5. April 2010 by student.

Abstinence-based and comprehensive approaches to sex education have been in debate here lately. Abstinences-based approaches focus on abstaining from sex before marriage to assure that they avoid infection of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unplanned pregnancies. It is the best way for maintaining sexual health and a lot of people see it morally wrong to have sex before marriage. Abstinence programs teach the social, psychological, and health gains of abstaining from sex. The main difference between abstinence-based and comprehensive sex education is that comprehensive approaches doesn’t focus solely on the idea to wait to have sex until after marriage. Although they explain the potential benefits of delaying sex until they are emotionally and physically ready, they also make sure they teach them how to have protective sex to protect them from infections and pregnancies when they are ready. Both though believe that sex education plays a role in HIV prevention and the potential benefits of waiting until marriage. People that have sex before marriage are more likely to: 1.) Breakup before they marry, 2.) Scare off someone who wants to marry a virgin, 3.) Be less happy in their marriage, 4.) Get a divorce, 5.) Commit adultery after they marry, 6.) Be fooled into marrying for the wrong reason, 7.) Be less satisfied with their married sex life, 8.) have guilty feelings that may nudge them into a poor marriage, and  9.) Be deprived of the important bonding that sexual intimacy can give a marriage (missthemess.com). In a statistical interview, 54% of high school students were virgins and 82% of the teens wanted to have one marriage partner for life (missthemess.com). 58% of high school students report using condoms during most recent sex and 18% of high school of sexually active high school students uses birth control pills before most recent sex (themediaproject.com). 85% of parents of 7^th to 12^th graders say it’s important that their child learn about how to use a condom as part of sex education (themediaproject.com).

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5. April 2010 by student.

Morality and Ethics are two concepts that go hand in hand.  The dictionary definition of morality is the distinction between right and  wrong or the good and bad behavior, while the dictionary definition for ethics is a set of moral principles. One definition supports the other. Both of the words have the same common synonyms, and when compared there are very minute variations. Ethics and Morality are interchangeable.

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5. April 2010 by student.

About 8 million Americans are affected by eating disorders. The even more shocking part of this is that 7 million are women and only a mere 1 million are men.  The media plays a huge role on this number being so huge.  What do teens see when they watch television or read magazines?  The answer is stick skinny models and also skinny actors and actresses.  This is not the message that we should be sending to young women.   95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.  These girls get so caught up in there weight that they don’t even see that they have a problem, so they don’t seek help when really they should be.  It is really sad because some of these teens there is nothing that they can do especially if they inherit their parents genes.  So they think that the only way they can be skinny is to just not eat.  A good theory that can go along with this is the looking glass self.  Sometimes when we look in the mirror we criticise ourselves more then others do.  When these teenagers look at the mirror and think that they gain so much weight that is only making them focus on what others perceive them as too.  You can also think of people that suffer from eating disorders as role playing.  If you go out to eat with them most the time they will say they just ate or are just not hungry.  If on the rare occasion that they do eat they will go to the bathroom after, and you will never know that they even have a problem.  Only 1 in 10 people with an eating disorder receive treatment.  I think the reason being for this as  stated earlier is that most of their friends or family don’t even realize that they have an eating disorder, so therefore they have no one helping them receive treatment.  I think if we start sending the message that weight is not as a big issue as these young teenagers think it is then we could decrease the numbers of people with eating disorders, and I think we need to start with the media.  All the statistics from this are from the website: http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm.

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5. April 2010 by student.

The sources of prejudice

Sociologists and psychologists hold that some of the emotionality in prejudice stems from subconscious attitudes that cause a person to ward off feelings of inadequacy by projecting them onto a target group. By using certain people as scapegoats those without power who are unfairly blamed anxiety and uncertainty are reduced by attributing complex problems to a simple cause: “Those people are the source of all my problems.” Social research across the globe has shown that prejudice is fundamentally related to low self-esteem. By hating certain groups (in this case, minorities), people are able to enhance their sense of self-worth and importance. Social scientists have also identified some common social factors that may contribute to the presence of prejudice and discrimination:

1. Socialization. Many prejudices seem to be passed along from parents to children. The media—including television, movies, and advertising—also perpetuate demeaning images and stereotypes about assorted groups, such as ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, the disabled, and the elderly.

2. Conforming behaviors. Prejudices may bring support from significant others, so rejecting prejudices may lead to losing social support. The pressures to conform to the views of families, friends, and associates can be formidable.

3. Economic benefits. Social studies have confirmed that prejudice especially rises when groups are in direct competition for jobs. This may help to explain why prejudice increases dramatically during times of economic and social stress.

4. Authoritarian personality. In response to early socialization, some people are especially prone to stereotypical thinking and projection based on unconscious fears. People with an authoritarian personality rigidly conform, submit without question to their superiors, reject those they consider to be inferiors, and express intolerant sexual and religious opinions. The authoritarian personality may have its roots in parents who are unloving and aloof disciplinarians. The child then learns to control his or her anxieties via rigid attitudes.

5. Ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to evaluate others’ cultures by one’s own cultural norms and values. It also includes a suspicion of outsiders. Most cultures have their ethnocentric tendencies, which usually involve stereotypical thinking.

6. Group closure. Group closure is the process whereby groups keep clear boundaries between themselves and others. Refusing to marry outside an ethnic group is an example of how group closure is accomplished.

7. Conflict theory. Under conflict theory, in order to hold onto their distinctive social status, power, and possessions, privileged groups are invested in seeing that no competition for resources arises from minority groups. The powerful may even be ready to resort to extreme acts of violence against others to protect their interests. As a result, members of underprivileged groups may retaliate with violence in an attempt to improve their circumstances.

Solutions to prejudice

For decades, sociologists have looked to ways of reducing and eliminating conflicts and prejudices between groups: ·        

• One theory, the self-esteem hypothesis, is that when people have an appropriate education and higher self-esteem, their prejudices will go away. ·        
•  Another theory is the contact hypothesis, which states that the best answer to prejudice is to bring together members of different groups so they can learn to appreciate their common experiences and backgrounds. ·        
• A third theory, the cooperation hypothesis, holds that conflicting groups need to cooperate by laying aside their individual interests and learning to work together for shared goals. ·        
• A fourth theory, the legal hypothesis, is that prejudice can be eliminated by enforcing laws against discriminative behavior.

Read more: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Prejudice-and-Discrimination.topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26886.html#ixzz0kBisaxJQ

Read more: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Prejudice-and-Discrimination.topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26886.html#ixzz0kBisctbm

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5. April 2010 by student.

Relationship needsI just saw the movie called “Break up” and I love it even though I didn’t like how it ended. However, the movie in a once loving couple whose happily ever after quickly turned into a never again. The girlfriend Brooke feels not appreciated and neglected by her immature boyfriend Gary and which she decide to  break-up with him to make Gary misses her. Gary misunderstands her true intention, both follows the wrong advices of family members and friends, beginning a war.

Psychologist Robert Sternberg proposed that love consists of three components: passion, decision/commitment, and intimacy. Passion concerns the intense feelings of physiological arousal and excitement present in a relationship, while decision/commitment concerns the decision to love the partner and maintain the relationship. Intimacy concerns the sense of warmth and closeness in a loving relationship, including the desires to help the partner, to self-disclose, and to keep the partner in one’s life. People express intimacy in three ways: ·        

• Physical intimacy involves mutual affection and sexual activity. ·        
• Psychological intimacy involves sharing feelings and thoughts. ·        
•  Social intimacy involves enjoying the same friends and types of recreation.

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Relationships-in-Early-Adulthood.topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26921.html

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