Parents Taking Control Of Their Childrens Education :: essays research papers

Never before in the United States have parents been so disgruntled about their children's education. The main reason behind this massive disruption is that public schools are not living up to parent's standards. Therefore, parents are taking their children's educations and futures into their own hands, and doing so quite efficiently. Many parents are turning to ["an alternative"] means of educating known as home schooling. Home schooling is simply ["education of school- aged children at home rather than at school."] Parents are choosing home schooling over public because public schools are not meeting their children's academic, individual, and handicap needs. First, parents are choosing home schooling over public schooling because public schools are not meeting student's academic needs. [Parents expect their children will learn to read, write, and acquire basic math skills by the time they graduate.] However, public schools throughout the United States are failing to teach these basic achedemic skills. Recent studies show that [" Of the 2.4 million who graduate, as many as 25% cannot read or write at the eighth grade level or "functionally literate," level, according to some estimates."] This is a tragic statistic for a nation claiming to be so developed. There are more opportunities to education in the United States than any other country in the world, yet evidence shows that the United States ranks [" at the bottom of 19 industrial nations in reading, writing, and arithmetic."] In addition, students are ranking lower than ever on Academic Achievement Tests (ACT). Children who attend public schools rank in the [" 50th percentile."] whereas, home schooled children [" typically score at the 65th to 80th percentile...."] To add to these statistics, [" in December 1989, the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seemed to be five or even ten years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think."] These statistics prove that home schooled children are doing better in math, science, reading and writing, compared to children attending public schools. Secondly, parents are choosing home schooling over public schooling because public schools are no longer taking student's individual needs into consideration. Since students are taught lessons based on an academic calendar year, they are expected to be able to complete specific tasks by the end of that year. When students fail to meet these expectations they are required to repeat the same grade the following school year.

Political parties Essay

In most political environment of the world, the issue of attracting increased voters is critical to the development of any political party. Most party candidates run progressive and aggressive political campaign in other to win more voters. Political parties around the world device various means of increasing their chances of winning elections. A very good example is the just concluded United State presidential election. The country’s parties in one way or the other influence the election results through their various campaigns. There will be a comprehensive discussion on this matter in this write up. According to Micah Sifry, who argued that voter turnout would increase if party candidates run progressive and populist campaigns. In some cases, this could work and in practice, progressive and populist campaigns do determine the increased turnout of voters, but most times this may not be. What will determine this may be the assurance on the part of the political aspirant that went they are elected, the economic goals would be achieved. In essence, political party’s primary obligation has significant effect on the voter’s turnout that could be necessary in future election. In future, political parties may continue to use these campaign strategies. However, there maybe a major change in the way this is conducted. Political parties will develop different platforms, issues and debates that could determine the number of voter’s turnout. These platforms and issue could be in form of given detailed report on what the political aspirants will do if elected. Others could be to develop campaign publicity and events around the country, utilization of publications to educate the generality about their campaign progress, plan tours where political aspirants will be required to speak and answer questions from the public. The progressive and populist campaign refers to direct effort by political parties to give a detail issue or account of what their respective candidate would solve if elected. The populist is an America phenomenon, which was developed to take the issue of the populace needs into consideration. The USA faces series of progressive and populist campaign, because most political aspirants get to office without fulfilling the various promises made during their political campaigns. This has contributed to the problem that could face the country in terms of political elections in future. The aggressive and populist campaign has some resemblance of today’s campaign process. In some ways, the country is trying to address this issue in different forms. The just concluded presidential election is a very good example of this issue. During the campaign, the two parties involved developed several ways of attracting voters to their side. They used different means of election campaign to have a great chance of winning, but the government-devised strategies to address this issue. In conclusion, what determines the increased number of electorates’ turnout depends on the way political parties make use of various political campaign strategies. In essence, aggressive and populist campaign strategy is just a necessary condition and not a sufficient condition for increasing the number of voters’ turnout during election. Reference: Rutenberg J. , Nagourney A. , (2008). An Adviser Molds a Tighter, More Aggressive McCain Campaign. The New York Times, Politics. http://www. nytimes. com/2008/09/07/us/politics/07schmidt. html? _r=1

