Americanization and Canadian Culture :: Canadian Culture Essays

Americanization and Canadian Culture Gaà «tan Tremblay is a professor at the University in Quebec in Montreal. As a concerned Quebecois, He wrote an article which discusses the Americanization of Canada, in particular Quebec. Tremblay seems to have a strong stand point about the future of Quebec. Using statistical and literary evidence, primary and secondary sources, he attempts to support his argument that Quebec is a victim of American cultural colonization. Tremblay fears that Canadian culture is going to disappear as a result of the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement. Tremblay started his article with what broadcasting is considered to be in Canada which is â€Å"an instrument of production and diffusion that must contribute to the maintenance and development of Canadian culture and its various components†. By this approach and use of words, he planted the idea that broadcasting is a fundamental tool for Canadian culture in his readers’ minds. This is effective because it insures how his readers will perceive broadcasting while reading the rest of his article. He supported this with an extract from the Broadcasting Act which focused on that point. His article started off strong but then weakened with his excessive use of quotations from the Canadian Broadcasting Act and his minimum effort in evaluating the quotes themselves. After discussing the importance of culture to Canadians he went on to mention how culture is not as important to Americans with his statement â€Å"For Americans, in contrast, cultural products are commodities like any other..†. Although this may strengthen his argument, it is also a biased statement since he is not American himself and he stated it like it was a known fact. Following that accusation, he attempted to support his idea of America’s dissolving culture by an exert from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration report which focuseed on the deregulation of their radio broadcasting system. The exert does not directly imply that the United States cares less about its culture because they are considering deregulation of radio broadcasting. The American Culture may not be threatened by deregulation the same way as the Canadian culture. But since he started his essay by mentioning how broadcasting â€Å"must† contribute to the development of Canadian culture, he is implying that the American culture has the same concept. The American culture may not be severely effected by deregulation just as the Canadian culture, so Tremblay’s argument may not be valid. To some readers who did not notice the bias, this argument may be considered very strong and convincing.

The National Review Essay -- Magazine Conservative Essays

The National Review The National Review is a widely known classic conservative magazine. Founded in 1955 by William Buckley Jr., the magazine was the idea of William S. Schlamm, an Austrian Jewish immigrant. Buckley, a conservative, now serves as the chief editor for the magazine. The views expressed in the National Review generally follow the opinions of conservatives, who prefer current circumstances and only desire change in moderation. In the four consulted issues of the National Review evidence of its conservative nature can be found in the printed images, chief editor, section compiled by the editor, and articles published in the magazine. The political cartoons in the National Review provide evidence to the fact that it is a conservative magazine. A cartoon found in the July 23, 2001 issue displays a donkey about to be hit with a missile. The donkey, which symbolizes a Democrat, is saying, â€Å"Give me one good reason why I should support a missile defense system†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (44). Unlike the conservative’s beliefs of having a strong military and high government spending to support the military, Democrats, generally known as having liberal views, believe in pacifism. Thus, this cartoon is showing the stupidity of Democrats not supporting government spending for military even though a missile is headed right for them. By denouncing liberals this cartoon gives proof that the magazine is conservative. Another image that provides proof that the magazine is conservative is an advertisement found in the November 5, 2001 issue of the National Review. In large bold print at the top of the advertisement the words â€Å"What’s Wrong with This Picture?† sit above a picture of four liberals speaking at college campuses. These lib... ...s believe that marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman. This would be a drastic measure to ban same-sex marriages in the United States. Thus, both of the articles contribute evidence to the fact that the National Review is a strongly conservative magazine. The National Review, a widely known conservative magazine, does not hide its conservative nature. It openly ridicules Democrats (liberals), such as President Clinton, and widely praises Republicans (conservatives), such as former President Bush. Most of the articles in the magazine are written about subjects that have two clearly defined political positions, liberal and conservative. These articles, as well as the images found in the magazine, explicitly show that the magazine is strongly conservative. The National Review is one of the best examples of a classic conservative magazine.

