Environmental Development through Role Play in Schools Essay Example for Free

Environmental Development through Role Play in Schools Essay 1. Executive Summary In this proposal the Environmental Protection Group (EPG) requests funding for its Environmental Development Project through Role Play in Schools. The project’s goal is to contribute to the reduction of environmental devastation and destruction through the implementation of role-play strategies that highlight concomitant preventive and behaviour change interventions. With this support, EPG will emphasize on increasing awareness practices and measurement requirements and work in close collaboration with partners toward the reduction of the burden of environmental devastation. EPG is requesting Kyats 16,000,000 to support its efforts to combat human effects on our environment and its resultant environmental destruction among the currently unnoticed affected areas of Myanmar. EPG will work in collaboration with the â€Å"Save Earth†, community-based organizations and International NGOs, promoting positive behaviour change through the Environmental protection Role play in schools project. 2. Environmental Issues in Myanmar While environmental protection projects and environment activists are endeavoring to bring forth harmony amongst our environment and our society, Myanmar has rather a slow rate of environmental protection measurements. Citizens should be warned of the effects of their behavior on the environment and the resultant destruction of the environment. However, since the population of working people will not be able to contribute much to our project, we have set our targets on children. Through role play on environmental devastation, we will raise children’s awareness of the environment. Despite learning about the deterioration of the environment only when they get older, making children contribute to the environment is claimed to have much effect both on the children and on the environment. While the environment will get greener with children’s interest in it, the children, on the other hand, will also learn the advantages and disadvantages of their behavior towards the Earth. This way, the science of the Earth and the art of individual responsibility will be learned by the children at the same time, as well as benefit in the eco-friendliness of men and our Earth. 3. Project Objectives to raise environmental awareness through community participation approach to get ideas from the community to promote community’s critical thinking of the environment 4. Our Vision Statement Communities in which people respect the environment, develop the sustainable eco-friendly lifestyle and share the environmental knowledge and practice from generation to generation. 5. The weaknesses of our community Lack of environmental awareness Weakness in practicing conservation Ignorance of the significance of the natural environment 6. Skills and Qualities Patience Motivation in community participation Theatre ability Persuasiveness Ability to understand the reality of the community Scientific Knowledge

Left Behind :: essays research papers

This book is about the Tribulation period that takes place after the Rapture of the church. It begins on an airplane; people suddenly disappear leaving nothing but their clothes, jewelry, etc. The airplane pilot, Rayford Steele, is the main character. Non-believers of Jesus Christ and his followers are terrified and frightened as they try to figure out what has happened to their loved ones. Rayford Steele is directed back to his airport. Flights across the world are grounded, due to the car accidents, sudden disappearances, and believe it or not, plane crashes. His wife and his son, in the earlier days had become very strong Christians. As he lands the 7-47, a thought crosses Rayford’s mind is my wife still here, are my kids okay, is my family still alive? Guilt came upon him, thus he was struggling with his marriage, and he thought about having an affair with his head stewardess, Hattie. Hattie befriends a young journalist on the plane and they try to make contacts with their families after the Rapture. They plan to keep in touch after the plane lands. After hours of confusion and turmoil passes, Rayford makes his way home. Only to find his wife and son missing, their clothes being the only piece of evidence left. When the dramatic feeling sets in, he contacts his daughter, Chloe, and right away she makes her way home. In desperate need of answers, Chloe and Rayford search for answers about these mysterious cases of disappearance. Suddenly, Rayford remember his wife talking about what the Christians called â€Å"The Rapture†, she was always bringing up how they would vanish from the face of the earth. Rayford took her for granted and forgot about it completely. Everything she said began to make more and more sense, so to find the rational explanations he needed to answer these prophecies, he picked up the Holy Bible. Rayford took the next step; he went to his wife's church to find Bruce, who was also too proud to accept a word the Christians had said before the Rapture. Bruce gives Rayford a video of explanation for the Rapture and Rayford studied it. In the tape, he learns that the Rapture is the event in where Jesus takes his followers, known as the Christians