Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Essay Example for Free

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Essay Teen deaths for any reason are tragic losses of life and potential. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five teenagers in the U.S. seriously considers suicide annually, and approximately 1,700 die by suicide each year. Both the CDC and the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) point out that suicide rates for teens have tripled since 1960 making it the third leading cause of adolescent death and the second cause among college students. Yet, according to the American Psychological Association, teen suicide is preventable, and they identify possible warning signs. They also note that more than 90 percent of suicide deaths are from mental illness and substance-abuse disorders. Not letting facts stand in their way, activist groups continue to claim, based on a flawed 1989 study that has been completely discredited, that 30 percent of all teens who attempt suicide are homosexuals. Instead, teen suicide reports from the major psychological and pediatric associations either do not even mention sexual identity or mention it near the bottom of a long list of other risk factors associated with teen suicide. Other teen suicide factors family breakup through divorce, alcohol or drug abuse, and family dysfunction are mentioned in all the major health organization publications as main factors in teen suicide. Research from Columbia University Medical Center, published in APAM, cites different reasons for girls and boys suicides. The researchers collected data from over 8,000 students in New York City high schools in 2005. For females, recent dating violence is a primary cause of attempted suicide. For teen males, a lifetime history of sexual assault is associated with suicide attempts. Dr. Elyse Olshen, lead researcher for the study, reported that girls who have been physically abused by a boyfriend are 60 percent more likely to attempt suicide than those who have not. For boys, sexual abuse over an extended period of time is more likely to be the determining factor for male teen suicide. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) identified the strong risk factors for teen suicide as depression, alcohol, or drug abuse and aggressive, disruptive behaviors. They also mentioned family loss, instability, and unplanned pregnancy. Suicidal teens, they reported, feel alone, hopeless, and reject ed and are especially vulnerable when they have experienced a loss, humiliation, or trauma, such as poor grades, breakup with boyfriend or  girlfriend, argument with parents, parental discord, separation, or divorce. The APA declared that 53 percent of young people who commit suicide are substance abusers. NMHA identifies feelings of anger and resentment and the inability to see beyond a temporary situation as the main factors in teen suicide attempts. KidsHealth quotes Dr. David Sheslow, a pediatric psychologist, who identifies drugs and alcohol as leading causes of suicide in teens. Further, KidsHealth reports, A teen with an adequate support network of friends, family, religious affiliations, peer groups or extracurricular activities may have an outlet to deal with his everyday frustrations. A teen without an adequate support network may feel disconnected and isolated from his family and peer groups. Its these teens who are at increased risk for suicide. Other problems identified by KidsHealth are divorce, alcoholism of a family member, domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse, repeated failures at school, substance abuse, and self-destructive behavior. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry publishes a fact sheet about teen suicide. Causes they list? Stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty, fears about growing up, divorce, formation of a new family with step-parents and step-siblings, and moving to a new community. They clearly identify suicide feelings as a mental disorder. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in their publication about preventing teen suicide, identifies the long term impact of child abuse as the leading cause of attempted suicides among women. They emphasize the greater pressures of modern life, competition for grades and college admissions, and increased violence in the media as contributing factors. They also cite the lack of parental involvement because of divorce, parents work schedules, and limited family life. One study reported that 90 percent of suicidal teenagers believed that their families do not understand them. Viewing teen suicide through the distorted, single-vision lens of the homosexual activists puts large numbers of teens at risk. Those who insist that the problem of teen suicide is primarily among teens who struggle over their sexual identity overlook the vast majority of potential teen suicide victims those who have other emotional or psychological issues, those who abuse drugs and other substances, and especially those who have suffered sexual violence and abuse. The problems of emotionally and physically battered teens must be  faced and their minds and bodies healed; otherwise, the rate of teen suicides will continue to rise. Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D. is executive director and senior fellow of Concerned Women for Americas Beverly LaHaye Institute.