Longevity research Essay

Today, a great amount of people have learned to enjoy life once again as a senior in the community. This would speak of those in the 70’s and beyond. Life expectancy for Americans, which was a mere 49 years in 1900, has now increased to around 76 years. This we can say is due to improvements in health care, nutrition, and the overall standard of living. Not only are people living longer, but they are becoming more active in their older age, relative to elderly of the past. More older Americans are able carry out their own â€Å"instrumental activities of daily living† (Hodes 2003) As such, the desire for life has grown and billions have been poured into longevity research, an undertaking meant to discover ways and means to extend life. A vast motivation in science has been well-funded to discover how to keep man alive longer, with its aim toward more and more years. (Douglas 2006) There are concerns however one must view in light of this, namely, will a society with many living over a hundred years be actually as beautiful as it seems to present? The first concern would be the quality of life given that although the body may be kept health, the brain will be aging. Surely, the mind at the age of 110 is not as lucid as that of one at the age of 60. There are many diseases that correlate with the aging brain, but let us use the more common Alzheimer’s disease as an example. This is a devastating condition that has been seen to have a profound impact on individuals, families, the health care system, and society as a whole. Demographic studies suggest that if the current trends maintain themselves, the annual number of incident cases of this disease will begin a sharp increase in the year 2030 thereabouts. (Alzheimer’s association 2009) This will be a time that people born between 1946 and 1964 will all be over 65 years. Studies further show that by the year 2050, the number of Americans with the disease could double. Imagine these implications. It’s true that people live longer, but then what quality of life can one have if he lives 20 years more but has lost memory of his family and friends. This disease accounts for around 50-50% of cases of dementia. With increase longevity, there will be a large increase in the prevalence of the disease as people will be living to be older. It can be such difficulty to the individual to live in a condition where for years he is grasping at memories that he cannot recall. It’s an incredible burden to the family as well, as they will now be responsible for more elderly, living longer lives, incapable of self care, and maybe even incapable of recognizing kin. Imagine a scenario where a parent is 110 years old, their child being 85 and their grandchild at 60, how would it be feasible for the turn of care to pass from parent to child in such a scenario where all are classifiable as aged. A second concern is that apart from the aging mind, there is also the aging body. It is true that the individual will be living long, but then there are multitudes of risks that will accompany this. The wear and tear from all the years will now set in as he will now be more prone to multitudes of disease as years go by. Sicknesses like arthritis of the joints, a heart attack, stokes, cataracts, diabetes and many more will all now be factors that come into play. Even worse, should the person gain a long-playing debilitating condition, one with no cure such as the case of Alzheimer’s previously mentioned, then again what kind of quality of life can he sustain? Let’s take a stroke for example. Currently, a stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Statistics show that over 143,579 people die each year in the United States from this condition. Now in terms of long term disability, stroke is the leading cause as people may live on with their life span after a completed stroke. Furthermore, having a stroke does not mean that a person cannot have another one to further cause disability. Now, it is seen that nearly three-quarters of all strokes occur in people over the age of 65. It is also noted that the risk of having a stroke more than doubles each decade after the age of 55. (Internet Stroke Center 2009) This is not even accounting for those who go through strokes at a young age. Now, given this data, imagine the risk for one who is to live until 120 years old. Imagine if a large bulk of population were to live this long, then the worldwide prevalence of stroke survivors would be high. After a stroke, it is very possible for one to lose control of speech, of movement in half a body, of mobility, and sometimes even requiring full time nursing care. The implications on a person and a family would be immense. Given that strokes occur generally in people over 65, imagine having one at 70 and then living for 40 more years. How would one survive that lone without the capacity to communicate. It’s true that one can live with the heart beating, but the question is in terms of quality of life. Another concern that also affects health will be the incidence of depression. A longer life for one spouse would mean having to live through the death of loved ones. Longevity increases the number of years one would live past the death of a spouse and family. Studies can increase life but imagine a scenario where a parent has to live past his spouse children and grandchildren. Again, the concern