Equality and Diversity Essay Example for Free

Equality and Diversity Essay It would be very discouraging for children to be subjected to discriminatory beliefs that are held by either myself or other teachers for example my cousin wanted to be a ballet dancer when he was a child but after teasing from other members of the family suggesting that dancing is only for girls and gay men he did not continue to attend classes. This was something that he regrets as it was a dream of his and now he has grown up he wishes he had been encouraged to dance. By taking any of families or, friends or even my own beliefs in to school is unfair on the children I am there to support. They could be made to feel that if because of their background or who they are means they cannot aspire to be what they want to be so will not reach to achieve their full potential.As with another example my father-in-law is sexist and believes that a woman’s place is in the home cooking, cleaning and looking after the children and if I was to take that to school with me I could treat the girls differently dismissing their work and only encouraging the boys, giving the girls the false idea of they are not good enough. For example: â€Å"Both men and women teachers have low expectations of girls intellectual skills’ since it is thought that girls are inherently less intelligent than boys† (www.right-to-education.org) The support I give the children should be fair and equal in order for every child to feel safe, an equal part of society and that they are worthwhile. Each child should feel that their opinions count and that they have a voice that should be heard, they should not feel excluded or feel that they can exclude any other person because their race, religion, background, sex as this can affect their self-esteem, their confidence and will in turn effect their learning as proved by Jane Elliot in the â€Å"brown eyed-blue eyed experiment† (The Eye of The Storm) in 1968 where the children wearing the collar (to show they were the lesser pupils) took longer than they did the day before when they weren’t wearing the collars in a card pack reading practice. The children had low expectations of themselves and their body language changed (they looked shrunkeninto themselves). To challenge discriminatory behaviour there are many different methods that could be used for different types of discrimination for example if I heard a child being racist, calling each other names such as â€Å"paki† I would go to them straight away and say: â€Å" Excuse me children I heard what you just said why are you calling each other names?†Ã¢â‚¬Å" We don’t use language like that at school how do you think that has made Ron feel?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"What do you think would be right thing to say to him†. It is my responsibility and I am legally obliged as a T.A to challenge any kind of discriminatory behaviour. If there were problems in the playground at lunchtime when the boys were excluding the girls from football at lunchtime I could make changes to the playground so I would have an assembly to explain to the children why they would be having a week plan for the use of the footballing area and it would be as follows: Monday: Girls only netball. Tuesday:Boys only football.Wednesday: Mixed netball.Thursday: Mixed football.Friday: Something completely diffrerent, a team building game to get them working together.After this I would find from them what has worked well and what hasn’t.If children in year7 were sending offensive emails I would use the computer to suite to get them to research the consequences of their actions which they will then present to the class or in assembly. This would give them an insight into how such behaviour can affect the victims, they would also be made to apologise to the person or people they were harassing.| | In conclusion by not discriminating we give every child the same opportunities and support them equally, every child has the same right to an education no matter their background, race, religion, sex or disability. Children will have confidence in who they are and will be more productive in the classroom.| | Excellent and thoughtful answer. This also covers 4.2.5 – just add this at the top of the page. SJ 4.3.13

Shifting Paradigms In The Non Aligned Movement Politics Essay

Shifting Paradigms In The Non Aligned Movement Politics Essay The concept of Non Aligned Movement or NAM is not a doctrine or a dogma. It is a process. It is a way of looking at issues in a particular way. It is against hegemony, against arm-twisting by the rich and the powerful. Non-alignment  [1]  does not mean isolation or neutrality. It is an independent movement stressing that nations should follow their own policies without joining any of the power blocs (in the period when they had existed) and falling under their influence. A non-aligned nation judges each issue on its merits. In other words, non-alignment upholds the rights of all states to freedom and choice of action in the international field. One of the fundamental aspects of non-alignment is its antipathy to military alliances and opposition to any form of imperialism. The post Second World War period witnessed an era of awakening and rise of political and nationalist aspirations of subjugated people over the world. The centuries old phenomenon of colonialism started crumbling and finally gave way. Many new independent states came into existence in Asia and Africa after having thrown off the yoke of foreign domination. It was also a time when the cold war between the Soviet and the US blocs was getting intensified. The super powers tried to win over these newly independent countries to their respective blocs. But some of them abhorred the idea of submission to any of the super powers or for political inclination towards any of them. They wanted to pursue an independent foreign policy of their own rather than toeing the line of any power bloc. It was this strategy of not joining either of the two power blocs and following an independent foreign policy that came to be known as Non-alignment. The newly independent countries mostly in Asia and Africa had almost identical problems of economy, government, development, etc. and therefore they had many views in common on world affairs. These African and Asian countries thus sought to tackle their problems at a conference held at Bandung in Indonesia in 1955. Thirty Asian and African nations attended it. India, China and Indonesia played a leading role at this conference. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then prime minister of India, the then Chinese Prime Minister Chou-En-Lat and the then President Sukarno of Indonesia expressed complete identity of views. The impact of this conference was felt in the United Nations also. This was also the beginning of the Non-Aligned Movement. These Afro-Asian countries declared themselves neutralists. The epithet non-aligned was adopted at a subsequent conference held at Belgrade in 1961. SCOPE OF RESEARCH During the course of preparing the final submission, the student researcher has essentially tried in analyse the following primary research questions, namely: The extent to which the Non Aligned Movement has affected the world politics? Indias role concerning the Non Aligned Movement considering that it is one of the founding members and has recently emerged as a global economic superpower? The extent to which the current debate on the contemporaneous significance of Non Aligned Movement relevant? Measures can be taken to ensure that Non Aligned Movement emerges as a stronger force in current world politics? LIMITATION OF RESEARCH While trying to provide concrete answer to the research questions formulated above, the student researcher has intended to prepare this final research submission which is both explanatory and exploratory in scope. Also, the student researcher has intended to critically analyze the research question framed for the purpose of final research submission. In relation to the above, the student researcher has tried to present an overview of the Non Aligned Movement, historical evolution, its major contribution to global politics, pros and cons associated with the same, etc. through this final research submission. Also, the student researcher has tried to essentially compare Indias initiatives with that of the other countries of the world and examine the various measures adopted by them in strengthening the Non Aligned Movement. LIMITATION OF RESEARCH The student researcher submits that not much literature has been available on the same in the NUJS university library and other prominent libraries in Kolkata. Hence, the student researcher has relied on the electronic resources for completion of his final research submission. Also, this submission is, in no way, to be considered exhaustive and there shall be plenty of scope for further research. Having said this, the student researcher has tried, within his limited capabilities, to critically analyze the research questions framed for the purpose and present a value neutral submission. METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH Since the present submission offered no scope for empirical research, the research methodology adopted by the student researcher was entirely doctrinal. The student researcher has analysed the research questions by making a value neutral study of the same. In doing the same, the student researcher has not let his own opinion influence the research questions or the research as a whole, to the maximum extent possible. NON ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT ITS ORIGINS, IDEOLOGY AND A LITTLE MORE Those who were not with us were against us. Stalin A country must lean to be on one side or the other and a third path does not exist. Chinese Communist Supremo Mao The term non-alignment has a specific meaning. Many Western scholars mean by non-alignment, neutrality or neutralism only; but that might not be a correct interpretation. Schwarzenberger  [2]  has suggested some related terms- isolationism, non-commitment, neutrality, neutralization, unilateralism and non involvement. Isolationism stands for policies of aloofness varying from the known isolation of the US before the First World War to postures of inoffensiveness in international affairs. Non commitment refers to politics of detachment for other powers in a triangular or multicorner relationship. Neutrality describes the political and legal status of a country at war, with respect to belligerents. Neutralization means a permanent neutral status of a particular state which it cannot give up under any circumstances, eg. Switzerland is a neutralized state. Unilateralism is identified with policies of calculated risks such as the destruction of own nuclear weapons at ones own instance . Non involvement means keeping away from the ideological struggle between the different super powers, though permitting a certain degree of flexibility when absolutely unavoidable. Non-alignment has a broader meaning than all the above mentioned terms and thus has a distinct character. It means a nation pursuing such a policy need not be neutral under all circumstances. Unlike neutrality, non alignment aims at keeping away but it keeps away not from a particular conflict or issue but from a persisting international tension like cold war. Since military alliances were an important aspect of cold war, non alignment naturally insisted on shunning from these alliances. It is, therefore, a foreign policy perspective that advocates freedom from commitment to any power bloc; it stresses on the independence of choice and action in external affairs. The policy of not aligning with any bloc, but at the same time being friendly to everyone, so that it might be feasible to have a moderating impact on international relations, came to be popularly known as non-alignment. It would enable a nation to judge each issue on merit and decide upon its course independently without be ing influenced by any commitment or bias. Non-alignment is neither a passive nor a negative policy. In so far as the negative appearance of the term non-alignment is concerned, it should be understood in the foreground of the ways of contemplating of Indian people who have expressed many positive and constructive ideas through negative expressions, such as Ahimsa and Apramad. As a positive concept it has several dimensions. It is natural that non-alignment should oppose certain values and at the same time promote some others which are in harmony with its basic orientation. The chief goals of the non-aligned movement in the fifties and the sixties were decolonization and the preservation of international peace. Of late, it has been contributing positively for attaining of a new international economic order and a new information order based on equity, justice, freedom and eradication of exploitation and dominance. It is positive since it strives for certain goals and values. As an activist and dynamic policy, it takes specific sides on the merits of each case. This implies issue bound tilts in non alignment are considered legitimate and the concept, therefore, does not imply equidistance from any of the existing superpowers. But at the same time, it also rejects the idea of natural allies recently coined to justify certain alliances of the non aligned states with certain powers. It is thus an active policy as it envisages an active role for the non aligned countries in the world affairs. For the sake of a more efficient and global lobbying power, 29 independent African and Asian countries met in the Indonesian city of Bandung between 18 and 24 April, 1955 with the aim of elaborating upon the principles of peaceful co-existence and creating the Dasa Sila Bandung (Bandungs Ten Principles).  [3]  None of them wanted to join any of the blocs, therefore, they chose non-alignment, which later on, first in Cairo, June 1961, then, in Belgrade, September 1961, was extended and formalised in the form of NAM. To quote Calvocoressi: The principal achievements of the Bandung Conference were that they had met and got to know one another (most of them were new to international politics); that they had laid the foundations for joint action at the United Nation and, through solidarity, increased their security, their status and their diplomatic weight in the world that they had attracted new men like Nasser to the group and made it bigger; that they were making the giant powers t ake them seriously and treat their policies as respectable.  [4]   Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda elaborated on the goodness of this concept in 1964 in these words: It is a determination to preserve independence, sovereignty, to respect such independence and sovereignty in such states and to decline to take sides in the major ideological struggles which rend the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. We will not hitch our carriage to any nations engine and be drawn along their railway line.  [5]  The criteria of non alignment determined as early as June 1961 at Cairo were: A country should follow an independent policy based on peaceful coexistence and non alignment, or should be showing a trend in favour of such a policy. It should consistently have supported movements for national independence. It should not be a member of multilateral military alliances concluded in the context of great power conflicts. If it has conceded military bases, these concessions should not have been made in the context of great power conflicts. If it is a member of a bilateral of regional deference agreement, this should not have been made in the context of great power conflicts. Another vital feature of Non-alignment is that it has been opposed not only to the two power blocs of power but also to the creation of a third bloc- the bloc of the Non aligned nations. The policy is not based on the desire to build up a third force or a third bloc. There is nothing like Indias Monroe Doctrine and there was nothing like Nehru Doctrine, behind Indian non alignment. The aim of non alignment is to build a third area of peace, an area which rejects war, cold war, alliances and supports peace in a a positive way and believes in cooperation. Non Aligned states have always opposed, and very successfully, the attempts to transform the group into a non aligned bloc. Non alignment is a movement but is not backed by any formal organisational structure or constitution. However, Indias effort to check institutionalization proved futile as in the Algiers Summit (1973)  [6]  it was decided to have a co ordination bureau within the host nation of each summit as the Chairman for the period between that summit to the next summit. The original strength of the Summit was 25 which was subsequently raised to 36. The Bureau meets at least once a year and deals with matters of common interest from time to time. It also takes decision regarding the next summit. It also seeks to strengthen cooperation and coordination among the member states inside the UN and help them in making united efforts for the realization of the goals of the non aligned movement. As per the Lusaka Conference (1970)  [7]  decision to hold non aligned summits at the interval of every three years, the same are held regularly since then. The Foreign Ministers of member states usually meet sometime before each summit mainly to prepare the agenda for the summit. These developments indi cate the growing institutionalization of non alignment is a reality and does not appear to be reversible. Some degree of permanence in structure and regularity in behaviour pattern have been injected into it. NON ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT AND THE INDIAN PERSPECTIVE In Volume 7 of Encyclopedia Britannica (Micropaedia Section) on page 380, there is an entry which is most revealing of the mind set of the West. The word Non-Alignment is no doubt mentioned. However, the reader is directed to see neutralism. And that is that.  [8]   India has been one of the founding members and one of the most voracious proponents of the theory of non- alignment. In fact, it is sometimes attributed solely to the initiatives of our first Prime Minister Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru. Nehru was not only the architect of Indias non-aligned foreign policy but also played a major role in espousing the cause of the third-world countries. In the prevailing turbulent state of global affairs, charting a non-aligned foreign policy posed a big challenge and it was only due to the wisdom and skill of Nehru that he succeeded in doing so. The principles guiding the foreign policy of Indias interim government that was formed just prior to gaining independence was enunciated by Nehru on September 7, 1946. In a radio address, Nehru, who then headed the interim government, stated that India would not join groups of states that were aligned against each other but would strive to establish friendly relations with all countries. Nehru had already conceived of a closer association of the Asian countries for evolving a common foreign policy. During his visit to South-East Asian countries in March 1946, Nehru not only secured the support for his idea but also got the needed consent from leaders of Burma, Indonesia and so on for holding a conference for that purpose. At the 14th NAM Conference held in Havana in September 2006, the purposes and principles of NAM was reiterated in the Declaration on the Purposes and Principles and the Role of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Present International Juncture, which was adopted on September 16, 2006.  [9]   The Heads of State and Government of the member-nations of NAM also reaffirmed their political will to strengthen the Non-Aligned Movement. The Havana Summit  [10]  also declared that one of the major Purposes of NAM in the present international situation was: To continue pursuing universal and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament, as well as a general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control and in this context, to work towards the objective of arriving at an agreement on a phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons within a specified framework of time to eliminate nuclear weapons, to prohibit their development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer, use or threat of use and to provide for their destruction. The Havana Summits reiteration that: it is imperative that the Movement continues to be in the front-line in the struggle to change and transform the present unjust international order, certainly did not go down well with the US administration, which perceives the revival and reactivation of NAM as an inherent threat to its interests. Addressing the 32nd Annual US-India Business Council meeting which was found to be an appropriate occasion to publicly convey to India that it should jettison NAM in Washington D C, on June 27, 2007, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, posed a seemingly innocent question: What is the meaning of non-alignment? Immediately after posing the question, the Secretary of State herself went on to declare: It has lost its meaning  [11]   Rice had prefaced her question with the following remarks: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in order to create a partnership for our future and to fully realise it, we are going to have to move past old ways of thinking and old ways of actingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. And I know that there are some who still talk about non-alignment in foreign policy. But maybe that made sense during the Cold War when the world really was divided into rival camps. The fact is, neither Rices dismissal of the relevance of Non-Alignment nor the memory lapse of many of those at the helm of affairs in the Indian government at present, can make the concept of Non-Alignment irrelevant. On the contrary, it is high time that the US administration moved past old ways of thinking and old ways of acting; the sooner the US abandoned militarism and eschewed belligerency, the better it would be for all humanity! However, the fact remains it is the signals the Indian government has been transmitting over the last few years by acting contrary to the aims and objectives of NAM that have emboldened the US administration to give a call to India to abandon NAM. In a damage control exercise, the government of India was forced to quickly reiterate its commitment to NAM.  [12]   However, the said Press Briefing by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs in response to Rices statement was so brief that it provides further proof that the government of India did not intend to pay literally nothing more than mere lip service to the cause of NAM. It would be a complete betrayal of the cause of NAM if the government of India, as one of the founding members, fails to take on the mantle of responsibility and play a leadership role in propagating the cause of NAM by acting in accordance with its principles and proceeding to fulfill its purposes. The government of Indias present disposition towards NAM does not appear to be too favourably placed. Contrary to the explicit declaration of Nehru in 1947 that We do not intend to be the play things of others, there are apparently quite a few at the helm of affairs in India today, who are not averse to India playing second fiddle to the United States. Some groundwork was undertaken for realizing Mahatma Gandhis vision of a One World in the form of the Action Plan for a Nuclear Weapon Free and Non-violent World, which Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had placed before the UN General Assembly in 1988. However, after Rajiv Gandhis assassination in 1991, the government of India chose to tread in a different direction. Thus, Mahatma Gandhis counsel in 1947, that It is up to you to deliver the whole world, not merely Asia but deliver the whole world from that wickedness, from that sin [of war and destruction], remains unheeded. Only a vigilant and well-informed public and a strong and active m ass movement can force the government of India to pay heed to the eloquent advise of Gandhi and Nehru and compel it to uphold the tenets of NAM and act accordingly. HAS THE MOVEMENT LOST ITS RELEVANCE? A DISCUSSION IN THE LIGHT OF THE FORMAL END OF THE COLD WAR AND COLONISM The 58-Year old NAM has remained an object of immense applause as well as ruthless criticism throughout its existence. The US dubbed it as immoral and non sense. The Western Scholars despised the NAM ever since the latter was reckoned as an important factor in international politics. Notwithstanding this criticism, NAM remained a potent and powerful force in the cold war era. It took bold stands on issues affecting the newly independent and developing countries and was decidedly, a force that neither of the two super powers could afford to ignore. The NAM as a movement of the small, newly-independent and developing countries has been determined to carve out an independent path of development and not to remain an appendage of any colonizing power or superpower. This objective helped NAM in making a significant headway throughout the cold war era. The crusade against imperialism and racism met with greater success with large number of colonies the list of the UN and NAM as sovereign and Independent nation states. The economic concerns were related to the North- South great economic divide, dubious role of the international financial institutions, poverty and above all the vitality for a strong South-South cooperation. The search was for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) envisaging the restructuring of the global financial and monetary structure on just and equitable grounds. NAM played