Raising My Voice by Malalai Joya

The book I studied is â€Å"Raising my voice† by Malalai Joya. This is the extraordinary story of the award winning Afghan woman who dares to speak out. She was born in Western Afghanistan. Three days after she was born, a soviet-backed coup changed her life forever. Within a year, Afghanistan was an occupied country, and she says â€Å"since then war is all we Afghans have known. † (p. 7, 2009) Her childhood was spent in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. Her family were forced to leave Afghanistan to avoid the war. This was not a welcoming experience. â€Å"Afghans were seen as second-class humans by the Iranian government. (p. 19, 2009) Her father who was a Doctor was forced to do difficult jobs for very low wages, simply because he was an Afghan and not Iranian. Her family spent four years living in terrible conditions as exiles in Iran. â€Å"About 85,000 Afghans were squeezed into filthy, over-crowded camps. We were neglected and forgotten, where we baked in the heat of the day and shivered at night. † (p. 20, 2009) Malalai’s father believed so strongly in the value of education, even for girls, so to him, what was even worse than these living conditions were the fact that there were no schools in these camps. Afghan children were not allowed to attend Iranian schools and for this reason, her family decided to leave Iran and move to Pakistan. It was in Pakistan, that Malalai first attended a school. The school was the only school that allowed Afghan female refugees to attend. Malalai really enjoyed her classes and immediately valued the importance of education. In 1992, when Malalai was fourteen, her family moved back to Afghanistan. However, it wasn’t long before she would move back to Pakistan because it was far too unsafe to live in Afghanistan. â€Å"Young girls were being abducted, raped and killed by roaming gangs. (p. 30, 2009) â€Å"At night, armed fighters of criminal mujahideen groups would often walk right into people’s homes. All the children were locked in a bedroom with the light off and told to remain silent. We were terrified, but we could not cry out as we listened to these men yelling and turning things upside down around the house, taking whatever they pleased. † (p. 31, 2009) Malalai used to listen to the radio with her father. There were regular reports about the intifada in Palestine, and how their children were bravely fighting against the aggression of Israeli troops. She asked her father, â€Å"Why are we not from Palestine, where the children are so brave? † He replied â€Å"If that’s the way you feel, why don’t you think about becoming like a Palestinian in your own country? † (p. 39, 2009) I think this was what made Malalai go into politics and fight for her country. â€Å"This had a deep impact on me. I thought about what he said for days. I wanted to work to end what was going on in Afghanistan, and perhaps my father was showing me the way. † (p. 30, 2009) In 1998, Malalai joined the Organisation for Promoting Afghan Women’s Capabilities (OPAWC) as a full-time social activist. After living in exile for sixteen years, she returned to Afghanistan for her job to teach girls in defiance of the Taliban. This job came with a risk. However Malalai accepted the risk involved and adopted the surname Joya to protect her family’s identity. â€Å"Teaching at an underground girls’ school was a dangerous job, but I never considered giving it up. I felt it was a great injustice that Afghan girls were being denied an education. The Taliban wanted to keep them in the dark, because any time a group is denied education it is harder for them to know their rights and to fight for them. (p. 56, 2009) Upon Malalai’s return to Afghanistan, she had to learn to wear the burqa as this was a requirement from the Taliban. â€Å"I didn’t like it. Not one bit. It’s not only oppressive but it’s more difficult than you might think. You have no peripheral vision because of the netting in front of your eyes. And it’s hot and suffocating under there. The only useful thing about those long blue robes was that they could be used to hide school books and other forbidden objects. † (p. 44, 2009) Men had to grow thick beards as long as a â€Å"clenched fist†. (p. 3, 2009) according to the rules of male grooming. Books other than the Quran were forbidden. Television, movies, and recorded music were also illegal. The Taliban considered practising any other religion un-Islamic so they made it a crime. They would blow up or scrape off the faces of any other religious statues, paintings or photographs. In the Summer of 2001, Malalai was named the director of OPAWC in Western Afghanistan so she had to move back to where she was born. â€Å"We were just getting re-established when, on the night of September 11th, the radio broadcast some horrifying news. Within days everyone knew that there would be a war. † (p. 57, 2009) America started dropping bombs on Afghanistan daily, killing the lives of innocent people. The Taliban was replaced by the Northern Alliance. In 2003, the OPAWC opened a health clinic which was run by Malalai, again her safety was at risk as this was illegal. This health clinic soon expanded into an orphanage. Throughout the history of Afghanistan, whenever the country faced important reforms or changes in government, tribal elders and other leaders have assembled in a traditional gathering called a Loya Jirga. In 2003, the United Nations was called in to oversee elections to a Loya Jirga. At the age of twenty-five, Malalai decided to get involved in the new political process in Afghanistan. â€Å"I had come to know first-hand their extreme suffering-especially that of women. I felt that our people needed their voices to be heard. † (p. 71, 2009) â€Å"I was determined to help put an end to the rule of the warlords and fundamentalists, and I knew the great majority of Afghan men and women shared this aim. I did not understand at the time how this decision would change my life forever. † (p. 2, 2009) Malalai was the winner of this Loya Jirga. The second Loya Jirga Malalai attended; she was shocked and appalled to see warlords and other well known war criminals there that had made Afghanistan the war ridden country that it is. So in her speech she spoke of this. â€Å"My criticism of all my compatriots is why you are allowing the legitimacy and legality of this Loya Jirga to come into question due to the presence of those criminals who have brought our country to this state. Why would you allow criminals to be present here? They are responsible for our situation now! † (p. 3, 2009) During her speech, she was asked to stop and she was escorted out of the Loya Jirga. That night, men came to a place where they thought Malalai would be staying to rape and kill her. Luckily, she was not there. Even though Malalai did not return to the second day at the Loya Jirga, her name was making headlines around the world. In 2005, at the age of twenty-seven, she was the youngest person to be elected to the new Parliament. Since then, she survived numerous assassination attempts and continued to press the cause of those who elected her. Whenever Malalai spoke in Parliament, her microphone would be cut off. My days in Parliament were always stressful and lonely because I was constantly being attacked and insulted. Sometimes I would raise the red card on my desk in protest, or even walk out in disgust. † (p. 153, 2009) In 2007, in a television interview, Malalai criticised the criminals and warlords in Parliament, â€Å"If the Afghan Parliament continued on its current path, people would soon call it a zoo or a stable. † (p. 170, 2009) However, Malalai specified that this comment was intended for the criminals and warlords and were not intended for the MPs who were real representatives. This part of her statement was left out when it was aired on television and it made her sound like she was criticising the whole Parliament which in turn is the nation because the Parliament is the ‘house of the nation. ’ â€Å"This programme ended up defaming me in the eyes of the Afghan people while giving my enemies in Parliament ammunition to use against me. † (p. 171, 2009) Malalai was suspended from Parliament for ‘insulting the institution of Parliament. ’ Protests and rallies were held worldwide to get Malalai back into Paliament. The support Malalai received was astonishing. Even some of my fellow parliamentarians have approached me to discreetly tell me that they support me, but they cannot do so publicly. † (p. 178, 2009) However, Malalai’s banishment from Parliament has meant her message has been spread worldwide. â€Å"Although I am no longer able to stand up in Parliament and raise my voice for justice, my enemies have accidently given me a gift. Because now my message is being carried further than ever before, and the cause of my people is heard all over the world. † (p. 188, 2009) The war is still continuing in Afghanistan to this day. She is not confident about this changing since Obama has been elected. He and his foreign policy advisors do not appear to have learned from the past seven years-the course they are pursuing will only push the region into a wider war and more destruction. † (p. 249, 2009) â€Å"Today we live under the shadow of the gun, and with the most corrupt and unpopular government in the world. † (p. 253, 2009) Malalai has done a lot for her country and people and has no regrets. â€Å"I would never want to take back any of the speeches I have made, nor any of the statements I have issued denouncing the corrupt and violent men and women who use and abuse their power to keep Afghanistan in their grip. (p. 267, 2009) I truly believe Malalai has made an unforgettable mark in her country and she believes this also. â€Å"You can kill me, but you can never kill my spirit. † (p. 270, 2009) I think Malalai diagnoses what is wrong with the strategic decisions being made by society throughout her life very accurately and very bravely. All her life, she has gone against what the rulings of Afghanistan have suggested is correct in order to fight for what she personally believes is correct. Malalai leads the reader to consider new strategic directions not just for the individual but also for society as a whole. The majority of the people in Afghanistan especially women are just followers, even if they do not agree with something. Malalai was brave enough to go against this from a very young age. She was fortunate to be part of a family who treated boys and girls the same and luckily her father knew the value of education so made sure she went to school. Without education she would not have the knowledge or power to be the woman she is today. She wanted to give this opportunity to other Afghan girls, so she went against the Taliban to do this through her teaching with the OPAWC. She also went against the Taliban by opening a health clinic and an orphanage. This showed what a genuinely caring person Malalai was and that she was willing to risk her life to help strangers. Malalai is the first person not to mention first woman to stand up in the Loya Jirga and speak about the warlords and criminals the way she did. In her 2007 television interview, I think she is very brave for saying the things she said, however, I feel that maybe the words she used were not correct. She maybe should have been more professional as she should have remembered her role as a parliamentarian; however I think she spoke that way because she was so passionate about this subject and I do not believe these comments should have led her to be banished from Parliament, if anything she should have just been suspended. Through reading the whole book, speaking the way she did may have been the best route to take as all her other efforts seem to be unnoticed and although it resulted in her being banished from Parliament, she gained international recognition so that she can spread her views further than just Afghanistan. I do find Malalai’s arguments and story convincing, because I think Afghanistan is a much oppressed country and a sexist country. I agree that the way the warlords have run the country have led it to destruction and war. It is wrong that women are forced to wear the burqa. Nobody should be denied of an education and anyone who can justify raping and killing young girls should not be ruling a country. In my own personal strategy in life, I believe in standing up for what I believe is right. You can achieve your goals if you have the right knowledge, strategy and will power to do so-as long as you know you are right.

