12. June 2009 by student.

Despite being one of the richest countries in the world. The U.S. has teen pregnancy rated similar to those of developing countries. Teen mothers and their infants are at a significally higher health risk from pregnancy complication, not to mention social risks such as dropping out of school., yet teen pregnancy has become a staple of American culture, Especially now that its is being glorified on t.v.( Jamie Lynn Spears,16, Bristil Palin,17).

New reports from the CDC & Prevention show that teen motherhood has risen for the 2nd year in a row reversing a 14 yr downward trend. Although the 2.8% rise in 2006 & 1% in 2007 cant be attributed to any one cause, the change still causes concern.

The main problem is a insufficient amount of resources for sex education. Congress has approved 1.5 billion in grants for abstinence only education to stated in the last 10 yr, despite the findings in a study funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in 2007 that abstinence only education did not reduce teen sexual activity. These results demand us to rethink our educational strategy, & yet after almost 1/2 the states rejected this funding.

Studies show that adolescents who receive comprehensive sex education including accurate information about contraception in addition to promoting abstinence are at a lower risk of pregnancy than adolescences who receive abstinence only or no sex ed.

R.E.A.L. or Responsible Education About Life act provides grants for comprehensive sexual education programs and set up systems to evaluate their effectiveness. Giving schools money for comprehensive programs that are effective at reducing teen pregnancy has much a return than abstinence only programs. Only 40% of teenage parents go o to graduate fom high school leaving them to a lifetime of decency. An investment in teenage reproductive health and safety is not one congress can afford to pass up.

FAST FACTS: Florida has the 6th highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation and 2nd highest AIDS rate.

–Many countries teach 6th graders conception and not contraception.

–8th graders learn about condoms in relation to disease prevention.

–Parents have to sign an opt-in form before their children can participate in sex ed.

–High school students get information on family planning for “future” healthy behavior.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 1 Comment »

12. June 2009 by student.

In the world that we live in today there are vast amounts of entertainment accessible to college students, which by no means is a bad thing.  However, when it comes to video games, more time on a video game is inversely related to GPA.  Many gamers will argue that other distractions such as sports or other school activities have as adverse of an effect on grades.  We will not dispute that there are many factors that affect ones grades, however, video games are extremely accessible and can be played for hours on end.  Studies have shown that the more hours vested into a game have a negative impact on a student’s grades, due to a decrease in studying time and sleep time.  Studies have shown that the average gamer spends approximately an hour every weekday and 1.5 hours on the weekend days playing video games.  I believe this is slightly skewed, as I know many gamers who play video games for 3-6 hours a night at least 3-4 days a week.  Of course much of this information is relative to the age, grade level, and whether or not the person has a job.  In this case we can see a relation to the rational choice theories in which a person chooses the action which brings them the greatest happiness; the student may be putting aside more responsible task such as studying and homework to play a video game longer.  Another factor to the growing rate of gaming frequency and duration would be the fact that with the implementation of high speed internet, gamers can now connect across the globe with other gamers in other time zones, which means gaming is constantly accessible.  Also, online games such as first person shooters or role playing games have ‘levels’, performance charts and standings which create almost a class system in which gamers have the opportunity to become part of the upper or ‘elite’ spectrum, which may not always be possible in real life.  This status enhancement to online gaming serves as an enticement to play more often.  There are many social and personal factors at play in this condition and it is only through the responsibility and self control that one may be able to overcome the addictive effects of video games to stay in good academic standing.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