Separation Of Church And State Essay -- History Historical Education R

Separation of Church and State By the middle of the 20th Century, the United States had emerged as a world power. It accomplished this through its leadership in defeating Germany and Japan in World War II. These two countries' main objective was to enslave the world and destroy political, religious, and economic freedom. In Germany or Japan, anyone who disagreed with these goals, or was different was destroyed. This was a common practice in these two fascist countries. Unfortunately, at the same time of its emergence as a world power, the United States began to slip into a form of judicial fascism. This slide began when the U.S. Supreme Court began to abandon the religious principles on which this nation was founded. The abandonment officially began in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education, when the court announced, â€Å"The 1st amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.† (Barton, Original†¦ p.13) This exact case began the reversal of Supreme Court trends and opinions that had lasted for one hundred and fifty years. Now, for almost fifty years, the Supreme Court , and the United States population in general, has used the phrase â€Å"separation of church and state† when referring to the religion clause of the 1st Amendment. The 1st amendment's actual wording is â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.† (Barton, America: To†¦ p.15) But, because of the Supreme Court's continuous citing of a â€Å" wall of separation† and â€Å"separation of church and state†, the public's idea of the 1st amendment's religion clause has been shaped by phrases which do not appear anywhere in the Constitution. The First Congress, which passed this Amendment in 1789, intended to prohibit the establishment of a national religion. In fact, they didn't mind the establishment of â€Å"official† religions by states. At the start of the American Revolution, nine of the thirteen colonies had established religions, so obviously no one was opposed to the coupling of church and state. Unfortunately, this separation talk has been so furiously pounded into our heads, that a picture is painted falsely into our heads; a picture of a roomful of godless atheists, agnostics, and deists framing our Constitution in 178... ...efore Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court made countless decisions regarding religion that directly contradict the past 50 years of religious oppression. Some of these decisions refer to the U.S. as a Christian country. One, Davis v. Beason, in 1889, strikes down bigamy and polygamy, rejecting arguments that they were religious exercises. The Court states Davis, a Mormon, was wrong, and that his actions were crimes by â€Å"the laws of all civilized and Christian countries.† This decision clearly shows the intent of the legislators of the era.(Barton, Original.. p.64-65) The solution to this problem lies in educating the people of this great republic as to the intent of the Founders. In the evidence presented, it can be clearly seen that the judicial fascism being practiced today and now, is clearly not what the Founding Fathers intended for our country. The solution to the religious liberty/school prayer debate lies in the hands of Congress.(Barton, A guide.. p.36) The media portrays supporters of a school prayer amendment as a radical fringe minority, when recent studies and surveys have shown that 71% of people favor an amendment for school prayer. Separation Of Church And State Essay -- History Historical Education R Separation of Church and State By the middle of the 20th Century, the United States had emerged as a world power. It accomplished this through its leadership in defeating Germany and Japan in World War II. These two countries' main objective was to enslave the world and destroy political, religious, and economic freedom. In Germany or Japan, anyone who disagreed with these goals, or was different was destroyed. This was a common practice in these two fascist countries. Unfortunately, at the same time of its emergence as a world power, the United States began to slip into a form of judicial fascism. This slide began when the U.S. Supreme Court began to abandon the religious principles on which this nation was founded. The abandonment officially began in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education, when the court announced, â€Å"The 1st amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.† (Barton, Original†¦ p.13) This exact case began the reversal of Supreme Court trends and opinions that had lasted for one hundred and fifty years. Now, for almost fifty years, the Supreme Court , and the United States population in general, has used the phrase â€Å"separation of church and state† when referring to the religion clause of the 1st Amendment. The 1st amendment's actual wording is â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.† (Barton, America: To†¦ p.15) But, because of the Supreme Court's continuous citing of a â€Å" wall of separation† and â€Å"separation of church and state†, the public's idea of the 1st amendment's religion clause has been shaped by phrases which do not appear anywhere in the Constitution. The First Congress, which passed this Amendment in 1789, intended to prohibit the establishment of a national religion. In fact, they didn't mind the establishment of â€Å"official† religions by states. At the start of the American Revolution, nine of the thirteen colonies had established religions, so obviously no one was opposed to the coupling of church and state. Unfortunately, this separation talk has been so furiously pounded into our heads, that a picture is painted falsely into our heads; a picture of a roomful of godless atheists, agnostics, and deists framing our Constitution in 178... ...efore Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court made countless decisions regarding religion that directly contradict the past 50 years of religious oppression. Some of these decisions refer to the U.S. as a Christian country. One, Davis v. Beason, in 1889, strikes down bigamy and polygamy, rejecting arguments that they were religious exercises. The Court states Davis, a Mormon, was wrong, and that his actions were crimes by â€Å"the laws of all civilized and Christian countries.† This decision clearly shows the intent of the legislators of the era.(Barton, Original.. p.64-65) The solution to this problem lies in educating the people of this great republic as to the intent of the Founders. In the evidence presented, it can be clearly seen that the judicial fascism being practiced today and now, is clearly not what the Founding Fathers intended for our country. The solution to the religious liberty/school prayer debate lies in the hands of Congress.(Barton, A guide.. p.36) The media portrays supporters of a school prayer amendment as a radical fringe minority, when recent studies and surveys have shown that 71% of people favor an amendment for school prayer.

The Pedestrian

The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury Utopia: an ideal place (fictional) This short story is an example of Dystopian fiction – dealing with a society that embodies a flawed perfection – achieved at a cost. In the story, Ray Bradbury attacks a society which is, in effect, a police state – a totalitarian regime. The sole representative of the regime is, appropriately, the police car. Mead is a non-conformist whose ‘crime’ is to walk for pleasure – a most simple and natural activity.The oppressive nature of the regime is emphasised by the fact that such a basic human activity is prohibited and has been eradicated – as indicated by the disused sidewalks. The nature of this soulless society is emphasised again and again by numerous images connected with death: â€Å"dark windows† â€Å"not unlike walking through a graveyard† â€Å"tomb-like buildings† and â€Å"grey phantoms†By contrast the vivid sensory description of M ead’s walk is conveyed through crisp natural images which evoke the senses and show his delight in simple pleasures and sensations: breathing in the cold November air and its â€Å"crystal frost† makes his â€Å"lungs blaze like a Christmas tree inside† the â€Å"branches filled with invisible snow†. This is a society which (it is implied) is kept docile and uninformed by a diet of poor quality TV programmes (which, we assume from the Police Car’s incredulity when Mead explains that he has no TV, are controlled by the State).The minds of the population have been dulled by the TV they are incessantly and acceptingly fed. Only Mead can see through the banality and predictability of the programmes: †Where are the cowboys rushing? † †A dozen assorted murders† †A comedian falling off the stage† There is nothing to stimulate the intellect of the population here. Despite the (large) number of channels, there is a comple te absence of any political programme which might challenge the government. Possibly suggesting brain-washing.If not, it is clear from the way that the population is described that they are not capable intellectually of challenging the government – they are portrayed as automatons – unthinking, unchallenging, uninformed. The suggestion is that the minds of this population are chained and dulled by the government’s actions. Informed, intelligent, alert people would pose a threat and ask awkward questions. Mead is the last of such people and his nightly covert walks are, we presume a way to find like-minded people.His rebellion, if we can call it that, is hardly the most active – he seems to have accepted or resigned himself to the fact that he can no longer pursue his career and seems a broken man at the end of the story. Setting In contrast to the rest of the population, the individuality and free-thinking nature of Mead’s mind is emphasised by nat ural images. The simile â€Å"only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk† conveys both an impression of a hunter and an image of soaring freedom.The fact that â€Å"he could imagine himself upon the centre of a plain, a wintry, windless Arizona desert† highlights his individuality and the sense of emptiness that he feels in a society that is, effectively, dead. The rest of the population and the city itself are portrayed as being dead. The buildings and city are architecturally dead – the â€Å"buckling concrete walk† suggesting decay and â€Å"tomb-like buildings† suggesting that those inside are dead. Even Nature itself seemed outraged by the setting and tried, it seemed, to bury it â€Å"like cement was vanishing under flowers and grass†The Police Car The imagery associated with the police car is harsh, cold, threatening, oppressive, that of hunter and its paralysed prey â€Å"flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him† â €Å"It smelled of riveted steel. It smelled of harsh antiseptic† Images which mirror the nature of the regime which is personified and represented by the car. Frequent use of word-choice linked to metallic, robotic, mechanical ideas. The voice of the police car also sounds robotic: short, sharp peremptory commands contrast with Mead’s fuller more warm and personal replies.The clearest indication of the nature of the regime comes in the interrogation: The lack of recognition of Mead’s profession and the incredulity that he does not have a TV set hint strongly at state control. In this dystopian society, anything connected with the arts: creativity, beauty, the senses†¦ is not recognised. Only that which is manufactured is recognised. Books and writing have no place in this regime. In a similar manner, the police car is unable to comprehend that Mead was simply walking for its own pleasurable sake. â€Å"Walking, just walking, walking? The repetition of walk ing gives the impression of the car’s brain malfunction. It cannot grasp that anyone would do something simply for the pleasure of it, not without a reason. Only Mead is capable of wry humour (a human quality) Are you married, Mr Mead No Nobody wanted me, said Leonard Mead with a Smile. Irony Mead is to be taken to an asylum – â€Å"To the Psychiatric Centre for Research on Regressive Tendencies†. Note the use of official sounding language – a euphemism designed to hide the true purpose of such a place – echoing SovietAsylums in which those who actively opposed the state’s political ideals were sent to an ‘asylum’ to be ‘re-educated’ – brain-washed until they did accept what the state wanted them to believe. The great irony here is that Mead – the only sane man in this insane society is being sent to an asylum. Symbolism. On their way to the asylum through, they pass Mead’s house. It is ablaze w ith lights in contrast to the dark city. â€Å"electric light brilliantly lit, every window a loud yellow illumination. It is a symbol of hope of vibrant life – light is a universal symbol of hope, but the car is swallowed up once more into the darkness (literally and figuratively). â€Å"The car moved down the empty river-bed streets† natural images of decay and life-lessness. Structure Mead’s capture is represented in stages. Contrast the positive, empowering image of him as a hawk – conveying a sense of freedom with his reaction to the car †not unlike a night moth, stunned by the illumination† The short story remains fairly uneventful throughout, therefore the structure reflects this.However, the featurelessness of structure (which in turn reflects the bleakness of the landscape) is broken by the tension created by the interrogation of the police car. The apparent tedium of the walk through the grey town is transformed into a gripping tens e episode. Near the end, the short story bursts into another high point of hope with the wonderful climactic symbol of the house ablaze with light – a symbol of hope. Nevertheless, we are again plunged into dark anti-climax as we realise that the house is only one lone point of hope, soon to be submerged within the blanket of darkness everywhere.Themes: 1. The distrust and ultimate destruction of the individual in a totalitarian state 2. Bradbury considers such a police state to be alien to the natural laws of Mankind – man should be free to voice his feelings. 3. He points to the dangers of state-controlled media which can brainwash a nation, State-controlled TV programmes being, effectively, propaganda. 4. He points to the dangers of a docile, unquestioning society. 5. Glancing euphemistic references to ‘psychiatric hospitals’. 6. Pessimistic – the light in the darkness is extinguished.