Individual and environmental factors Essay

1.1Explain the individual and environmental factors that impact positively or negatively on learning. The study of adult learning – ANDRAGOGY – originated in Europe in the 1950s and was then pioneered as a theory and model of adult learning from the 1970s by Malcolm knowles, an American practitioner and theorist of adult education. He defined androgogy as: „the art and science of helping adults learnâ€Å" Knowles identified six principles of adult learning, which are: 1.Adults are internally motivated and self-directed. 2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences. 3. Adults are goal oriented. 4. Adults are relevancy oriented. 5. Adults are practical. 6. Adults learners like to be respected. With individualised learning the trainer needs to consider and cater for the needs of individual participants. Some of the key factors to consider are: -Rates of learning and learning style -Attitude -Maturity -Interest which effect the level of learning -Motivation -Learners can work at their own pace at the time most convenient to them -Different learning styles can be accommodated -Etc. All this above mentioned factors can have positive or negative impact on learning. I have identified that people have different learning styles and it is very important to utilise this to gaing the most from each individual learner and to help make their learning as effective as possible. There is no one right combination of elements that will magically result in a positive climate for learning for every participant. There is also four kinds of learning styles: -Visual learning style has a preference for seen or observed things, including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films,  flip-chart, etc. These people will use phrases such as „show meâ€Å", „lets have a look at thatâ€Å" and will be bes table to perform a new task after reading the instrucitons or watching someone else do it first. These are people who will work from lists and written derections and instructions. -Auditory learning style has a preference for the transfer of information through listening: to spoken word, of self or others, of sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as „tell meâ€Å", lets talk it overâ€Å" and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. -Kinaesthetic learning styles has a preference for physical experience touching, feeling, holding, doing,, practical hands-on experience. These people will use phrases such as „let met tryâ€Å", how do you feel? And will be best table to perform a new task by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. These are the people who like to experiment, hands-on, and never look at the instructions first. -Auditory digital learning style has a preference for working outside of the senses. People will tend to: have a need to make sense of the word, to figure things out, to understand. Talk to themselves and carrz on conversations with you in their mind.Learn by working things out in their mind.Not to be spontaneous, as they like to think things through. Have logic play a key role in the decision process as do facts and figures. Memorize by steps, procedures, sequences. The learners have a wide range of learning needs and styles, and this diversity must be take into account by employing a variety of training methods. In additions, the size of the venue, the arrangement of the furniture, the functioning of equipment and other physical aspects of the training room all contribute to, or detract from, the learning evironment. When these factors can be manipulated to be positive influences, an environment more conductive to learning will be created. Organisational and process decisions: Venue, Facilities,Environment, Meals and refreshments, Accessibility, Cost and Physical layout. Environment – the environment around the training centre should be conductive to training taking place. There are various ways in which we can adapt the learning environment so that it caters for the physical needs of the participants: The temperature and environment within a training room should facilitate learning, it should be warm but not excessively hot or too cold because participants should be comfortable to pay enought attention to presentation. The layout of the room should be inviting suggesting the prospect of interesting activity and with adequate „break outâ€Å" areas. Make sure that you are comfortable with the layout of the room to deliver the best of your ability and the training will not be as effective as it otherwise could have been. A positive learning environment nurtures these feelings by allowing sudents to explore and expand their knowledge without undue risk or fear. Bring all types of learning could be positive for the individual as we are all different people and also confidentatiality is important too. Negative impact can be that participants do not switch off mobile phones what may lead to disturbing other participants and also trainer. Another negative factor could be lighting which should be appropriate for activities such as note taking, viewing of audio-visual aids and hands-on computer training otherwise it will have impact on individuals or group. Resource availability is based on available resources. The venue will have available a laptop, with internet access and an overhead projector. A flip chart will be available together with marker pens and pens and paper. Formative Assessment the goal of formative assessment is to gather feedback that can be used by the instructor and the students to guide improvements in the ongoing teaching and learning context. These are low stakes assessments for students and instructors. Examples: †¢Asking students to submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture †¢Have students submit an outline for a paper. †¢Early course evaluations Summative Assessment the goal of summative assessment is to measure the level of success or proficiency that has been obtained at the end of an instructional unit, by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. Examples: †¢Assigning a grade to a final exam †¢Critique of a Senior recital †¢University Faculty Course Evaluations The outcome of a summative assessment can be used formatively, however, when students or faculty take the results and use them to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses. ACTIVITY 2 Undertaken at the workshop. ACTIVITY 3 How you created a positive learning environment: To create a positive learning environment i made sure the temperature and enviromnent within a training room was fine, e.g. warm but not excessively hot or cold, clean, welcoming, bright and colorful.Lighting was appropriate for activities such as note taking, viewing of audio – visual aids that the layout of the room was inviting, suggesting the prospect of interesing acitivity and with adequate „break outâ€Å" arears and also that the participants had free access to water and toilets. The feedback on your activity from learner participants: To get the feedback on my presentation from learner participants i used a feedback questionnaire with the following questions. On a scale of 1 – 5 (1being the worst and 5 being the best) please circle the one that applies 1.Was the learning informative? 2.Was the information delivered in a concise and structured manner? 3.Did you find the learning topic interesting? 4.Do you feel you were supported through questioning and feedback? 5.Did you find the activity clear and simple to follow And i aslo left space for any other comments or development needs. Comments and development needs recommended by participants: my topis was Junk food vs Healthy food would be good to explain more healthy options, could do meal plans – suggest exercise reqires the slides were sometimes unclear – blue words – blue background. Enjoyed though. No – good presentation Good reminder of what we know and why i tis important to eat healthily. I will try to eat less sugar!! No, very clear and enthusiastidly given. No. Was a very good presentation, good use of powerpoint slides. Observation record from assessor Les Curzon: OBSERVATION RECORD: F211A Candidate name:LUKAS DEMJANJUNK FOOD/HEALTHY FOOD Demjan898@gmail.com Unit 3DLA Delivering Learning and Development Activities Observation Criteria Assessor feedback – to be completed by the assessor with notes to support the decision Creates an environment that is positive & conducive to learning – e.g. – health & safety – room layout – welcome – accommodates needs – puts participant at ease – builds rapport H&S not covered Ice breaker, write favourite food. The audience was some distance away and some had their back to you to start with. Structures & sequences effectively for learning e.g. – introduction – main body – conclusion Good introduction and you got the attention of the learners. Main body informative Provides clear aims / learning outcomes No clear aims and objectives. Manages learning activity effectively – uses a range of appropriate training skills Tended to be mostly lecture style with a few questions. – uses learning resources appropriately and effectively Good use of PowerPoints with appropriate images and addresses VAK. – supports learners via questioning and feedback Asked lots of questions but tended to be closed â€Å"does anybody† – uses appropriate formative & summative assessment methods Formative through Q&A, summative Q&A – could have had a quiz. Could have designed a meal. – summarises and concludes the learning and development activity Summarised throughout and reinforced – assists learners to reflect on their learning and identify further needs Via Evaluation form – collects feedback from participants Evaluation form General Comments / Feedback Lukas, An informative session on healthy food. The identified need being to improve the health of employees? The audience were physically distant and you could have brought them closer to you. This could have been achieved after your ice breaker I am aware that you did the presentation in your second language. You tended to read which slowed the pace and it lacked energy. You need to plan and prepare in good time. You have the basics of a good session and need to develop it by having SMART objectives and lots of activities. A good effort and you need to consider the Systematic Training Cycle when you reflect in your TMA. Well done. Smart objectives should be: Specific means making a clear statement about the knowledge or skill that the trainee should be able to do and actually demostrate at the end of the course. This includes the level of operation, such as „after the training, te trainee should be able to use the machine safely and efficiently to produce the product at the specified qualityâ€Å". Measurable means that the standard of the trainees performance after the training can be measured in terms of, for example, quality and number of tiems in a specified period of time. Achievable means that it should be possible for the trainee to achieve the objectives in the light of the situation, the practicability, and the intelligence and motivation of the trainee. Realistic means that the objectives should be obviously useful and clearly related to the type of work that the trainee carries out. Time – related means that the trainee should be able to develop understanding, attain concepts and demonstrate skills withing a pre – specified period of time. For example, uou mighy be able to type a leeter perfectly if you took an hour to do it, but not if you only had five minutes.A skilled typist would be able to achive the objective in the shorter time. EVALUTATION AGAINST SYSTEMATIC LEARNING CYCLE 1. Identify training needs There are several ways in which training needs may be identified but unfortunately i did not have a choice to find out the training needs as i met the participants for the very first time. 2. Set training objectives In general, the objective of training is to develop in people the knowledge and understanding, skills and competence that they need to meet required performance standards. I did not concentrate that much on the Smart objectives but for the futher development needs i will need to plan and prepare in good time. 3. Plan the training Bearing in mind the nature of the subject matter in which employee needs to be trained, decisions have to be made about how and where it is to be carried out. There are several choices. Most training, however, falls into one of two categories: On-the-job trainin, which as the term implies, takes place while the trainee is actually working or it could be Of-job-training, which may be external training, when, for example, an individual or a small group is sent to a local college or training centre or to a higher education institution to undertake a professional qualification.I could not decide where was i doing presentation. 4. implement the training There is six training methods such as Lecture, Seminar, Case study, Role-play, Syndicate work, Exercises i decided for seminar which is ideal to discuss a topic or concept. I think it was effective because i introduced the subject and run a group discussion where trainess presented their views on which i could comment. I also used training media PowerPoint and visual aids such as overhead projector and flipchart which i used for the answers to my questions and for laying main points of a talk. It was effective way of learning because people pay enought attention to the powerpoint presentation.Preperation involved working on the detail of the training session and also draft my notes of what i was going to say. I went through each element of the course carefully, drafted a separate set of notes for each element but did not place them in a file which was making me confused and lost. I did not cover Ice breaker but aafter i had a good introduction and attention of the learners. Main sect ions were informative. No clear aims and objectives And tended to read which slowed the pace and it lacked energy. 5. Evaluate the course It is a socially interactive process after which the participants should feel  confident that htey have all learned from the experience. Additionally, it should also be effecitve i terms of achieving the trianing objectives which i need to develop by having Smart objectives and a lot of activities. 6. Analysis and review It is rare for a training session that is being run for the first time to achieve every single aspect of every objective. Analysis and review is the final stage of the systematic trianing cycle which helped me to reveal areas that need to be improved and showed me what do i need to work on. 2 RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE MY FUTURE PERFORMANCE: 1. IceBreaker It is very important to get the participants talking to each other and to relax because people can be quite intimidated at courses, especially in front of a big group so more i get them to relax and enjoy it, the more easily they will learn. 2. Running a trainning session In advance of actually running a session, i will need to go through my notes and learn them so well that i will not need to refer to them because it lack energy