regarding quality of life comes in play is emotional makeup is indeed a very important aspect of human life. Rebecca Utz, a sociologist at ISR stated: â€Å"While only about 6 percent of widowed persons had serious financial problems since their spouse died, 63 percent reported less income and 34 percent said their financial strain increased significantly after they were widowed. The negative economic consequences are even more pronounced for women than they are for men, and the declines are lasting, not a temporary drop associated with funeral expenses or estate planning. † (About. com 2009) This itself is proof of how one’s death can affect an individual, not only in terms of health and emotion, but in terms of capability to function as well. Increasing longevity means increasing the chances that people will outlive one, or even more spouses, and have to deal with many deaths for many years. Depression rates will increase as a consequence of spouses living well past their mates, their children and maybe even their grandchildren. A study conducted showed that eighty-four (24%) of 350 widows and widowers met criteria for depressive episodes at 2 months, 72 (23%) of 308 did so at 7 months, and 46 (16%) of 286 did so at 13 months, further supporting this claim that depression and emotional consequences of too much longevity should be of concern. (Zisook, S & Shuchter, S. 1991) A fourth point that should raise concern for biologic implications for longevity revolve around care for the elderly. Today, families turn to nursing homes and assisted living to give the elderly the care and attention they need. The alarming factor now revolves around what actual care they are receiving in these places, as a congressional report made by CBS news correspondent Bill Whitaker previously stated that around 1,600 U. S. nursing homes, nearly one-third of all in total, have been cited for abuse. These reported abuses were of various types, spanning from physical, sexual and verbal. All abuse in all these forms is on the rise. The report further noted that that more than twice as many nursing homes were cited for abuse in 2000 than in 1996. It was further seen that in 1,601 nursing homes , around 1 in 10 abuse citations were made in serious incidents. By serious, it was meant that they either put residents at great risk of harm, injured them or killed them. (CBS news 2001) Imagine how greatly the health of these poor elderly could be affected by increased longevity. Already at this current time with our elderly, society is unable to provide adequate care for them, and resorting to nursing homes and various assisted living environments that have led to elderly abuse. What more an increase can be expected if people were to live into the hundreds. The population would have a drastic increase in the aged, thus increasing the burden on society to care for them. If at this current day and age, society already is unable to manage the abuse problem, then the health implications of longevity are grave in that they will aggravate the abuse by increasing the number of elderly left alone. Investigators have further said that many violations are neither detected nor reported, which leads officials to conclude that the problem is even underestimated. Surely, if society cannot currently manage the elderly and provide a good, healthy and safe environment for them, then there is no way that society can do so after a further increase in the aged that longevity research will bring. My fifth and final concern regarding longevity lies in the fact that it will now place a large amount of population that has needs to be fulfilled but cannot fulfill them on its own. Increasing longevity will increase the number of senior citizens and the number of non-working elderly dependent. The health concerns for this are immense, as the question that can now be raised is regarding who in society will provide for the health of these individuals who cannot earn a living for themselves. CDC research concerns states that the increased number of people with ages over 65 will potentially lead to increased health-care costs. The health-care cost per capita for persons from the age group over 65 years in the United States is three to five times greater than the cost for persons below that age. (CDC 2003) Imagine how this will increase if people were to live 20 years longer. Currently, the number of persons aged >65 years is expected to rise from around 35 million in 2000 to an estimated 71 million in 2030. Longevity will even increase this number. Eventually, as resources will decline, then there will not be enough economic support to support the aged, leading to substandard healthcare and health risks. There may not be enough to provide them with medical needs, particularly because the working population may be outnumbered by the dependent elderly non-working populous. As such, in conjunction with many other previously discussed claims, the promise of longevity, although seemingly tempting, may not exactly be as, wonderful as it seems to be. WORKS CITED About. com:Mental health (2009) ‘Losing a Spouse: What Hurts and What Helps [online] Available from [April 6, 2009] Alzheimers association (2009) ‘What is Alzheimer’s’[online] Available from [April 6, 2009] CBS news (2001) ‘Nursing Home Abuse Increasing’ [online] Available from [April 6, 2009] CDC (2003) ‘Public Health and Aging: Trends in Aging — United States and Worldwide’ MMWR weekly[online] Available from [April 6, 2009] Douglas, J. (2006) ‘New longevity research center launched to study supercentenarians’ Natural News [online] Available from < http://www. naturalnews. com/020701. html> [April 6, 2009] Hodes, R. (2003) ‘Human Longevity and Aging Research’. Special Committee on Aging [online] Available from [April 6, 2009] Internet Stroke Center (2009) ‘Stroke Statistics’ [online] Available from [April 6, 2009] Zisook, S & Shuchter, S. (1991) ‘Depression through the first year after the death of a spouse ’ Am J Psychiatry [online] Available from [April 6, 2009]