the role of cooling effect in ensuring global peace in the midst of cold war rivalry. NAM has been subjected to more ruthless criticism in the post-cold war period than in its long career. In the changed international scenario-the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the end of the cold war, the question has been posed as to whether NAM remains valid or not, it is often argued that since Non-alignment was born and brought up in the cold war context why should it not be renounced in the post-cold war world ? But there can be a counter question. The cold war is over. The War saw Pact has been dismantled, the Soviet Union has disappeared. Is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) relevant? The non-aligned countries represent the will and voices of three-fourth humankind. In order to visualize its cherished goal the NAM needs to be especially innovative. The 21st century is for NAMs rebirth under new democratic philosophy. The 22 page, Declaration issued after the meeting of NAM Foreign Ministers, held at Accrais September 1991, entitled A World in Transition from Diminishing Confrontation Towards Increasing Cooperation emphasized that NAMs new focus must be on eradicating poverty, hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy and called on the international community to help. NAM supported the present efforts at strengthening the UN so as to render it, more democratic, effective and efficient. There was consensus among the Foreign Ministers for a bridging Agreement between NAM and the Group of 77 and proposed that a study should be made immediately of the modalities for reaching agreement between the two bodies for the introduction of a new system of periodic meetings of the joint coordination committee. The tectonic shifts in international relations over the last decade have challenged NAM to adopt itself to effectively tackle the new contemporary challenges. NAM should have a clear consensus on key issues of common concern to all of us. Multilateralism, reform of the UN system, global disarmament and combating global terrorism should be the political elements of this agenda. The collapse of Bipolarity and the rise of Unilateralism have given a unique cause to this developing body to strive for multilateralism in International relations. The issue of reforming the UN structure for a just world order has been going for long. The NAM should strive to restore the central role of the UN in the global economic issues, development and maintenance of peace and security in the world. Non-discriminatory, time-bound nuclear and general disarmament should be the objective towards which the movement should endeavour. The entire world today is facing a unique crisis in transnational terrorism, w hich is striking countrys political, economic and social edifice with immunity. The members within the NAM framework need to work out a realistic strategy to counter this danger in collaboration with the international community in a war footing. Perhaps the most important role for NAM today lies in framing a concrete economic agenda for a just and fair international economic order. The globalisation and liberalization trends worldwide have generated complex economic problems. The rich-poor divide has widened. The WTO rules and procedures have failed to provide adequate economic gains to the third world. WTO summits have failed to reach a consensus on many issues.  [13]  Its role in WTO negotiations to advance and protect the trading rights and opportunities of developing countries and in muscling up their negotiating position and skills would be the chief concern. It should strive to reform and reorient the globalization process through a strong developmental agenda. NAM has an effective role to play in this regard provided member countries try to see the benefits from a unified angle without any partisan considerations. South-South cooperation should become a major economic plank of the movement. Its role in the present century would be strengthened by more South-South cooperation, which would mean, by and large, collaboration between and among the NAM countries and defending their interests from fast expanding economic and technological power of the North. NAM should develop a progressive agenda on the fundamental values of democracy, Human rights and multiculturism. The preservation and consolidation of democracy throughout its membership is a major challenge. NAMs spectrum could be further enlarged with the increasing concern worldwide over environmental issues over green house gas emissions, health concerns especially AIDS, drug trafficking, rising instances of poverty and unemployment mostly within the NAM members and LDC countries, the rising digital divide between the rich and poor and fight against all shades of extreme, xenophobia, ethnic nationalism, regional wars. Non-alignment is a dynamic policy and retains its continuing relevance in world affairs by adapting itself to the changing international context and the needs of non-aligned community of nations. Peter Wiletts, another advocate of Non-alignment, holds the view that whether if will be a bipolar, multipolar or unipolar world, Non-alignment will have a place in it as an independent foreign policy. former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao commented: The pursuit of nonaligned foreign policy is ever more relevant (today) than ever before. Nonalignment basically consists of the espousal of the right to nations to independence and development, regardless of the bloc phenomenon. Whether there is one bloc or more at a given moment, the urge for a nonaligned country would continue to be to maintain its independence, to take decisions according to its light, not tagging along itself, in advance to others . . . . . He went on to add Chimera of hegemony must not be pursued. On the other hand, introspection also needs to be done on account of the recent lackadaisical approach of the heads of many countries who have failed to appear for the Summits of NAM. A more dynamic agenda needs to be adopted and adhered to because there still exist a number of basic issues in the developing countries which need to be addressed at the earliest. Though there has been a formal end to the factors had originally led to the origins of the movement, yet the second and the third world nations find themselves grappling with a number of other issues which cannot be said to be any less significant.