The best way to influence the government by ordinary people Essay

The best way to influence the government by ordinary people - Essay Example make sure that the government listens to the views of the ordinary citizen, and in recent times social networking sites and blogs are proving to be an excellent pathway. The great advantage of social networking sites like facebook, or even twitter, is that they can reach a large number of people very quickly. When an idea takes hold on the internet and is passed from person to person, then it is called a â€Å"viral† process, because it spreads like a virus through the contacts that are made. We can see in the so-called â€Å"Arab Spring† that dissatisfaction with government performance has resulted in protests all across North Africa and the Middle East. Demonstrations and rallies are co-ordinated by facebook, in the large cities at least, and this means that many voices can be heard at the same time, forcing the government to take notice. This has resulted in violence on some occasions, because of the strong feelings of the protestors and the harsh reaction by the governments concerned. Violence, however, is not the best way bring about change. People suffer because of it, and many become bitter, resulting in a cycle of destruction t hat helps nobody. A more effective use of social networking, and one which is used in the United States, is to make concerns public on the internet, and to draw attention to issues that a lot of people would like to change. Many pathways from the twentieth century like writing letters to a member of Congress, or drawing up a petition, or even lobbying key politicians, can now be done online in the twenty-first century. The issue of climate change has many different dimensions, and an ordinary citizen can choose social networking sites for different types of action. For local issues, it is possible to join a local lobbying group, and to participate in meetings, for example to protest about any environmental damage being done by a local factory. Dates and times can be published on the protest group’s web, or blog, or facebook page,

Naturalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Naturalism - Essay Example From the report it is clear the major theme in the literature of naturalism is that people are destined to any kind of life that the environment, inheritance and social circumstances have prepared for them. Another element that was recurring was the power of emotions which are primitive so as to negate human being’s reasoning. Naturalism takes the world the way it is, for good or sickness. As the study declares a novel for literature is often distinguished by the characteristics and life experiences of the people in the novel. Ironweed is a novel discussing the life of people who were homeless in the city of Albany, discussing about their lives under poverty and depression. The novel basically discusses one major protagonist who is known as Francis. He lived a troubled life full of violence but he longed for the day he will understand himself and change his life. The novel Ironweed is a literature novel which was written by William Kennedy. The setting of the book was during the era of the great depression. The novel talks of a man by the name Francis Phelan who was a drug addict and ended up killing his own son, though it was accidental. He also killed other people who had wronged him since he was filled with anger and could act with violence when a person does something wrong to him. Francis is the main character since the novel talks about his life as an alcohol add ict and the consequences that followed him.

Managing IT-Enabled Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing IT-Enabled Change - Essay Example Again, no information directly relevant to practicing or leading to IT-enabled changes can be found in Kotter’s Model. It is guided in another previous research that organizational dynamics of IT-enabled changes must be understood by managers so that the challenging task of implementing advanced IT-enabled changes could be kept from failing (Manzoni and Angehrn, 1998, p. 110). As quoted by Iveroth (2010, p. 136), earlier research focuses more on strategic guidelines and research by Manzoni and Angehrn (1998) also does not address detailed elements of practice much. Still, it is not like previous research on IT-enabled change management could be called nonexistent as it actually recognizes that record for IT implementation has not remained very good. An example of this includes research by Benjamin and Levinson (1993) according to whom, â€Å"technology, business process, an organization must be adapted to each other for such change to be effective†. The researchers have retrieved the information from a total of 12 managers. The rationale behind interviewing only 12 managers is not clear. A better approach would have been to supplement the total number of interviewees with some reference from a research paper that justifies this number to represent the organization of Ericsson as a whole. Although the researchers have made a good effort in drawing information from a three-year case study of Ericsson, yet it is a relatively unusual case in that the evidence is quite specific to the case. It is hard to generalize the findings elsewhere given the technological expertise of Ericsson. Ericsson has been providing telecommunications equipment to the network operators all over the world for a long time, so their interaction with IT is probably much more than an average organization considering their nature of work.   

New Business Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

New Business Proposal - Essay Example kit, 2011). The product is targeted towardsa customer base that has concern for the environment, and wants to contribute to its wellbeing by reducing their eco/foot print impact etc. The product is also expected to do well in the market because of its uniqueness and the fact that no online retailer has done this before. The detailed marketing strategy of the product has been discussed as follows: Product Strategy: The reusable and recycled bags are to be made of both recycled cotton and plastic materials. The brand awareness of ASOS will be relied upon as one of the key competitive advantages. Along with that, the good relationships of the ASOS brand with the suppliers and the high purchasing power that it has will also serve as a plus for the awareness and promotion of these bags. Another key aspect that would greatly benefit the product would be that of first mover advantage as up till now no online retailer has come up with this sort of idea. The bags will be made available to the markets of the UK and Ireland only. These bags would be large in size so as to serve for accommodating things for multiple purposes (posting, usage etc.) and they would have the ASOS logo on them. A specific percentage of the revenues generated would be granted to charities so as to better create an impact in terms of working towards the collective good of people and the overall society. The product is to be similar to Anya Hindermarch’s ‘I am not a plastic bag’ concept that encouraged people not to use plastic bags (Winterman, 2007) with a number of customized touches added to it. These would include a more stylish outlook, larger size that is to add to its value in terms of convenience, and finally, because of its outlook and size, these bags would be multipurpose serving the purposes of both shopping and delivering. The bag would also have specific customer number ID on it which would allow bag tracking/identification. The bag would be designed as such that i t would ensure maximum protection of the clothes etc. placed in it. The bags would say, â€Å"Yes I shop at ASOS because I carry their delivery envelope shopping bag†. Once, the product has established itself in the market, the producers can even go on to offer a variety in the colours and styles being offered and can eventually go on to offer customization options as well to grab all the more market share. Pricing: The pricing strategy has been decided to be cost based pricing in which the price is set in accordance to the production costs inculcating costs of goods and fixed assets plus a specific amount of profit margin (Allen, 2012). On that note, the price of the bags has been estimated to be in the bracket of about ?2.00 or 2.50 as a certain percentage of the revenues would also be going to some welfare cause or charity and hence that would also be kept under consideration while setting the final price. Place: The bag would be produced and supplied by a supplier with th e design accustomed to ASOS brand. Special trainings would be given to the logistics team in terms of identifying the bag, instructions on usage of the bag, dealing with lost or damaged bags (small charge, goodwill replacements) and in terms of teaching customers on how, why and where to use the bags. Promotion: The

Further Education, Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Further Education, - Personal Statement Example It has also reinforced my belief in the importance of education. As I see my own children go off to school, I am reminded that I am the model that they will pattern their own life after. My education will fulfil my goal of attaining a degree and serve as an example to my children of the importance of education. The time away from education has also given me the opportunity to realise what I expect from a college degree. I know now that I want to study medicine and the first step will be the access course that is offered by Nicholls College at Manchester. I will eventually build on this experience to further my education at Manchester University. I feel I am taking the correct course of action at the right time in my life. Being a mother has tempered my judgement and provided me with the motivation for accomplishing this goal. I feel that the challenges that I have faced will make me a better student and my family will offer me the necessary support it takes to excel in the courses at Nicholls College.

