Helicopter Parents in the workplace

With this generation of baby boomers, parents are having much closer relationships with their children. Millennials are being "coddled" by their parents all throughout life, even through a main life achievement; obtaining a career. Parents are not only joining their children in interviews and company events, but are submitting resumes for their offspring as well. Some companies see this as having a potentially positive effect on the company as this could boost employee morale and create a better sense of comfort in the workplace. Others don't view these "helicopter" parents in the same light. They see them as intrusive on their children's lives. A mother kicks a baby bird out her nest so that it would learn to fly. Parents need to let go of their children and let them lead their adult lives. Adult offspring should take the initiative in finding jobs for themselves and excelling in them; without parental involvement.

MLA Citation

11.10.14

MLA Citation

In the British town of Rotherham, child sex abuse has quite a history. There are currently 300,000 inhabitants of this town and out of those 300,000, there have been 1,400 reported cases of children being sexually abused. This is over a period of 16 years, but there has been widespread child sex abuse, and most cases started appearing in 1997. However, even outside of this town, there are hundreds of additional cases of inappropriate behavior and abuse towards children. The abuse varies from sexual to a whole other degree of evil; being doused in petrol with the threat of being set alight. There are children all over Britain who are and were previously abused by predators of all ages and community figures. Still, before the cases in Rotherham, there were over 100 cases of sexual abuse connected to widely known and respected government officials. These cases had disappeared from home offices, leading to thorough investigations on what might have happened to them and recovering the names of them. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is not yet sure on the nature of the crime. In addition to those investigations, police have arrested about 660 suspected pedophiles during a six-month covert operation to find people accessing indecent images of children online.

A lot of the cases show signs of the abused being “groomed” by their abusers. Grooming is when an offender begins to establish a friendly relationship with their victim and get close to them over a period of usually a few years. In this stage, they introduce the children to alcohol and drugs, as well as beginning sexual experiences. In most cases, the child trusts the person “grooming” them, and doesn't see them as a figure doing something wrong. The majority of the victims in Rotherham are young girls, yet there have been reports of young boys as well; but those tend to be “under-reported.” There has also been a pattern seen in the sexual abuse. It has been identified as that a plethora of the victims were white female children; and the abusers, of Asian descent.

Because of all of this going on under the Rotherham Borough Council and the Rotherham Police, certain individuals have resigned and are also trying to be driven to resignation. The council's leader, Roger Stone, had immediately resigned when an independent report commissioned by the Rotherham Council, and the unsent police and crime commissioner, Shawn Wright, is being called for resignation by The Labor Party.

Child sex abuse is absolutely disgusting and horrifying. Rather, any abuse to a child is simply mortifying. Children are innocent souls and they shouldn't be violated by grown adults. In addition, the “art” of grooming is especially mortifying as children begin to trust, and in some cases love, these perpetrators. There are millions cases of children being harassed in their daily lives, all over the world; not only in Britain. The people who do this should definitely all be caught – even though that is not likely – and rightly prosecuted. 

Resources:

"Britain Arrests 660 Suspected Paedophiles during Operation." ABC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

"Review Fails to Find Missing Files on UK Child Sex Abuse." ABC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

Werth, Christopher. "Reports on Child Sex Abuse Toils Britain." Los Angeles Times 1 Sept. 2014: n. pag. Print.

 

What is Cognitive Interference

1.

A process loss that occurs when the ideas generated by other participants interfere with an individual’s own idea generation activities.