Abortion - Its Only Natural :: essays papers

Abortion - It's Only Natural The topic of abortion is one of the most controversial of our times. The fight between pro-life and pro-choice supporters has has caused countless confrontations and several deaths. Despite what many people may believe, abortion is neither right nor wrong. It is a matter of personal opinion. In this way, each side can say with certainty that the other is wrong. Therefore the question remains; should abortion be legal? Though some may disagree on this point, the fact is that legalized abortion is the only option that will protect the lives of American citizens. One only needs to look into American history to see the results of prohibiting abortions to women. The violence which occurs today because the of pro-choice/pro-life conflicts is minimal in comparison to the thousands of hopeless women who turned to the illegal abortions --either self-inflicted or preformed by the backroom "professionals"-- which resulted in infection, massive blood loss, and death. It is better now that they have a place to go where abortions can be performed cleanly and with minimal risk. Legalization of abortion is the only choice no matter what side one takes in the debate. Women will try to do what they think is necessary to live as they wish, no matter what the risk. In order to live as she chooses a woman may give up her freedom, her morals, her beliefs, her family, or even her life. Abortion has been around for thousands of years in every inhabited corner of the globe. It has always been accepted as a means to prevent the suffering of both woman and potential child. It has been practiced widely in every society for many reasons including famine, war, poverty, overpopulation, or simply because a woman felt she was not ready for a child (Whitney 40). No one ever questioned a woman's right to this procedure. After all, who but God had the right to judge what a woman did with her own body? This thought process lasted till the 1800's. During this era of change people began to turn their attention in a new direction, the fetus. They began to protest abortion as cruel, inhumane, and murderous. Filled with a new sense of purpose and the glory of a fresh, righteous cause to uphold this new morality swept the countryside Abortion - It's Only Natural :: essays papers Abortion - It's Only Natural The topic of abortion is one of the most controversial of our times. The fight between pro-life and pro-choice supporters has has caused countless confrontations and several deaths. Despite what many people may believe, abortion is neither right nor wrong. It is a matter of personal opinion. In this way, each side can say with certainty that the other is wrong. Therefore the question remains; should abortion be legal? Though some may disagree on this point, the fact is that legalized abortion is the only option that will protect the lives of American citizens. One only needs to look into American history to see the results of prohibiting abortions to women. The violence which occurs today because the of pro-choice/pro-life conflicts is minimal in comparison to the thousands of hopeless women who turned to the illegal abortions --either self-inflicted or preformed by the backroom "professionals"-- which resulted in infection, massive blood loss, and death. It is better now that they have a place to go where abortions can be performed cleanly and with minimal risk. Legalization of abortion is the only choice no matter what side one takes in the debate. Women will try to do what they think is necessary to live as they wish, no matter what the risk. In order to live as she chooses a woman may give up her freedom, her morals, her beliefs, her family, or even her life. Abortion has been around for thousands of years in every inhabited corner of the globe. It has always been accepted as a means to prevent the suffering of both woman and potential child. It has been practiced widely in every society for many reasons including famine, war, poverty, overpopulation, or simply because a woman felt she was not ready for a child (Whitney 40). No one ever questioned a woman's right to this procedure. After all, who but God had the right to judge what a woman did with her own body? This thought process lasted till the 1800's. During this era of change people began to turn their attention in a new direction, the fetus. They began to protest abortion as cruel, inhumane, and murderous. Filled with a new sense of purpose and the glory of a fresh, righteous cause to uphold this new morality swept the countryside

What Others Say about The Yellow Wallpaper -- Yellow Wallpaper essays

What Others Say about The Yellow Wallpaper      Ã‚  Ã‚   "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1890 and eventually published in 1892 in the New England Magazine and in William Dean Howells' collection, Great Modern American Stories (Shumaker 94). The story was original not only because of its subject matter, but also because it is written in the form of a loosely connected journal. It follows the narrator's private thoughts which become increasingly more confusing. The structure consists of disjointed sentences as the narrator gradually descends more and more into her madness as her only escape from an oppressive husband and society.    In "The Yellow Wallpaper" the narrator is a young woman who has moved into a strange old mansion with her psychiatrist husband. She is confined to her room as part of her treatment for a nervous breakdown. Isolated and forbidden to express herself creatively, she becomes obsessed with the garish yellow wallpaper. She becomes convinced there are women trapped behind the hideous pattern and eventually becomes lost in her delusions trying to free them (Gilman 1-15).    Charlotte Perkins Gilman originally sent her story to William Dean Howells who showed it to Atlantic Monthly editor Horace Scudder who sent it back to Gilman unpublished, saying, "I could not forgive myself if I made others as miserable as I made myself' (Shumaker 194). When Howells published the story in his own collection he described it as, "terrible and too wholly dire . . . too terribly good to be published" (Shoemaker 194). "The Yellow Wallpaper" hit a nerve with nineteenth-century readers as it went beyond a horror story and presented a damning portrait of the damaging role o... ...w Wallpaper." "The Yellow Wallpaper" and other Stories. New York: Dover Publications, 1997. 1-15.    Hedges, Elaine R. Afterword. The Yellow Wallpaper. 1973: 37-63. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism 9. Detroit: Gale: 1988.    Pringle, Mary Beth. " La poetique de Fespace' in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's `The Yellow Wallpaper''' The French-American Review. 3 (1979): 15-22.    Schopp-Schilling, Beate. "' The Yellow Wallpaper': A Rediscovered Realistic Story."' American Literary Realism 1870-1910. 8 (1975): 107-108.    Shumaker, Conrad. "'Too Terribly Good to Be Printed': Charlotte Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper'" American Literature. 57 (1985): 194-198.    Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in The Yellow Wallpaper"' Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 3 (1984): 61-77.