The First Wave Of Feminism - 767 Words

Sociology – Unit 4 Assignment Unit 4 Assignment is worth 50 points Assignment – What is feminism? Describe how it has evolved in the United States and include the three phases. The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities organized activity in support of woman s rights and interests The first wave of feminism took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, emerging out of an environment of urban industrialism and liberal, socialist politics. The goal of this wave was to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on the right to vote. The wave formally began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 when three hundred men and women rallied to the cause of equality for women. Elizabeth†¦show more content†¦The third wave of feminism began in the mid-90 s and was informed by post-colonial and post-modern thinking. In this phase many constructs were destabilized, including the notions of universal womanhood, body, gender, sexuality and â€Å"heteronormativity the belief that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (man and woman) with natural roles in life.) An aspect of third wave feminism that mystified the mothers of the earlier feminist movement was the re adoption by young feminists of the very lip-stick, high-heels, and cleavage proudly exposed by low cut necklines that the first two phases of the movement identified with male oppression. Pink floor expressed this new position when she said that it s possible to have a push-up bra and a brain at the same time. The fourth wave of feminism is still a captivating silhouette. A writer for Elle Magazin recently interviewed me about the waves of feminism and asked if the second and third waves may have â€Å"failed or dialed down† because the social and economic gains had been mostly sparkle, little substance, and whether at some point women substituted equal rights for career and for ones self. I replied that the second wave of feminism ought not be characterized as having failed, nor was glitter all that it generated. Quite the contrary; many goals of the second wave were met: more women in