12. June 2009 by student.

Homosexual marriage is between a man and a woman. This type of marriage preserves and promotes a set of moral values that are essential to civilized society. Heterosexual marriage consists of a man and a man or a woman and a woman. This type of marriage sanctions loyalty. This gives us a choice when dealing with these to arguments, the first would be to build a family and the second would be to prevent a family from being built. The essence of marriage is not love, fidelity, financial security, or any of the other characteristics often associated with marriage. “Marriage venerates and guides the joining of men and women, a joining that is only connection capable of creating life”. One of Sam Schulman’s strongest arguments against gay marriage predicts measurable harm to the family and to our arrangements for upbringing and well being of children. This debate leaves us with potential unhappiness of children and our ability to maintain the most basic components of our humanity. Homosexual marriage is unselfishness and sexual fidelity. This type of relationship rejects the promiscuous relationship. Heterosexual marriage fosters cohesion, emotional security, and economic prudence. This article was stating that this whole argument for gay marriage would become a slippery slope argument. This would be being that if we allow this to happen then the next thing that should be okay would be threesomes and foursomes. “If we grant rights to one group because they have determined “which is, practically, how legalized gay marriage will come to pass” we will find it exceedingly awkward to deny similar rights to others ready with their own dossiers of “victimization”.  Men and women were made and drawn together to perform a sexual act that can generate life. Marriage is the attempt to reconcile the erotic, social, sexual, and financial needs of men and women with the needs of their partner and their children. This type of marriage is said to be inherently normative. Gay marriage would require society at large to gut marriage of its central presumptions about family in order to accommodate a few adults’ desires. The first argument they give for gay marriage centers on principles of justice and fairness and may be thought of as the civil rights argument. It basically states that marriage is a legal state conferring real benefits on those who participate. This mostly refers to tax breaks and inheritance. The second argument emphasizes the degradation and unhappiness attendant upon the denial of gay marriage. Legalizing gay marriage would enhance the social stability of the
United States.
Clinton came up with a policy known as the “don’t ask don’t tell”. This compromise in fact served to reinforce the closeting of homosexuals in the military. This article stated that the social stability of this country would be well served by permitting gays and lesbians to join formal domestic partnerships. The article talked about the aids epidemic and how it spread. Mainly because of gay males culture found its expression in the anonymous sex and multiple partners of the bathhouse scene. On June 26, 2003 the Supreme Court established a right to privacy for homosexuals has simultaneously pointed the way to equality and excited feverish opposition to it (Freedman 2). We know that years have been bitter and difficult to this but with history progress is slowly occurring.  Some studies show that heterosexuals married men are no more monogamous than gay men in committed relationships. We have to distinguish marriage itself from a variety of values. Those values love and monogamous sex and establishing a home, fidelity, childbearing, stability, inheritance, and tax breaks, are not the same as marriage. Yes a good marriage generally contains them and a bad marriage does not.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

12. June 2009 by student.

    Based on its sample of 33,488 women attending 1,415 antenatal clinics across all nine provinces, the South African Department of Health Study estimates that 28% of pregnant women were living with HIV in 2007. The provinces that recorded the highest HIV rates were KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Free State. The Northern Cape and
Western Cape recorded the lowest prevalence. An estimated 22 million adults and children were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2007. During that year, an estimated 1.5 million Africans died from AIDS. The epidemic has left behind some 11.6 million orphaned African children.  The African continent, especially the area south of the SaharaDesert, is being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. While the number of new cases is declining in many westernized countries, the number of individuals infected with the AIDS virus is climbing, especially in South Africa. Two of the social consequences that the AIDS epidemic is facing are the poor medical field and poor people with no money. Teachers, doctors, and nurses are dying faster than they can be replaced. The treatment there goes from inadequate to non existent. The lack of education greatly contributes to the epidemic. Without a good education more and more people are dying because they are spreading the disease. AIDS is spread through the poor and homeless. They are the most prone to the disease. Factors contributing to the spread of AIDS include poverty, ignorance, the prohibitive of the AIDS drugs, an aversion to discussing sex and promiscuity. It is a result of unsafe practices. Scarce money, few drugs, and little hope is what the economy gives Africa’s people. They will not spend money on people over there who are going to die. In Africa, a positive test for HIV is a death sentence. In one of the chapters, it talked about families with a member sick from AIDS cut spending on their children’s education in half. They also reduce food consumption by about 40 percent to cover health expenditures. Some African nations might lose 25 percent or more of their young adult population to AIDS. A child in Africa faces a double threat. The AIDS touches the children in two ways over there. The first way it touches the kids is a disease that kills their parents leaving them as orphans. The second way is as a disease that infects the child themselves. Most of the kids that comes in contact with this disease would not live to see their fifth birthday. Of the 30 kids born to infected HIV mothers, about ten of them will get the disease just from being born and the rest will get it from being breast fed. Kids can also get infected through sexual contact. Many girls get infected by a man convinced that having sex with a virgin would cure him. I believe that the greatest problem that the epidemic is causing in Africa is so many orphans. An orphan is even more vulnerable than anyone else. They are more likely than other children to not be in school and they don’t have access to adequate health care. Theses are the kids that engage in commercial sex work that in turn exposes them to greater risk of HIV infections.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 1 Comment »

12. June 2009 by student.

The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) is working to establish prenatal justice and the right to life for the unborn, the disabled, the infirm, the aged and all vulnerable peoples through education and the development of cutting edge educational resources. In the
United States they reported that 1.37 million abortions have been performed per year which averaged approximately, 3,700 abortions per day. 52% of women who they reported were between the ages of 20-24 and that group of people obtain 32% of the abortions. While white women obtain 60% of all abortions, their abortion rate is well below that of minority women. Black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are roughly 2 times as likely.

            Abortion was said to be moral and immoral correct. In the Western law traditional abortion was not treated as a crime. In the English law abortion was tolerated even when it was done late in a women’s pregnancy.  But, in the 19 century law started prohibiting it. They began forcing the laws because of three major concerns, one a desire to discourage illicit sexual activity, two the belief that abortion was an unsafe medical procedure, and three moral was wrong to kill an unborn baby. Don Marquis came up with two points about abortion, one whether a fetus is a person with a right to life or two, do we have the same reasons not to kill a fetus that we have not to kill an adult. One says killing an adult is wrong because we deprive them of their future but killing a fetus also deprives them of their future just as well. So he stated that it seemed inconsistent to object to one and not the other issue.