and brings them to heaven, where the Christians will receive eternal life. At the end of the video Rayford Steele then received the Lord God into his heart and became a Christian. Left Behind :: essays research papers This book is about the Tribulation period that takes place after the Rapture of the church. It begins on an airplane; people suddenly disappear leaving nothing but their clothes, jewelry, etc. The airplane pilot, Rayford Steele, is the main character. Non-believers of Jesus Christ and his followers are terrified and frightened as they try to figure out what has happened to their loved ones. Rayford Steele is directed back to his airport. Flights across the world are grounded, due to the car accidents, sudden disappearances, and believe it or not, plane crashes. His wife and his son, in the earlier days had become very strong Christians. As he lands the 7-47, a thought crosses Rayford’s mind is my wife still here, are my kids okay, is my family still alive? Guilt came upon him, thus he was struggling with his marriage, and he thought about having an affair with his head stewardess, Hattie. Hattie befriends a young journalist on the plane and they try to make contacts with their families after the Rapture. They plan to keep in touch after the plane lands. After hours of confusion and turmoil passes, Rayford makes his way home. Only to find his wife and son missing, their clothes being the only piece of evidence left. When the dramatic feeling sets in, he contacts his daughter, Chloe, and right away she makes her way home. In desperate need of answers, Chloe and Rayford search for answers about these mysterious cases of disappearance. Suddenly, Rayford remember his wife talking about what the Christians called â€Å"The Rapture†, she was always bringing up how they would vanish from the face of the earth. Rayford took her for granted and forgot about it completely. Everything she said began to make more and more sense, so to find the rational explanations he needed to answer these prophecies, he picked up the Holy Bible. Rayford took the next step; he went to his wife's church to find Bruce, who was also too proud to accept a word the Christians had said before the Rapture. Bruce gives Rayford a video of explanation for the Rapture and Rayford studied it. In the tape, he learns that the Rapture is the event in where Jesus takes his followers, known as the Christians and brings them to heaven, where the Christians will receive eternal life. At the end of the video Rayford Steele then received the Lord God into his heart and became a Christian.

How evil is presented throughout the play Essay

Show how Shakespeare’s sense of theatre supports the presentation of evil in â€Å"Macbeth.† Shakespeare was born in 1564 at Stratford upon Avon, he was an English poet and playwright. He wrote 38 plays 154 sonnets. He began his successful career in London as an actor and a writer, and later became known as what many say to be the greatest writer in the English language. One of his most successful plays is ‘Macbeth’ it was written at the time king James I was on the throne at the time that the Gunpowder Plot that took place in 1605, and plotted against king James I and tried to blow up the houses of parliament. This is quite significant to the play as it links to people plotting against the king, as Macbeth does. In the end Guy Fawks is burnt, and at the end of the play Macbeth is also murdered. Shakespeare received patronage from the current monarchy if they were pleased with the play he had produced, so he made it appeal to the king or Queen he was writing it for. He did this when he wrote Macbeth, as he Put witches in the play and also based the play around witches and portrayed them as personifying evil this would have appealed to King James I as he wrote a book about witches called Demonology in this book he confirmed his conspiracy about witches being evil supernatural beings that made bad things happen. Shakespeare set the play in the 12th century when it was the17th century so that he could twist the facts of what happened to get across what he wanted to say, about the plot of the witches. Shakespeare tried to make things relevant in the play to King James I. He did this at the start of the play where he used Thunder and Lightening, before the three witches came on this would have appealed to King James I as he expressed very strongly that witches conjured up storms in the book he wrote. Another thing that portrayed evil at the start of the play is that the chant that the witches do ;†Fair is foul and foul is fair,† this shows that evil is about good being bad and bad being good. This links to Macbeth because when he first talks, he says â€Å"so fair and foul a day I have not seen†. He is echoing the words of the witches, and this alerts the audience and makes them think he is connected to them or of the same nature (also evil). Also when the witches say â€Å"when the hurlyburly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won† it makes you curious to think that they may know what is to happen in the future. It also gives you the feeling that the witches are peculiar and supernatural if they can make predictions with such certainty. Shakespeare is also trying to show the power the witches have to make evil happen, that their