Regarding possible influences on thought Essay Example for Free

Regarding possible influences on thought Essay There is an undeniable connection between thought and language. And as thought is so crucial to our knowledge, a study of our language itself is necessary. This essay examines how our language might affect our thought. In doing so, I shall examine the question, what is language?.  So, what is language? Etymologists, those who study language (in how it develops and changes), generally agree that language first started developing thirty thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. It began when, by an evolutionary chance, the oesophagus moved in human beings. This did two things: firstly it made them very prone to choking (this is often taken as proof that the ability to speak is innate in human beings for if benefits of speech were not developed quickly this should have died out almost immediately in accordance with the theory of evolution) and secondly it dramatically increased the range of sounds they could produce orally. It is thought that the natural calls animals make shrieks of alarm to show danger etc developed and became more complex to form a very basic language. Soon, these developed connotations: variations of alarm calls could be used to convey fear, pain or sadness whilst variations of triumphant calls could be used to show happiness, safety or the location of food. Imitations of the sounds things made also developed: a stream could be indicated by a gurgle, wind by a whoosh and so on. Examples of these two phenomenons continue: laughter and crying is pretty universal in babies whilst young children often refer to police cars as whah whah in an imitation of their sound. Language was further developed, reflecting the need to talk about the speakers environment. A commonly quoted example of this is that the Inuit have twenty words for snow. Not only is this debateable Inuit nouns are formed as in German, where nouns are tacked onto each other but also, English has at least fifty! However, a better example would be the aborigines of Tasmania who have a separate word for every kind of native tree, over two hundred in total, but do not have a word for tree. This is because in their environment, all the trees which surround them appear to be drastically different. It is also said (perhaps somewhat dubiously) that Arabic has approximately six thousand words for camels and camel-equipment. T is doubtless that language is affected in its evolution by our surroundings and our need to communicate about them. The main problems with language can be its vagueness and also the fact that it evolves according to our needs. Language is very vague and words can have myriads of meanings. In the English language, the word set has fifty eight non-obsolete uses as a noun, one hundred and twenty eight as a verb and ten as a participial adjective. The Oxford English Dictionary uses sixty thousand words, including abbreviations and symbols, to define it and set is by no means alone. The fact that language reflects its environment means that when someone has an original thought they often have to come up with an entirely new vocabulary to explain it. An example of this would be the concept of the big bang. When the idea originated, the language used to describe it was completely new and very few understood it. As the theory grew in popularity, its language was accepted into common usage. However, when the majority of the populace does not concern itself with that idea, the vocabulary become jargon, to be known only by experts. Language reflects or needs of it. Written language originated as logograms in the form of pictograms where to write house, one would draw a picture of a house. Soon these became ideograms where, as in language, associations where used e.g. a sun to represent heat. This is the basis of all languages and today can be seen in Chinese and Japanese, as well as the ancient hieroglyphs, Linear A and Linear B. Some languages went one step further, changing from logograms to phonograms. This resulted in syllabic or alphabetic symbols, where words were written using their sounds in spoken language. This was the first link between written and spoken language. Written language, in our society, is now completely dependant on spoken language so the two are often seen as synominous. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis argues that the nature of a particular language influences the habitual thoughts of its speaker. Different patterns of language would therefore lead to different patterns of thought. Thus this challenges that the world can be represented objectively, as language will influence its user. The most extreme supporters of this theory argue that thought is reliant on language and that therefore there can be no thought without language. The twentieth century Austrian philosopher, Wittgenstein says that, because of this, language hinders us. For example, when we say that we saw nobody on the road we have not actually seen nobody. More accurately, we did not see anyone on the road. Another twentieth century philosopher, a Rusiian named Vigotsky, would disagree with this. He held that language helps us to think. He says that the thought is ordered and is clarified by using language. However, a large number of people disagree with the extreme view that thought is impossible without language. Look, they say, at when we are lost for words or the words are on the tip of our tongue: we know what were thinking but cant say it. Another example would be that we can often imagine in our heads as an image something for example, the beginning of the universe but cant describe it. This theory states language is created by thought, although language may later by used as a means through which to think. Many etymologists would agree with this theory as it complies with their theory on how language develops: you see something, you think about it and then you develop language to convey these thoughts and to clarify them. So, our language is shaped by the world around us, and our thoughts are shaped by our language. So our thoughts are influenced, not just out of practicality, but empirically by our surroundings. For if we are not familiar with a concept or object or person then we are unlikely to have the language to describe it: and if we dont have the language then we are unlikely to be able to think about something properly, even if we wished to.

Violence in Video Games

Violence in Video Games The concern over how much of a child’s actions, if any, are influenced by the violence contained in the video games they choose to play, has been become a topic of debate in recent times. Certain heartbreaking events, such as the Columbine High School shooting in April of 1999 where two students open fired on their fellow classmates killing in total 13 victims followed by their own suicides, sparked a renewed interest in researching if video games could cause acts of violence in adolescents. (Baertlein, 2007) This apprehension is mostly due in part, because children are in theory, more inclined to behavioral influences when they actively participate, as opposed to when they are merely observing. The belief has been that, a child playing violent video games can have more of a tendency to commit violent acts. On the contrary, there has been no clear-cut substantiation to show these violent video games are to blame for youth violence. The fact remains; it is actually not an easy task to prove a real world connection between violence and video gaming. Youth violence reports show crimes rates have decreased while video game playing has become trendier. (Baertlein, 2007) In January of 2001, the Surgeon General David Satcher released his report findings concluding that, youth crime rate was not rising, and that the increase youth crime rate was merely a myth. â€Å"Since 1993, when the epidemic peaked, youth violence has declined significantly nationwide, as signaled by downward trends in arrest records, victimization data, and hospital emergency room records† (Satcher, 2001). Moreover, the study showed the amount of lethal violence has declined. This was primarily attributable to the decline in use of firearms among youth. (Snyder, 2006) This goes contrary to the claims of those who say that violent video games are teaching youth to use guns. The study performed by Surgeon General Satcher, along with other research performed on the topic, further substantiates the argument that violent content found within video games is not the cause for violent acts committed by the youth. According to the Surgeon General, the strongest risk factors for scho ol shootings centered on mental stability and the quality of home life, not media exposure. (Satcher, 2001) The reality is recent reporting has shown a decrease regarding violence in teens since games have become more graphic. The violent crime rate has decreased from a rate of 51 victimizations per 1,000 members of the population age 12 and over in 1994, down to 21 per 1,000 members in 2005. (Bureau