitiveness for export oriented countries such as Germany.

The Burial of My Mother Essay -- Personal Narrative, essay about my fa

The phone rang early the morning of July 21, 2013. It was a call from my brother-in-law telling me the news of my mother's death. The news came as no surprise. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May of 2013, and her death had been expected. I had been trying to prepare myself for this day ever since I had heard the diagnosis. Once I awoke, I packed and started the journey home from State University, where I had been staying with friends while attending a business seminar. I had spent three years at State University and had made this drive home often. This time, however, everything seemed different. All the trees seemed brighter, more colorful, and more full of life. Maybe when one thing has died, it adds life to something else. Could this be the natural order of things? In just those few moments, I felt my life change. I suddenly realized that I could no longer be a child. Not more than twenty minutes into my drive, I found myself suddenly overcome by reality, and grief became my driving companion. There was a song on the radio that stirred all my emotions into nervous gumbo. I felt everything from anger to happiness, from betrayal to fortunate. As I continued, I started to see my life unfold in front of me in a thousand different ways. This was a pivotal point in my life, and what I did now would affect the rest of my life. Could I even have a life after this? The questions I asked my God and myself that day are too many to count. This was pure emotional trauma, and at the age of twenty-one, I was not ready to handle this life on my own. The drive took me through the home of my youth. As I arrived in McCormick, I saw all the familiar sights. My mind started to drift back to when everything w... ... I hate this tradition. Why would anybody want to throw a party in your honor on the one day they know you cannot make it? I attended just to see what would happen. We ate a lot, and everyone told us how sorry they were. As I looked at them and at us, I realized people really do not handle death well. We as a society need to come up with a better set of rules to follow when it comes to funerals. Years have passed since I watched the burial of my mother. The only physical contact I have now is the occasional trip to the grave site, and the only reason I go is to do ground maintenance. Pulling weeds and placing flowers on the grave is a family duty. Even after you die, it is necessary that you portray a good image, and I feel a responsibility to my mother and her memory. It is still important to me that I live the type of life that would make her proud.

Mother And Daughter Relationships Essay

What is the â€Å"mother-daughter† relationship? I have no direct information on this because I am not a daughter. I do, however, have two sisters, and their relationship with my mother is very different when compared to the characters in the short stories â€Å"Who’s Irish?† and â€Å"New York Day Women.† Relationships between mothers and daughters take different forms for different people. The mother/daughter relationship amongst different people can be the same, but also very different. There are many similarities in the relationships between the mothers and daughters in the short stories, â€Å"Who’s Irish?† and â€Å"New York Day Women.† One similarity is that there is a foundation of love between the generations. For example, in â€Å"Who’s Irish?† the mother seems to explain how she feels about her when she was a baby. â€Å"A daughter I have, a beautiful daughter. I took care of her when she could not hold her head up.† The narrator seems to have much love for her daughter, and she tries to make her life better by taking care of her child. In â€Å"New York Day Women† the daughter, Suzette, follows her mother around New York City on her lunch break and comments on what she is doing. In this short story it isn’t hard to see that this daughter loves her mother very much. Suzette also appears to know what her mother does in her everyday life, and with this information she embraces her mother with kindness and love. For instance, she knows that her mother shouldn’t eat anything with sodium because, â€Å"she has to be careful with her heart, this day woman.† Another similarity would be that the cultures of both mothers are held strongly with them, but not as strongly with their daughters. For example, in â€Å"Who’s Irish?