(Florence Kelley) 2011 Question 2 "Excellent Parallelism"

Beginning even before the 1800's, children of extremely young ages were put at work. Once a child learned how to walk, his next step was to learn how to work. Over the years, certain states have made laws pertaining to child labor issues. Work days were around 12 hours, and without acceptable breaks. Yet, the laws that did pass, only helped to a specific extent. They provided that children before a precise age could only work until the hour deemed appropriate enough to stop. But the precise age was still of a child; still too young for the working conditions to be acceptable. The same thing went for women, They had the same issues as did the adolescents. Yes, women were adults so it wasn't nearly as horrifying as for children. A woman's body has significant differences compared to a man's. An example would be the death of an un-fertilized egg (menstruation). This happens to a woman once a month and lasts a week on average. For her hygiene to remain proper, she has to regularly access the restroom. A case in many factories is that these restroom breaks weren't permitted, and women had to proceed with their employee responsibilities while sitting in their own filth. However, these unpleasant working conditions could be fought for; and were. One woman who fought for child labor laws and improved conditions for working women was Florence Kelley. On July 22, 1905, she gave a speech before the convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on the topics earlier presented. In this speech, she used rhetorical strategies, such as pathos, ethos, and logos to fully convey her message on child labor to  her audience.

Pathos was used as she states descriptions of working environments of children in ways that could make a listener or reader feel a variety of emotion. "Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy." She begins her description with speaking of what others are doing while these young girls are so dutifully working. Millions are asleep, resting, in the warmth of their beds, in the comforts of their homes; compared to the several thousand little girls working in textile mills alone. And for what purpose are they at work in the hours of the day that most reserve for rest? They are creating items for others to go out and buy.

In a way similar to her using pathos for emotional appeal, Kelley uses ethos as ethical appeal. By the law of New Jersey, children are not to work in unappealing hours before the age of fourteen. However, the day they turn 14, they can now work 12 hour shifts; daily. "A little girl, on her thirteenth birthday, could start away from her home at half past five ... without violating any laws of the Commonwealth." This, Kelley used as an example of what the situation is in Pennsylvania. This little girl carries her midnight luncheon pail at the same time other workers carry their midday luncheon pails. She is ready to work in the mill for 12 hours, from 6 at night to 6 in the morning, with only a miniscule break. This appeals to a person's sense of morals as it gets them to think of whether or not this is an okay thing to be happening.

Lastly, Kelley conveys her message on child labor using logos; logical appeal. Is it logical to have children and women in terrible working conditions? "Until the mothers in the great industrial states are enfranchised, we shall none of us be able to free our consciences from participation in this great evil." With this, women as workers and mothers of children in inappropriate working conditions, they need a say in what's going on at work.

Joan Didion

Joan Didion's opening paragraphs describe her knowledge of the Santa Ana winds of California. Joan's view on the Santa Ana winds seems to be negative and informative, even though she states that this occurrence usually seems to create certain disturbances in the world. She conveys this view using a fair amount of good diction, structure and selection of detail. 

Most of the words that Joan uses to describe what a Santa Ana is, and what it does, are seen to have been carefully selected by her. She uses words that aren't normally seen or read by the public, as well as a translation to another language. "The baby frets. The maid sulks." Her writing sounds well composed, at this point, and further throughout the paragraph it seems that Joan's looking negatively on the matter of a Santa Ana. She uses the word "foehn", which means strong wind. She writes of fights, suicide, nervousness, depression and more words with negative connotations that, again, are showing a negative perspective. This is even more clearly seen in the last few sentences; one in particular showing the change in the ratio of positive to negative ions becoming "unusually high". Joan ends her introductory paragraphs with, "in the simplest terms, is make people unhappy which is what the high ratio of positive to negative ions means." With this being said, you could only assume that the Santa Ana winds are not appreciated or looked on happily and positively by the writer. 

Joan's structure of her paragraphs also helps with conveying her negative view on a Santa Ana. Right off the bat, she writes of an "uneasy" tension that is physically felt by the people, as a whole, of Los Angeles. She says that it is "impossible" for a Santa Ana to be predicted, but that is not true in terms of what can be felt by the inhabitants of the complicated city of Los Angeles. The next paragraph continues as an anecdote Joan shares of her first knowledge of a Santa Ana, when she had first moved to the City of Angels. The bad effects of the winds were told to her by neighbors, and she then had experienced them for herself. She follows this paragraph, and ends with, one on all of the terrible aftermaths of a Santa Ana and a foehn, with the main effect being, simply put, happiness. As Joan writes of the bad effects of a Santa Ana, with proceeding to worse and ending with the worst effects, showing that these winds are something that she doesn't view as pleasant and, therefore, negatively.