of Statistics, 2006) In addition, the Juvenile Violent Crime Index has also shown a declining rate since 1994. Crimes of murder committed by juvenile offenders have actually fallen 65% from 1994 to 2002. (Snyder Sickmund, 2006) Although the crime rate has declined, concern regarding violent acts by juveniles is still an issue; the public continues to hold fast on its views that children participating in playing violent video games are being led to commit violent acts. Theorists such as Bruce Barthalow, Mark Sestir and Edward Davis have based their opinions according to a large quantity of research performed by many esteemed scholars. They state that a connection has been made known between real life violent crimes and violent content in video games. (Barthalow, Sestir Davis, 2005) The main positions in the argument for these theorists are derived from results of several types of studies, lab experiments, field studies as well as correlation studies. Correlations are a measure of how strongly associated two events are. However, co relational studies and other studies such as those cannot account for whether or not violent video games can cause aggression. Furthermore, some co relational studies find no sign ificant relationship with aggression. Even still, those studies cannot prove violence contained in video games is the cause of true-life violence. After all, what is lacking from the studies used video game research? Crucial factors are missing in research studies conducted on violent video games. The players in these particular studies are not in control. Their free will and freedom of choice are not included when researches test their theories. They are selected to play a video game not of their choosing, when the action of play is in essence, a self directed and voluntary activity. The element of forced exposure to a video game can alter the player’s reaction to the experience. Play is not an action that can be recreated in an experiment held in a laboratory. There are other questionable factors regarding the testing video games as well. For example, â€Å"the duration of play is too short, typically 5-15 minutes, for anything like the play experience to be duplicated† (Calvert Tan, 1994). In these laboratory studies, no individual really â€Å"plays†. A video game is played by individuals for entertain ment and therefore, being instructed to â€Å"play† a video game defeats the purpose of electing to play for amusement. The studies performed do not take in to consideration why individuals play video games at all. (Calvert Tan, 1994) Research on video games also fail to recognize that a player of video games participates freely and ceases to play when they so desire. (Calvert Tan, 1994) Players are free to enter the world they create for themselves in these games, and this freedom remains missing from the laboratory studies conducted on violent video games. Studies completed have concluded that there has been no definitive link between violent acts and violent content found in video games, and that some fashion; violent video games may actually provide a venue for children to vent their aggressions, rather than taking physically taking action. (OBrien, 2007) In studies performed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s, Office of Justice Programs, it is reported that the largest influential factor in adolescent delinquency is the family dynamics within the children’s homes. (Snyder, 2006) Parents have a certain obligation to their children. They play an important role in the child’s life and are responsible to provide them with guidance as to what is wrong or right. If children cannot clearly determine the differences between fantasy life in video games and reality, they cannot be blamed for committed violent acts such as those contained within video games. Without parental guidance, children are susceptible to misinterpret scenarios they come across in real life. (Anderson, et al., 2003) Violence from video games will not make submissive adolescents violent when they have been made aware of the limits within a fictional world. Many factors can cause a child’s incapacity to make a distinction regarding right from wrong, reality from fiction. An adolescent or teenager may be lacking the maturity level necessary to understand the impact of their actions, or perhaps can suffer from mental instability limiting their perception of reality. However, is it the violent content found within video games to blame? The studies suggest that when parents actively participate in a child’s life, discuss real life conflicts, the inappropriateness violent solutions, and help the child generate alternative solutions to violent actions, it can help reduce the actual impact of media violence on the youth. (Anderson, et al., 2003) Psychologists have also concluded that, children whose parents have regulated the length of time video games are played are less likely to show aggressive behavior. (Anderson, et al., 2003) It is the parent’s responsibility to monitor their children and to educate them. It is a par ent’s role to discipline their children and to teach them social norms and values. After all, it would be impossible maintain a child from the outside world. There will always be negative influences out there. It is the parent’s duty to their children, to ensure they are taught the consequences of their behavior, as well as right from wrong. Parents should be the ultimate decision makers of what they allow their child to watch, play or do. Parents have the responsibility to be aware of the content involved in the games their child plays. Video games are labeled to describe the content within them, as well as specify when they include strong language, violence, mature sexual themes, as well as other subject matter that may be unsuitable for a child. In 1994, the video game industry established the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), a self-regulating labeling body. (Entertainment Software Association, 2006) The ESRB ratings method is astonishingly all-inclusive. According to the ESRB, it rates over 1,000 games per year. Practically every title produced by major game developers for retail sale today carries an ESRB rating and content descriptors. â€Å"The ESRB rating system helps parents and other consumers choose the games that are right for their families. ESRB ratings have two parts: rating symbols that suggest what age group the game is best for, and content descriptors that indicate elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern† (Entertainment Software Association, 2006). These ratings provide the parents with information they need to determine whether the video games is suitable for their child to play. Even with the ratings and the violent content, some parents still purchase these games for their young children without screening the video games. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 89% of the time parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented, 61% of parents believe games are a positive part of their children’s lives, and 87% of the time children receive their parents’ permission before purchasing or renting a game. (Entertainment Software Association, 2006) Parents, teachers, guardians, mentors or anyone else a child may look to for guidance, should be able to provide them with proper direction, lessons about choice and consequences in life that could affect them and those they hold close as well. â€Å"When the fantasy world is brought into the picture, these lessons should let the child know that certain actions in a fantasy world are not appropriate in the real world, thus the separation† (Goldstein, 2001). Video game violence contains simulated acts of aggression. Video games cannot actually emphasize acts of aggression if there is none to begin with. (Delamere, 2005) The same features that hold back the audience from rushing the stage during a murder scene in a play are present in video games. When and adolescent plays a video game that is labeled as violent, it is actually containing simulated acts of violence. (Goldstein, 2001) There is not an actual physically performed action taken, since the child is in an imaginary wor ld. They cannot abuse, damage or violate because there is nothing to abuse, damage or violate. (Goldstein, 2001) The child has ultimate control what occurs which is a major deciding point in separating reality from video games. In the real world, consequences are certain. When a child commits and act, either good or bad, something will happen. In video games, the player can suspend the game play and even bypass consequences. These factors provide cues that the game play is not real, and that they child is merely doing something for amusement. (Goldstein, 2001) Video games can actually be beneficial to children.They provide cognitive benefits such as system thinking, pattern recognition, strategy, decision making, and even patience. A book written by author Steven Johnson makes another point in favor of viewing video games from a new perspective. Johnson argues that