Assess Kant's Ethics Of Duty And Freedom As A Response To All Previous Essay

Assess Kant's Ethics Of Duty And Freedom As A Response To All Previous Ethical Theories - Essay Example According to the Kantian ethics, people have the duty to act in certain ways even if it does not produce the best results. â€Å"The ethics of duty is rooted in Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative ‘Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law,’ which in turn is rooted in the belief that humans are rational beings capable of self-determination and self-governance. Every responsible person is therefore entitled to dignity and respect.† Thus, the views of Kant, who is the most important supporter in history of deontological ethics or the study of duty, insist that the single feature that gives an action moral value is the motive that is behind the action. Similarly, another central concept in Kant’s ethics is freedom which is an idea of reason that serves a crucial practical purpose. â€Å"Without the assumption of freedom, reason cannot act. If we think of ourselves as completely causally determined, and not as uncaused causes ourselves, then any attempt to conceive of a rule that prescribes the means by which some end can be achieved is pointless.†" (McCormick, 2006) In short, the concepts of freedom and duty are central to the Kantian ethics and the originality and uniqueness of Kant's ethical theory is that he celebrated a general criticism of previous ethical theories. To comprehend the originality and uniqueness of Kant's ethical theory, it is essential to realize that he is a tough critic of previous ethical theories, especially the theory of utilitarianism. He is undisputed master of ethical theory and he finds good will as the only good thing in the world. He goes on to associate the concept of good will with actions from duty which have the only true moral value in life. Therefore, Kant associates "good will in some way with acting from duty and claims that only actions done from duty have true moral worth or moral content, while actions in conformity to duty that are done from self-interest, or even beneficent actions done from a natural inclination such as spontaneous sympathetic pleasure agents take in seeing those around them happy, are lacking in authentic moral worth or moral content." (Wood, 2007, p 24). To Kant, only those actions which spring from duty can display a good will and his ethical theories are original which question the va lidity of earlier thoughts. Significantly, the originality and uniqueness of Kant's ethical theory is clear from his 'Copernican revolution' which includes freedom, autonomy and heteronomy. An understanding of how Kant distinguishes between autonomy and heteronomy helps one in realizing the uniqueness of Kant's ethical theory. "For Kant the term "autonomy" denoted our ability and responsibility to know what morality requires of us and to act accordingly. In a derivative sense, the autonomous person is one who exercises this ability and lives up to this responsibility There are also

Science investigation report Essay Example for Free

Science investigation report Essay The moment the paper clip is dipped in, time the electroplating process for 30 seconds. 10. After 30 seconds, take out the paper clip, switch off the power supply and weigh the final mass of the paper clip. 11. Repeat step five to eleven a second time to obtain a second set of results. Use a new paper clip each time when repeating the steps. 12. Repeat step five to twelve, increasing the voltage of the current by 2V each time. 13. Tabulate the results. Results The table shows the changes of masses in the initial and final mass of the paper clips when undergoing electroplating at different voltages. Voltage of Electric Current (V) Trial 1 Trial 2 Average Mass Change (g) Initial Mass (g) Final Mass (g) Mass Change (g) Initial Mass (g) Final Mass (g) Mass Change (g) Graph Analysis of Results and Graph. After conducting the experiment, it is found that when the voltage of the electricity from the power supply was 2V (the least voltage among the others), the mass change in the paper clip before and after the electroplating process was the least, which meant that the rate of electrolysis was the slowest here, hence the mass of the copper metal plated onto the paper clip was the lightest. As the voltage of the electric current increased by 2V gradually each time, the mass change in the paper clip before and after electroplating increased as well, this meant that the mass of the copper metal plated onto the paper clip also increased. This meant that when the voltage of the electric current was at its largest (10V), the mass change of the paper clip before and after the electroplating process was the largest, and hence the mass of the copper metal plated onto the paper clip was the heaviest. As the voltage increased by 2V each time, the mass of the copper metal deposited onto the paper clip mostly increased at a constant rate of 0. 004, with the result at 8V being a little off, but still valid. The graph shows how the voltages of the electric current affect the mass change of the paper clip before and after the electroplating process. It is a linear graph, where the gradient of the graph increases constantly at the same rate. There is a rather positive association between the voltage and the mass change in paper clip, and the strength of the association is strong, so it is safe to say that both variables are directly proportionate to each other. Throughout the entire experiment, the gradient increased at a proportionate rate, which indicates and proves that the formula Q = It and V = IR is true and is directly proportionate. Hence, at the lowest voltage, the mass of copper metal deposited on the paper clip was the least and at the highest voltage, the mass of the copper metal deposited on the paper clip was the most. Conclusion The results from the experiment showed that as the voltage of the electric current increased, the mass of the copper metal deposited on the paper clip also increased. Therefore, I can say that my hypothesis is supported and correct. This is because when the voltage of the electric current increased gradually, the current in the circuit increased as well. As the current increased, the charge of the electric current increased as well, as said so in the formulas. This would mean that the flow of electrons is faster; hence the rate of electroplating would also be faster. This would mean that the mass of copper metal deposited on the paper clip within 30 seconds would also increase. Therefore, as the voltage of the electric current increases, the mass of the copper metal deposited on the paper clip also increased. Reliability I can say that my experiment is rather reliable because I repeated everything 2 times to get the average results so that the results would be more accurate. There were no problems and the results when repeated, were rather similar to each other except for one or two sets where the difference varied by 0. 014g and 0. 010g. This probably happened due to the uncontrolled variable the surface area of the paper clip submerged in the electrolyte. The apparatus used were all reliable and in good condition, with none being broken. The method was as precise as possible, taking note of everything and the details. For example, I tried to make sure the surface area of the copper metal piece submerged in the electrolyte was constant each trial at 0. 7cm2 so that it would be fair. I also measured each of the 10 paper clips individually because no one paper clip has the same weight so it would be unfair to assume that all paper clips has the same mass. The method described and explained every step, and provided the results needed. The results analysis were described and explained with as many details as possible, and there were no miscalculations and major errors during the experiment. Validity The experiment was valid, as the apparatus used measured everything needed, for example, I used a 20cm ruler to measure the surface area of the copper metal piece to be submerged into the electrolyte. The 25cm3 measuring cylinder could have been replaced by a 50cm3 measuring cylinder to measure 100cm3 of CuSO4 solution, but then due to limited number of apparatus, a 25cm3 measuring cylinder was used. Nonetheless, it still fulfilled the requirements of measuring 100cm3 of CuSO4. The balance used to measure the mass of the paper clip was electronic, so there were no zero errors either. The method was valid as the dependent and independent variables were measured and results were obtained. The hypothesis was valid as the outcome of the experiment supported it. Limitations and Improvements If I could do the experiment again, The results could be repeated a couple of times more for more accurate results, and a few more sets of results could be taken, to broaden the set of results. This could give a clearer graph, as the graph could show more prominently that it is linear if there were more sets of results. When the paper clips were submerged into the electrolyte each time, the surface area of the paper clip submerged was not accurately constant throughout, as I had only estimated the approximate surface area for each paper clip. I could have bent the paper clip into a long thin metal wire and measured the length that would be submerged in the solution, as this would help further ensure that the surface area of the paper clip that was to be electroplated to be more constant. Instead of using the same copper sulphate electrolyte for the entire experiment, I could have changed the solution after every trial, as after some of the trials I could see a thin film of copper left on the surface of the solution. To ensure that this would not affect the experiment results, I could have used a new copper sulphate solution for each trial.