Essay examples --

Test without Torture Remember that pig or frog you dissected in the 8th grade? You were probably either completely fascinated by it, extremely repulsed, or just indifferent. Nevertheless, the point was to help you learn about the scientific method as well as getting a hands-on experience in learning about a topic. Dissecting an animal was supposed to help the students with discovering information on their own. However, if this lab is done every year at hundreds of schools, the amount of wasted and discarded animals can add up to millions all for a middle school experiment. In a way, scientists approach the matter of testing on animals in a similar method. It allows for the discovery of new information to help humans progress in life. The subject of animal testing is a controversial topic that is deeply divided among the ethics and practicality of the practice. Scientists generally favor animal testing because it allows for the advancement in medicines and treatments, while animal rights activists question the ethics of testing on animals. When we are sick, we take antibiotics in hopes of getting better. However, there must be a way to ensure that the antibiotic is safe to take in the first place. Health is always an issue and is not about to go away any time soon. It affects not only the human population, but the entire world as well. New diseases and conditions are constantly appearing and in return, doctors and scientists must find a way to counteract these illnesses. Is testing on animals worth the discovery of a new treatment or medication? Without the use of animals for research, we may not have the luxury of vaccines, organ transplants, antiseptic surgery, or treatment for diseases. On the other hand, there is also the aspe... ...ates are inevitable. Is it ever okay for animals to suffer? Would you ever wish excruciating physical pain even on your worst enemy? If your answer is no, then why do we to it to innocent animals? With the new advancements in technology, it is unnecessary to continue exploiting animals in experiments. Computer programs have developed more accurate results on the effect of products on humans than animals have. While millions of animals must be used every year to test a single chemical, updated technology completely eliminates the need for animal testing. This is much more practical economy-wise as well as morally so. We as humans have a duty to preserve the rights of animals and come to the rescue when they are violated. Although the transformation from using live animals to digital computers may be lengthy, taking action is still progressing in the right direction.

Inquiry Based Science Instruction Using Science Fair Projects Essay

In order to fully develop critical thinking skills necessary to function in the world of science, and the world in general, science teachers must incorporate more robust authentic inquiry activities, as part of their overall science curriculum. However, in my experience as a science teacher (18 years) and a science program director (3 years) in inner-city high schools in Boston, students do not have the opportunity to engage in robust authentic inquiry activities. Using my years’ experience in the public education system, it is clear to me that factors, such as teachers’ inadequate content knowledge, lack of motivation to implement inquiry, pressure to teach to high stake standardized tests, lack of experience conducting scientific research, and belief systems, hamper their ability and willingness to implement robust inquiry activities as part of their teaching. As a result, students suffer by not only missing the opportunity to fully engage in authentic inquiry, but also become unmotivated to engage in scientific research and or pursue scientific careers. The most effective means by which to overcome this authentic inquiry deficit is through the implementation of science fair projects, which go beyond traditional â€Å"cookbook lab† teaching methodologies. And while I am fully cognizant of the fact that my experience in this matter is biased based upon the workings of the Boston inner-city school system only, academics, such as Thienhuong Hoang, agree that science fair allow students to conduct scientific experiments thereby engaging them in inquiry process, rather than only allowing them to learn concepts. 2010) Inquiry and the Science Fair Project For decades, inquiry has been the focus of science teaching. The National Research Council (NRC), for example, refers to inquiry as the central strategy for teaching science‚ (1996), and defines inquiry as â€Å"the diverse way in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on evidence derived from their work. † (1996) In addition, NRC notes that inquiry seeks to create opportunities for learners to engage in science and to build an in-depth understanding based on their previous ideas and experiences. Further, NRC recommends that teachers engage students in inquiry asking scientific questions, using evidence in responding to questions, formulating explanations from evidence, connecting explanations to scientific knowledge, and communicating and justifying findings. (2000) I fully concur with the position of NRC regarding inquiry, and have, throughout both my prior teaching career and current position as a science program director, included and required teachers to include inquiry – and particularly science fair – as the foundation of their teaching. As a result, students have achieved deeper content knowledge and broader understanding of scientific processes. Inquiry through science fair projects, rather than traditional â€Å"cookbook lab† methods of science teaching and learning, in which students follow a predetermined protocol and the results of the experiment are known in advance, allow students to more fully engage in critical thinking and learning. Further, only inquiry – and specifically science fair – helps students better develop and understand the need to engage in probing questions to scientific problems. This, in turn, affords students increased opportunities to propose and develop their own methodologies, and increases their scientific literacy skills. Thus, science fair projects are a key link between science education and the work of scientists in real life. An aspect of scientists’ work that I believe is crucial for students to acquire is the significance of ethics and conclusions based on data collected through scientific research, due to the potential implication of the scientist’s work on society. For example, the racial classification in the early 18th century of the superiority and inferiority of races, which became part of the Western racial ideology, was the result of scientific research involving different human characteristics, which was later determined to be falsified. (Carlton, 2008) Similarly, western gender stereotypes have biased historical research of gender studies in the south (Fennell and Arnot, 2008); thereby rendering such research limited in its historical significance and material use. Thus, exposing students to authentic scientific inquiry via science fair projects is not only necessary to the student’s academic success, it is, in my opinion, a vital component of the development of