Customer service – the investigation assignment

I'm going to do an investigation into two different organisations taking into account the principles, products and services that are offered and the companies' customer care policies. My first organisation is Alton Towers; a fun packed theme park aimed at all types of age groups, maybe not for the over 50's though. It is the UK's best loved theme park, 2 hotels, a spa, an extraordinary golf course, and nineteenth century gothic castles. My second organisation is First choice tour operators; a leisure travel company operating in four different sectors. They have many high street stores and are a well-known respected tour operations company. My first impression of Alton towers was quite alright, it weren't bad customer service but we had a few problems. I and my friends had gone for a birthday party and we had pre-booked our tickets so that we could just go straight through and not have to queue up. When we got to the desk the lady couldn't find us on the computer and asked us for our reference number, we weren't given a ref number we just got told to show them a confirmation letter they had emailed us. There was a mix up on the computer and they eventually sorted it out. They never really apologised to us for making us wait and not explaining thoroughly what had happened. By the end of our visit we had forgot the kafuffle at the beginning as we'd had such a good day and the service throughout the day was brill! My first impression for First Choice tour operators was fantastic. I flew with first choice to Gran Canaria in Xmas 2005. When we first got on the plane they greeted us with smiles and asked if we were ok etc. When we sat down ready for take off they all came round to check if we required anything and to see that we were all ok. I think that is good service as there job is too look after their customers and that's exactly what they were doing. Some airlines do have good customer service but first choice just seemed to stand out to me. I've flown with Gold Trail before and they were horrendous, you would ask for assistance and they would come back to you in around 45 minutes; They were absolutely terrible. We were also delayed on that flight for 7 hours and didn't receive anything for it. The principals of customer care. First impressions are the first sign of good customer care, for example if you walked into a travel agents wanting to find out some information on a holiday you have seen, you would want the agent to approach you first with a cheery happy face and be polite! That is a good first impression, if you walked in and you had to speak first and they looked all morbid and mardy, you wouldn't think that was a good first impression. In any organisation the people of the company should always give a good first impression because that's what the customer remembers. Any company should have good company image, an appealing logo is a first, you wouldn't go in a travel agents if they had a shabby logo on their shop, you would want it too look appealing and stand out. Employees should have a the company's logo on their uniform as that gives a good impression, plus customers will know that they are part of that company if they need assistance. Speed and accuracy of service is vital in customer care, you want to be served as quickly and efficient as possible. You don't want to be waiting ages to be assisted and then they don't give you the advice you wanted or they sell you the wrong product. Every company should have a customer service policy; all companies should provide a helpful, friendly and reliant service. The methods my two organisations use to monitor and evaluate their customer service. Alton towers have a comment sheet and cards to ensure that all customers are enjoying their visit. The comments sheet/cards enable the company to understand what the customer likes and dislikes and too see if there are any problems. When you're in the park they come round and put the sheets under your windscreen wiper so that when you return to your car you can fill it in. If you have any complaints or claims you must write to their customer relations manager within 28days of your trip to Alton towers. All complaints or claims that do not involve in injury or death, Alton towers cannot accept liability. First choice holidays listen to their frontline employees, customer focus groups, customer feedback questionnaires and by conducting mystery shopping where a third party acts as a customer and feeds back to the company on the quality of the service they receive. These are all good ways for company's to monitor their customer service. There are many other ways a company good monitor their customer service; observations, feedback from team