† the mother says, â€Å"You spank her,  she’ll stop†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which in Chinese culture it is acceptable to spank your child. However, Natalie replies, â€Å"†¦Oh no. In America, parents not supposed to spank the child. It gives them low self esteem†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Which contradicts the Chinese parenting tradition performed to teach obedience to the child. In â€Å"New York Day Women† the mother portrays herself as a person who keep traditions strong but not have them interfere with other cultures such as the American culture. Although the mother remains tied to her culture throughout the whole story, yet her daughter is willing to accept her ways, but not follow them. An additional similarity in the two short stories is the mothers’ efforts in trying to embrace new cultures. It is hard for people of different backgrounds to understand the change in culture in a country where the culture is totally different and diverse. However, the willingness of the two mothers to accept the culture is their way of expressing their love for their children. For example, in â€Å"Who’s Irish?† the mother finally accepts the culture around her at the end of the story when she moves in with Bess Shea. She encounters things of the new culture and she doesn’t seem to mind them, such as watching bloopers and the birdfeeder. With these little changes in culture she will adapt to the new habitat in which she is living. The similarity in â€Å"New York Day Women† is a little easier to understand because it happens throughout the entire story. In the story â€Å"New York Day Women† the mother walks down the street in Brooklyn while her daughter is following her from behind. The mother seems to have a routine she follows everyday. One example of the mother embracing a new culture is when Suzette is trailing behind, and notices that she stops at the vendor on the side of the street and orders a frankfurter, which is an American meal to most people. Another example, of accepting a new culture would be the argument of the taxi drivers in front of Carnegie Hall, which is very common in New York to have happen. So she sits and waits until the argument is over. The mother’s reply was, â€Å"In Haiti when you get hit by a car, the owner of the car gets out and kicks you for getting blood on his bumper.† These are examples of the similarities between the relationships in â€Å"New York Day Women,† and â€Å"Who’s Irish?† There are also many differences in the mother-daughter relationships of these short stories. The first difference was how the two daughters acted towards  their mothers’ old traditions and customs. The fact that Suzette was curious about the mother’s customs and wanted to know more about it made the story â€Å"New York Day Women† a little more articulate. In the sense that I could tell that Suzette knows her mother very well, and will not stop being curious about her mothers traits. For example, in â€Å"New York Day Women† the Suzette follows her mother around the streets of New York. She doesn’t want to be seen by her because she is trying to see what she is does in the daytime. This curiosity leads Suzette to learn how her mother adapts to the city life. On the other hand, in â€Å"Who’s Irish?† Nattie does not really care what her mother’s traditions are. She only cares about the new way a child should be treated and the way an American acts. This leads to confusion between Nattie and her mother because both are trying to force different customs and cultures Sophie, the daughter of Nattie. Also, in the end, Nattie is so distant from her mother that she rarely goes over to Bess’ house to see her. The second difference between these two stories would have to be the relationships between the two families. In â€Å"New York Day Women† the mother-daughter relationship is very close. Just the fact that the Suzette went to follow her mother to learn her customs is loving, but to have almost every sentence begin with â€Å"My mother† is enough evidence that there relationship is close enough to make the family in â€Å"Who’s Irish?† look chaotic. With this kind of relationship between them their mother-daughter relationship the love will never end. However, the mother-daughter relationship in â€Å"Who’s Irish?† is horrible. The mother loves her daughter, but she can’t show it to Nattie because she doesn’t want to let go of her traditions. This leads to the physical abuse of Sophie and aggravation from Nattie, which would head the relationship in a downhill pattern. The families portrayed in these two stories depict very different mother-daughter relationships. In conclusion, the relationships between mothers and their daughter can vary just as the tides of the ocean. The mother-daughter relationship amongst different people can be the same, but also very different, as seen in the short stories, â€Å"Who’s Irish?† and â€Å"New York Day Women.†. However, in the end family relationships will prevail in good standing, and the love that was always there will rise in the hearts of the families and all will be won in  the fight for togertherness.