Generation X by Douglas Coupland Essay Example for Free

Generation X by Douglas Coupland Essay Generation X was Coupland’S controversial title which was derived from the work of Paul Fusell, category X in 1983. In his interview in 1995 Coupland explained that Fusell’s classification of X category were people who circulated in rounds of money, status and social climbing that describe the modern existence. But looking at the Coupland’s novel, it is very different from Fusell’s work. The people he is referring to as generation X are the people born after 1960. The whole novel rotates around the contemporary society issues: love intrigues, adventure, friendship among other themes (Reed). These themes are not new since they existed even in during the times of great philosophers. It is for this reason that I think Marx, Durkheim, and Weber apply to the Coupland’s novel, generation X. Although the novel reveals a lot of friendship and love between some characters there is an aspect of social deviance developing between the modern generation and the past. Emile Durkheim is perhaps the most popular in the field of deviance and his ideas are therefore applicable in this novel. In his argument in the division of society (Huang 63), Durkheim says that differences in a collective society and deviant society contribute to the basis of theoretical framework which outlines reasons as to why people violate norms. On the other hand, his appreciation that deviance in most cases enhances social cohesion provides foundation for theories that examines why deviant labeling occur (62). During the 1995 interview (Reed 3rd par), Coupland on his side revealed that his novel wondered why his generation is being labeled as members of baby boomer when they are capable of thinking by themselves. The idea of social differentiation also seems to crop up in the novel (Coupland 67) hence bringing the three philosophers closer to the novel. In the novel, there are several generation; the first one is the older generation of Mr. and Mrs. Mcarthur, second is the generation X where Andy, Claire and Dag belongs and finally the generation Y for Tyler who is Andy’s younger brother . According to Durkheim, social differentiation contributes not only to deviant conduct but also deviant labeling in more differentiated societies (Schmaus 56). In the novel, which represents the contemporary society, this deviance conduct and labeling is witnessed throughout the novel. The members of older generational view those of generational X and generation Y as some how spoiled and refer to them as global teens (Coupland 48). In his theory about the relationship between the society and individuals, Karl Marx noted that the society is highly stratified because the people who worked the hardest were also the people who received the least as the fruits of their labor (Shlomo 152). Like in the novel, Karl Marx looked forward to a society that accounted for social change. Although Coupland and Karl Max talks of classes of people, the two fail to agree in their classification. Karl Max concentrated on the Proteliant or the majority in the society and the Bourgeois who are the minority. He argues that the former live in substandard living condition while the later have all that life have to offer (Shlomo 160). Coupland classes of people in the society are the older generation and the younger generation. However, like what is contained in Karl Marx ideas, the young generation belongs to the marginalized group with lousy jobs while the old generation view themselves as the think tanks and the wisest. The young characters in the novel try to pull themselves from the characters that belong to the past. Dag’s love interest for example always find herself looked up in the past without realizing what is happening in the modern world. Like the rest, Weber in his work analyses the modern society (Burris 122). He discusses the concept of bureaucracies which according to him is the foundation of social stabilization, cultural symbols and channel of good and services to the modern society (132). He points out that it is the charismatic ideas and not old ideas that change the society (133). But, Marx Weber also brings in a very interesting contribution to the novel, the issue of love and friendship. Weber controversial love life seems close to what was happening in the Coupland (56, 74,132). In his bachelorhood he developed a romantic interest with his cousin Emmy Baumagarten who lived in Strasbourg (Hoenisch 1st par). Weber’s love for Emmerling as he used to call her darling continued for more than eight years despite opposition from both families. During this time their love emotions were bulging with a series of letters and spent several days of their sweet closeness in poetry of string (3rd par). It was in 1887 in his second military as a reserve officer in Strasbourg that Weber had an amorous but not sexual encounter with Emmy (7th par). According to the novel, there exist a very big difference in perception of ideas between the old generation and the modern generation. The difference which is a source of conflict between the generations is what links the three philosophers to the novel. The questions raised in the novel are both relevant and applicable to the contemporary social life but at the same time they refer to classical sociological theories of the â€Å"primitive† generation. It is clear from the novel that each generation is faced by its unique problems which can be solved only by that particular generation alone. It is important to point out that in the increasing globalization and industrialization world of the 21st century the economical, political and sociological landscape is likely to suffer from deepening and widening class struggle. Whether primitive, revolutionary or reformist, the old generation feels obliged to address this issue. Ultimately, Weber, Marx and Durkheim each provided conflicting accounts regarding the ways in which the urban societies of their time was deficient, and what was required to fix it (Schmaus 74). The younger cannot bear the consequences of ignoring the wise ideas the old and it is therefore necessary to embrace unity in diversity while handling societal problems aiming at acquiring necessary social change and stability. References Burris, V. The Neo-Marxist blend of Marx and Weber on Class in: Norbert Wiley (Ed. ), The Marx-Weber dispute. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications, 1997. Coupland, D. Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. Canada: St. Martins Press, March 15, 1991 Hoenisch, S. Max Weber’s personal life 1886-1893. 1995. November 27, 2008. http://www. uvm. edu/~lkaelber/research/weber2. html Huang, W. S. â€Å"Durkheims rules of sociological method. † Journal for offender therapy comparative crime, (2004): 63-75,. Reed, J. 2001. Generation X: tales for an accelerated culture by Douglas Coupland. www. opendemocracy. net/arts/generation Shlomo, A. The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx. Cambridge: University Press, 2001. Schmaus, W. â€Å"Explanation and real meaning in Rules of sociological method and division Of labor in society. † Journal Of Sociological Perspectives Spring, (1995): 57-76,. .

The Concepts Of Postmodernism By Weber Sociology Essay

The Concepts Of Postmodernism By Weber Sociology Essay It is not difficult to argue that Max Weber has outlived all his competitors in the classical tradition. His ideas have inspired scores of sociologists in a host of areas for more than sixty years. The contemporary vitality of these ideas is in no small measure due to the fact that he is the most prominent advocate of modernism and that he has both resisted and justified some of postmodernisms most convincing criticisms of modern social science and society. When analysing the statement that the fate of our times is characterized by rationalization, intellectualization and about all by the disenchantment of the world one must look into all aspects of the 3 ways of thinking that Weber has described; rationalism, intellectualization and disenchantment. When focusing solely on the rationalism that Max Weber talks speaks about we can see a connection to the way of thinking he described in his writing and the way people think today. Rationalization has become an integral part in most aspec ts of the modern world and it seems to be no coincidence that Weber focuses on this way of thinking in much of his writings. Through science, politics, culture and religion Weber alludes to the fact that the modern world works better when a rationalistic thought process in used and this he attempts to prove in his writings. When analysing the statement one must not forget the other two ways of thinking; intellectualization and disenchantment and how they have affected the modern world. Intellectualization or the flight into reason has become an increasingly apparent way of logic where uncomfortable emotions are put aside by reasoning through facts. This way of thinking has made people rationally deal with a situation. Finally the disenchantment of the world which Weber fist emphasised in his writing science as a vocation where Max Weber explains that science can never answer the fundamental questions of life, such as directing people on how to live their lives and what to value. Val ue he contends can only be derived from personal beliefs such as religion. He further argues for the separation of reason and faith, noting that each has its place in respective field but if crossed over cannot work. By focusing on these three mindsets or ways of thinking it is clear that his statement is extremely relevant to the modern world and that the fate of our time is characterized by rationalization, intellectualization and the disenchantment. Rationalization can be defined as the process whereby an increasing number of social actions and interactions become based on considerations of teleological efficiency or calculation rather than on motivations derived from morality, emotion, custom, or tradition. Rationalization can be viewed both positively and negatively in a society. It can certainly be viewed as positive by creating consistency in terms of economy in a society. The negative aspects include taking away the individualism of a society and making it all very mundane and workman-like. Max Weber demonstrated rationalization in which the aims of certain Protestant denominations, particularly Calvinism, are shown to have shifted towards rational means of economic gain as a way of dealing with their salvation anxiety'. (The protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism). According to Weber a rational person is methodical and precise. Rationalization was a large part of Webers theories on bureaucracy. Rationalization focuses o n seeking constants in ones behaviours. It can be seen as a negative way of thinking as it looks to take away ones individualistic way of thinking and ones unique ways and replaces them with what is expected in terms of efficiency and reliability. Rationalism makes sure that there is a set trend that is put in place that all can follow as in theory that should boost the economy and makes sense in the running of a country. Although not entirely negative trait rationalism seems to make everything and everyone standard by showing what is expected from the majority. For Weber the capitalist market defined a rationalistic economy, as we can see in Webers later work The General Economic History he states that Capitalism is rational in the sense that it bases decisions on calculations of likely return; this presupposes some degree of predictability, in particular a predictable legal system; capitalism also supposes that there are free markets for products and for labour and other factors o f production, and that these markets are wide given wide markets and some predictability innovation in search of profit gets under way.(The general Economic History). For Weber a functioning economy was a rational economy. Through his writing he made it clear that the need for entrepreneurial thinking was unnecessary and that everyone had a responsibility to think rationally which in his view was thinking intelligently. Max Weber had a host of General presuppositions for the existence of modern day capitalism such as rational capital accounting. This involves the appropriation of all physical means of production as the property of autonomous private enterprises. Freedom of the market, in the sense of the absence of irrational limits on trading in the market. Rational technology, to permit the required calculability. This implies mechanization. Calculable law, the dependability of calculable adjudication and administration. Free (not slave or serf) labour, people legally in the posi tion to, and economically compelled to, sell their labour on the market without restriction and commercialization of economic life: general use of commercial instruments to represent share rights in enterprise and also in property ownership. Human labour is treated like a commodity according to Weber. A negative aspect one can find in the thoughts of Webers capitalist thinking is that because the persons labour is a commodity that should be distanced from the persons life the person loses all sense of individuality and makes the human almost robotic and just a clog in the machine that is the economy of a country. Rationality spread like a drug from peoples everyday rational lifestyle to the economic sphere in terms of production. People became more orderly and rational as in their eyes it seemed to pay. Rationality had become an integral aspect of their everyday life and therefore was passed on to the working world. Some people are lead to believe that Max Weber is the real founder of sociology and the sociology of religion. His conceptions, analyses and constructs have a universal significance in the history of science. A great deal that we understand about religion can be accounted for by Webers rationalistic view on religion and how it related to the economy. In one of Webers famous books The protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism he compares religious belief to both cognitive and economic rationalisation. Weber declares that Weber argued that certain Protestant ideas, particularly John Calvins understanding of predestination that sinful people cannot know directly whether they are part of Gods elect to whom the grace of salvation is offered, favoured rational pursuit of economic gain and worldly activities. Resultant insecurity on the part of Protestants, and their fear of eternal damnation, led them to seek signs indicating Gods direction for their lives and affirmation of their correct behaviour. By saying that Max Weber is indicating that hard work and success were what was required to be favoured by g-d. This resulted in the public being encouraged and determined to accumulate wealth. According to Weber, one of the universal tendencies that Christians had historically fought against was the desire to profit. After defining the spirit of capitalism, Weber argued that there were many reasons to look for the origins of modern capitalism in the religious ideas of the reformation. The inherent logic of those doctrines and the advice based upon them, both directly and indirectly, encouraged planning and self-denial in the pursuit of economic gain. Weber quoted historical writings of Benjamin Franklin such as Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labour, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides. Remember, that money is the prolific, generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six, turned again is seven and three pence, and so on, till it becomes a hundred pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker and quicker. He that kills a breeding sow destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds. This quote encapsulates Webers obsession with spreading his rationalistic way of thinking to increase profit and strengthen the economy. In the West Weber found a link between religion and economic rationalism which broadened into all spheres of life. Much modern thinking can be accounted for by Webers views on religious rationalization and the further implications that resulted in people putting the need to make money ahead o f religion itself. Weber theorized that emergence of religious ideas in the west unintentionally brought about the emergence of economic rationality. When viewing the theories of Weber and how they relate to how the modern world is run, in terms of religion it is important to also focus on aspects such as culture, society and politics when seeing how they have been shaped by ideas of rationalization. Within social life a large degree of rationalization has become clearly apparent. Bureaucracy has become run of the mill in the way in which countries are governed, companies are run and the way people structure their personal lives. A bureaucracy can be defined as a well-defined division of administrative labour among persons and offices,   a personnel system with consistent patterns of recruitment and stable linear careers,    a hierarchy among offices, such that the authority and status are differentially distributed among actors.   A greater orderliness has been set in place in recent times due to bureaucracy with a clear leader and many to feed off that person. When looking at Webers view of bureaucracy it is important to link it to the way in which modern society is structured. Weber wrote that seven principals concerning the running of a bureaucracy that have become synonymous with the organizational structure. Some of these principals included that official business is conducted on a continuous basis, officials do not own the resources necessary for the performance of their assigned functions but are accountable for their use of these resources and official and private business and income are strictly separated. Webers understanding of legal science is consistent with his methodological contention that rules only make sense in the context of a given form of life. Politics however is far less rationalisable than the economy which may be why there is such upheaval with the running of a government in recent times. We must still regard the political and social aspects of a society rationalised in some way which in no small part in due to the work of Weber. We can also take cognition into account when looking at spheres moulded by rationalism in the modern world. Cognition if the scientific term for process of thought. .Weber argued that the method of science, whether its subject matter be things or men, always proceeds by abstraction and generalization. According to Weber, differences between the natural sciences and the social sciences arise from differences in the cognitive intentions of the researcher, not from the alleged unsuitability of scientific and broad methods to the subject matter of human action. Weber believed that What distinguishes the natural and a social science is not an inherent difference in methods of investigation, but rather the differing interests and aims of the scientist. Both types of science involve abstraction. The richness of the world of facts, both in nature and in history, is such that a total explanation in either realm is doomed to fail. What Weber meant by that is no science can be fully explained i n words. Such an explanation would not succeed in giving fully explaining the given science or scientific related realm. HE believed that even in physics it was impossible to predict future events. This is Weber rationalistic way of thinking in its purest form. He is only recognizing what is fact and giving no room to the possible. He does not enjoy variable change rather likes what he knows. He is not recognizing the explanations of science as that is his understanding of the situation by rationalizing it. This way of thinking is still very apparent in modern times.   Weber was fundamentally at odds with those who argued for a morality based on science. In this respect he would be opposed to those psychoanalysts today who claim they have a scientific warranty to counsel adjustment or self-actualization, as the case may be, to their patients.   This rational way of thinking through science has certainly been carried on to modern times as we have become characterized by our lack of thinking outside the box as we have to rely on the scientists to do the thinking for us. When focusing on how the world is affected by the gradual disenchantment that has been in effect for many decades, one would have to focus on Webers writing Science as a Vocation where   Weber offers an analysis of what it means to engage in science, or intellectual activity, as a profession. In doing so, he makes the claim that the modern world is one that is disenchanted. A disenchanted world has considerable implications in the political realm, in the form of both an increased importance of politics, and an increased difficulty in fulfilling the obligations which accompany this importance. This is just one of the many facets that add to how we are affected by the disenchantment. Weber notes that the average modern person is no more (indeed, even less) aware of and knowledgeable about the conditions of life under which they live than the average uncivilized person. A savage knows incomparably more about his tools than the rider of a streetcar does about the physics and technology which enable her or his movement. This potentially is the root of the modern worlds disenchantment. By creating an intellectual environment in which anything can in principle be explained by scientific analysis and/or calculation, intellectual rationalization (as Weber calls it) has removed the possibility of metaphysical, spiritual essentially non-scientific explanations of the world and its features. And this, Weber writes, means that the world is disenchanted. Weber essentially eliminates the need for individualism and creative thinking by his claims that everything can be explained by science. Webers claim regarding the disenchantment of the world has consequences in many areas of human activity. One area in which intellectualizations consequences are particularly important is the realm of the political. Disenchantment contributes to confusion or loss of values in the political realm, and in doing so increases the pressure on politics to somehow fill the gap left by disenchan tment. Disenchantment becomes particularly important prior to intellectualization; the solutions to problems now addressed by scientific analysis and calculation were drawn from metaphysical realms like religion. In discussing the relation between religion and science, Weber notes the following: that science today is irreligious no one will doubt in his innermost being, even if he will not admit it to himself. It seems then that intellectualization, by replacing non-scientific means with scientific means of answering our questions, has left us with a challenging void. Scientific analysis and calculation may answer more precisely a great many of our questions about the world we live in, but since it cannot answer our most significant questions, it leaves us spiritually unfulfilled and devoid of the faith by which we were once consoled. In conclusion when analysing the Max Weber statement and dissecting it into the three processes of thinking, rationalization, intellectualisation and disenchantment the modern world is clearly affected by all three. These ways of thinking lead to a process of actions that clearly affect most aspects of the modern world such as politics, culture, science and religion.