members, suggestions box or book, questionnaires and surveys, or simply just have a customer service desk if they feel they are not satisfied within the store and want to complain straight away. The benefits of good customer service The benefits of an employee would be that if they gave a good service within their job then they would enjoy their job as they would be praised.You would also be secure in your job as if your good at your job and can deliver a good service, your employer will want you to stay. If you are good at your job and the customers are all satisfied, your employer may give you a pay rise. Incentives can also be given to you by your employer.For example you could be set a target and if you reach it you can be awarded some money or even a holiday. The benefits to the employer would be that the sales and profits of the business would rise because of returned customers and more customers would come to you as the returning customers would tell other people. There would be less complaints if the business had a good service, which would mean more positive feedback. If the business was in competition with other businesses they would have a better advantage as customers would want to go to their business as they deliver a better service. Customers will be highly satisfied if you give them a good service, you will be meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations, they will return and give word of mouth. Returning customers is good for every business, it is also good for both the customer and the employee as you will build a good repour. Customers will also gain your loyalty and certainly give recommendations. Consequences of a poor service If you give a poor service the financial side of the business will fail and lose money. The reputation of the employer will be bad and people who were thinking of applying for a job in that company will reconsider there thoughts. My first impression of Alton towers was a poor service, we said we weren't going to pre-book our tickets there again we would just do it the normal way, but as the day went on the service was brilliant and we had forget all about the kafuffle at the start of the day. First Choice was a great first impression at the start; we went back to them as they had delivered a good service. If they had delivered us a poor service we would not have gone back and would have told other people how rude they were etc. In all customer service related jobs, every employee should abide by the data protection act because all customers details and personal information is confidential. If any disabled individual entered an establishment you would not treat them any different. You should not treat any individual different from anyone else, everyone should be treat the same despite race, sex, religion or any views they have on anything.

Coursework on sociology Essay

To be a non-traditional student is not at all an easy decision I made. Having my own family who needs my full time and attention is the biggest consideration I had when I decided to take on-line course. However, my family is also the best encouragement and inspiration I had. The world is taking its fast pace towards globalization and everyone must be able to cope up. The computerization of almost everything requires that everyone must conform to the speed of economic changes. In this world where education is a key to success and progress, everyone must avail of education by any means available. I believe that the best thing I can do is to avail of education while still having time with my family is to take online courses. The decision will affect my social life and the financial status of my family since I will have to allocate time and finances with my studies. The hours I am spending before in personally doing the household chores will now be partly consumed by my studies. The few I hours I am spending before in visiting my friends next door will now be lessened in have time for my studies. (Kindly use the remaining required words in answering the question whether you are studying a technical field) In the absence of on line courses, I may consider having evening or weekend classes. However, evenings are my only time to help my kids in their home works. I do not want to sacrifice weekends either because I strictly set these days as family and church days. So the best thing for me is to choose timeslots that will best fit school hours when my children are in school which online courses offered. Question 2 English is undoubtedly the world’s widely accepted language as it is the required language for everyone to communicate globally. It is therefore important that everyone be able to have the opportunity to learn Standard English in order to cope up with the fast changing world especially that the world is pushing through globalization. I believe that even the students in the rural areas can compete globally. However, it is impossible for them to do it if they cannot meet the standards of the global arena expressed in Standard English. I believe that with this need, a child needs to learn English even before he go to a formal school. This does not however mean that local dialects are to be set aside and be forgotten. While English has been set as the official language of Kentucky in 1984, I believe that their local dialects as well as that of African-American who speak Ebonics must still be