video games are growing progressively more refined, they present players a mental exercise that is far more invigorating, satisfying, and even more educational than much of the media content they were force fed in the past. (Johnson, 2005) Particularly, Johnson states, modern games, including those filled with violent material demand children to mange resources, evaluate multifaceted social networks, and recognize long-term patterns. (Johnson, 2005) A common video game presents a predicament to be solved and diverse means to accomplish the resolution. Children playing video games are driven to play video games because they can achieve the impossible. (Simpson, 2005) Distribution of resources, trial and error and completing tasks are all part of the learning experience. (Simpson, 2005) The software embedded in these video games clearly establishes roles, powers, and limitations. Video game players have the ability decide their course of actions and recognize that they must take accountability for their own actions. The children playing these games are aware that there are both harmful and helpful consequences during game play. Games can mimic real-life consequences, and playing them teaches children that patience and perseverance lead to successful results. (Simpson, 2005) Violence in video games is not cause of violence in adolescents; this is a rumor or myth made by people looking for an excuse or a solution to why things happen. With the level of violence in video games increasing, adults have been linking the acts of violence contained in video games with violent acts that have been committed by children. Rather than look in to all the determining factors that can be reasons for children to act aggressively, they would rather lay blame on something new. The public has not even taken a moment to reflect on the past and realize that video games are just another source of media added to the list excuses justifying a child’s actions. Films, radio, novels, television programming, have all had been faulted for leading young people off course and stirring up aggressive or unsociable behavior. Video games violence is a handy scapegoat for individuals who do not care to explore deeper into the quandary of where the desire to murder comes from. The myth that video games reveal a new, excessive collective fixation with violent entertainment is untrue. Harold Schechter, in the manuscript Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment, painstakingly documents the incidence of violent media all the way through the history of art and entertainment. Schechter remarks that even the purportedly quiet days of the 1950s were complete with violent media, most of it aimed at children. (Schechter, 2005) â€Å"The fact is that, contrary to popular belief, there was a shockingly high level of sadistic violence and gore in some of the most popular commercial entertainments of the 1950s† (Schechter, 2005). Violence and aggressive media and behavior have always been a part of civilization, so why it is receiving so much attention these days? Perhaps the degree of youth violence has not changed at all, but the factors mentioned above have simply created a heightened awareness of violence amongst youth. Perhaps a heightene d awareness and a lower tolerance for such acts have simply caused an increase in reporting violence, creating an illusion of an increase in youth violent behavior. There are extreme cases of youth violence in recent years that stand out, and were covered extensively by the media. The Columbine incident is an example. This type of incident is rare, but the media attention it received contributed to the perception of an increase in youth violence. Youth violence did not increase during this time; it just became more of social issue. Many factors contributed to those crimes, leaving the public many ways of laying blame. Youth violence is not caused by content found within a video game; it is more of an issue with the individual committing the violent acts. The underlying problem deals with the individual having a firm grip on reality and knowing the difference between those actions and the ones found within a video game. The adolescents are less apt to see violent video games in an unconstructive way if the individual is there not already a predisposition to violent acts. (Zarozinski, 2001) â€Å"Media in all forms can move people to consider things they had not considered before. But media cannot take over a mind and make anyone do something hes not predisposed to do† (Zarozinski, 2001). Stating, in essence, violent video games do not create violent children, however they may add to the troubles of an already violent youth. (Zarozinski, 2001) The public is quick to fault violence in the planet on video games, movies, television and music for the reason that they are effortless plausible targ ets. Although these media sources can influence and individual to a certain degree, the public has to look further than this particular focal point and start searching for the real cause for the violent behavior in civilization. A game cannot and will not make a human being kill another. Numerous individuals view violent images on a regular basis, yet only a small percentage of those actually commit crimes of violence. As studies by respected academics show, people that are already predisposed to violence are those that tend to gravitate towards playing video games. (Delamere, 2005) â€Å"The violence present in these media sources may help instigate a violent act; it is never the only cause† (Delamere, 2005). However, the groups of alarmed individuals that plead for the government to take action to against video games will not openly admit that the source for their civilizations problems may be due to their own actions. The people want a scapegoat that will appease their conscience and at the same token, avert the fingers of blame from pointing in their direction. This day and age, humankind is a world where real violence is everywhere, from neighborhood shootings to the war in Iraq. People are mostly helpless to stop it, and just have to live through it, but when a juvenile turns on a violent video game and spends endless hours playing, the question remains, does it change their perception of the real world and cause them to become delinquent? Violence in video games has been at the forefront of a lot of controversy recently. Incidents, like the Columbine High School shooting has come and gone, reopening old wounds and revisiting unanswered questions. What could have caused two seemingly average kids to go on such a rampage? Some of the blame has fallen on violent video games. Are these games actually part of the problem, or just an easy target? Fueled by myths of increased youth violence, and tragedies such as school shootings, youth violence is an increasing concern in for the public. Nevertheless, there is a lack of hard evidence to suppor t the supposed increase in youth violence, much less, that violence in video game plays a part in it. Violence in Video Games Violence in Video Games RQ: Should any restrictions be applied to violence in future video games to prevent any negative changes in childrens behavior? Abstract: Introduction: People, nowadays, are always arguing about the problem of violence in video games; and violence, in this case, includes use of drugs, blood, gore, offensive language, and many other things, that exist in modern video games. According to the statistics, over a billion people play video games, and the majority of these people are children or young teenagers. Of course, there are games, which are perfectly fit for children, games, which do not contain any type of violence, and they are usually designed specifically for kids to play. But many children prefer playing violent video games, because they think it is more enjoyable. Even though, it is usually up to their parents or guardians to decide whether these children are allowed to play violent video games or not, in most cases, parents do not want to restrict their kids from playing games, they like, so they just allow children to play almost any games, they want to play. The problem here is, that psychologically underage people might be more vulnerable to impact, coming from video games, than adults are; so violent video games might have a negative impact on shaping childrens behaviour (Publications, Harvard). Even though, millions of children play violent video games, only a few actually become violent (John Bingham). And this controversy leads me to a question: Should any restrictions be applied to violence in future video games to prevent any negative changes in childrens behaviour? I conducted the research, which provided me with the information about the ways, in which video games might affect childrens behaviour and the consequences of video game influence for children. That information will help me understand which restrictions should be applied to violence in video games, if any. Body: Even though, there is evidence of the link between violence in video games and the