Earnest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying Essay -- Gaines Lesson Before

Earnest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines is set in a plantation community in rural Louisiana. The two main characters in the novel, Grant and Jefferson, are engaged in a struggle to achieve self-respect in society, which allots them none. The story takes place at the end of the 1940s, a time when Louisiana and many other southern states were practicing segregation. The second college edition of the American Heritage Dictionary defines segregation as, â€Å"†¦The policy and practice of imposing the social separation of races, as in schools, housing, and industry†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1111). Mr. Gaines employs a variety of settings to illustrate how this cruel practice invades every aspect of Grant and Jefferson’s lives; from religion and legal process to love. In the courtroom, the defense lawyer insinuates that Jefferson is less than a man because of his physical characteristics and apparent lack of intelligence. He asks the jury, â€Å"†¦do you see a man sitting here? Look at the shape of this skull, this face as flat as the palm of my hand†¦do you see a modicum of intelligence?† (7). He further degrades Jefferson by referring to him as a thing, â€Å"What you see here is a thing that acts on command†, and finally as an animal, â€Å"†¦I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.† (7-8). Evidently, discrimination and stereotyping based on the degree of skin pigmentation exhibited existed as a hierarchy with the lightest skin pigmentation on top and the darkest on the bottom, with the each individual cluster discriminating against the one beneath them. Grant’s former schoolmaster, Mathew Antoine, may have been a male role model for him. However, professor Antoine was bitter, he loathed himself ... ...grained the principles of slavery and its progeny (segregation) were in Louisiana society. It is unfathomable that people (i.e., the Creole) exposed to unjust discrimination based simply on their pigmentation, would in turn discriminate against others for similarly unfounded and irrational reasons. From the courtroom to the jailhouse, Grant and Jefferson faced discrimination. However, when they finally realized that the stereotypes being forced upon them were only physical confinements, not mental or spiritual confinements, they were able to identify their own self-worth and achieve self-respect. â€Å"Only when the mind is free has the body a chance to be free.† (251). Works Cited American Heritage Dictionary. Second College Edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.1982. Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.1993.

Saint Edmund (written From His View Point) :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hi. My name is Edmund,now called Saint Edmund, the mart- yer. I was born in Surrey in 841. My mother was thought to have been royalty and my father died at a young age in was. When I was fourteen, I became the youngest King of the Anglo-Saxton Kingdom of East Anglia. When I first met King Offa, he was taken by my devout faith,sincerity, and virtues. He had no heirs and so he adopted me. Soon after, he died and I became king.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The people of my kingdom thought I was sent from God because of Christianity. They thought I had come to rescue His faithful people and save them from poverty and dispair. I was marked from the start to become king and destined for sainthood. Because I sailed by boat to my new kingdom, the people thought I had come from a mysterious land of myth. I was their hero and savior. My reign as king saw a massive invasion of the Vikings, which I fought valiantly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The end was near, but I was not afraid. I beleived God was with me. My troops were defeated and I was taken prisioner by the Vikings, but I still did not lose my faith.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On November 20, 870, the Danish leader,Ingwar, ordered his men to tie me to a tree and torture me, to denounce my God and my faith. They first stripped me of my royality. Surrounded by several groups of cheering, ugly men, they shot at me with arrows, whipped, and clubbed me. I did not waiver, but became stronger in my beleif in God and salvation. I would make the ultimate sacrifice for my God, a sacrifice of love and life, and so I prayed. The Danes soon tired of my undying faith and courage,and beheaded me. My body was to be tossed into the underbrush to be forgotten, but my head they continued to abuse because I would not say the words they wanted to hear.