Benefits of video games Essay

Video games today are most commonly viewed as a way for students of high schools and colleges to slack off and procrastinate on homework and studies. What most people are not aware of though, is the social benefits that video gaming has on individuals. Video games can have positive effects on a gamers social life when it comes to teamwork, helping people, multitasking, and communicating efficiently. Educational Benefits for Students A recent study from the Education Development Center and the U.S. Congress-supported Ready To Learn (RTL) Initiative found that a curriculum that involved digital media such as video games could improve early literacy skills when coupled with strong parental and teacher involvement. Interestingly, the study focused on young children, and 4- and 5-year-olds who participated showed increases in letter recognition, sounds association with letters, and understanding basic concepts about stories and print. The key for this study was having high-quality educational titles, along with parents and teachers who were equally invested in the subject matter. That way kids could discuss and examine the concepts that they were exposed to in the games. Also interesting is the value that video games are proven to have even for very young players. A study by the Education Department Center further found that low-income children are â€Å"better prepared for success in kindergarten when their preschool teachers incorporate educational video and games from the Ready to Learn Initiative. † Older children such as teens and tweens can benefit from gameplay as well. Even traditional games teach kids basic everyday skills, according to Ian Bogost, associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and founder of software maker Persuasive Games. â€Å"Look at ‘World of Warcraft’: You’ve got 11-year-olds who are learning to delegate responsibility, promote teamwork and steer groups of people toward a common goal. † Games that are designed to help teach are having an impact on college-age pupils as well. Following a recent 3D virtual simulation of a US/Canadian border crossing, wherein students assumed the role of guards, Loyalist College in Ontario reported that the number of successful test scores increased from 56 percent to 95 percent. Improved Multitasking Other carefully-designed studies have also shown that action video games can improve several aspects of brain activity, including multitasking. According to studies by Daphne Bavelier, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, video gamers show real-world improvements on tests of attention, accuracy, vision and multitasking after playing certain titles. â€Å"If you think about it, the attentional and working memory demands of video games can be much greater than other tasks,† says Michael Stroud, a professor of psychology at Merrimack College. â€Å"Consider Pac-Man as an example. In Pac-Man, you must navigate your character through a spatial layout while monitoring the separate paths of four additional objects (the ghosts), while keeping the overall goal of clearing the small pellets in memory, as well as keeping track of the remaining large pellets. † â€Å"Think about how this may apply to skills such as driving,† he continues. â€Å"When you drive your car, you are faced with a constantly changing environment in the road, not to mention several other distractions that compete for attention that reside in the car. At the same time, you are attempting to navigate through the environment to reach a goal. † Social Benefits Games with broad appeal that are easy to grasp can additionally help many families play together, and better bridge the gap between generations. Consider a title like hip-wiggling simulation Just Dance, which can have young kids dancing alongside their grandparents. There are also many games that have positive social messages that encourage families to be a force for good. In a series of experiments published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researchers found that participants who had just played a â€Å"pro-social† game in which characters must work together to help each other out as compared to those who had just played a â€Å"neutral† game (e. g. Tetris) were more likely to engage in helpful behaviors. Examples included assisting in a situation involving an abusive boyfriend, picking up a box of pencils or even volunteering to participate in more research. So-called â€Å"serious games,† specifically designed to teach and inform, are also having an impact on the world. Titles like the United Nations’ Food Force teach kids about real-life issues, humanitarianism and the practical challenges facing governments and private organizations today. In the game, children must complete six different missions that reflect the real-life obstacles faced by the World Food Programme in its emergency responses. Other games, like Nourish Interactive’s online Chef Solus and the Food Pyramid Adventure, teach kids about the benefits of healthy eating habits, while still more highlight pressing geopolitical and social issues, e. g. the Global Conflicts series. Upsides can even extend into the physical world. Consider Facebook game Ecotopia. In summer 2011, players of the popular social game met a challenge from its creators and planted 25,000 trees in the game world in 25 days, leading the game’s developer to plant 25,000 trees in real life. Career Benefits Future career choices for today’s tots will no doubt be influenced by technology in a way that is difficult for many parents to imagine too. Skills learned and honed playing home console and video games, as well as mobile gaming apps, will undoubtedly be very valuable to students in the workforce of 2025. As mentioned earlier, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has proclaimed that kids need more, not less, video game play. They argue that video games hold the potential to help address one of America’s most pressing problems – preparing students for an increasingly competitive global market. â€Å"The success of complex video games demonstrates that games can teach higher-order thinking skills such as strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, and adaptation to rapid change,† the Federation announced in a 2010 report. â€Å"These are the skills U. S. employers increasingly seek in workers and new workforce entrants. † Games are increasingly being used to educate and instruct workers around the globe by governments, trade bodies and the world’s largest corporations as well. From Cisco Systems’ The Cisco Mind Share Game, which facilitates network certification, to the US Department of Justice’s Incident Commander, in which emergency responders practice coordinating disaster relief efforts, the number of practical examples continues to grow. In fact, a recent study by the Entertainment Software Association found that 70 percent of major domestic employers have utilized interactive software and games for training purposes, and nearly eight out of 10 plan on doing so by 2013. Going forward, in addition to polishing your resume and interview skills, who knows? You may even want to brush up on your button-mashing abilities. Encouraging Cooperation and Teamwork Many games today also emphasize the cooperative aspects of game play, in which two or more players need to work together in order to reach a common goal. For instance, games like Lego Star Wars or Kirby’s Epic Yarn are enhanced by having players cooperate to solve in-game puzzles. Massively multiplayer games such as LEGO Universe and Lord of the Rings Online further offer added depth, atmosphere and enjoyment by allowing players to band together and work as a team in order to complete certain quests or defeat especially tricky opponents. Game industry analysts such as DFC Intelligence actually predict that video game revenue will reach nearly $70 billion by 2015, thanks in large part to these online, cooperative, subscription-based games that can be played together. Small wonder top titles like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Titan (the next MMO from Blizzard, the company that created World of Warcraft) continue to resonate so strongly with millions worldwide. Even the way that games are made can encourage teamwork. At Washburn University in Kansas, students study the game development process as a way to build teamwork and collaborative skills. â€Å"It taught me to work in a group,† said Washburn student Adam Bideau of the program in a recent interview with the Washburn Review. â€Å"Video games are not created by just one person and they require you to work well with others. You have to pool everyone’s talents together in order to produce the required product. † Promoting Exercise All parents know that kids need a healthy combination of physical and mental exercise. Happily, today’s motion-controlled games for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect, Nintendo’s Wii and Wii U, and Sony’s PlayStation Move help kids get both kinds of workouts at the same time. Better yet, people of all ages are finding them a more approachable way to stay physically fit. While many shy away from exercise because they see it as an activity that isn’t enjoyable, organizations like the American Heart Association now cite, and even recommend, video games as a fun and entertaining way to enjoy physical activity. Upsides of active play are considerable too. A study reported in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine of 39 Boston middle-school children who played with six different interactive gaming systems found that the games â€Å"compared favorably with walking on a treadmill at three miles per hour, with four out of the six activities resulting in higher energy expenditure. † Organizations supporting individuals of all ages and interests are additionally using active games to help get people up and moving. Nursing homes, cruise ships and even after-school programs all now employ active video games in some form to help stimulate both the mind and body. The good news: People seem to be enjoying active play more than ever. Healthy diversions such as Wii Fit and Zumba Fitness continue to be some of the most popular and best-selling games year in and out.