presence or their words can effect people make them think evil and then become evil, as Macbeth does throughout the play. Macbeth as a victim of supernatural conspiracy as it’s the witches who put the essence of treason in his mind.This is shown when Banquo asks Macbeth â€Å"Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear†. This shows Macbeth is not innately good because seeing the evil of the witches made him fear and a noble man was not to let evil get to him, like Banquo didn’t. This also shows he is susceptible to evil. He also started to have evil thoughts that even started to scare himself he says â€Å"I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, and make my seated heart knock at my ribs†. Macbeth knows it is a sin against God to Murder or even hurt the Lords anointed King. At the start of the play he was honourable and favoured greatly by Duncan who gave him the titles Thane of Cawdor and Thane of Glamis for winning the battle and defeating the king of Norway, but Macbeth above all was a man of action and wanted to know how he could make the prediction of the witches come true and so he didn’t let his evil thoughts get in the way .He says in act 1 scene 4 â€Å"Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires†, he wants the stars to stay dark so that he can hide his murderous thoughts. Also dark is associated with bad and evil and light with good and noble. He doesn’t want a starry night so that he can hide his evil thoughts in the darkness away from the light. Macbeth had lots of imagination but he lacked a strong will, when lady Macbeth allures him into Duncan’s murder he went along with the plans although deep down he knew it was morally the wrong thing to do., on the other hand lady Macbeth had a strong will persuading and brainwashing Macbeth, but has no imagination, she is the one who persuades him to commit the ghastly deed but is the one who goes mad. Another aspect of Macbeth’s imagination is when he sees daggers and apparitions before he goes to kill Duncan. Macbeth even Hallucinates when he sees the ghost of Banquo. When Macbeth goes to see the witches they make him feel invincible, they tell him â€Å"no man of woman born can touch him† hearing this he goes and kills all of MacDuffs family (his innocent wife and children) that is because he has descended to evil, he has reached the depths of evil and because evil never triumphs the audience knows he is going be caught, this is when he finds out that the witches tricked him but he does die a noble death because he is brave. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an evil person in the play but also the source of all the evil from Macbeth. She personifies evil to Macbeth making him do wrong and she guides him into all that he does. This play is written to relate to the biblical story of Adam and Eve where God allows them to eat the fruit from all the trees except the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. A serpent persuades Eve to eat from that tree; she does so but also persuades Adam to eat from it. This relates to the story of Macbeth because Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to do evil. This is another thing that would have appealed to king James I as he was a religious man who strongly believed in what the bible said. When lady Macbeth reads the letter he has been sent by Macbeth she gets excited and starts having fantastical thoughts, yet she thinks her husband is too kind to do such a thing when she says â€Å"It is too full o ‘th ‘milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.† She knows she will have to persuade him and she knows just how she will do this â€Å"that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue.† She is saying she will use her language of persuasion and guide him into the evil to do what she wants him to do. She is the one who induces him and leads him to do it, at first he is reluctant but then she wins him over by saying that he should do it for the love of her, she also challenges his masculinity by doing this so in the end after arguing a won battle because lady Macbeth isn’t backing down, Macbeth finally goes to murder Duncan. Later she entices him by saying that the blame of the murder could be put on the king’s guards, so their crime won’t be discovered. Throughout the play Macbeth goes from noble and good with people referring to him as â€Å"noble Macbeth† and â€Å"valiant cousin† to evil led by the witches. Macbeth was a victim of an evil plot with the witches tricking him and leading him to evil and sin, but the blame can not be put entirely on the witches because although they lead him he was the one who choose to kill Duncan witch was the start of all the bad things that came from it. Macbeth comes to die a noble death, because of his bravery and of this and then the rightful order has been restored and the rightful king is on the throne. This makes stronger the belief that people have that the king is the lords anointed and nobody can do anything about it. The play justifies the position of James I as he is a noble and righteous king . Shakespeare ended the play this was to show that no good comes from witches and from evil and it is a lot better to be noble as you will get a better outcome, Banquo was noble and his son became the king in the end.