increase of childrens aggressive behaviour during the past two decades, there are still a lot of facts, which prove that there are many other factors, which could have caused negative effects on childrens behaviour. A lot of various psychological and media institutions, such as Oxford University, have conducted the research on the influence of violence in video games and other types of media. There are about 350 research papers conducted from 2005 to 2013, and non of them really explore every aspect of the effects of media violence on kids behaviour. For example, the combinations of effects of different risk factors, such as depression or stress with this kind of violence, or the differences between the effects on different genders. Such factors as the gender and living in poverty have greater impact on the outcomes (Bavelier, Green and Dye 692-701). In the majority of the studies kids younger than 10 years of age werent even included. The importance of these factors is certainly undeniable, especially considering the fact that there are not too many cases of chilren aggressive and violent behaviour, proved to happen due to violent video games. There was one of the high-profile incidents in the USA, which was caused by 17 year-old Dylan Klebold, and 18 year-old Harris Eric. It is called the Columbine High School Massacre. The shooting happened on the 20th of April, 1999, at Columbine High School, in Jefferson County. Two pupils killed twelve other pupils and a teacher (Library, CNN). The two shooters in the massacre were regularly playing weapon-based combat games. Specifically, the two shooters used to play Doom, which is a violent video game (The Columbine Shooters: Video Game Addicts?) Since the moment when violence was introduced to media, hundreds of studies have focused their research on viewing these acts of violence and aggression, such as Columbine High School shooting. When violent video games emerged, researchers started analyzing these acts much more closely. Many of the studies were focused on persons sex and studying male versus female aggression after viewing and playing violent video games. Some of them researched viewing violent video games against playing these games to find out if there was any link between the two ways of experiencing video game violence (Polman, de Castro and van Aken 256-264). Very little of these studies have researched the positive effects, which video games might have on chldren. For example, watching video games   improves hand eye coordination, and increases some of the persons abilities, for example some kids become better at solving puzzles (Ferguson 309-316). Ferguson found no connection between violent video games and negative behaviour. He concluded, that research made up of current studies, which have been analyzed, cannot link watching or playing violent video games to aggressive behavior afterwards (Ferguson 309-316). Each study, which has been reviewed, usually shows that there is some link between viewing violent video games and aggression. However, it doesnt completely prove the existence of this connection. Some evidence suggest that there is a link between exposure to violent video games and violent behavior (Porter and Starcevic 422-426). Can aggressive behavior with a good level of certainty be linked to watching video games? Or are there other circumstances that influence this kind of behaviour? Studies suggest a link between video watching and aggression, but researchers have not yet been able to find a direct relationship between the two. As in most behaviours, there are still loads of other factors that may contribute to the persons behaviour. Concluding, that experiencing violence in video games is linked to aggressive behaviour, is only possible if other factors, which influence a persons behaviour can be controlled. Those factors can include family history, sex, cases of aggressive behavior before watching video games, and many other potential factors that might influence childrens behavior (Persky and Blascovich 57-72). Not all studies have found a relationship (Ferguson et al. 109-122) between exposure to violent video games and aggression in children. However, the   most part of all the work actually shows a relationship. In a meta-analysis of 98 studies, which involved 36,965 participants, violent video games were convincingly shown to influence social behaviour (Greitemeyer and Mà ¼gge 578-589). The fact, that studies have taken many different forms, increases the certainty of the relationship. Jim Blascovich, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, in the study, he conducted, he concluded that the more realistic the graphics are the more of a possibility there is to display aggressive behavior right after viewing violent video games. Explicit viewing material usually looked more realistic, though letting aggressive behavior in the real world.   For example, Pacmans graphics were very simple in their content, and as graphics have become more realistic, the violence and death scenes have become a lot more realistic in modern video games (Persky Blascovich 57-72). Some of the work looks at the causal effect of game play. Some individuals have been asked to play violent games in the lab, while others were asked to play non-violent games. Then the behaviour of each group was measured in social tasks after the experiment. These studies have shown that playing violent games results in instantaneous changes to behaviour (Anderson, Carnagey and Flanagan 199-249). Young adults have shown physiological desensitisation to scenes of real life violence (Carnagey, Anderson and Bushman 489-49). Individuals who had played violent, in comparison with non-violent, games were less likely to report hearing a fight staged outside the laboratory, considered the fight more common and were slower to respond when some of them decided to help (Bushman and Anderson 273-27). Desensitisation to violence is considered to link violent game play with later aggressive behaviour (Engelhardt et al. 1033-1036). Other studies have included longitudinal effects, where individuals have been followed over a period of time; and video game play at one point in time has been related to aggression later, both in lab and in real life. The more violent play individuals took part in, the steeper the increase was in aggressive behaviour (Willoughby, Adachi and Good 1044-1057). The size of the effects found in most studies is either small or medium, but its quite consistent. This pretty much indicates that violent games do influence violent behaviour, rather than that violent children engage in video games. The most part of the negative effects, as a result of playing violent video games among children, can be blamed on the violent scenes included in these games. If a kid spends a big amount of time playing violent videogames, he or she becomes socially isolated. This basically means that this child doesnt have enough time to interact with his or her peers (Anderson and Bushman 353-359). The child who spends lots of hours per day playing videogames will have almost no time to make new friends. Such children may become more depressed and lonely in their homes. They are also very likely to stop spending time on other activities such as sports, reading, and studying.   Children stop being socially active, since they dont get involved in real-life events anymore. A child, who ends up spending most of his or her time playing videogames, does not get a chance to think creatively and independently, due to the fact that videogames reduce a childs imaginative thinking. This kind of thinking is crucial in developing a childs creativity. By encouraging isolation, videogames may also put a childs health at a serious risk. Since such kids do not lead a healthy lifestyle, due to the lack of sports and social activities, children, who are used to spending the majority of their time playing videogames, are very likely to suffer from obesity, and muscular and postural disorders. Quite a large number of videogames are addictive. Rather than studying or completing homework, a child spends time playing videogames, because the addiction wins over this child. When a child spends an large amount of time playing such videogames, he or she becomes socially isolated. Some of the negative effects as a result of playing these kind of videogames among children can be blamed on the addictiveness of these games. Due to the lack of time, which a child has while not playing games, he or she does not have an opportunity for rich social life (Anderson and Bushman 353-359). The child who spends almost the whole day playing videogames will have little time to meet and make new friends. They may very easily become more depressed and lonely in their homes. Children will also spend little time on other activities such as sports, reading, and doing homework. These children become socially inactive since they do not get involved in almost any social activities. Such video games redu ce a childs imagination as well. This basically means that children who spend