Lastly, her view is helped seen by her selection of detail. Joan chooses to write about the Santa Anas using descriptive and detailed words that further explain to the readers the effecys and occurrence of a Santa Ana. She chooses to write saying," To live with the Santa Ana is to accept, consciously or unconsciously, a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior." and "What an excess of positive ions does, in the simplest terms, is makes people unhappy. One cannot get much more mechanistic than that." Her multiple usage of the word mechanistic is what finally conveys her negative view on the Santa Ana winds.

College Essay

AP English Language

09.30.14

College Essay

Many students currently face the dilemma of whether or not going to a four year college or university is worth the cost. In this day and age, the price to go and attend a college or university continues to rise at a steep incline. The current debate revolves around the reason that the price you pay to attend college, in both time and money, will be advantageous to you in your future. At first thought, it would seem that going to college wasn't really worth it in the long run. You spend thousands of dollars and quite a few years to get “properly educated.” However, what good is this proper education? Would it help in earning a job? “Now, with unemployment expected to remain above 8% well into 2014, it will be many years before young college graduates – or any workers – see substantial wage growth.” (Chart) This would make one believe that college wasn't worth the trouble. Nevertheless, earning a higher education, by attending a four year college or university, is beneficial and worth the energy and financial trouble.

Even with unemployment rates on the rise in the United States and elsewhere, most of the unemployed are without the earlier stated “proper education”. “College graduates, though hardly immune from the downturn, are also far less likely to be unemployed than non- graduates.” (Leonhardt) This gives a glimpse of hope to college graduates, showing that they have a higher rate of employment than that of a mere high school graduate. Graduating from a college also gives a person the chance of making more money than they would have with a lesser education. (Pew) “Adults who graduated from a four year college believe that, on average, they are earning $20,000 more a year as a result of having gotten that degree. Adults who did not attend college believe that, on average, they are earning $20,000 less as a result. These matched estimates by the public are very close to the median gap in annual earnings between a high school and college graduate as reported by the US Census Bureau in 2010: $19, 550. A more detailed Pew Research Center analysis … shows that this gap varies by type of degree and field of study.” This shows that people with college degrees essentially earn a much higher income than those without.

College also offers you both intellectual growth and experience, rather than just the intellectual growth that many would assume. Statistics show that most four- year college graduates don't regret attending college and view their experience as constructive. “Among survey respondents who graduated from a four- year college, 74% say their college education was very useful in helping them grow intellectually...” (Pew) When applying for a real- world job, employers look for certain skills as well as education levels in their potential employees. Going to a four- year college or university helps you obtain these certain skills. Be as it may, these skills are not obtained through attending classes or courses. They are gained from life experiences, and going to college is considered a major life experience. You get to begin your maturity in the ability to care for yourself and become responsible for your own life. Graduating from a college helps you grow in intellect, work ethic, and is, overall, valuable in leading a successful life.

Revised Locavore Essay

AP English Language

27 October 2014

Locavore Essay

The locavore movement is becoming a widespread movement everywhere, with people absolutely falling in love with the concept; and maybe even the execution. However, there are a few parts to it, that people don't necessarily realize or think about; as to if and why becoming a locavore could be entirely beneficial. One can give many reasons as to how and why eating locally grown food is, oh, so much greater, than the food you buy in the supermarket; that had traveled thousands of miles. On the other hand, there are those who believe that the nutrition difference is not as great as it initially seems, there are other methods used for food production that use a lot of energy and continue to leave a large carbon footprint, and lastly, that not everyone lives within a local farm or an area with good soil for farming, as the entire Earth isn't made of rich soil.