Orthodox Christianity Essay

For centuries, the two major Christian sects of Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism have been a center of comparison because of the resemblance in both religions’ beliefs and practices. But in my recent visit to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Miami, I have discovered the stark contrasts to what popular notions hold. Particularly, what befell upon me was a revelation that Orthodox Catholicism differs from Roman Catholicism and other conventional Christian churches as far as relevant doctrines, laws, standards for morality, organizational leadership, church services, and religious ceremonies are concerned. While Orthodox Christianity is generally being compared as similar to Roman Catholicism, its basic and complex theologies both concur to and diverge from that of the Roman Catholic faith. Orthodox Christians generally regard their religious system as a direct continuance of Christ’s ministry; they believe that their very sect is part of a long continuing tradition, otherwise called the Holy Tradition, which started during the first century and remained pure and intact despite the drastic changes that occurred across the world over the centuries (Ware 7-8). Orthodox Christian belief likewise holds that the Bible is the life giving tome of the church because it contains and uncovers the will of God, reveals the relationship between God and the early Israelites, narrates the events that happened during the ministry of Jesus, as well as Christ’s foundation of the first church (Ware 194-196). Apart from the sacred readable contents of the Bible, Christian Orthodoxy also considers it as the sole living witness to the centuries old tradition the sect continues to practice. And with blessing from the early church leaders with guidance from the Holy Spirit, the books of the Bible were expressed as the apostles’ way of handing down the tradition from one generation to another. Christian Orthodoxy merits the Nicene Creed with the highest of regard and considers it as a basis of its beliefs (Ware 202). As such, in its belief in the nature of God, Orthodox Christianity employs a Trinitarian concept or one God with three different personas: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. The Orthodox doctrine furthers that God is an omnipotent being that constitutes no physical form, and is therefore a transcendent being (Ware 210-211). A Distinct Orthodox Catholic belief is in the concept that man is an image and likeness of God. This belief is stressed in extreme senses that Orthodox Christianity’s adherents consider humankind’s resemblance to God as a means of carrying the icon of God within the self (Benz 18). Because of the central idea that man is the image and likeness of God, Orthodox Catholicism’s notion of the original sin differs from most Christian traditions in such a way that the sin committed by Adam and Eve is not morally and spiritually inherited by humans. Instead, original sin is the separation from God’s grace and acquisition of physical and spiritual mortality (Benz 19). And humankind’s separation from God is an action out of free will, particularly when Adam and Eve chose to listen to the serpent’s word and their give in to their urge. Furthermore, Christian Orthodox belief suggests that the fall of man stained all of God’s creation with sin, and corruption while implying that Adam and Eve’s eviction from paradise is God’s way of avoiding man’s sin, wickedness, and corruption from lasting endlessly (Ware 218-219). The Orthodox Christians’ general concept of sin and corruption meanwhile is milder than any other Christian sect or any other religious system for that matter. Sin, as Orthodox Christian doctrine holds, encompasses a contamination, deformation, and infliction of damage on God’s image. However despite sin’s vile nature and humanity’s vulnerability to it, man remains as noble beings because of the simple fact that humans are created in the image of God (Benz 19). As much as the beliefs and practices have renewed my perspective of Orthodox Catholicism, the church service I became part of was a very overwhelming experience. I thought my religion was already rich in traditions and customs, but what I saw and experienced in the ceremony brought my knowledge of Orthodox Christianity to new heights as I have seen and distinguished the difference of the ceremony from conventional Christian sects. Before going to the church, I thought to myself that it is simply going to be a typical service in a Christian place of worship similar to the ones documented in Christian television networks. However, set my eyes on the church, the distinctive style of the structure surprised me as I have observed a slight difference in the church’s architecture. I expected the church to have a dome-shaped top which is a recognizable design of most Christian churches. Except for the cross on the tip of the church’s roof, the external appearance of the church resembles a mosque. The color scheme, the golden plates on the roof all appear to me as elements of Islamic design. As I entered the church, I have received a warm welcome from the church’s senior warden Gary Popovich. He mentioned that every part of the cathedral was a sanctuary for everyone, even