most of their time playing videogames do not get a chance to think creatively or independently. Imaginative thinking is essential in developing a childs creativity. By promoting isolation, videogames may have some effects on a childs health. Quite some videogames may teach children wrong values (Gunter). Videogames encourage children to associate positive emotions such as happiness and pleasure with the ability to cause pain to others. They develop the feeling that they have to hurt other people in order to be happy themselves. Children who play videogames usually tend to develop selfish behavior (Anderson and Bushman 353-359). Videogames make the players depend on them. As a child is very often left alone, while playing a videogame, he or she can develop this dependent behavior. A study, which was done at a Minneapolis-based national institute for media, found out that kids can get addicted to videogames and exhibit social phobias. Video games are quite different from other visual types of media, because of their interactivity. The games allow players to be active participants in the storyline. In games the players, who benefit from acts of violence, are able to proceed to the next level. Violence in children behaviour has increased, as a negative result of playing videogames. There are a lot of incidents of violent and aggressive behaviour among children, who play violent videogames worldwide (Gunter).   Right after these incidents, the most of newspaper articles claimed that the key cause of that incident was violent videogames. The effects of violent games arent equal for everyone. Short-term effects in the lab are discovered to be bigger for undergraduate men than women (Bartholow and Anderson 283-290), and younger children are at a bigger risk of being affected by violent games if theyve got a high level on a personality trait, called neuroticism, and a low level on the traits agreeableness and conscientiousness (Markey and Markey 82-91). In terms of the game, playing with a customised avatar was found to cause more aggressive and violent behaviour, than when playing with a generic character (Fischer, Kastenmà ¼ller and Greitemeyer 192-195). Conclusion: Although the link between real-life violence and video game violence is still debated, and certainly other factors have a more significant influence on aggression. The impact of video games violence on the behavioural development of children is quite obvious both in the short-term and the long-term. The effectiveness of video games is a very important issue for society, and at the same time a benefit, because their effects can be both negative and positive; indeed it would be extremely hard to argue for one of these positions without the other. What is crucial is that we understand what aspects of game play behaviour have an influence, and on whom they have it. So whats the final answer to my question: Should any restrictions be applied to violence in future video games to prevent any negative changes in childrens behavior? Its quite simple. No new restrictions should be applied to violent video games in the future. Partly, its because the effects of this kind of violence are differe nt from one person to another, so they can also be positive; and partly because other factors usually affect childrens behaviour more, than video game violence. Althogh, parents can take some action to prevent possible negative impact of video games. For example, limit the number of ours, their children spend playing, or simply not allow kids to play games, which they consider too violent. Bibliography: Greitemeyer, Tobias and Dirk O. Mà ¼gge. Video Games Do Affect Social Outcomes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 40.5 (2014): 578-589. Web. 22 Dec. 2016 Library, CNN. Columbine High School Shootings Fast Facts CNN.Com. CNN. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 Dec. 2016 The Columbine Shooters: Video Game Addicts?. NY Daily News. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 Dec. 2016 Bavelier, Daphne, C. Shawn Green, and Matthew W.G. Dye. Children, Wired: For Better And For Worse. Neuron 67.5 (2010): 692-701. Web. 4 Dec. 2016 Polman, Hanneke, Bram Orobio de Castro, and Marcel A.G. van Aken. Experimental Study Of The Differential Effects Of Playing Versus Watching Violent Video Games On Childrens Aggressive Behavior. Aggressive Behavior 34.3 (2008): 256-264. Web. 12 Dec. 2016 Ferguson, Christopher John. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Positive And Negative Effects Of Violent Video Games. Psychiatric Quarterly 78.4 (2007): 309-316. Web. 17 Dec. 2016 Porter, Guy and Vladan Starcevic. Are Violent Video Games Harmful?. Australasian Psychiatry 15.5 (2007): 422-426. Web. 20 Dec. 2016 Persky, Susan and Jim Blascovich. Immersive Virtual Video Game Play And Presence: Influences On Aggressive Feelings And Behavior. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 17.1 (2008): 57-72. Web. 25 Nov. 2016 Ferguson, Christopher J. et al. Not Worth The Fuss After All? Cross-Sectional And Prospective Data On Violent Video Game Influences On Aggression, Visuospatial Cognition And Mathematics Ability In A Sample Of Youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 42.1 (2012): 109-122. Web. 4 Dec. 2016 Carnagey, Nicholas L., Craig A. Anderson, and Brad J. Bushman. The Effect Of Video Game Violence On Physiological Desensitization To Real-Life Violence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43.3 (2007): 489-496. Web. 13 Dec. 2016 Anderson, Craig A, Nicholas L Carnagey, and Mindy Flanagan. Violent Video Games: Specific Effects Of Violent Content On Aggressive Thoughts And Behavior. 1st ed. 2004. Print Bushman, Brad J. and Craig A. Anderson. Comfortably Numb: Desensitizing Effects Of Violent Media On Helping Others. Psychological Science 20.3 (2009): 273-277. Web. 14 Dec. 2016 Engelhardt, Christopher R. et al. This Is Your Brain On Violent Video Games: Neural Desensitization To Violence Predicts Increased Aggression Following Violent Video Game Exposure. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 47.5 (2011): 1033-1036. Web. 21 Dec. 2016 Willoughby, Teena, Paul J. C. Adachi, and Marie Good. A Longitudinal Study Of The Association Between Violent Video Game Play And Aggression Among Adolescents.. Developmental Psychology 48.4 (2012): 1044-1057. Web. 19 Dec. 2016 Anderson, C. A. and B. J. Bushman. Effects Of Violent Video Games On Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, And Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review Of The Scientific Literature. Psychological Science 12.5 (2001): 353-359. Web. 13 Dec. 2016 Gunter, Barrie. The Effects Of Video Games On Children. 1st ed. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998. Print Fischer, Peter, Andreas Kastenmà ¼ller, and Tobias Greitemeyer. Media Violence And The Self: The Impact Of Personalized Gaming Characters In Aggressive Video Games On Aggressive Behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 46.1 (2010): 192-195. Web. 16 Dec. 2016 Markey, Patrick M. and Charlotte N. Markey. Vulnerability To Violent Video Games: A Review And Integration Of Personality Research.. Review of General Psychology 14.2 (2010): 82-91. Web. 18 Dec. 2016 Bartholow, Bruce D. and Craig A. Anderson. Effects Of Violent Video Games On Aggressive Behavior: Potential Sex Differences. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 38.3 (2002): 283-290. Web. 15 Dec. 2016 Publications, Harvard. Violent Video Games And Young People Harvard Health. Harvard Health. N.p., 2017. Web. 18 Dec. 2016 John Bingham. Study Finds No Evidence Violent Video Games Make Children Aggressive. The Telegraph. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Dec. 2016

Comparative Advantages Of Presidential And Parliamentary Systems Politics Essay