practiced. â€Å"Teachers should be given every possible tool to reach our children† (L. L. Rush). Even in school premises, it is important that students be able to freely express themselves which can only be possible when they speak in their dialects. But in order for them to cope up with the global standard, they are to strive hard in learning Standard English. Even the government of Kentucky is doing steps in order to assure that the students get the minimum skills required in English and Mathematics (V. Honawar). China, being the host in the 2008 Olympics is requiring its people to learn English in preparation of the event. The best way to learn is to practice and that is what every child in Kentucky and the rest of the world must do. This way, their confidence in facing the world will be better build up which will be their instrument in achieving success whether educational or economic success. Question 3 Robert William’s list of values have been created in 1970, that was more than three decades ago. The world has changed a lot, and so are the American’s perspectives, priorities and moral standards. As a contemporary American, morality and family are the values that are of the highest importance to me. With the fast changing world, I value education in order for me to cope up with the success and progress of the world. In order for me to do this, I need to avail of the freedom and equality that the American government offers. All of my current efforts are for my family and I owe all of what I have now from God. With reference to William’s list, I think that the importance of protecting the family is the value that he had missed. As I browsed on the websites providing lists and information on the American values, I was impressed with the survey results made by the Roper Poll Corporation revealing that protecting the family is the first in the list of values that Americans consider as important. The other values in William’s list still appear to be the same important values for Americans although there is a noticeable change in their sequence. I believe that because America has already been progressive, the value of success, achievement and progress are no longer on top of the list. Most of the websites I browsed agreed on the order of the values but are contrary to William’s list in the sense that family is not included in the latter’s list. Also, achievement and success are no longer on top of the values prioritized by modern Americans. I believe that my list of values will differ with that of the other students in a way that family and morality, including faith are on top of my list. I am assuming that majority of the students will conform with the latest survey of which family is on top but religiosity and morality at the 8th and 9th spots out of ten values. WORKS CITED Crawford, James. â€Å"Issues in U. S. Language Policy†. Retrieved on June 23, 207 from http://ourworld. compuserve. com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/langleg. htm Grass, Gunter. â€Å"The US Betrays its Core Values†. The Los Angeles Times. April 07, 2003. Retrieved on June 23, 2007 from http://www. commondreams. org/views03/0407-05. htm Grouling, Thomas E. â€Å"American Values†. â€Å"Common Questions: Uniquely American Questions†. Retrieved on June 23, 2004 from http://www. americanhospitals. com/questions/american/amervalues. htm 06/23/07 Honawar, Vaishali. â€Å"Kentucky Seeks to Improve College Readiness†. Retrieved on June 23, 2007 from http://www. edweek. org/ew/articles/2004/11/17/12ky. h24. html Rush, Ladonna Lewis. â€Å"The Ebonics Debate†. Retrieved on June 23, 2007 from http://www. princeton. edu/~browning/news/rush. html The American Demographic Magazine. October 2000 issue â€Å"American Values: Overview†. Retrieved on June 22, 2007 from http://www. orednet. org/~jflory/205/day_val_overview. htm

Internalization of Values Socialization of the Baraka

Internalization of Values Socialization of the Baraka and Keiski Aubrey Love English Comp 3 Dr. Popham 3/21/2012 The people who inhabit a community and their interactions with one another comprise a society. These repeated interactions allow people to internalize or, hold true, what society portrays as everyday norms and values. These norms and values are instilled during childhood through the time he or she becomes an adult. Amiri Baraka’s autobiography â€Å"School† and Lisa Keiski’s essay â€Å"Suicide’s Forgotten Victims,† makes this evident.In both â€Å"School† and â€Å"Suicide’s Forgotten Victims,† Baraka’s and Keiski’s daily interactions with their peers, authority figures, and society contribute to the formulation of important life lessons. Through the daily interactions with his peers in his educational setting, Baraka internalizes concepts pivotal to real world situations. School provided Baraka with an environment to social with students that have common interests and goals: â€Å"The games and sports of the playground and streets was one registration carried with us as long as we live† (260). Friends compose the next primary socializing agent outside the family.It allows Baraka to see beyond his small world at home and introduces him to new experiences. Physical and recreational activities are important components in childhood development. Interactions with his peers provided Baraka with his first experience of equal status relationships. When Baraka played around with his friends, he