to non-orthodox Christians. As Mr. Popovich gave me a mini tour of the church, the interiors further made me notice the distinction of Orthodox Church structures from that of most Roman Catholic structures. While both churches are known to have long, wide aisles leading to the altar, Cathedral of Christ the Savior’s hallway leading to the altar was a little compact despite the conventionality of its length. However, the lobby area of the church, or the narthex as it is properly called, was similar to lobbies of other churches in such a way that it has a board which posts announcements of the church’s activities for the week. Mr. Popovich however added that apart from the usual acknowledging of guests, the narthex is also significant in that tables are set up there during Easter to bless food that would be taken home by adherents after days of fasting and abstinence in the Lenten season. And in days of divine service and obligation, candles and offerings are sold in the narthex. As I was to be part of the Eastern Orthodox Communion for a day, Mr. Popovich toured me to the inner areas of the church. We then proceeded to the main area of the church, which, Mr. Popovich regarded as the nave. This area is where the people stay during divine services, and is thus considered sacred ground. Along the walls and the ceiling of the nave of the cathedral, I noticed numerous portraits of individuals considered holy by Orthodox Catholics including a large portrait of Christ in the ceiling. Mr. Popovich was about to give me a guided tour of what he calls an iconostasis or the room where all of the religious figures and paintings were placed, when he told me to be prepared because the service was about to start. So I proceeded to the nave to participate in the upcoming service. Although I did not clarify if there was any appropriate attire for adherents, I wore the conventional clothing reserved for church attendance. As the service started, everyone gathered in the nave of the cathedral. I first noticed that no one among the people in attendance was wearing casual clothing. The people around me had conservative clothing; the males wore formal attire with collared shirts and sleeves with cuffs. The females were all wearing mid-length and long skirts as well as blouses with sleeves. In addition, most of the women, though not all of them, sported head scarves during the service. Furthermore, apart from the clothing, I also noticed the cathedral’s segregation scheme. All the males were on the right hand side of the nave, while the females were on the right wing of the nave. While I was fascinated by the formality of the people in the church, I never asked them the relevance of wearing such clothing. I simply thought that the sanctity of their church together with the value they uphold for their tradition includes dressing well during services. Mr. Popovich informed me prior to the service that what I am going to be part of was the evening services otherwise the Vespers. I recall senior warden Popovich previously discussed that the Vespers begins at 9 in the evening, an hour which was actually based on the exact time of Christ’s death: 3:00 pm or the 9th hour in antiquated time. The service starts with the priest’s ceremonial blessing and continued with the usual beginnings, which, is basically a sequence of prayers that include the trisagion or the common hymn in almost every Orthodox liturgical service (Perry & Melling 190). The service then proceeded with the recital of the Lord’s Prayer before the actual scripture reading of psalms took place. The reader read about three psalms before reciting another short hymn called the troparion (Perry & Melling 37). Another hymn called the theotokion followed the troparion, the hymn was sung in honor of the mother of God. Particularly, the hymn honors the virgin mother of God for the incarnation of Christ through her. The singing of the hymn also coincided with the entrance of the clergy; the clergy coming from the Holy Doors signified that the creation of the world also marks man’s selection to live in paradise (Perry & Melling 295). As the service was progressing, I took a small window of time to look around and observe what was happening around me. In doing so, I noticed that most people get distracted at what they do knowing that an unfamiliar person is present to witness what they do, but I felt their utmost dedication to their obligations to God because my very presence did not even cause them to be distracted at what they do. Similarly, as much as it was a rare occasion for me to be part of their usual service, they must have felt that it was also a rare occasion to have an outsider among them, yet their dedication remained pure and untainted. A series of readings soon followed, after the clergy’s entrance, another series of hymns, the Phos Hilaron and the Prokeimenon marked a transition of the service to epistle reading. During the epistle reading, the adherents hear the words of God for enlightenment. For the first part, the reader read a passage from the Bible’s Old Testament. At the time, the reading was taken from the book of Elijah which announced what message God’s promised messiah would bring. After the reading of the scriptures, the Vespers was concluded by the Litany of Fervent Supplication and the final blessing of the presiding clergy. During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, the adherents pray that God may grant all Christians mercy. The litany is a responsorial prayer wherein the reader asks for mercy in every aspect and the people respond with the words â€Å"Grant it, O Lord. † After the final blessing has been given, the crowds of people are dismissed accordingly. Based on what I have seen in the liturgical service I attended, Orthodox Catholicism is a religion filled with tradition, symbolisms and customary ceremonies. But true service to God is not really measured by the traditions, the customs, and other rituals of sacrifice and praise; the true essence of serving God lies in a person’s obedient and relentless faith. Ultimately, the sacrifices and the customs do not matter if a person has little or weak faith. Works Cited Benz, Ernst. â€Å"The Eastern Orthodox Church: Its Thought and Life† New Jersey: Aldine Transaction, 2008 Parry, Ken & David Melling. â€Å"The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity† Malden, MA. : Blackwell Publishing, 1999. Ware, Timothy. â€Å"The Orthodox Church: New Edition†. New York: Penguin Books, 1997

Information on Education and Schools in Massachusetts

Information on Education and Schools in Massachusetts Each state varies at least somewhat in education related policy.   Trending educational topics such as charter schools, school vouchers, standardized testing, state standards, and school finance all take on the shape of a states political foundation.   This variation ensures that a student in Massachusetts is most assuredly receiving a slightly different education than a similar student in another state.   This makes providing accurate comparisons among states extremely difficult.   It is possible to compare data from programs, assessments, and studies that look at each state independently. This profile breaks down education and schools in Massachusetts. Massachusetts Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education: Mitchell D. Chester District/School Information Length of School Year: A minimum of 180 school days is required by Massachusetts state law. Number of Public School Districts: There are 242 public school districts in Massachusetts. Number of Public Schools: There are 1859 public schools in Massachusetts. **** Number of Students Served in Public Schools: There are 953,369 public school students in Massachusetts. **** Number of Teachers in Public Schools: There are 69,342 public school teachers in Massachusetts.**** Number of Charter Schools: There are 79 charter schools in Massachusetts. Per Pupil Spending: Massachusetts spends $14,262 per pupil in public education. **** Average Class Size: The average class size In Massachusetts is 13.7 students per 1 teacher. **** % of Title I Schools: 51.3% of schools in Massachusetts are Title I Schools.**** % With Individualized Education Programs (IEP): 17.4% of students in Massachusetts are on IEPs. **** % in Limited-English Proficiency Programs: 6.8% of students in Massachusetts are in limited-English Proficient Programs.**** % of Student Eligible for Free/Reduced Lunches: 35.0% of students in Massachusetts schools are eligible for free/reduced lunches.**** Ethnic/Racial Student Breakdown**** White: 67.0% Black: 8.2% Hispanic: 16.0% Asian: 5.7% Pacific Islander: 0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.2% School Assessment Data Graduation Rate: 82.6% of all students entering high school in Massachusetts graduate. ** Average ACT/SAT score: Average ACT Composite Score: 24.4*** Average Combined SAT Score: 1552***** 8th grade NAEP assessment scores:**** Math: 297 is the scaled score for 8th grade students in Massachusetts. The U.S. average was 281. Reading: 274 is the scaled score for 8th grade students in Massachusetts. The U.S. average was 264. % of Students Who Attend College after High School: 73.2% of students in Massachusetts go on to attend some level of college. *** Private Schools Number of Private Schools: There are 852 private schools in Massachusetts.* Number of Students Served in Private Schools: There are 144,445 private school students in Massachusetts.* Homeschooling Number of Students Served Through Homeschooling: There were an estimated 29,219 students that were homeschooled in Massachusetts in 2016.# Teacher Pay The average teacher pay for the state of Massachusetts was $73,129 in 2013.## Each individual district in the state of Massachusetts negotiates teacher salaries and establishes their own teacher salary schedule. The following is an example of a teacher salary schedule in Massachusetts provided by the Boston Public School District. *Data courtesy of Education Bug . **Data courtesy of ED.gov ***Data courtesy of ACT ****Data courtesy of the National Center for Education Statistics ******Data courtesy of The Commonwealth Foundation #Data courtesy of A2ZHomeschooling.com ##Average salary courtesy of National Center of Education Statistics ###Disclaimer:   The information provided on this page changes frequently.   It is pulled from a several education resources in an attempt to pool critical education related data to one site. It will be updated regularly as new information and data becomes available.

The Prevalence of School Violence

The Prevalence of School Violence As teachers, parents, and students prepare for school each day, we hope that fears of school violence is not their major concern. Sadly, violence of one sort or another is part of many schools today. In a study of the class of 2000, CBS News found that, while 96 percent of students felt safe in school, 53 percent said that a shooting was possible in their school. 22 percent of students knew classmates who regularly carried weapons to campus. Are student perceptions accurate? How common is school violence? Are children safe at school? How can parents and teachers ensure safety for everyone? Rates of School Violence According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there was an average of 47 violent deaths at schools from the 1992/1993 school year through 2015/2016. Thats over a thousand deaths in under 25 years. The following information comes from the NCES commissioned a survey of Principals in 1,234 regular public elementary, middle, and high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the 1996/1997 school year. The good news is that 43 percent of public schools reported no crime, and 90 percent reported no serious violent crimes. Still they found violence and crime to be far too common in the school setting. 57 percent of public elementary and secondary school principals stated that one or more incidents of crime or violence were reported to the police.10 percent of all public schools had one or more serious violent crimes (murder, rape, sexual battery, suicide, physical attack or fight with a weapon, or robbery).The most reported crime was physical attacks or fights without a weapon.Most of the serious violent crimes occurred in middle and high schools.A greater percentage of violent crimes occurred in city schools and in large schools with over 1000 students. When asked about their personal experiences, a quarter of students surveyed in 1999s Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher reported having been a victim of a violent crime in or around the school. Scarier still, one in eight students had at some time carried a weapon to school. These statistics indicated increases from the previous 1993 survey. Even so, teachers, students, and law enforcement officials all revealed that their overall perceptions were that violence was decreasing. How do we address this complacency and make our schools safer in fact as well as in feeling? Combating School Violence School violence is everyones problem to solve. The community, administrators, teachers, parents, and students must come together and make schools safe. What forms of prevention and punishment are schools relying on? Some schools have a low security system in place, meaning that they have no guards or metal detectors, but they do control access to school buildings. Others rely on moderate security, which means either employing a full-time guard with no metal detectors or controlled access to the buildings, or a part-time guard with controlled access to the buildings. Still others have stringent security which means they have a full-time guard, use metal detectors, and control who has access to the campus. Almost no schools have no security measures at all. One correlation is that the schools with the highest security are the ones that have the highest instances of crime. But what about the other schools? Neither Columbine, Sandy Hook, or Stoneman-Douglas were considered high risk schools. Schools across the country have instituted violence prevention programs and zero tolerance policies. One step schools take to increase security levels is issuing name badges which must be worn at all times. This may not stop students from causing violence, but it allows teachers and administrators have to more easily identify the students who cause disruptions. Furthermore, badges could prevent outsiders from invading a campus. What Can Parents Do? They can pay attention to subtle and overt changes in their children. Many times there are warning signs well in advance of violence. They can watch for these and report them to guidance counselors. Some examples include: Sudden lack of interestObsessions with violent or hateful games or videosDepression and mood swingsWriting that shows despair and isolationLack of anger management skillsTalking about death or bringing weapons to schoolViolence towards animals What Can Teachers Do? Worries about school violence should not hamper the job educators must perform. Remain aware of the possibility that violence could erupt anywhere. Strive to work together to create a safe academic environment. Teachers are in a tough