Comparative Advantages Of Presidential And Parliamentary Systems Politics Essay At the birth of every nation is the key structural question, how best to govern ones people and state. This has predominantly been met with two, very differing and opposing answers that of presidentialism and parliamentarism. The variables that determine this choice are inherently entrenched in the political, social and economic history of the state in question. As such one cannot dismiss one particular system on a political or ethnocentric basis, but evaluate it on its applicability and suitability to the state that it presides in, and the impact the innate strengths and flaws of both systems. However given the huge number of political systems to study and the national variations that occur within each state it would be impossible to present a comprehensive comparison of the systems, as such I will focus on two systems in particular, the United Kingdom and the Unites States of America. These can be regarded as the figureheads of their respective systems and the models upon which most other systems are based. The American constitution was created in 1787 with the radical idea that no single branch of the political structure should have precedence over another. As such the concept of separated power was introduced. This involved a significant departure from the traditional forms of government of the colonial states that had controlled and exploited the New World states such as the US itself. The governments of the industrialised imperialists tended to be dominated by the executive. This is another significant factor which encouraged these ex-colonial states to reject the democratically imperfect parliaments of the European imperialists in search of a fairer, more representative system inspired by the ideas of Aristotle  [1]  . Therefore both the executive and legislative is elected separately and therefore have dual democratic legitimacy. Therefore neither body is accountable to the other such as in the British parliament, so there is no danger of one branch holding more power and dominating the other. This ensures a more balanced government and one that more correctly expounds the political will of the public. The fact that there are bicameral and presidential elections makes the system much more representative and democratic then in the UK where only the legislature is elected. It also makes the political institution more flexible to the changing tide of public opinion. For instance if the British public becomes dissatisfied with its Labour government after its election it may have to wait five years before they can vote against them, whereas in the US elections for at least one aspect of government occur every two years, enabling government to better represent the contemporary political desires of its c itizens. This arouses another key component of the presidential model; it has set term times for its officials. For instance the President is in office for four years and can only be removed by being impeached by the congress, a very rare move. This gives the system a stability and removes the uncertainties of the parliamentary system where the threat of both the vote of confidence and anticipated elections always hang over the government. Anticipated elections though inducing a certain amount of uncertainty into the parliament, they also give the government a much greater flexibility then that of its American counterpart, enabling them to alter the political landscape of the parliament to react to the changing moods and reality of the domestic and international environment. New elections may be called before the obligatory five years for a number of reasons, for instance to strengthen a parties ruling majority, to introduce a new government if one cannot be created or becomes unworkable or t o respond to crises such as a huge scandal in government.  [2]   In terms of elections in the Congress the framers ensured that both houses of the bicameral legislative should be elected, in keeping with the founding democratic principles of the American constitution. This leads to a much fairer and representative governing of the people as all aspects of the legislative and presidency are elected by the people. However the relatively high number of elections may go some way to explaining the extremely low voting turn out of the American people, perhaps somewhat apathetic to elections they dismiss as commonplace and thus irrelevant. These dual Presidential and Congressional elections allow the opportunity for both a legislative and government division. If different parties occupy each house or the congress is united against the opposing administration there can be a divided government. This can lead to a deep division within the presidential system if the two sides disagree, it can be very difficult to enact legislation or concur on appointments to the Supreme Court  [3]  , famously described by Rauch under the term of demosclerosis. However, few examples of a unified government since WWII demonstrate that unification does not guarantee efficient, informed, timely and effective public policy  [4]  , as seen under Jimmy Carters administration and due to the individualist based nature of US politics rather then party orientated. In fact the potential delays associated with dual democratic legitimacy ensures that policies are not rushed and are mutual accepted by both the executive and legislature. The third branch of the presidential system is the Supreme Court, yet Schubert has shown that it is only since 1957 has the supreme court began to exert its power over the congress and president by asserting its constitutional right to veto laws it deems unconstitutional. Previously to this the Supreme Court had only struck down Presidents actions fourteen times, failing to maintain an effective separation of power by undermining the system of balance and checks that the US model is based on.  [5]  A more independent and aggressive judiciary helps to ensure that the constitutional rights of the public are preserved and to limit the powers of the executive and legislative. However there still remains the capacity for a combined, presidential, congressional and federal over turning of the Supreme Court ruling so as to ensure the balance of power remains. Though the British parliament encompasses a number of similarities with the US model such as a bicameral legislative and three branched system, it still remains profoundly different in how these institutions are created and distributed. Most importantly only the legislative is democratically legitimate. This means that the executive originates from and is appointed by the legislative. This has a number of critical implications. Without the potential legitimacy conflicts that may occur in America the government can rule much more efficiently and quickly then the grid locked Presidential model. However the executive is prevented from abusing this power by the fact they have no democratic power base and as such, are accountable to the legislative by a vote of confidence. This allows a flexibility in the parliamentary system that America lacks. If the government suffers from ineptitude, an unworkable hung government or national crisis the government can be expelled and new elections call ed. This has only occurred once in Britain in 1979 when the minority government of Labours Callaghan was removed with a vote of no confidence when the government had become hung and ineffective  [6]  . The UK also has an unelected head of state, albeit a de jure power role. Though this is extremely undemocratic when compared to the US system, monarchists argue that the royal family acts as a symbolic vessel for all the heritage and wisdom of the previous generations and is a fundamental institution of the British consciousness. The same can also be said for the lower house of the UKs bicameral legislative. The house of Lords is another unelected part of the parliament, albeit much less influential then the house of parliament. This gives the parliament a stability, in its continuity that the permanently changing congress lacks, even if this is at the expense of democratic inclusiveness. The house of Lords also acts as the highest judiciary court of the parliamentary system. They can repeal government decisions only by legal precedents as the UK has no constitution. This streamlines the political structure and thus reduces the opportunity for inter-branch conflict which would slow down and inhibit the mechanism of governing as demonstrated by the demosclerosis that occurs in the US. However this is an obvious merging of powers and allows room for the abuse of power and conflict of interests, and as such is a serious flaw in the UK system. The traditional form that parliament or legislature takes is that of a majoriatarian, where there is one dominant party with a majority of seats (51 %plus). With Britains tradition of a ministers loyalty to their party and the whip system, they have very disciplined parties compared to America. This allows the party with an absolute majority to pass their legislative quickly and efficiently. Whereas in the US, despite the importance of party labels, member of Congress are independent players who vote not primarily out of party loyalty but to advance their constituency and career interests  [7]  . This means that the fluidic environment of Congress relies on undisciplined parties in order for it to function in a divided government, the existence of a whip system in such a divided government would produce comprehensive grid lock. This is a final example of the inherent indigenous nature of politics, what works in one state may not work in another. This is evident in the wide spread failure of president democracies such as in South Vietnam. Americas attempts during the Cold War to remake the third world in its image have obviously been an over-riding disaster. Both these systems require a number of prerequisites in the nation they are being implemented in. America requires a lack of ideological rigidity, undisciplined parties and locally-orientated politics  [8]  , whereas Britain needs public deference to its political rulers and an allegiance to authority. So despite each systems blatant imperfections they are ideally suited to the two entirely different nations they exist in.