Violence in Public School

Your Name Instructor/Professor’s Name Course Date Violence In Public Schools Perhaps, one of the most pressing concerns affecting not only the educational sector, but the entire society, is the rising violence in schools. Indeed, there’s no question that school-related violence is one of the gravest threats that any government will have to face. In fact, the U. S. is just one of the dozens of countries plagued by this social ill. With easy access on guns and knives, schools—students and teachers, specifically—have been placed at a more precarious condition.Thus, it is no longer surprising if shooting spree, sexual assault, and stabbing incidents continue to headline the newspapers around the world. Such is the alarming rate of violence in what was once considered the haven of safety and sanctuary of morality that parents, students, and policymakers have to brave. In general, violence in U. S. schools, plus the government’s failure to prevent— let alone eliminate—even in the presence of new initiatives specifically intended for this purpose, has turned out a huge cause for concern that needs to be addressed no sooner than later.No student or teacher for this matter should ever suffer from violence inside the classroom, playground, school cafeteria, or even while on his way to or from school. But the truth does not speak of the same. As the rate of school violence continues to escalate year by year, so does the disruption of the learning process, degradation of the students’ and teachers’ morale, and the spread of fear not only in the school but in the community in general.Aside from the immediate negative impact, school violence could also give birth to youth violence, which could stem to more diverse concerns in criminality, peace and order, and public health and safety. In this paper, we will try to delve the degree of school violence and how dangerous it is not only to wither the integrity of the U . S. school system, but also to rock society as well. In the present condition where the government seems too powerless enough to put this social crisis to an end, it is safe to say that school violence is indeed a force to reckon, a substantial shaker that will definitely cause the failure of schools in general.Data Reveal the Alarming Rate of School Violence Numerous studies have been conducted to assess the real impact and the degree in which school violence has really affected the school system. Data from the US Department of Education show disturbing figures. Between 2003 and 2004, it was revealed that 1 out of 10 teachers in urban schools admitted receiving threats from students. Between 2005 and 2006, almost 40 percent of public schools had at least one case of school violence. In 2007, 23 percent of students admitted that gangs existed in their schools.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (series 4) reveals that according to the results of a nationwide survey in 20 07 among students from grades 9 to 12 show that almost 6 percent of students did bring guns, knives and other types of dangerous weapons inside the school. Furthermore, almost 8 percent of students were threatened, harassed, or injured by these weapons. Meanwhile, 12 percent of the respondent-students admitted that they had been involved in physical fights inside the school.A more disturbing note revealed that most than 22 percent of students sold, used, and were offered and given illegal drugs right inside the school. Nonfatal assaults are also rampant inside the school. The Department of Education reveals that in 2006, on a national level, 3 out of 100 students are actively participating in school-based crimes, which included rape, assault, and theft. Bullying is even a more serious cause for alarm. More than one-third of the entire student population had been victims of bullying, 4 percent of them being bullied online or through text messages.This stems to a more violent personal ity as bullied students have more chances of getting engaged into fights, psychological trauma and dropping out of school. Likewise, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (33-36) reveals that school violence-related deaths continue to escalate on a yearly basis. Although on an average rate, 1 out of 100 students die due to violence inside the school, still, such cases are too much to ignore, since NO death, especially violence-related must ever occur inside the campus. Since 2003, more than 115 students have been killed in almost 110 incidents.On a yearly basis, that translates to 17 students dying from homicide. Anderson et al (2695) reveals that school-associated violence and deaths occur â€Å"before and after the school day and during lunch,† while cases of violence are more likely to occur at the onset of the semester (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Violent, 657). Half of recorded homicide cases show that perpetrators actually reveal some sort of war ning signal before they attack their victims. These include making a threat or leaving a note before the crime occurs (Anderson et al, 2695).Risk Factors Leading to Violence in Schools School violence does not exist simply because they have to exist. There are numerous underlying factors that trigger the occurrence of numerous conditions that give rise to this case. In fact, experts, researchers and lawmakers agree that there is a deeper root that that gives life to these occurence. According to the Constitutional Rights Foundation, among the risk factors affecting school violence include: â€Å"weapons, media violence, cyber abuse, the impact of school, community, and family environments, personal alienation,† (crf-usa. rg) among others. Access to Weapons. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rapid increase in the rate of gun accessibility among teens in the United States. As more teenagers owned guns, thus, the rise of gun deaths and injuries (crf-usa. org). A study condu cted by Bergstein et al (794-8) in Boston and Milwaukee shows that that 42 percent of students who responded revealed that â€Å"they could get a gun if they wanted, 28 percent have handled a gun without adult knowledge or supervision, and 17 percent have carried a concealed gun†¦. This claim was backed by data provided by the University of Southern California School of Medicine, which reports that around 35% of U. S. households with children 18 years old and below are reported to have owned at least one firearm, which â€Å"translates to more than 11 million children living in homes with firearms† (crf-usa. org). Furthermore, teens can also acquire handguns in illegal sales, as â€Å"American gun shows continue to be a venue for illegal activity, including unlicensed sales to prohibited individuals† (Bergstein et al, 794). Violence Caused by Media. The Constitutional Rights Foundations (crf-usa. rg ) reveals that an average American child will have witness 8,000 murders and 100,000 violent acts by time he reaches 7th grade. That’s because of television. Time and again, claims have been made and studies have been conducted to really test the truth behind the impact of television in inculcating wrong values to a child. According to the Anderson et al (81), â€Å"violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. Although certain characteristics exhibited by viewers, such as identification of aggressive characters), parental guidance and other social factors, as well as the content of the media could make or break the effect of media violence. These also count the the degree of aggression instilled in the viewer’s personality. Cyber Bullying. Anderson et al (83) write that high school students are more exposed to violence in video games, thus, they show â€Å"more pro-violent attitudes, had more hostile personalities, were less forgiving, believed violence to be more normal, and behaved more aggressively in their everyday lives. † However, Sherry (msu. du ) reasoned out that the â€Å"overall effect of these games on aggressiveness does not appear great† to warrant significant attention. School Environments. A survey conducted by the Children's Institute International revealed that more than half off teenage population living in rural, suburban, or urban areas all agree that schools are becoming more and more violent in the passing of time. School-based Gangs. The National Center for Educational Statistics, as quoted by the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA (2), reveals that in 2005, â€Å"24 percent of students ages 12-18 reported that there were gangs at their schools. Nevertheless, no difference was observed with regards to reporting gang presence among rural and suburban students. Communities. Aside from the negligence in the school and in the home, communities also show neglect in children, which is another reason for hastened occurrence of school violence. Furthermore, a community’s unresponsive attitude â€Å"to the needs of families and their children [†¦could] develop into school violence [†¦given that] [a]fter-school and summer programs are not always available† (crf-usa. org). Family.The family, which should have been highly responsible in shaping a child’s mind to become upright and law-abiding, are also the one the blame of the deterioration of the values and attitudes among teenagers. As parents neglect their duty to rare their child with positive attitudes, â€Å"children may develop negative–and often violent–behavior patterns† (crf-usa. org). But more than providing room for negative values to grow, irresponsible and abusive households also impede a child’s growth and maturity. Thus, as observed, some of the most aggressive teenagers show signs of poor communication skills and low self-esteem.And since children have no parental role models to look up to, they would tend to focus their attention on popular culture, no matter how violent or aggressive it nature may be. The lack of support from the family and community therefore poses burden on schools, as it turns out that they are the only social institution left to â€Å"educate, shelter, and discipline children,† (crf-usa. org). Nevertheless, this task serves too tasking as â€Å"most schools have difficulty playing multiple roles as educators, surrogate parents, social service, or law-enforcement agencies†( crf-usa).Violence Is Becoming Widespread in Schools With all these research and information laid on the table, it is therefore too difficult to ignore the fact that school violence is bound to impair the country’s education system. Lack of funding and support from state and federal governments, plus neglect on the part of communities a nd families, eventually prove too much for educators to bear the task of educating, disciplining and imparting positive attitudes to students.Thus, it could be deduced that â€Å"violence and danger are constant companions for America's schoolchildren† (McClusky, cato. org) While state and federal documents reveal that school violence has been heading towards the slump since the advent of the 21st century, researchers believe that these information are misleading, as administrators and government officials are actually negligent and blind enough to make the problem known. Journalists are quick to point out the discrepancy of assessments. McClusky (cato. rg) revealed a Denver Post article that uncovered a widespread â€Å"under-reporting of violent incidents in Denver-area schools–under-reporting that occurred despite the presence of a state accountability system designed to identify dangerous schools. † What’s went wrong is the fact that in the entire Col orado, as well as well as in other states, a lot of schools tend to under-report violent incidents. Furthermore, Chicago Tribune in McClusky (cato. org) reported negligence on the part of law enforcers in Illinois to warn school districts whenever â€Å"convicted juvenile sex offenders enroll in their schools.Many failed to notify principals in the mistaken belief they were not permitted to alert them, when in fact they were required to do so† (cato. org). Another mistake on the part of the government is the poor process of collecting and gathering data, reveals Modzeleski in McClusky (cato. org). When the law regarding this issue was enacted in 2001, it was revealed that quite a good number of school districts have gathered sufficient data to provide accurate records