situation, because if they step in physically to address violence or fights, they may themselves be targeted by defensive or abusive students or parents. Still, teachers are often in the best position to prevent classroom violence. Similar to parents, watch for the above warnings signsTalk to parents about concerns they might haveRemember to keep the lines of communication open with students and parentsBring concerns to guidance counselors and administrationBe consistent in enforcing classroom and school policiesCreate a prejudice-free classroom policy from the first day, and enforce itTeach anger management skills as the need arisesModel healthy behavior and responsesCreate a plan to handle emergency situations with your students What Can Students Do? Look out for and take care of each otherRespect others and their feelingsRefuse to succumb to negative peer pressure, especially when violence is involvedReport any knowledge of weapons on campusTell your teachers about suspicious behaviors of other studentsWalk away from confrontations Resources and Further Reading Binns, Katherine, and Dana Markow. â€Å"The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1999: Violence in Americas Public Schools- Five Years Later.† Institute of Education Sciences, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 30 Apr. 1999.Center for the Study and Prevention of ViolenceNational Center for Education StatisticsNational Crime Prevention CouncilNational School Safety CenterOffice of Safe and Healthy StudentsSafe Supportive Learning

Hispanics, African-Americans and other cultural Term Paper

Hispanics, African-Americans and other cultural - Term Paper Example This term paper aims at describing the under representation of Hispanics, African-Americans and other cultural in mass media. Mass broadcasting have participated and will persist to perform a crucial function in the manner Americans observe African-Americans. As an outcome of the overwhelming broadcasting focus on misconduct, drug use, group violence, and other shapes of defiant social conduct between African-Americans, the broadcasting have promoted a distorted and malicious public opinion of African-Americans (Mastro and Greenberg 112). The description of African-Americans is a long period struggle in opposition to oppression and favoritism. The mass media have participated in perpetuating the consequences of this historical persecution and in influencing to African-Americans' ongoing position as second-class inhabitants. As an outcome, America has experienced from a profound doubt as to description of African-Americans. Despite this ethnic division, something indisputably the whit es concerning African-Americans has produced doubts concerning the white man's worth system (Mastro and Greenberg 113). Exploring how ethnic minorities are represented on TV is beneficial for two main reasons (Mastro and Greenberg 114). ... It has been recorded that television has turn out to be the â€Å"nation’s main story-teller† (Mastro and Greenberg 116). This term paper imitates earlier masterpiece by Mastro and Greenberg who discovered the illustration and portrayal of Caucasian, Latino and African American or black individuals on television. Mastro and Greenberg discovered that, Latinos were not represented on television compared to the African Americans and the Caucasians (116). They comprised of 3% of TV characters. Their study was significant because they described that Latino TV characters were not as destructively categorized as African American television character. Initial studies by Mastro and Robinson suggested that media metaphors and messages operate as a reasoning filter to aid how individuals represent the world. Others researchers have claimed that media has the â€Å"ability to reach the very remote areas of the human consciousness. If media images influence stereotypes, then ethnic minorities were negatively categorized on media is difficult. They noted that these negative stereotypes shaped how audiences think about ethnic minorities. Mastro and Robinson argued that media uninterruptedly supports views opinions over a long period (117). Proposing a culture hypothesis, Mastro and Robinson posited that media images update public feelings about the communal world (117). Specifically, fostering theory projected that oppressive exposure to mass media, TV in particular, formed how audiences saw the actual world. What such audiences believe as appropriate character portrayals, morals and philosophies are progressively in line with individuals presented on screen. Similarly, Lauzen and Dozier argued that mass media images, collectively with existed experience,