Escape Mechanisms in The Glass Menagerie Essay -- Glass Menagerie essa

Escape Mechanisms in The Glass Menagerie In Tennessee Williams’ play, The Glass Menagerie, all four members of the Wingfield family have chosen to hide from reality. Amanda tries to relive her past through Laura, and denies anything she does not want to accept. Laura is terrified of the real world, and choses to hide behind her limp, her glass menagerie and the victrola. Tom hides from his reality by going to the movies, writing poetry, and getting drunk. Mr Wingfield hides from his reality by leaving his family and not contacting them after he has done so. Each member of the Wingfield family has their own escape mechanism which they use to hide or escape from the real world. Amanda has chosen to hide from reality by trying to relive her past. She is living in the unreality of her youthful memories and sees herself as still being as young as Laura when she says to her, ‘No, sister, no, sister – you be the lady this time and I’ll be the darkey’ (p 237). She reminisces about ‘one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain’ (p 237) when she received seventeen gentleman callers, and then tries to relive this through Laura. She arranges for Tom to bring home some nice young man... ...1987. 85-94. Levy, Eric P. "‘Through Soundproof Glass’: The Prison of Self Consciousness in The Glass Menagerie." Modern Drama, 36. December 1993. 529-537. Rasky, Harry. Tennessee Williams: A Portrait in Laughter and Lamentation. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1986. Thompson, Judith J. Tennessee Williams’ Plays: Memory, Myth, and Symbol. New York: Peter Lang, 1989. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 1519-1568.

Life in the 90s Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout the 1990’s there was a lot of good and bad times. Starting with the good things, I will begin my paper with 5 of the up-most important events in this period of time and then conclude with 4 of the down sides. Early in the 90’s was Desert Storm, which was a huge success. The 1991 bombing of Baghdad was a demonstration of smart, powerful weapons, planning ahead and military superiority. Having control in the air was a major goal of those who had planned out the attack. Starting attacks on the capital was the major idea and political goal of destabilizing Saddam Hussein's regime (basically the main purpose here was to have Iraq’s leader murdered). About 244 laser-guided bombs and 88 cruise missiles were delivered against Baghdad targets in 43 days of war. That’s most of the powerful weapons used in Desert Storm. Overall, around 250,000 individual bombs and missiles were dropped or fired in the 42 days. There were only 12 days and 12 nights when there were no strikes against Baghdad. There were only 14 nights when more than two targets were attacked within the city. For a lot of reasons, including growing political constraints on capital missions, fewer Baghdad targets were bombed as the war progressed. The campaign's end contrasted right after the opening night display. I think that Desert Storm could thank the war planners for the high achievements because they way they attacked Baghdad was almost like a sneak attack, and hey weren’t prepared, Overall, they were caught off guard. Next I will move onto wireless communication.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now a new â€Å"fad† in the 90’s is things such as cellular telephones, everyone has them. Behind the calling process is more than you know before you purchase these items. When a cellular phone makes a call, it normally transmits it's a certain wave out to a cell phone site (towers). The number called in a short overwhelming piece of data. This data is the short buzz you hear after you hit the SEND button and before the tower catches the data. These things are the components the cellular provider uses to make sure that the phone is programmed so that it is billed and that it also has the identity of both the customer and the phone. Now kids starting at almost the age of 13 begin to carry these items. These are a high point of technology in the 90’s and everywhere you tur... .... Some schools districts that experimented with metal detectors for a short time found them a bit frustrating.And kids all over the world are getting guns from all these places but nobody is doing anything about it. It is very easy for someone to get a handgun. If we could stop the selling of drugs just by maybe 20% or even 15%, there would be a whole less violence due to the lack of money. So nobody would be able to buy a weapon. Teachers are in as much danger of being killed or attacked, as kids are at school. The recent examples are the series of shooting which took place in 1998 started with Columbine High School in colorado. The risk of a teacher being attacked by a student has doubled since 1956. This is a lot considering that you don't hear about too many teacher attacks on the news but you do hear about teens being killed. Approximately 100 teachers have been assaulted annually in the past four school years . Also last year in about six incidents which highlighted the newspapers about 25 students along with 5 teacher who were killed due to high school shootings. The big problem involving violence is how we can stop the violence from spreading and increasing.

Historical Accuracy of Gone with the Wind Essay

In the decades following the civil war, many factors altered the American city. As urbanization and industrialization developed simultaneously, cities were provided with supply of labor for factories and improved transportation. Commercial farming, followed by a shift in population of people relocating from rural areas to more modern cities greatly influenced the evolution of the America city. As well as a significant increase in immigration to the states, these are the most prominent factors influencing the development of the American city. A number of improvements in urbanization and industrialization made the growth of cities possible. Cities gave way to streetcar cities because people had little choice but to live in walking distances. By the 1890s, both horse-drawn cars and cable cars were being replaced by electric trolleys, elevated railroads and subways, which could transport people to urban residence. These improvements in urban transportation made it possible for more people to immigrate into the cities making it even bigger. As cities expanded outward, they also soared upward, since increasing land values in the central business district dictated the construction. Skyscrapers had replaced church spires as the dominant feature of American urban skylines and the buildings mostly had electric lights for commercial purposes. Urbanization and industrialization greatly changed the American city to what it is today. Commercial farming greatly impacted the development of the American city towards the end of the nineteenth century. The need for a massive number of farmhands diminished over time, and forced a majority of people living in rural areas of the states to more modern cities to seek work opportunities. This offered more jobs to be available for the newly arrivals, and in turn shaped how the cities operated. Commercial farmers also contained the ability to raise a single cash crop for the single purpose to make profit. This greatly improved the economy of cities across America. Commercial farming had a prominent change on the American city. As immigration to the states increased to the more modern cities, the cities changed significantly. New immigrants greatly increased the population of these cities, forcing them to expand. The growth of American metropolis was magnificent. In 1860, no city in the United States could boast one million inhabitants. But by 1900, New York held about 3.5 million citizens. A growing immigrant population to meet the increased need for workers led to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions within urban areas. Immigrants also developed ethnic neighborhoods that helped to change the character of the American city. Immigration played an important part into the change of the American city. Many key factors played roles into the evolution of the American cities across the nation. The most prominent of these were the era of urbanization and industrialization, commercial farmers bringing a rich economy to the city life, and newly arriving immigrants forcing the American cities to thrive. All of these factors shaped cities across the states to what they became today.

Career Development Plan Essay

The recent merger of InterClean and EnviroTech (ICET) has opened many opportunities for employee promotions. In an effort to stimulate our employees, focus on their strength and talents, and teach them new skills that will assist in our overall success, management has decided to revamp the way training’s been done in the past by implementing a new training performance format. Our new training module will focus on sanitation standards, communication, customer service and satisfaction and networking. The program will consist of 9 steps that will key in on industry knowledge. The training format will consist of new training evaluation and mentoring needs, focus on objectives of training and mentoring, reviewing performance standards, analyze delivery methods, examine contents for training and mentoring, address time frames and evaluation methods, feedback, and lastly explore alternative avenues for further development. Once this program is implemented, we believe our employees will develop an expertise in their respective areas that will have a positive impact in ICET’s organizational competitiveness, performance and productivity. The new training and mentoring needs The new training format will impact the way ICET does business. The focus of the new three week training will be to teach our sales associates about sanitation standards, communication, customer service and satisfaction and networking. Each step in the new training format will help us attain overall success that will benefit the employee and our company as well. However, training alone will not offer one on one simulation. Therefore, we are implementing a mentoring program that will give employees accessibility to learn and work with mentors that have specific knowledge about interested areas for a period of six month to ensure well rounded working knowledge from key experts. Objectives of the training and mentoring program The objective of training will be vital to attain future success. Therefore, the first objective will be to learn about the sanitation standards and regulations so that we will be well informed as we cross over into health care service solutions. The second objective we will focus on is communication. The key concentrations will be listening, and planning to attain effective decision making. The third objective will be customer service and satisfaction as related to personal attention and quality service and lastly the fourth objective will be on the importance of networking to build relationships with key industry contacts. With regards to the mentoring program our focus will be to combine all the aforementioned above that will blend with our new mentoring program. This will allow employees to focus on their specific career development goals they would like to accomplish within the organization by working aside once a week for six month period with a mentor that is an expert in the chosen area. Performance standards The performance standards will be rated based on job role expectations. The indicators for example in sales will be based on revenue generated. This will be measured by how many sales deals were closed and the type of products. Market integration or expansion also be measured. Here the ability to find new perspective customer or even cross over into other types of health care businesses such as nursing homes or medical rehabs will be taken into evaluated and lastly customer retention based on quality customer service and feedback will also be considered. We feel all expectations will be reasonable and attainable once training is completed. Delivery methods Delivery methods are vital when training is being implemented. The focus is to keep the trainee interested and integrated during training. Therefore, we will focus on three training methods; experimental, integrative and reinforcement. For sanitation standards we will train with fact sheets, videos and or pamphlet and booklets. This will fall under the reinforcement methods. For the communication objectives, we will use skits because it will teach the trainee real life simulations which can be critiqued to help improve and fine tweak any area that need improvement. This delivery method will fall under the experimental method. As for the customer service objective, we will use dialogue. This will allow the trainee to participate and improve their delivery when meeting a customer and or closing the deal. This style will fall under the integrative methods and lastly we will use networking via conventions and or conferences so the trainee can interact with other business professionals. As for the mentoring program we will offer face to face interaction once weekly with expert mentors by area. Content for training and mentoring To achieve the best outcomes for ICET, we believe the content of the training program should be closely correlated tot to our business strategy and organizational goals. Therefore we will evaluate the skill and ability of employees that best match the open positions. This will be done by evaluating experience, worker, and occupational requirements. For example, experience will evaluated based on former training, experience, certifications or licenses. Worker requirements will be based on basic skills, cross functional skills, knowledge and education and lastly occupational requirement will be measure by general work activities, work and organizational content (Cascio 2005). Time frame Setting realistic time frames for employees to be trained properly is an important part of a successful training and mentoring program. Forming new habits or learning new methodologies take times which is why we have decided that employees will receive three week training so they feel fully acclimated and comfortable when they are out on the field. As for the mentoring program, we have decided to make it a three month program because we feel in order to appreciate and truly learn hands on the employee should be exposed to the daily routines of the mentor. Once the employee gets a good grasp of each section during the allotted training time, we believe they will be motivated and continue to develop their skills via applied experience they attain while working. Evaluation methods A good evaluation will most often use multiple methods because a well rounded objective decision can be archived. Therefore, we have decided that we will evaluate employees by these three standards; group interviews so we may see how the candidate behaves and reacts to intimidating settings, person to person simulations to see how the employee performs when selling a product and lastly via personality questionnaire to see if the employee characteristic match up with the extroverted personality we are looking for. Feedback Constructive feedback can make all the difference if you want to keep employees motivated. Therefore, it is our commitment to make sure that all feedback is constructive and address all the good quality the employee posses as well as the areas of improvement that will develop them further. Hence, we will sit with employees and perform verbal feedback that is clear and precise so that there is no room for misunderstanding. We want the make sure the employee is encouraged and understands that we are committed and interested in their career development and well being. We would also like to get feedback regarding the training program and any areas of weakness that can be improved. We will build an anonymous questionnaire so that the employee can be candid and honest without feeling as if there are attached strings. Alternate avenues for those who need further development Lastly, we would like to provide alternate avenues for employees who would like press further. Therefore, we will provide access to continuing education course twice a year. We will also have updated listing of conferences and training that will go beyond on internal training so that employees will be aware of the latest trends, approaches, and opportunities in their specific field. We believe this will help the employee morale as they will have access to any continuing education as needed. In conclusion, we believe our new training module will teach and provide the employees with all the necessary tools to become and maintain success.. Our focus on sanitation standards, communication, customer service and satisfaction and networking will set our employees apart from the rest because they will be well rounded and well informed. Once this program is completed, the employees will develop an expertise in their respective areas that will have a positive impact in ICET’s organizational competitiveness, performance and productivity. Reference http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/training/performance_management/define.htm