Clinical Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest

This is strongly exhibited in the film, through nurse Ratchet's cold, dominating manner of inning of the ward. In the film Chiefs character is written off as deaf & dumb by both the staff and other patients, he often appears catatonic. Broaden does not participate In the therapy circle and appears to be only treated regularly through drugs. He Is presented In the story as a patient with the longest tenure at the institution. The film also alludes to him having had large numbers of shock treatments during his stay.In the novel his character is described as having paranoid hallucinations of dense overwhelming fog generated by The Combine, a massive piece of machinery that intros people. The Chief isolates himself through his facade of being deaf and dumb. Eventually when Macarthur is able to get him to speak, the Chief reveals a story about his father being â€Å"worked on† by society. When he opens up, the Chief also lets on that he appears to see people as either big or small, he views people of confidence and strong spirit as large.The Chief describes himself as a small man, his perception of himself speaks of feelings of weakness or low self efficacy and depression. To properly diagnose Broaden today, a Callahan Is likely to conduct preliminary ABA work & tests to rule out other possible causes for the schizophrenia like symptoms. A clinician would test him for commonly abused drugs that cause schizophrenia like symptoms for example, & conduct a basic physical to rule out medical illnesses that may be causing these symptoms as well as review medical history.A clinician would take note of Broadens very apparent symptoms of Psychosis: marked by hallucinations & delusions (The Combine), disturbances in sensory perception (the fog strongly held personal beliefs (The Combine controls people, reception of people as either being small or big) as well as emotional expression (his blunted flat affect, even when speaking to Macarthur ( speech Is flat, monotone & lacking in signs of typical emotion).A clinician would also pickup on less obvious thinking behavior problems (in this case voluntary lack of speech). They would also need to determine whether Bromide's prolonged depressed mood is a symptom of schizophrenia or one of major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. Psychosocial treatments would include: rehabilitation, individual psychotherapy, Emily education, self help & support groups and antispasmodic drugs. Social and vocational training would be administered early on after the antispasmodic medication has been administered.As it deals with the immediate issues of isolation and helps teach the individual how to readjust to life outside of the sheltered/ controlled environment of a hospital setting, rehabilitation would be an integral step in eventually returning to life in the outside world. In the film Broaden appears to benefit greatly from forced social interaction with Macarthur. Macrographs character takes on the role of th erapist with The Chief. He treats Broaden with respect and speaks to him instead of at him, which creates a bond of trust.Macarthur also takes the time to involve Broaden in social activities like conversations and group activities (basketball games). The scene where Broaden successfully dunks the ball in the game against the orderlies exhibits the great effect of these simple therapeutic exercises. At the end of this scene Broaden no longer moves at a slow & sluggish pace, appears to come out of his catatonic state and even wows a change in affect with appropriate smiling after scoring in the game.Receiving personal social attention, as well as being involved in the basketball game seems to do wonders for Broaden' isolation & self efficacy issues. Individual psychotherapy would involve regularly scheduled talks between the patient and therapist, to focus on current or past feelings, problems and experiences. Regular interaction with an empathetic person could guide the patient into a more grounded state and put them in touch with the outside world/reality. Problem solving ND coping skills could be learned from reality based therapeutic exercises.As patients are often released and into the care of family members, it is important that they are educated on schizophrenia, relapse prevention & troubleshooting. Learned coping problem solving skills could result in a more successful outcome of care and readjustment of their family member. Self help and support groups would be used to provide mutual support and continued safe & empathetic social outlet for the patient. Patient support groups allow the patient to develop a sense of community with other patients as well as a resource of growth and learning from the sense that they are not alone in their condition.In a way Macarthur follows the psychosocial treatment pattern with The Chief, who at the end of the movie describes the way he perceives himself as â€Å"big as a damn mountain† and has developed proble m solving skills, clearly resolved his self able to make the decision to and accomplish escaping the ward. This comes in stark contrast to the methods exhibited by Nurse Ratchet that focused on maintaining control of the patients, & order of the institution, with a disregard for support/care of the progress of the individual patient.

Facebook the Negative Effects Essay

Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself after being cyber bullied on MySpace by Josh Evans—not a real boy, it turned out, but a creation of neighbors. According to Oprah.com, Social networking has become a part the daily lives of Americans both young and old. The digital age that America finds itself in has made online social networking a top resource for communication. It is the ultimate test of ego, a new social acceptance, a place of danger, a growing addiction and obsession and over the past six years; social networking sites have become a social and cultural phenomenon. In the words of Noel Sheppard, It creates electronic relationships and makes it easy for a â€Å"friend† to misrepresent themselves under the â€Å"protective umbrella of anonymity†. It places distance between people who could communicate in person but instead choose to communicate online. Although social networking sites are increasing interactions among friends and family, it is decrea sing the quality of human interactions in real life. Social networking has facilitated communication, commerce, and information distribution. However, the downside to the social networking has become the topic of recent studies because of the rise of digital media and the ways the computer has penetrated human society. Popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, have caused many children to become obsessed and addicted, resulting in being incapable of having real conversations with people, to a larger effect, it is harming their health and work ethic in classrooms and the average teen now spends on average nine hours per week on social networking sites. This accumulates to 18 days out of the 365 days of the year. Those 18 days spent sitting on a chair in front of an artificial communicating device, an average person could walk from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back. Due to social networking sites, young teens are encountering alarming and harmful changes in their brains, and constant exposure to buzzing noises and bright lights, can cause shorter attention spans. Moreover, social networking sites are not only are harming the brains of children but it is resulting in low grades and low self-esteem. Furthermore, teachers are noticing that their student’s work is suffering because they constantly spend time on social networking sites rather than focusing on their homework. According to BBC News, 58% of teachers said that their children’s spelling was becoming worse and worse as  they enter the â€Å"digital age.† Spokeswoman Janie Burt asserts that â€Å"Rather than relying on life experiences, educational travel and face to face interaction with others, children are becoming obsessed with social networking sites and this is shaping their attitudes instead.† Online communicating is shaping our society into socialization, depression, and incapability to establish real life relationships. The distinction between genuine friends and acquaintances is becoming blurred. Users are spending time maintaining relationships with people with whom they do not really care. Cyperbullying has become more proliferated through social networking sites than emailing and text messaging. According to Procon.org, statistics show that 17.3% of middle school students have been victims of cyperbullying. Victims, often teens and young children experience lowered grades, self-esteem, and symptoms of depression. Social networking sites reveal personalities that are more â€Å"polished† and â€Å"bolder† thus creating a veiled stranger. Alex Gilbert, a teacher of creative writing, was puzzled that his friend- â€Å"a particularly masculine-type dude†- who is interested in metal bands and motorcycles, posts videos on Facebook of â€Å"uber cuteâ €  kittens (Sheppard 2). Topics discussions like these that are on social networking sites are not subsistent for real life conversations. Social networking also allows passive-aggressive behavior. Virtually anything can be said behind a screen. Furthermore, social networking sites have evolved into a social acceptance, a basic necessity for the common American and you can even be seen as rude or unprofessional to ignore this new evolved media. Because real personal socializing has decreased, people are becoming socially isolated and even parents and couples are spending less time with their loved ones because they use internet social networking as a tool of communication. One 35-year-old woman even discovered her husband was divorcing her via Facebook. Conference organizer Emma Brady was distressed when she read that her marriage was over when her husband updated his status on the site to read: â€Å"Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady. Facebook, the most widely used social networking site has over 90 million users in the United States and over 300 million worldwide. Certainly, social networking sites are increasing interactions among friends and family, but it is decreasing the quality of real personal interactions. Social  networking sites were not developed to help people connect and improve their lives, but rather, so companies can make money by advertising to them. A statistic from procon.org states that advertisers in the U.S. spent almost 1.4 billion dollars to place advertisements on social networking sites in 2008. Social networking sites also have an effect on politics. In the presidential election of 2008, candidates campaigned to voters with many different types of sites. On November 3, 2008, the day before the Election Day, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had 2,379,102 Facebook fans while Republican candidate McCain had 620,359 according to procon.org. This illustrates the effect social networking can have on all aspects of social and even political life. As online communication gradually destroys our society, the problem is not only the tools we use to communicate, but it is what we choose to expose online that can be harming. Based on an article written by Melissa Ridenour, a poorly responsible driver crashed his car and posted on his Facebook wall â€Å"I’m not an alcoholic, I’m a drunkaholic† which later that very information he posted, was used to prosecute him in court. Sharing your personal information on social networking sites can create higher risks of robbery and invasion of security and privacy. In just recent cases, police, colleges, and schools are supervising MySpace and Facebook pages to obtain personality behaviors and conduct. Due to this, thousands of social network site users have lost their jobs or failed to launch new ones. What we choose to reveal online can be easily seen by predators. Such personal information is all that is needed for your identity to be stolen. According to procon.org, in February 2009, MySpace identified 90,000 sex offenders with profiles on the site. A statistic from the Internet Safety Technical Force says that 43% of online sexual solicitors were under the age eighteen and 30% were between eighteen and twenty, while the other nine percent were over the age 21. Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier’s death was not caused by a real person, but by an artificial world of social networking that creates danger, isolation, and harm to every element in society. Although proponents of social networking argue that online interaction connects people with friends and family around the world, society has turned social networking sites into toxic time carnivores. When balanced on a scale, social networking is  overweighed with negative effects. Like millions of users worldwide, Social networking has become part our daily lives but we cannot let it sink our society into the trap of the digital age.