regarding school violence, although there were also school districts who failed on this. Impact of Violence in Public SchoolsThere’s really no question that violence in schools have profound effect not ju st in the education system, but in the entire aspect of American life. As schools are disturbed by violence, the effect is felt by students through poor education, low self-esteem and other debilitating factors that could affect not only their professional career, but other facets of their lives, as well. â€Å"It is intuitively obvious and consistent with an ecological perspective that crime and violence in settings in which youth live and attend school pose a poor context for academic involvement and performance,† explains Bowen & Bowen (321).Indeed, violent and aggressive behavior displayed by students at school could mean poor academic performance, which could directly or indirectly hamper the teaching and learning process. Based on the observations made by Lochman, Lampron, Gemmer, & Harris (339), we can conclude therefore, that aggression and violence do not only hamper the individual’s academic performance, but the â€Å"negative impact [could also extend] on t he education of their classmates by diverting their teachers from teaching and reducing the amount of time students are engaged in learning† (339).In Garbarino & Abramowitz (17), we discovered that the â€Å"risks to development can come from both direct threats and the absence of opportunities for development. † Aside from classroom performance, the impact of school violence also reaches to the physical side. Pollack, in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc. gov), reveals that â€Å"a number of students seek medical care for nonfatal, violence-related injuries. Some of these injuries are relatively minor and include cuts, bruises, and broken bones.Other injuries, like gunshot wounds and head trauma, are more serious and can lead to permanent disability. † But injuries extend deeper, more than what the eye can see, actually. The Center for Disease Control (cdc. gov) reveals that constant exposure to violence not only in school, but also at home and in the neighborhood, could result to different negative health, psychological and even mental outcomes to a person. This could include depression and anxiety, which could trigger fear in going to school and other negative effects to an individual’s life.A 2007 survey by CDC (cdc. gov), shows that almost 6 percent of high school schools in the entire country nationwide did not go to school â€Å"on one or more of the 30 days before the survey† (cdc. gov) was conducted for fear of danger and harm â€Å"at school or on their way to or from school† (cdc. gov). Thus, for this reason, the rate of absences has risen from 1993 and 2005. Furthermore, Pollack (cdc. gov) revealed that around â€Å"160,000 students go home early on any given day because they are afraid of being bullied. † ConclusionAll the records are one and the same in revealing that violence in the school is indeed a cause for alarm for everyone. According to the Indiana State University (indiana. edu), the past fifteen years saw a distressing rate in the increasing of youth violence in schools. Worst, both the culprits and the victims are getting younger and younger. What is sad and disturbing about this situation is that school officials themselves show little interest in curbing the criminality within their campus. They either fail to record the incidence or are negligent nough to inform higher officials and law enforcers about this. Furthermore, law enforcers themselves seem half-hearted in waging an all-out campaign against school violence. Even state and federal governments seem not to care at all. That is why, it is pretty irritating to note that government officials are proud to hail that school violence has either stabilized or spiraled downwards, even if every day, televisions and new papers keep on trumpeting for what really is the truth—incidents of shooting, stabbing, robbery, or rape right within the school campus.Thus, we can really conclude that at thi s point, schools are not really safe. They are in fact, at their most dangerous—among the riskiest places, ever, for students and teachers be. As revealed by Indiana State University (indiana. edu): â€Å"National level data suggests that middle and high schools, especially larger schools, are more at-risk for serious violence. Moreover, students in urban schools serving predominantly lower SES minority children remain twice as likely to be victims of violence as students in suburban, town, or rural areas.In addressing the tragic incidents that have occurred recently in suburban and rural schools, it is critical that the more ongoing and severe problems of lower SES urban schools and students not be forgotten or ignored. † All these data, figures and studies have their significant effect on our schools and in society as a whole. Indeed â€Å"what we do in our schools on a day to day basis in terms of discipline may be related to serious crime and violence† (indi ana. edu). Thus, each of us is partly to blame for what is happening. And as we are part of the problem, so, too are we parts of the solution.And while comprehensive programs and tightened security are implemented to improve the atmosphere inside the school and reduce the violence, we may say that, really, only time could tell what the future holds for our country’s educational system. References Anderson, C. A. , Gentile, Douglas A. , Burkley, K. E. Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory Research and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press; 2007, 83. Anderson, Craig A. et al. The Influence Of Media Violence On Youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4 (3); 81.Anderson, M. , Kaufman J. , Simon T. R. , Barrios L, Paulozzi L, Ryan G, et al. School-associated violent deaths in the United States, 1994-1999. JAMA 2001; 286 (21):2695-702. Bergstein J. M. , Hemenway D. , Kennedy B. , Quaday S. , Ander R. Guns in young hands: a survey of urban teenagers' attitudes and behaviors related to handgun violence. 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