made a distinction between himself and the others around him. The games shared between his friends shows that Baraka began learning to understand the idea of multiple roles; the duties and behaviors expected of someone who holds a particular status.Baraka took the values he learned from playing with his friends and certified them, implementing them in his everyday actions for the rest of his life. Baraka’s peers allowed him to internalize a vital life lesson necessary for the real world. Like Baraka, the daily interactions of Keiski with her roommate and friends in college allow her to experience a form of socialization necessary for reality. College not only provides a rigorous coursework, it offers Keiski and her peers a place to learn and grow from each other. I went to a mutual friend who was going to stay with her that night†¦ he had been around Sue too and said that she’d be all right†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (95). When faced with a scenario that Keishi is unsure about, she seeks refuge and clarification from a friend, hoping he can provide her with insight and wisdom about her situation. Although he tried to affirm Sue’s safety, deep in Keiski’s heart, she knew Sue faced trials and tribulations. From her interaction with her mutual friend, Keiski learns that she cannot depend on others to understand or take care of a situation for her.Keisk i had some kind of understanding of Sue’s hint for help, while her mutual friend did not sense suicidal signs from Sue and thus remained clueless the underlying pain. Keiski internalizes the life lesson that not everyone will understand a particular situation and if he or she does not understand, he or she will not have the answer to fix the situation; not all daily interactions lead to a positive end, a harsh but evident value in society. Similarly to the peers in Baraka’s â€Å"School,† authority figures contribute to Baraka’s socialization by exemplifying values and norms in their day-to-day actions.In this case, authority figures take the form of Baraka’s teacher, Mrs. Powell. â€Å"The only black teacher in the school at the time†¦, beat me damn near to death in full view of her and my 7B class†¦ (which apparently was sanctioned by my mother†¦)† (258). Baraka exerted the wrong class attitude by playing around while the te acher taught her class. Mrs. Powell uses Baraka as a demonstration for the class on what appropriate behavior in the classroom is. Mrs. Powell provides Baraka with an experience of the hierarchal system between adults and children.Baraka’s mother’s approval of physical discipline shows Baraka that certain behavior in a given situation will not be tolerated. The authority figures intend to instill the value they believe prove useful in society; values such as respecting authority figures or not talking over someone in a conversation. Through his experience with Mrs. Powell, Baraka internalizes the importance of recognizing people in positions of power and how to interact with them; a life lesson needed in almost every situation: family, friends, or the workplace.By the same token, authority figures in â€Å"Suicide’s Forgotten Victim† help the socialization of Keiski by allowing her to view the world in terms of how it affected her well-being. She says, â €Å"My own therapy has been immensely helpful, perhaps lifesaving† (96). Keiski’s repressed feelings grew stronger eating away at her conscious. She condemned herself for not having done anything to help prevent Sue from committing harm to herself. Keiski sought help from a psychiatrist whom gave her the support she needed, gingerly and sympathetically listening to Keiski’s issues.The therapeutic treatment of positive discussion allowed Keiski to think about herself and how she continuously handled the situation instead of worrying about her roommate and feeling guilty for not taking action to prevent such a travesty from occurring. It was helpful to Keiski in that she began to understand her why she was feeling the way she was. It can be argued that without having the support of the psychiatrist Keiski could have succumbed the pressure and guilt she felt and like Sue, have tried to end her life. That emotional outlet ultimately saved Keiski from herself and the personal guilt within her that built up.The authority figure, the psychiatrist, taught Keiski that she has to remember to consider herself and her own emotions when dealing with hardships in order to maintain good mental health. Not only do the peers and authority figures contribute to Baraka learning life lessons, society as a whole holds the many values and norms that vary from culture to culture. Baraka narrates a moment in time where he was on trial for supposedly cussing out a cop and making remarks about the cop’s father in a bank. Baraka countered stating African Americans focus on joking about mothers and the case was dismissed.From these societal experiences Baraka states, â€Å"I learned that you could keep people off you if you were mouth-dangerous as well as physically capable† (263). Away from the school or home setting, Baraka becomes exposed to values of society that may not have been so evident, such as racism. In society, it is important to be verball y educated. Not everything in life requires physical strength to overcome an obstacle. Baraka learned that words are just as powerful as physical abilities. He