critical thinking skills necessary to separate authentic scientific data and research results from potentially questionable results; like the superiority/inferiority of different races and other biases. Teacher Beliefs and Experience  Teachers’ actions in the classroom tend to reflect their own belief systems. This holds true both in my own experience working in the field of education, and other academics. For as Wallace and Kang note in their article â€Å"An Investigation of Experienced Secondary Science Teachers’ Beliefs About Inquiry: An Examination of Competing Beliefs Sets†, â€Å"what a teacher actually does in the classroom is representative of her beliefs. (2004) Additionally, in conducting research for their article â€Å"White Male Teachers on Differences: Narratives of Contact and Tensions†, Jupp and Slattery note the comments of one of the participants in the research project as stating â€Å"†¦teachers are certainly biased against certain children, especially if they don’t know them, and often are surprised at the amount of intelligence and cultural awareness of minority children who have been raised in quote-unquote the right way, you know, the middle class family type of situation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2010) A teacher holding this ideology, for example, is likely to engage students in an inferior level of inquiry because the teacher’s assumption is that such students are incapable of critical thinking. Jupp and Slattery also noted in the interview of participants (Ibid), â€Å"†¦you can see that people are going out of their way to be sure that students don’t feel divorced from the curriculum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This translates to teachers’ beliefs that if the emphasis is placed on inquiry – and specifically science fair projects, which requires a great deal of time – it will be at the expense of teaching for high stake standardized tests. Finally, Wallace and Kang, (2004) in their article â€Å"An Investigation of Experienced Secondary Science Teachers’ Beliefs About Inquiry: An Examination of Competing Beliefs Sets†, note that the teacher’s knowledge, or lack thereof, dictates his or her actions in the classroom. 2004) Therefore, it is clear to me – both in my own experiences in the field of education and based upon the literature – the possession of strong content knowledge, as well as research and science teaching e xperience, is essential to the effective teaching of inquiry, since a teacher that possesses this necessary skill set is better equipped to help students develop their ideas through probing at a deeper level. The use of science fair projects, therefore, is a key bridge in this knowledge gap, since science fair allows students the ability to conduct their own scientific research and develop their own scientific hypotheses. Barriers to Inquiry Studies show that there exist many barriers affecting the implementation of inquiry. For example, Trautmann, MaKinster, and Avery, in their article â€Å"What Makes Inquiry so Hard (And Why is it Worth it? )†, cite that the main reason teachers are reluctant to implement inquiry stems from the need to be efficient. 2004) Teachers feel they have to choose between teaching facts which students later regurgitate on standardized tests, and teaching with a focus on in-depth learning, which is more effectively attained through inquiry – and specifically through science fair projects. Trautmann, MaKinster and Avery also noted that the pressure placed upon teachers and schools to prepare students for high stake standardized tests impedes the implementation of inquiry in science classes. (Ibid) As a result, science teachers feel the need to maintain control of their classroom, as a method of controlling the curriculum required for standardized tests, rather than allow students to work independently on science fair projects. Another obstacle hampering the implementation of authentic scientific inquiry teaching – and specifically the implementation of science fair projects – is that teachers have a tendency to employ the same teaching strategies as the ones they experienced as students. (Davis, 2003) As such, they resist change and miss the opportunity to be innovative in their teaching by incorporating inquiry into their curriculum – especially with respect to science fair projects. Further, teacher training, in general, does not offer an effective model for the practice of science instruction based on inquiry. As a consequence, teachers are limited in their ability to carry out authentic inquiry, in general, in their classrooms. This inability to teach via authentic inquiry prohibits them from adopting science fair projects as part of their curriculum.

Community Service Organization in Florida Essay

The aspect of community service plays an important role in the contemporary community as this serve the most critical and significant needs of the public through actual interaction and organization dedication. Community service organizations are mainly established to provide effective and efficient public works for the benefits of the society on a non-profit agenda. These organizations are motivated by their selfless intentions to address the critical needs of the public, which they find to be overlooked by the general social system. As founded by individuals who are motivated to cater to the needs of the common people, community service organization becomes the tool sufficing for the intricate needs of certain individuals in different aspects. In the state of South Florida, the Jewish Community Services manifests to be an important community organization addressing senior adult needs in their locality. The JCS organization has many service pursuits ranging from healthcare, employments assistance, rehabilitation, food services and others, which are all viewed to be among the important social service needs in the Florida state. As this state tends to rapidly progress, their general social system tends to overlook certain social needs, which are still important in the humanitarian aspect. Because of this, organizations such as the Jewish Community Services are founded to attend to their certain community services for selfless idealism. Indeed, this organization is making an important contribution for the betterment of their society establishing them as an important cogwheel in the Florida’s humanitarian aspect. Organizations such as the JCS give off important social services without expecting financial commensuration from their target patients as part of their idealism for selfless contribution. As such, it is only appropriate to give due support to the cause of these organizations namely the JCS. Putting in contributions and manpower involvement to their cause will further enhance their effectiveness and efficiency towards addressing their purpose in the Florida’s social community. Indeed, through participating or contributing to the activities and programs of the JCS social service organization, every individual can realize a humanitarian purpose of selflessly addressing the critical needs of others for the betterment of their life as human beings. Bibliography Jewish Community Services of South Florida. October 23, 2007. http://www. jcsfl. org/.