Child Marriage: A Human Rights Violation Essay

Child marriage is a serious form of human rights violation affecting young girls globally. It was estimated 10 million girls under the age of 18 get married every year (Bruce & Clark 2004) and according to Population Council Analysis of United Nations Country Data on Marriage (2002), more than 100 million girls will get married in the next decade if the current pattern persists. Girls who are disproportionately the most affected by this inhumane practice suffer tremendously. It is unreasonable such practice that robs away a girl’s childhood can exist, considering the devastating effects such as physical and psychological damages, severe health consequences and denial of personal development. 1.1 Physical and Psychological Damages Many young girls who are being forced into marriage face abuse and violence as their daily reality, yet most of them believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife (Jenson & Thornton 2003). For example, in Kenya, 36 percent of girls married before 18 consider the action of a husband beating his wife is acceptable as compared to 20 percent of married women (UNICEF 2005). Prolonged violence behaviours towards child brides including coercive sex, verbal abuse, slapping and beatings cause them to be emotionally affected and undergo post-traumatic stress. According to Khan and Lynch (1997), such symptoms are like feeling of hopelessness, helplessness and severe depression. Young married girls are extremely vulnerable and have little power in relation to their husbands and in-laws. They are often treated as domestic slaves to work in their in-law’s households. As much as young married girls are desperate to run away from their brutal marriages, they are often tied down with reasons that oblige them to stay. Most often than not is because of economic pressures and other social circumstances. There are those who seek for avenues to leave their spouses, there are also those who are abandoned, divorced or led into widowhood. They suffer a loss of status and ostracized by society with additional discrimination, for example being denied of property rights, as in many cultures divorced, abandoned or widowed women are often looked down upon (Tamunoimama 2012). They usually end up living in poverty as they have no financial support and bear the responsibility of raising their children on their own. The high rates of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) amongst young married girls is one of the reasons why child marriage is linked to wife abandonment. Sexual reproductive organs of the child brides that are not fully developed cause them to endure very prolonged labour. The relentless pressure from the baby’s skull breaks the walls of the birth canal and leads to uncontrollable leakage from the bladder into the vagina. They are usually perceived as unclean and often abandoned or divorced by their spouses. In Nigeria, around 150,000 women with VVF, 80 to 90 percent of them are divorced by their husbands; in Niger Republic, VVF is the reason for 63.3 percent of all divorce cases (Tamunoimama 2012). In many countries, young girls are married off to older men of twice their age, because their parents believe that it is the best way to ensure their daughters are protected when being placed firmly under a male’s control. Influenced by negative social and religious norms, girls are married early to older men in the belief that a husband will provide a safeguard against her ‘immoral’ or ‘inappropriate’ behaviour (Senderowitz 1995). Consequently, when the girl is still young, their spouses died, leaving her with the sole responsibility on taking care her children. For some traditions, girls are not allowed to remarry and her families are also unlikely to accept her back once she has become widowed (UNICEF 2001). Even when a child bride feels able to challenge and leave her marriage, it usually takes her years to do so. Her families will cut her off from their lives because it is believed that running away from a marriage brings shame upon the family. This leaves the girl even more alone than before (The Effects of Early Marriage Cause and Effect Essay 2004). It will contribute to a lack of confidence and low self esteem in the young married girls, plunging them into poverty especially when they are under-educated and has few income-generating skills (Tamunoimama 2012). 1.2 Severe Health Consequences Girls and woman who marry early and with little or no education background often lack of knowledge and have limited awareness of their rights to negotiate safer sex, including the use of condom (Plan UK 2011). In addition to the age difference between the child bride and the husband alongside with her low economic status, it is almost impossible for her to demand fidelity or enjoy the freedom of movement. Barriers like distance, fear, expenses or the need for permission from their spouses or in -laws to access health services deteriorate the risks of maternal complications and mortality for young mothers (Tamunoimama 2012). According to UNICEF (2001), girls aged between 15 and 19 are twice as likely to die giving birth as compared to women over 20 years old; whereas for girls aged between 10 to 14, it is five times greater the risk. Young married girls face considerable physical pain associated with sexual intercourse as their sexual organs are not fully developed and matured (Alemu 2008). Pregnancy-related deaths including heavy bleeding, fistula, infection, Anaemia, and Eclampsia, are the leading cause of mortality for 15 to 19 year-old girls (married and unmarried) worldwide (Tamunoimama 2012). Fistula conditions like vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) and recto-vaginal fistula (RVF) are permanent without surgical intervention to reseal the tissues. Many women have to endure with this condition for the rest of their lives, as such intervention may not be sought or may be hard to access (Tamunoimama 2012). WHO (2010) estimates there are two million women suffering from fistulas and for each year, there is a nother addition of 50,000 to 100,000 new cases of fistulas, many of which go untreated. Even though parents see early marriage or child marriage, as a method to protect their daughters from HIV/AIDS, future spouses may engage in unprotected sexual relations with other partners and already be infected (Tamunoimama 2012). Child brides are more vulnerable to HIV infection, due to the physiological immaturity of their sexual organs. A girl who has not reached puberty face serious risk on being infected by HIV/AIDS, because her vagina is not well lined with protective cells and her cervix may be penetrated easily (Alemu 2008). According to Clark (2004), a small scale research done in Kenya and Zambia shows that among 15 to 19 year-old girls who are sexually active, getting married increased their chances of HIV by more than 75 percent. Girls who are of lower status in society and lack of autonomy cannot have a say when to engage in sexual relations and when to bear a child, especially if it is a young virgin, she would be under pressure to become pregnant in the first year o f her marriage. 1.3 Denial of Personal Development Education is one of the largest losses a girl has to face when she is married off at a young age. Her opportunities to develop as an individual is limited as she needs to bear the burden of being a wife and a mother. Most of the child brides, who are forced to drop out of school during the preparation of marriage or at the point of union and transfer to their in-laws house, as badly as they want to return to school, they are denied of their rights to education. Older husbands and even fathers of young wives believe that the role of females are merely to stay home and undertake household and child-care duties. They fear that education undermines cultural practices and teaches the girl to reject tradition (Bayisenge 2009). The following quote illustrate well the case: â€Å"At the age of about 14 years, my father sent me to my uncle in Adagbira near Binaba so that he could let his wives â€Å"train me† for marriage. He believed that if I continued to go to school, I would be a â€Å"spoilt girl† and no man would agree to marry me. Being a â€Å"spoilt girl† meant that I would be too wise to marry back in his village where he could get my dowry.† (Interview with Ateni Adongo, Womankind,1999). Apart from that, parents of a child bride perceive education as an investment wasted because she is simply going to get married and it will only benefit her husband’s household. The child bride stand even little chance in hope that her husband and in-laws would invest their scarce resources in her education. In rural areas, secondary education is only attainable at a far distance from home, leading to a fear in parents that this may expose the girl to risks on premarital sex and unwanted pregnancy (Tamunoimama 2012). Child brides also find it difficult to return to school, because even the school itself has a policy of refusing married or pregnant girls to attain education. They believe that it will set a bad example to other students and destroy the reputation of the school for going against traditional beliefs. Besides, young married girls are unable to cope up and adapt with the school environment which includes rules, time tables and physical conditions, at the same time juggling their duties as wives and mothers. This further reduces the chances of them to enjoy the rights to education, which they require for personal development and contribution to the future well-being of their family and society. Early marriage was considered the main challenge to achieving universal primary education (MDG 2) and promoting gender equality (MDG 3) for girls and boys in rural communities (Plan Egypt 2010). It is not only a lost opportunity for the girls affected, but has a wider reach of repercussions for their own children and society (ICRW 2006). Young married girls, being denied of education are powerless in regards of deciding the size of their families, demanding the use of contraception and healthcare needs of their children. They are not well informed and knowledgeable about sexual relations, their bodies and reproduction, furthermore aggravated by the cultural silence surrounding these subjects (Tamunoimama 2012). With a low level of education and life skills, child brides face an increase of vulnerability to abuse and poor health, and therefore acute poverty and create a massive knock-on negative effect to the community. Marriage is regarded as a moment of celebration and a milestone in an adult life, but girls as young as five being married off to older men, forced to drop out of school to carry the heavy burden of being a wife and a mother is equivalent to being condemned a death sentence on their bright future. Article 16 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states that men and women of full age are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution and marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending parties. Therefore child marriage is considered as a violation of human rights and must be viewed within a context of force and coercion, because valid consent of the child is absent – and also often disregarded (Kumar 2008). Early marriage or child marriage is one of the ills that have eaten deep into the marrows of the third world countries, with Niger (76.6%), Chad (71.5%) and Bangladesh (68.7%) leading the top countries with highest rates of child marriage (ICRW 2005). It is a deadly curse in the modern society, with all the consequences that come along with it, including high rate of maternal mortality and morbidity, violence and abuse, reinforce cycle of poverty and many more. It stands in direct conflict with the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), (Mathur & Malhotra 2003) as it threatens the achievement of the first six goals respectively, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primarily education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases (UN 2007). In conclusion, different parties like governments, parents, schools, medias, NGOs, by and large, everyone else that is in the community should come together to trickle this challenging phenomenon and ban this from being an acceptable cultural practice. Actions to restore the rights of those already married should go hand in hand with preventive actions in protecting the rights of unmarried girls because to ensure a good start of their life, they need education instead of being trapped in a child betrothal.