Death Of An Innocent Essays - Teen Dramas, Party Mom, Car Mom

Death Of An Innocent Essays - Teen Dramas, Party Mom, Car Mom Death of an Innocent I went to a party mom, I remembered what you said. You told me not to drink, Mom, so I drank soda instead. I really felt proud inside, Mom, the way you said I would. I didn?t drink and drive, Mom, even though the others said I should. I know I did the right thing, Mom, I know you were always right. Now the party is finally ending, Mom ,as everyone is driving out of sight. As I got into my car, Mom, but as I pulled out into the road the other car didn?t see me, Mom, and now I?m the one who will pay. I?m lying here dying, Mom. I wish you?d get here soon. How cold this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon. There is blood all around me, Mom, and most of it is mine. I hear the medic say, Mom, I?ll die in a short time. I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear I didn?t drink. It was the others, Mom. The others didn?t think. He was probably as the same party as I. The only difference is he drank and I will die. Why do people drink, Mom? It can ruin your whole life. I?m feeling sharp pains now. Pains just like a knife. The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, and I don?t think it?s fair. I?m lying here dying and all he can do is stare. Tell my brother not to cry, Mom. Tell Daddy to be brave. And when I go to heaven, Mom, put ?Daddy?s Girl? on my grave. Someone should have told him, Mom, not to drink and drive. If only they had told him, Mom, I would still be alive. My breath is getting shorter, Mom, I?m becoming very scared. Please don?t cry for me, Mom.When I needed you, you were always there. I have one last question, Mom, before I say good-bye. I didn?t drink and drive, so why am I the one to die?

Cómo Declarar la Pérdida de Pasaporte con Visa Americana

Cà ³mo Declarar la Pà ©rdida de Pasaporte con Visa Americana Si usted ha perdido su pasaporte con una visa americana, debe actuar rpidamente para evitarse problemas futuros y no perder su visado. Tenga en cuenta que si usted extravà ­o su documento o le fue robado puede que otra persona lo està © intentando usar para entrar a Estados Unidos (suplantacià ³n de identidad). Reportar la Pà ©rdida Fuera de Estados Unidos: Apenas se de cuenta de la pà ©rdida o robo escriba un correo electrà ³nico al consulado correspondiente siguiendo estas formulas: ciudad del consuladovisasstate.gov o ciudaddelconsuladonivstate.gov Asà ­, para el consulado en Lima el correo serà ­a: limavisasstate.gov o limanivstate.gov. En el asunto del correo escribir: â€Å"Lost† para el caso de visas extraviadas y â€Å"Stolen† para el de robadas y en el cuerpo del correo aà ±adir: Nombre completo del titular de la visa, tal y como aparece en el pasaporte extraviado o robado.Nà ºmero de pasaporte, si se tiene.Fecha en la que se produjo la pà ©rdida o el robo.Nà ºmero de telà ©fono de contacto.Si hay un reporte policial, incluirlo en la comunicacià ³n. Informacià ³n detallada de lo sucedido. Una vez reportado el robo o pà ©rdida la visa ser cancelada y ya no se podr viajar con ella. Reportar la Pà ©rdida Dentro de Estados Unidos: Apenas se de cuenta de la pà ©rdida o robo usted deber: Acudir a la policà ­a y reportar el robo o extravà ­o.Conseguir una copia del reporte policial.Conseguir una copia   del I-94 que indica hasta cuando puede estar usted en Estados Unidos.Contactar con la embajada o consulado del paà ­s de origen y conseguir un nuevo pasaporte o documento que le permita salir de Estados Unidos y entrar a su paà ­s de origen. Reportar el robo o el extravà ­o de la visa a la embajada o al consulado que la emitià ³, siguiendo las instrucciones seà ±aladas arriba para casos de pà ©rdida fuera de Estados Unidos. Si su pasaporte extraviado tiene una visa de turismo B1/B2 vigente usted puede pedir una renovacià ³n de la misma siguiendo los mismos pasos de aplicacià ³n de la visa original. Aquà ­ encuentra un listado de las direcciones oficiales de los consulados en la pgina oficial del gobierno e informacià ³n adicional de cà ³mo reportar  el robo o perdida. Consejos Para Conservar la Visa Americana Una vez recuperada su visa revise la siguiente informacià ³n para conservarla sin problemas: Las 10 situaciones que le pueden traer problemas con su visa.La frecuencia con la que puede  ingresar a Estados Unidos.Consecuencias de estadà ­as ms largas que las permitidas. Informacià ³n en forma de   test sobre visas. Este artà ­culo es meramente informativo y no pretende ser asesorà ­a legal.

Positive and Negatives of Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Positive and Negatives of Globalization - Essay Example This essay stresses that globalization has brought a tremendous impact upon human civilization. Majorities around the world believe economic globalization and international trade benefit national economies, companies, and consumers. But many think trade harms the environment and threatens jobs and want to mitigate these effects with environmental and labor standards. The strategies to cope with the globalization are not sufficient to revolutionize anti-globalization approach. This paper makes a conclusion that global warming is the combined effect of contribution made by different nations towards globalization. Moreover, soil of the industrial area becomes less productive or unfertile making the land barren. The particulates thrown or dumped in the soil reacts with the natural mineral composition of the soil and deteriorates that quality of the soil. The crops grown in polluted soil are becoming the source of high mineral intake. Consumption of animals for food and meat also leads to bioaccumulation of these pesticides. The sea food is still more dangerous. Globalization is at one time imposing the nations also to import high yielding cattle to meet the growing demands. The developing nations must also check a control over the population. If people are less than the demands will also be less. Deforestation is a grave situation and is serving as a beginning of calamity. It is deforestation and destruction of forests and its inhabitants that forecast the ch anges in climate of that area. If this is prevented then many coming calamities can also be prevented.

Broken window concept and it connection to social disorder, as Essay

Broken window concept and it connection to social disorder, as described by George L. Kelling - Essay Example This situation results in social withdrawal or flight from the area, thus reducing the power of informal social control, which increases crime. Signs of this conduct are unrepaired broken windows and graffiti, teen age drunks and young bands. Kelling underlines that securing and propping up informal control mechanisms, through the aggressive policing of disorder and incivilities, constitutes the central means of reversing the spirals of neighborhood breakdown and misbehavior. Society, from this viewpoint, behave to counter the degeneration associated with crime, on the presupposition that it is an inherent capacity of communities to improve their resources of social control. Through informal community controls, it is anticipated that the primary of the normative consensus of the society will be asserted. These ideas connect with, and reflect the influence of, broken windows thesis (kelling 1995). According to this, societies and citizens are seen as occupying an essential role in hal ting moral decline, the regeneration of neighborhood life, and the prevention of crime, by exerting their moral authority. Societies and individual citizens are identified as a powerful site of social order and control. â€Å"For many people, thanks in part to how it has been presented by many police leaders, community policing is viewed as â€Å"soft† policing comparable to community relations or, worse yet, social work† (Kelling 1999). Community in this sense is defined negatively, through reference to others. Community members recognize themselves as a collective, as us in contradistinction to them. Consequently, insiders only exist because there are outsiders and so community may be based less on what people share in common than upon their difference in relation to others. Community, thus understood, is more than geographic location, it exists where members of a social group feel bound together by shared values or traditions