“There will be nutritional differences, but they'll be marginal.” (Source B) A large part of the reason that people would choose to be a locavore, is based on the thought that they don't get a good supply from the foods that we eat compared to the nutritional values of the locally grown foods that we could be eating. According to Marion Nestle, a dietitian, there might be nutritional differences , usually only if your “local” soil is really great, they wouldn't be that distant. Conforming to her, “We're just not nutrient-deprived.” Another big idea of the locavore movement is the thought of leaving a significantly smaller carbon footprint by eating the food less traveled. Yet, there are other “energy-hogging” factors in the production of food. (Source C) “But New Zealand lamb is raised on pastures with a small carbon footprint, whereas most English lamb is produced under intensive factory-like conditions with a big carbon footprint.” With this, it is seen that the pastures that are local to you, aren't really the best the best place for you to get food from in terms of the wasted energy. There is also an issue regarding “food miles”. With certain growers being able to supply more people, further away, and with a higher supply of food; compared to another grower with the less amount of produce and miles traveled. “The critical measure here is not food miles but apples per gallon.” Following those thoughts of locavore consumers, they don't necessarily know about actually growing food in regard to processing practices, water availability, packaging waste and fertilizer application.

The largest problem found with the locavore food industry has to do with our current societies. “In the United States, 80 percent of us live in large, densely-populated urban areas, usually on the coast, and typically hundreds of miles, from the major centers of food production.” (Source F) How is it that the world can become relying on just what's near you to get the food you need to survive, if you don't live near a place of food production?

Barbara Ehenreich

Barbara Ehenreich has what appears to be, quite a strong opinion on television that goes back to the 1980's. The 1980's is when television was really brought out, and people began to watch. The shows on T.V. were written to entertain watchers, and so they did. The characters on the shows led similar lives to those watching, until, as Ehenreich points out, it was realized that that wasn't so. Television shows didn't have clips of people watching T.V. If in the televised world there are people who don't watch T.V. as we do, what's the point of watching? "So why do we keep on watching?" is Ehenreich's main focus. Well, why wouldn't we watch television just because it shows that watching television is boring? It isn't showing that watching television is boring, but that watching people stare a screen providing entertainment to others, isn't all that enjoyable. Yet, there are cases where it can be. In modern times, not the 1980's, there are, in fact, television shows, that receive immense praise; that follow, specifically, the lives of people who do watch a lot of television. Now, what is depicted there?

For a majority of the people, watching television is not boring. Yes, it might not be the most stimulating activity, but does it absolutely have to be? No, it doesn't, but it provides an escape to those in need, and a pleasing pastime for others. To this day, hundreds of shows are being produced, and no two shows are entirely identical. There is quite a large variety to choose from, based on what a certain person would find appealing and enjoy. Writers for shows are constantly brainstorming and incorporating new concepts for the purpose of administering a continuously improving source of entertainment.

However, there is one aspect to T.V. watching, as Ehenreich points out, that can be, to some, quite uneventful; the actual viewing of a show. Now there are those who watch an episode a day, and then others who view an entire season a day. In most casing of watching the tube, you sit and stare and really without much else going on. These people, are what Ehenreich so delicately dubs, "modern people; i.e. couch potatoes". She claims that these people only exist for the sole purpose of using a talking, light-up box for entertainment. They would never do anything that they watch so dutifully, simply due to the "fact" that they're lazy. Yet, television is watched by people with more "successful" lives that use it as a means of relaxation. For example, a doctor may watch a drama revolving around another, fictional, hospital, to get some comic relief on such a weighted duty. Teachers who spend countless hours in an attempt to educate the masses, need breaks; and watch television. There are shows on teachers and professors as well as shows following cops and even students. All of these different people do watch T.V. shows, possibly and especially those those that relate to them. It is simply ignorant to say that people who spend hours on watching television "do nothing that is ever shown on television (because it is either dangerous or would involve getting up from the couch)". What would Ehenreich then call these people, with jobs that require "getting up from the couch", that watch T.V. shows based on the same jobs? From her statements, these people are obviously just simply unheard of.