can get what he wants by persuading another by manipulating words and sentence structure.Language is used to convey rules, norms, and values amongst a group. It is main form of communication that exists. Baraka learns that life is based off previous statements about how to live, whether they are true or not. Without language, these ideals would not be able to be shared. Just like Baraka, society in Keiski’s â€Å"Suicide’s Forgotten History† society teaches life lessons on how to deal with the pressures of day-to-day interactions. The nature of society blames and points fingers when something goes wrong: â€Å"We, as a society, need to stop stigmatizing the friends and relatives of a suicide victim and start helping them† (94).The societal stigma that followed casted blame on Keiski for Sue’ s suicidal attempt, subjecting her to isolation. This stigma only promotes more grief, increases the recovery time, and discourages individuals from seeking help. Keiski argues that society needs to change its approach in deailing with suicide and suicide’s victim. Instead of pointing fingers and having scapegoats, society needs to give support and sympathy to families that have lost a love one to suicide. Keiski wants society to focus on prevention and intervention to allow families and friends to cope with their trama.Although â€Å"School† and â€Å"Suicide’s Forgotten Victim† tell the story of two distinctive individuals growing up, both account for strong life lessons learned in the process. Peers provide environments for individual to interaction and learn from one another. Authority figures give insight to the world at large through the experiences of their socialized minds. Society is the daily interaction of citizens in any environment exposing p eople to all the aspects that make up society. These are key agents in the development of norms and values in children throughout their growing period.

Benefits of Going Holidays

What is the psychological benefit of going on holiday? For most of us life involves the constant routine of work, whether at home with the family or within a business. Household duties, shopping, cooking, and looking after our families, watching television and whatever other hobbies or activities we engage in keep our minds active and occupied day in day out. If we interpret our situation to be stressful, forced, without choice or robotic then the constant engagement in life can wear us down and leave us feeling less than enthusiastic.If we feel unhappy about our situation and yet do not see a way to change it to what we would rather have, life can become a chore rather than exhilarating and exciting. It’s not always easy to change a job we do not enjoy or feel suitably challenging. It’s not always appropriate, financially or emotionally realistic to leave difficult relationships or stressful family situations, therefore we endure our current lifestyles, regardless.Read more in Holidays  « Four Leaf Clover Brings Luck? Guest Country and Republic Day  » How can we get away from an unchanging routine? In the same way you would take a break from over-involvement in a demanding task to clear your mind and gain new perspective before returning to recreate new ideas, you can take a holiday in order to refresh your mind from the prolonged identity with sameness, stress, fatigue or monotony.Obviously our lives do not have to be troubled or stressful to appreciate a holiday but no matter what we engage in daily, there is routine of some sort, therefore a change of scenery and new exciting stimulation for our minds is advisable in order to remind ourselves there is more to life than the ongoing routine of our current situations. Some people experience a sense of freedom the moment they lock the front door to their house, and their holiday has begun. Everyday life is left behind. For others it’s being on the aeroplane, physically identifying with having left their country or even just their county behind.For others it’s a few days into their holiday when they can identify and appreciate several days off together, which they normally do not experience in working life. Whatever it is for you, when it hits home you are free to do exactly as you wish; eat when you like, relax and read a book or go for a walk, engage in water sports, soak up the scenery, admire the architecture, rekindle romance, have fun with the children – you can completely relax and give your entire mind and body a well deserved holiday.Engaging in the freedom of not having to worry about time or deadlines or even family demands is extremely beneficial to our well-being. Life without tasks can be boring and uneventful but in order to appreciate what we have and identify with our own self worth and admiration of all that we do in life – it is advisable to take time out and experience the opposite as we enjoy complete relaxation without any demands.Choose a holiday in line with your idea of relaxation, which for an individual could be anything from a camping holiday to relaxing on a cruise ship or sightseeing in Barcelona. There is no point going on holiday to do more of what you do not want to do. Our minds need a break from ongoing concentration just as much as our bodies do if they are working continuously on an arduous task. Have a change of scenery and enjoy the contrast between complete choice in the moment and the scheduled routine of home and work life.