            The way a typical anti-abortionist looks at this issue is that life is present from the moment of conception. They also tend to think that a fetus looks just like a baby and have the same characteristic as humans. To these types of people abortion is morally the same as murder. The effect it has on the victim is what makes killing wrong. The loss of someone’s life is the greatest loss a person can encounter. When you kill a human being, you deprive them of their future, experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments. As an individual grows older, their valves changes, therefore they have no future. Killing gives you the though of what it does to a particular person.

            The Supreme Court held that a fetus is not a person in the legal sense, therefore has no constitutionally rights of its own. Mary Warren, a philosopher noted that “possession of physical characteristics, such as genes is never enough to make one a full-fledged person.” People to her were defined by their psychological capacities. Some psychological capacities she came up with were self-awareness and the ability to communicate. Fetuses lacked both of the psychological capacities so to her abortion was not morally objectionable. “In the absence of any social need for every possible child, the laws which restrict the right to obtain and abortion or limit the period of pregnancy during which an abortion may be performed, are unjustified violation of a woman’s most basic and constitutional rights.” Abortion is a very serious matter that is looked at as being moral by some and immoral by others.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »

12. June 2009 by student.

The United States does not have universal health care. Programs such as Medicare and medicaid provide basic health insurance to elderly, disabled, and poorer residents. In 2004 15% of people in America did not have health care coverage. I am one of them. I was raised in a lower class family and even though I married into a somewhat middle class family I still do not have health insurance. When you work in pizza places and hotels your whole life, its hard to convince your boss to shell out and provide health insurance benefits for you. And even harder to take money away from bills that have to be paid to pay for something I consider a luxury. Recently I paid the price. My husband got injured in a football accident. He broke his elbow in 6 different places almost to the point where it came out of his arm. Up untill this point my husband had good credit, which he prided himself on. Well after an 8 hour surgery, 13 pins and 3 plates, and six days in the hospital, his credit was shot. $45,000.00 dollars we were supposed to pay. What about charity organiztions? Our “household” made too much to qualify. So because my mother-in-law and sister-in-law lived with us…we were not allowed this benefit. Needless to say we couldnt afford to pay this…so my husbands credit payed for it. I heard someone say in class one day that people without healthcare should be more responsible. So just because one person was raised in a hardworking lower class family instead of upper middle class snobland– they have to also struggle to prevent “accidents” too? No. Accidents happen. And society should be set up in such a way as to provide options for the “inbetween” class. Well options for everyone really. I love the idea that Europe has– everyone gets healthcare! This prevents diseases because of early detection and other things designed to help society! What kind of a “society” are we if we cant take care of each other? This is supposed to be the land of oppertunity. Well why cant it be the land of equal oppertunity? It can. And it should.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

12. June 2009 by student.

In a general sense, it seems as though our society has become increasingly feeble with the way that we raise our kids.  It seems that most parents nowadays are so fearful of their child losing a fingertip or not fitting in, that they are willing to propose more rules and regulations in order to hinder the advancement of others.  Consider the fact that only a couple of generations ago nearly every high school and even most middle schools had a shop class of some sort.  Nowadays, the only opportunity an adolescent has at learning how to use tools and shop equipment is if they drop out of school and attend a ‘vocational school’, which are typically viewed as drop out schools and have lower general education requirements.  It seems as if our culture has gone from one of advancement in all areas of the educational spectrum to practically only general education for those aiming to go college.  The reality is, not everyone is willing to go to a post secondary school, not everyone is apt to being a doctor or lawyer; these individuals need a place to learn a trade.  Not only is this a pertinent situation but also the fact that it makes sense for even those aiming for college to have the common knowledge of basic tooling and shop skills.  This issue is not completely the fault of the general population but is an effect of insurance hikes and certain individuals in the society looking for a reason to sue.  Let’s face it, schools are already on tight budgets and the local and state governments cannot afford the insurance associated with having a shop class on their campus.  The consequence of this situation is that certain individuals may not be introduced to a skill or trade they may consider an occupation in the future.  Nowadays, with the average lifespan increasing tremendously since the early 20^th century (from about 30-40 year to about 70 years in the United States), families have less children and are therefore more focused on keeping them ‘safe’.  Destroying the industrial social structure is not the answer though, as education and precautions in shop and tooling are the best measure to keeping one safe and healthy.  This can be easily related to the sex education scenario, where if young people are not educated on the matter they are more likely to have accidents than if they are informed, experienced and take proper precautions.      

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »