Should Batman Kill the Joker

Should Batman Kill the Joker? Summary In the very beginning, this article raises the question by asking the reader whether Batman should kill the joker or not and also uses it as the title to draw readers’ attention. Based on the question/topic, the author, Mark White, further discuss different arguments by providing three different schools and perspectives from the Batman’s quandary. First of all, from â€Å"utilitarianism† aspect, Joker is probably deserved to be killed because his death may save more people lives.Secondly/Moreover, on the issue of â€Å"deontology† and the action of â€Å"murder†, the death of Joker might be preferable or even desirable or acceptable as it seems that Joker should accept the punishment by law or official rather than â€Å"vigilante justice†. This is because Joker is created and considered as an â€Å"evil† character in the movie/story; yet, he is still a human being who should receive the basic human right and dignity as well as respect.However/last but not the least, the character â€Å"Batman† instead of â€Å"Joker† is the main discussion from the aspect of â€Å"virtue ethics† in the final perspectives. The question is: if Batman kills the Joker, is there any guarantee that all problems can be solved out in Gotham City? Also, it is against one of Batman’s personal principles—to take/have â€Å"his enemies’ lives†.According to above three ethical perspectives, White, the author, not only offers the clear arguments, but also explains the reasons whether Joker should be killed or not from Batman’s point of view and from social cultural perspectives. Added to that, the author then applies Batman’s philosophy to other pop culture and phenomena in the end of article, to help readers to look different issues and topics from different viewpoints and aspects, as well as different roles/characters or personalities. Should Batman Kill the Joker Should Batman Kill the Joker? Summary In the very beginning, this article raises the question by asking the reader whether Batman should kill the joker or not and also uses it as the title to draw readers’ attention. Based on the question/topic, the author, Mark White, further discuss different arguments by providing three different schools and perspectives from the Batman’s quandary. First of all, from â€Å"utilitarianism† aspect, Joker is probably deserved to be killed because his death may save more people lives.Secondly/Moreover, on the issue of â€Å"deontology† and the action of â€Å"murder†, the death of Joker might be preferable or even desirable or acceptable as it seems that Joker should accept the punishment by law or official rather than â€Å"vigilante justice†. This is because Joker is created and considered as an â€Å"evil† character in the movie/story; yet, he is still a human being who should receive the basic human right and dignity as well as respect.However/last but not the least, the character â€Å"Batman† instead of â€Å"Joker† is the main discussion from the aspect of â€Å"virtue ethics† in the final perspectives. The question is: if Batman kills the Joker, is there any guarantee that all problems can be solved out in Gotham City? Also, it is against one of Batman’s personal principles—to take/have â€Å"his enemies’ lives†.According to above three ethical perspectives, White, the author, not only offers the clear arguments, but also explains the reasons whether Joker should be killed or not from Batman’s point of view and from social cultural perspectives. Added to that, the author then applies Batman’s philosophy to other pop culture and phenomena in the end of article, to help readers to look different issues and topics from different viewpoints and aspects, as well as different roles/characters or personalities.

Disabled Veterans

Many societies in the world have divisions in lives. In such societies and especially the United States, the divisions are based on inequality in many opportunities which has persisted for long even after a number of policies and strategies to end apartheid and racial segregation. Many efforts have been made to ensure equality and to have women and disabled people considered in opportunities such as employment. In the past, women were discriminated and, men occupied all the positions at workplace.The blacks were discriminated in education and at workplace such that no black could practice as a doctor or other profession simply because they were black. Many movements have been developed to limit various types of discrimination, and currently the women's movement is working hard to ensure equal participation of women and men with equal opportunities. Other groups such as lesbians and gays are also fighting to get equal right.The Disabled Veteran Affirmative Action Program plan was esta blished to ensure increased employment opportunities for disabled and qualified veterans (OPM, 2006). Affirmative actions are being used as a way of enhancing equality. They give preferential treatment to some groups of people, usually the women, minority groups and the disabled. Affirmative programs considers these people to have been disadvantaged in their past or currently, where by they aim compensating them for their past discrimination, or offering equal opportunities in the present society.This is achieved by recommending a higher population of the disadvantaged in an opportunity against the majority population, or by considering a feature which favors the disadvantaged group. Affirmative actions are being used in many organizations and work places, and it has raised an issue, on whether the disabled veterans should be given preferential treatment over more qualified candidates. The concurrent sections of this paper shall give my arguments towards the issue, setting out both deontological and utilitarian considerations.Arguments The affirmative action considers compensatory justice. In it's accordance, the disabled veterans will gets a job over most qualified people in the same field as a way of compensation. In the society, there are many people who are trained, qualified and who rare in the process of training in various fields. Just as the old veteran trained and were given the opportunity to practice in the trained field those who have trained and the ones training expect similar opportunities to practice.This means that when the disabled veterans are given the chance to practice in the competitive market, the qualified and able people will be locked out of the opportunity which will not have solved the issue of discrimination in such case what the affirmative action will have dome is a reverse discrimination where by a physically able and qualified person will be denied a chance to work despite the fact that he or she can perform better than the di sabled veteran. Affirmative actions consider having a large group of disadvantaged people included in the program.Use of quotas does not end discrimination as the affirmative programs views them they they exclude some the unconsidered or rather the majority group. For example, when large number of Asians are included in the program, Black Americans and the Americans will be discriminated from the program. California superior court encourages the state to use affirmative actions programs which are expected to facilitate fair employment practices and stop use of quotas and denial of opportunities on the basis of gender or race.To emphasis on the use of program, programs which used quotas for contracts between the state and business owned by women, minority and disabled were struck down. In such case the the program (Charles, 1999, pp. 48). With the use of the quotas the award of state contracts would continually favor, and have contracts with the businesses owned by the minority, disa bled and minority while discriminating the businesses owned by people in the majority group.When the state made law to have fifteen percent of the states contracts for businesses owned by women, minority and disabled veterans the court could not accept the laws on the basis that the law would promote discrimination of the majority group. The affirmative action favors the poor and gives them the priority over the rich. The program recommends favoring the disabled veterans over the healthy and physically able people with same or even more qualification.The affirmative programs should ensure equal recruitment of all individuals in the society regardless of their physical ability. All people need to get similar education opportunities to create a pool of qualified people in the community. When providing jobs or employments qualification should be the only consideration to ensure that no individual is discriminated. As long as education is provided in an equal measure, choosing from qual ification becomes the fairest method (Hurst, 2007). The disabled, or disadvantaged people have few chances of getting the required qualification.For example children from rich families which are represented by the majority have access to all materials and apparatus require through out their education and learning course. They have computers, attend the schools with the required and effective learning programs. Such children have all the time for their studies because their needs and requirements are catered for by their rich parents or guardians, unlike children from poor background who need who are expected to work for longer time at the expense of their studies to meet their basic needs.Poor children learn and live in pathetic environment, and in schools with inadequate facilities. The children from rich and the poor background will be assessed by same assessors and tests without a favor to either child. This means that the child who had appropriate facilities and learning environ ment will perform better than the poor child. The knowledge of the two children varies, since the poor are limited to further learning or training. This means they are likely to have little or no knowledge concerning the job they are being given.This means that when employment is provided on the basis of the physically disabled or disadvantages people in the society, the ones with little or no qualifications will be given the chance, causing reverse discrimination. The unqualified or semi-qualified individuals will be given positions they do not deserve and since they are not qualified in the field, they fail to carry out the required duties and subsequent failure in their roles, organization and the entire society.The affirmative action programs considers empowering the minority, the disabled veterans and women to take lead in various projects programs, organizations and the society. The California superior court upheld and implemented programs to identify discrimination with no re gard to race and gender preferences. According to the programs, the state agencies were to identify areas within the state where women disabled veterans and the minority were not utilized well, and aimed at enhancing their utilization (Charles, 1999, pp. 48).Well they can be empowered through these and other means but when the minority, the disabled or women are given the opportunity to lead the people being lead resent them. They are resented not because of their minority, disability or inferiority, but because they are preferred against the other people in the society. Resented individuals develops a negative attitude towards other people, and since they are discriminated or rather excluded from participating in various activities in the society, bad morals develops. Conclusion Although disabled veterans need preferential treatment over the physically well people, a lot need to be considered.Although that is the target of the affirmative action programs, the preference and especia lly in employment should be based on individual's qualification, skills, and experience. This this organizations and employers can get the best for best performance and output, without discrimination. The only way to get best employees, fairly is based on their qualification. The affirmative action programs should find other way of implementing compensatory justice, rather than job as the compensation because some of them are not qualified, or their disability limits them from effective performance.The affirmation programs enhances discrimination through collectiveness. The qualified are denied opportunities because they bare socially or politically dominant. The past social and economic status of individuals should not be considered when giving preferential treatments as the affirmative program does, rather the current status should be used. When individuals are preferred because of their social group instead of their qualification, their accomplishments are degraded (George, 2001, pp. 40).

Leadership Relations Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Leadership Relations - Coursework Example First, the leader has to involve the team members, Vanessa P. (2014). everyone within his/her team must feel significant and indispensable. When assigning duties, it should be done with consideration of the individuals interest, rather than imposing. When work is done willingly, the team members are able to face challenges leading to better performance. Second, the leader should encourage the team members to share information with other member of the team as well as the supervisors. Workers are more motivated when they work in groups and also monitor each other, Vanessa P. (2014). they should be allowed to make decisions individually. The leader should only step in cases that are really crucial. Third, the leader should organize forums where the team members meet regularly and discus issues affecting them, Vanessa P. (2014) .The meetings should not be made very formal, where the team members can have or bring a coffee, socialize and complement one another. In such meetings the leader should learn to identify someone who is not in a pleasant mood and take the initiative to assist. Forth, the leader should create ceremonies such as parties, and birthdays for the workers. These parties will go a long way in uniting the team members as well as bonding him to the team. During these parties the leader should identify those who have done well should be identified and praised for their good work as well as rewarded appropriately. During these events the leader should not bring about any work related things but rather let the members interact with one another and bond, Michael, G. (2000). He can also allow them to bring on bond the family members so as to create an environment of joy. Fifth, according to Michael, the leader should also make transparent decisions with no favours or bias, (2000). In times of enacting policies, carrying out appraisals, the leader should ensure that the decisions made are clearly understood and do not have any aspect of favours in

Peter Berger's heretical imperative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Peter Berger's heretical imperative - Essay Example According to Berger, pluralism presents the crisis into which modernity has exposed religion (Woodhead Heelas & Martin, 2001). Berger focuses on modernity and its implications on religion. The contemporary society is characterized by plurality of institutions, consciousness and choices, which yield uncertainty. According to Berger, pluralism is â€Å"a situation in which there is competition in the institutional ordering of comprehensive meanings of everyday life† (Oldmeadow, 2010, p.33). Because of uncertainty, there are unsteady, inconsistent and erratic plausibility structures, particularly those of religion. Berger argues that religion becomes a matter of choice, which he best refers to as a â€Å"heretical imperative† (heresy). According to Peter Berger, there are three contemporary responses to the crisis that modernity thrusts religion into, which include deduction, reduction as well as induction. Berger denounces deduction, which entails the reaffirmation of inf luence of a sacred ritual against secular authority (Esposito, Fasching & Lewis, 2011). He also rejects reductionism, which reinterprets a sacred ritual on the basis of secular authority. In rejecting the two responses, Berger supports the third approach, which is induction. His belief is that the crisis facing religion is a product of the sterile antithesis of neo-orthodoxy and secularism (Woodhead Heelas & Martin, 2001). He believes that by shunning both deductive and reductive approaches and adopting inductive approach, the crisis can be triumphed. Berger explores the relationship between human religion and world-building. The society is presented as dialectic because it is considered as a human invention. Man cannot exist without society and without man, society cannot exist. This exhibits the dialectic nature of the society. Berger argues that pluralism undermines stable belief (Berger, 1979). Pluralism is the cause of secularisation. According to Berger, the basic dialectic pr ocess of society entails three steps. These include externalisation, objectivation as well as internalisation. The three moments are crucial for effective comprehension of empirical dimension society. Externalisation refers to â€Å"the ongoing outpouring of human being into the world, both in the physical and the mental activity of men† (Berger, 1979, p. 4). Objectivation refers to the achievement by the products of man’s activity of an authenticity that faces its initial makers. Internalisation on the other hand, refers to men’s manipulation of reality, in which they change the reality into structures of objective and subjective consciousness. Externalisation is a prerequisite for anthropology. It deals with the biological development of man, where he interacts with extra-organic surrounding of both physical human worlds. Human being must create his own world. As such, the world-building activity does not qualify as a biological superfluous occurrence, but a d irect product of man’s biological composure. Man creates his own world through biological means. This human world is characterized by uncertainty unlike animals’ world. Because humanly established structures tend to be unstable, man creates culture to ensure stable structure that cannot be attained biologically. However, culture needs to be progressively changed by man. The instability of cultural structures posses a significant challenge to man’

Causes of road rage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Causes of road rage - Research Paper Example Road rage, aggressive behavior with the spouse etc are considered to be common instances related to this disorder. Standing (2007) also discussed the relation of this order with road rage. Road rage is one of the most common types of abusive behaviors that are experienced by people in their daily lives. Standing (2007) quoted a research in which the results concluded alarming figures; road rage causes hundreds of thousands of deaths every year and causes damage worth billions of dollars around the world. Leger Marketing (2001) also provided useful figures and stated that almost 20.4 % of the entire adult population in Canada has been known to be affected by different types of road rage incidents in the year 2001. This research also highlighted an interesting comparison regarding the number of males that are engaged in road rage incidents as compared to the female population; 23.2% men are known to be involved in road rage incidents as compared to 17.7% women. These are some of the common instances that are faced by individuals on the road and causes road rage. James and Nahl (2000) explained that even calm individuals tend to experience road rage since driving usually proves to become a stressful endeavor in the presence of various disturbing aspects. They enlisted around 15 factors that cause stress while driving, for example, traffic jam, noise pollution, changing temperatures, immobility etc. These factors cause stress among drivers and leads to lack of patience and tolerance when some unreasonable incident takes place on the road. Road rage is often taken as an excuse for a happening in someone’s life, for example, family trauma, running late for an appointment, alcoholism etc. Aggression and abusive behavior on the road should never be justified by any circumstances in one’s life since it is considered unethical under all conditions. Traffic rules should be followed religiously while driving since many

Discussing assessment results Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussing assessment results - Assignment Example As such, while a task oriented leader has fewer considerations for the needs of people around or team players, the average score indicated significant attempt to care for other team players. These results indicate that, in addition to being analytical and logical in achieving certain ends by following strict procedures in the workplace, there is a significant concern for team members involved in completing the task especially where a task has to be split into smaller sub-tasks to make the work easier. Therefore, the tests indicated both relational-oriented and task base leadership qualities, though with a bias on task-based leadership qualities. The score obtained in B.2 test also authenticates the above findings. While the score for management attention was 14 and a 16 for management meaning, management of self and management of trust, the score for management of feelings was 17. The management of attention and meaning are important in people-oriented leadership styles where a manager has to be more concerned with the people accomplishing the task contrary to the task at hand. The average scores in the above parameters indicate that though there are some people-oriented leadership qualities, these qualities have been suppressed by the observed dominant task-oriented qualities. A high score in the management of trust, self-risk and feeling indicate a case of extremely high personal discipline and confidence in achieving any task. As such, a high confidence and discipline makes it possible to have more focus on the task at hand and the procedures involved than on who is to perform the task as needed in people-oriented manage ment. The leadership tests indicate more transformational than transactional leadership qualities. Firstly, considering the five power score in leadership, the score for reward was 4, coercive 2.2, expert, 4, legitimate 4 and referent 5. The high score in referent power indicates the high ability

Arabic News Channels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Arabic News Channels - Essay Example "They're challenging the hegemony of the American media." Al Jazeera broadcasts 24/7, and is becoming increasingly present and important throughout the Arab world. It is Qatar-based and reaches out to over 45 million people that live in Arab nations. It also was the center of controversies during the Iraqi War. The first controversy accused Al Jazeera for broadcasting views of the conflict going on that were very different than media and news stations that resided in the United States (Sharkey, 2003). According to Sharkey (2003, pg. 1),"While U.S. television news media focused on military operations, Al Jazeera was "presenting something of the violence, the effects, the emotion" of the conflict, says Leila Hudson, assistant professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona, who monitored war news on U.S. and Arab networks. This led to charges by U.S. officials and conservative commentators that Al Jazeera was airing propaganda. Untrue, says Lamis Andoni, a journalist who has worked for print and broadcast media in the Middle East and the United States. Al Jazeera broadcast statements from U.S. government officials, showed the Central Command briefings and had a reporter embedded with U.S. troops, Andoni says. The network showed "a broader picture" of the conflict than U.S. news organizations, she says, because it also showed civilian casualties and the destruction of water, electrical and hospital facilities." Skeptics believe that neither Al Jazeera nor the United States demonstrated an accurate portrayal of the war in Iraq. They failed to analyze it properly, including the causes and reactions to it. People are concerned that Arab satellite stations are too busy broadcasting the prospective of the Iraqis without pretending to be objective, and that this in turn harms their own audience (Sharkey, 2003). According to Sharkey (2003, pg. 1), "Media analysts say television news operations in the Arab world and the United States would never present events or issues from the same perspective, because they are trying to reach audiences with different cultural experiences and frameworks. The fact that Al Jazeera offers "a different perspective than CNN" should not be regarded as a problem, says Mohammed el-Nawawy, a Stonehill College professor who has written about coverage of the Middle East. "Each network is trying to appeal to its audience." U.S. network executives say the different perspectives offered by Al Jazeera and other Arabic-language networks are valuable in their deliberations about how to cover events in the Arab world." News media stations in the United States keep a watch on Al Jazeera 24/7. He says this is done to remind them how other people in the world perceive the same news and stories. Believe it or not, Al Jazeera works with CNN and other United States networks. The same sort of scenario is present in the Arabic world. Footage from both sides could be seen on television for each area of the world. According to Sharkey (2003, pg. 1), "Although U.S. government spokespersons have disparaged Al Jazeera's coverage, it has been an intelligence tool for the United State

Kotter 7 and 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kotter 7 and 8 - Essay Example ain factors: defined time duration of the project; performance integrity which emphasizes the capabilities of team member; commitment towards goals; and extra effort that employees must make to adopt changes. They believe that progress of projects needs to be monitored regularly to identify bottlenecks for early corrective measures. Article corroborates with the viewpoints of Kotter who believes that regular monitoring of projects ensures that changes are better accepted as part of work routine and consolidates them within the organizational culture. Haddad’s article, on the other hand promotes integration of technology within the organizational processes. I agree with author who contends that technology helps to improves efficiency for higher productivity. The strategic partnership approach of author validates the use technology as it promotes the organizational goals for successful outcome. Kotter’s strategy establishes eight key stages for implementing change: sense of urgency; guiding coalition; create vision; communicate vision; empower short term goals; consolidate change; institutionalize new approach (Kotter, 1998). These are critical parameters that reaffirm Haddad’s strategic partnership to embrace technology for optimal performance. (words; 253) In the article, ‘Why Change Programs Don’t Produce change’ by Beer et al., has raised critical issue of change that must start from the bottom and needs to be supported by the top management to make changes effective and long lasting. They assert that often the change is initiated by the top management without inputs from the employees and therefore fails to become effective. Employees’ participation is vital to make changes effective. Employees’ participation becomes key success factor when change is effectively communicated with defined vision. People become committed to goals when they understand change and accept responsibility for their role to implement them. This is one of the most

Communication in Conflict Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communication in Conflict - Case Study Example Such conflicts make the employees enter into trouble with the management or higher officials. They may go on strikes or do other sorts of protests. Major conflicts occur when, for example, employees experience gender discrimination, work overload, forced overtime, short deadlines, and no opportunities for promotion, reward or compensation. Communication in conflict is of two kinds, according to Bacal (14): cooperative communication and conflict-provoking communication. Cooperative communication tends to avoid or settle a conflict to â€Å"put an end to it in an effective way† (Bacal 15). On the other hand, in conflict-provoking communication, more energy is spent in resisting to the â€Å"form of the communication, rather than the content† (Bacal 15). In short, it is impossible to hold good working relationship at the workplace when there is not a proper communication platform shared by all employees and the management. It is obligatory for the management to solve confl icts like power struggle, gender discrimination and other employees’ issues through effective communication, if the objective is to achieve organizational goals with good productivity and high performance. Works Cited Cahn, Dudley D., and Ruth Anna Abigail. Managing Conflict through Communication (3rd ed.).

Compose a Training Manual For Diversity in The Workforce Assignment

Compose a Training Manual For Diversity in The Workforce - Assignment Example Discrimination is a vice against humanity. Nobody should be discriminated based on their characteristics such as color, ethnic background, race or gender. Until recently, the working population consisted of mostly non-Hispanic whites. But of late, marginalized groups that were regarded as inferior have started taking up formal employment (Newbold, 2010). There have been several studies into the composition of the American population and this information has been used to predict current and future trends in regards to work place composition. These changes will not only be presented in the society but will also manifest themselves in the work place. When there is an increase in the population of a certain ethnic group, for example the Asians, this implies that the same group will be available in all spheres of life. As a result, there will be an increase in Asians in the work force as well. Supervisors play a key role in this project because they are at the front line when dealing with employees. They are at the front when it comes to implementation of the demands of the management and therefore they play a key role in regards to upholding the correct behavior among the employees. In that regard, dealing with the issue of work place discrimination will not be useful until we first of all look at the current population trends and the projected future trends so that we can compare and come up with a plan of how we are going to deal with this influx of foreigners in our country. The work place forms a very important role in the American society. Industries form the backbone of the American society and as such should be as stable as possible (Bean, 1987). The American work force has over the years consisted pre dominantly of non-Hispanic whites. However, due to immigration this trend has begun to change and will change further in the years to come.

Truman Capote Essay Example for Free

Truman Capote Essay Capote, the 2005 movie directed by Bennett Miller, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins, Jr., Chris Cooper and Bruce Greenwood, is the story of the making of Truman Capote’s 1966 non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood. Hoffman, playing Capote as a fish-out-of-water, a mincing homosexual researching his opus in a small Kansas town in 1959, shares screen time with Keener’s Harper Lee, a childhood friend of the author. The true story of how Capote researched his book is not as compelling as the story he actually wrote. Keener, playing Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird makes a more interesting figure and the viewer sometimes wonders why the movie isn’t about her and the making of her own opus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Keener, as Lee, is the key to Capote being able to access the rural people of the little Kansas town. They are amused by, and wary of the little man with the lisp and extravagant dress. It is she who opens the doors for him and permits the work to be researched. Hoffman, as Capote, is technically on the mark, but his portrayal is still that of a hollow man. The audience is supposed to feel empathy for this tragic individual but there is little compassionate or passionate about him. The tragedy of the story is, in reality, the Kansas farm family who was slaughtered like animals by the socio-paths who will be exploited by Capote. The audience is supposed to care that the soulless sophisticated and dapper homosexual is attracted to the cold-blooded killer, and, most likely, is in love with him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The film is bleak and also runs out of steam by midpoint. The acting is good but the subject is borderline disgusting. Capote exploited the community and the slain family.   The film version of the actual Capote work, In Cold Blood, is a much better movie.

Sexual Health Factors for Youth in Britain

Sexual Health Factors for Youth in Britain Sexual Health Ill Factors that contribute to the poor sexual health of Britain’s youth Introduction Problems with sexual health affect all sections of society including all age groups. Sexual ill health disproportionately affects vulnerable groups such as young people between the ages of 16 and 25, ethnic minority groups and those affected by poverty and social exclusion. (World Health Organization, 2004) Sexual health refers to the issues which impact on sexual function and reproduction. Such issues include a physical, mental and emotional factors which may have a varying amount of impact on the individual, leading to disorders affecting physical, mental or emotional wellbeing. (Dehne Riedner, 2005; World Health Organization, 2004) Sexual ill-health may thus be defined as the consequence of such issues in terms of their effect(s) on the wellbeing of an individual. Serious complications with sexual health particularly affect women and gay men and there are disproportionate geographical inequalities in the rate and degree of sexual ill health and inequalities in sexual health service provision in the UK. For example, the results of a study focusing on syphilis reported that there have been increasingly high rates of disease transmission over the last five years in Britain, as well as in several parts of Western Europe. The report also stated that the most alarmingly high rates of syphilis prevalence have been seen in the wealthiest cities of England such as London. (NHS, 2008) According to the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, (2007) there are serious inequalities in sexual health service provision in the UK and the groups most likely to suffer because of this are identified as young people who are considering becoming sexually active, men who have sex with men and black and minority communities. The possible reasons for such inequalities are discussed further in detail, along with the importance of these issues being reprimanded and their effects reduced. The major causes of morbidity and mortality among young people are road traffic accidents, suicide, drug use (including cigarettes, cigars and alcohol) and sexual and reproductive ill health. (World Health Organization, 2004) The consequences of poor sexual health have important implications for all individuals as well as society as a whole. Unwanted pregnancies may have a long lasting impact on quality of both the mother’s and the child’s life. Since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, recognition of young people’s specific sexual and reproductive health needs has gradually increased. Attempts to date to promote the sexual health of young people have tended to focus on prevention, education and counseling for those who are not yet sexually active, while the provision of health services to those who have already engaged in unprotected sexual activity and faced the consequences, including pregnancy, STIs or sexual violence has lagged behind. (Dehne Riedner, 2005) The identification of this matter has lead to a shift in focus on sexual health and motivation towards the promotion of services available to people in the UK. In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an activity to promote sexual health and a positive view of sexuality for young women and men as issues to be addressed separately from the wider subject of reproductive health. In the past, but particularly since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, sexual health was defined as an incorporation of the subject of reproductive health. The launch of this activity was the direct result of the emergence of the pandemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and an increasing awareness of the importance of gender-related violence and sexual dysfunction concerns. Such changes in sexual health have emphasized the need for more explicit focus on issues related to sexuality and the direc t implications for general health and wellbeing. (World Health Organization, 2004) Despite efforts made to strategize improvements to sexual health policies in recent years, data shows that numbers of STIs in Britain continue to grow at a problematic rate and cost the National Health Service dearly in prevention and treatment methods. Statistics regarding sexual health in Wales published in Better Health – Better Wales in 1998 (Welsh Office, 1998a) highlighted trepidation regarding the high rates of teenage pregnancies and STIs in the region. In response to these concerns, the Welsh Assembly’s publication Better Health – Better Wales Strategic Framework (Welsh Office, 1998b) included a commitment to the people for the betterment of sexual health and to take account of and successfully deal with the inequalities surrounding sexual health concerns. Strategies were also directed towards the improvement of emotional support for those involved in sexual relationships, as well as support for the education of sex in schools. In addition to the responsibility assumed by England and Wales to try to tackle sexual health concerns, Scotland also released a response to growing rates of abortions, unwanted pregnancies and ill health in the form of a Sexual Health and Relationships Strategy, (Scottish Executive, 2005) which aimed to challenge the government for better services by promoting a strategy based firmly on â€Å"self-respect, respect for others and strong relationships† (Scottish Executive, 2005). In short, action was directed towards the avoidance of contracting and spreading sexually transmitted infections and towards the avoidance of unwanted pregnancies by promoting the individual’s responsibility for themselves and others through specific educative measures. Despite the efforts made by the three governing bodies in the UK to act on sexual health concerns, there is evidence indicating that some years on, we are still seeing problematic levels of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections in young people and a systematic review of the literature seems to suggest limited knowledge of sexual health associated with young people. (Wellings et al., 2002; NHS 2007) A thorough study of the literature concerning sexual health in young people reveals that there are four main areas of consideration for this matter. These include the level of knowledge of sexual health to young people, consequences of sexual ill health, factors influencing the use and non-use of condoms and intervention(s) for the promotion of condom use. We therefore now take a closer look at the condition of sexual health in young people in the UK in detail to identify the specific areas where intervention can promote better sexual health in order to reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in this group of people and we also give further consideration to the consequences of STIs and the factors affecting the use of condoms. According to a study performed in 2001, when compared with several countries, Britain has a relatively low rate of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, which reflects the historical investment in establishing the Genito-urinary Medicine (GUM) clinic. However, data from 2001 showed evidence that there is heterogeneity in the population distribution of STIs which are diagnosed, and the wide distribution of undiagnosed Chlamydia showed that the strategy adopted in Britain in response to the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 failed to relieve the problem of ill sexual health by 2001. (Fenton et al., 2001) Looking a little later on to over a decade since the international conference, we learn that the number of newly diagnosed sexually transmitted infections continued to rise in 2006 indicating that sexual health still required careful attention at this time. Furthermore, the same study showing that sexually transmitted infections were still on the r ise in 2006 also gave overwhelming evidence that the highest rate of STI diagnoses continued to be among young people between the age of 16 and 24 years and that genital herpes in particular sharply rose by 16% from 2005 to 2006 in teenage women. (Hughes et al., 2006) There is much further evidence in the literature to show that young people are most at risk from sexual health problems including notable statistics which show that Chlamydia affects one in ten sexually active young women and each year, numbers of cases rise by 9%. (Department of Health, 2003) There is thus, some significant evidence showing that sexual health in the UK continues to decline and any efforts being made to prevent such an increase in rate of infection are clearly neither sufficient nor effective. This effect on young women has changed little since 2003 and remains a cause for concern at the present time. (Department of Health, 2003; IAG, 2006/2007) Recognition of the problematic numbers of affected young people, particularly women lead to the implementation of a strategy designed to tackle  ways  of  reducing  teenage pregnancy  and  improving  sexual  health  among vulnerable  groups of young  people. This strategy ended in December 2006, yet there still remains concern regarding the health of young sexually active people supported by statistics documenting the behaviour of young people today. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents in particular, are of great concern to all those who work to improve the health status of human populations. Sexually transmitted infections are widely associated with stigmatization, denial and embarrassment among patients and health workers. Sexuality and associated health risks are still a major taboo in many societies and this may be especially true for young people between the ages of 16 and 25 years. While the young person’s rights and needs may be acknowledged in theory, the story is very different in practice and they are still confronted with many barriers when it comes to obtaining the practical support they need to avoid health concerns. According to Dehne and Riedner (2005) an indication of their â€Å"unmet needsâ €  is the worldwide scarcity of services available for young people, in particular, services related to the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. (Dehne Riedner, 2005) Significant data has shown that almost 30% of young men and nearly 26% of young women report having sexual intercourse before the age of 16 and by the age of 20, the majority of young people have had sex. (Brook, 2001) The high number of young people having sex at an early age means that this group has a high risk of transmitting sexually transmitted infections and indeed of becoming unintentionally pregnant. Evidence supporting this is found in a study by Marston and King (2006), who found that nearly 50% of new HIV infections worldwide are found in young people between the age of 15 and 24 years. Further evidence suggests that this figure is nearer 60%. (Dehne Riedner, 2001) Thus there is some significant room for attention towards this group to change sexual behaviour to deal with a pandemic such as this. (Marston King, 2006) The high risk of STI transmission, as well as the increased chance of encountering other sexual health problems in young people has led to the motivation for this study and we are persuaded that there are inextricable forces acting on young people, which are causing them to suffer unnecessarily. We offer a thorough investigation into the causes of various sexually transmitted infections and ill-health epidemics in the UK in the hope of identifying the main voids in bureaucratic procedure towards the paradox of sexual health in young people. Research on sexual health in young people seems to suggest that knowledge of the causes and consequences of sexually transmitted infections as well as the consequences of sex in general to young people maybe limited (Wellings et al., 2001; NHS, 2007) and it is likely that this lack of knowledge is a large contributing factor in the high prevalence of STIs in young people in the UK. The fact that ‘young’ signifies only very few years of experience as a sexually mature adult is also, albeit an obvious one, a reason for the high parameters of sexual health problems in this group of people and another why they might have unsafe sex. Although sexual education begins at a young age (usually 11 years old and lasts until 16 years), a report by Lester Coleman (2007) on the preferences towards sexual education by a multi-cultural group of individuals revealed that despite the different religions of children in schools in Britain today, there are a number of similarities across practising religious groups which include the preference for more information regarding STIs and how to increase sex satisfaction. Thus, there is evidence to suggest that there is at least some room here for improvement in the educational methods used for the prevention of sexual health problems through knowledge acquirement. (Coleman, 2007) Furthermore, according to Jackson and Plant (1997), despite the improvement in the knowledge of sexual health matters to young people shown in the early 1990s, young people lack knowledge about how to use sexual health services provided and they are also unsure about the issue confidentiality to their parent s and general practitioners if they were to attend a surgery or family planning clinic for advice and/or treatment. This revealing might help to explain not only the high numbers of STIs and unwanted pregnancies in young people, but also the lack of knowledge young people have of matters relating to sexual health. Also, the failure of most young people to recall the anonymity of sexual health services, as found by Jackson and Plant (1997), clearly shows the lack of communication between educators and students over these matters, or perhaps more accurately, the failures of sexual health educators to effectively inform young people of all of the important elements relating to advice and treatment of sexual health problems. If proper communication was involved between informer and ‘informee’ and feedback was necessitated, it should have been obvious that anonymity would be a major concern to young people requiring treatment or advise, especially those who are below the legal age to be having sex, or indeed those with cultural backgrounds who do not allow sexual activity at their current age. Campaigns over the recent years targeting young people have encouraged safe sex through promoting condom use and the avoidance of penetration. Efforts have included dispensing free condoms and providing information through schools. However, even in instances where condoms have been widely available and education of sexual health problems has been great, such campaigns have not been desirably successful. It has been demonstrated that there are powerful cultural and social forces in play, which appear to strongly influence sexual behaviour. This discovery might help to explain why free dispensation of condoms is not working as well as expected to reduce rates of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. It might also help to explain why some of the HIV programmes have also not been effective. (Coleman, 2007) Consequences of sexual ill health The physical symptoms of sexually transmitted infections are varied but there are a few generalizations which include itching, redness and soreness around male and female genital parts. The most common STI to date is Chlamydia, which is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. In women the infection often presents no symptoms which makes diagnosis without examination difficult in many cases and there may also be non-specific symptoms such as cystitis, an altered vaginal discharge or abdominal pain. If left untreated, the female reproductive organs can be irreparably damaged and can cause sterility. (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007) Men may experience pain whilst urinating, develop a discharge from their penis and have inflammation of the urethra or testes. (NHS, 2007) Other sexually transmitted diseases which are common effects of unprotected sex and which have various physical symptoms leading to damage of the reproductive tract if left untreated are: genital warts; genital herpes; gonorrhoea; syphilis; HIV; trichomoniasis; pubic lice; scabies; thrush; and non-specific urethritis. Emotionally, the occurrence of an STI can cause problems for the patient related to a feeling of shame and of being ‘dirty’, especially in the event that a patient must make contact with previous partners to inform them of their infection. (NHS, 2007) There has been an increase in the interest in the sexual behaviour of young people in the second half of the 20th century, which has been fuelled partly by a concern for their sexual wellbeing. In the 1960s and 1970s, nervousness surrounding the rates of contraception among young unmarried people provided the impetus to much research, but a decade later, the focus shifted to the risk of HIV transmission among young people. By the end of the 20th century, the UK had the highest rate of teenage births in Western Europe and an increasing rate of most sexually transmitted infections among young people. Attention has now focused on risk behaviour in the context of both sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies in young people. (Wellings et al., 2001) and it is estimated that the prevention of unintended pregnancies saves the NHS over  £2.5bn a year (Kinghorn, 2001; The Department of Health, 2006). The average cost of contraception failure is estimated at  £1500 per person, which is inclusive of the costs of abortion, miscarriage, ectopic and live births. (Department of Health, 2006) Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are associated with serious maternal and neonatal morbidity, infertility, anogenital cancer and transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The average lifetime treatment cost for each HIV positive individual was estimated to be between  £195,000 and  £200,000 (Bernard, 2006; Bartlett, 2007). At  £580 million a year, HIV imposes a significant burden on healthcare resources. As well as the high cost of care and treatment, HIV is associated with extreme morbidity, significant mortality and a significantly reduced life. It has been determined that preventing the onward infection of just one case of HIV saves the NHS around  £0.5 million in health care costs and individual health gains. Figures at the end of 2006 indicated that the direct costs of treating other STIs cost the health service approximately  £165 million a year and if the cost of treating sequelae were to be included, this would increase exponentially. Chlamydia, for example, often produces no symptoms, but if left untreated it can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancy, which impose high costs on individuals and on the National Health Service. (The Department of Health, 2006) When fertility treatment such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) becomes necessary due to fertility problems associated with STIs, there is no funding available for patients and those people affected much shell out thousands of pounds for such procedures. The NHS offers no help for any person requiring fertility treatment, despite evidence seeming to point to the failure of government bodies responsible for the promotion of sexual health to effectively diagnose and treat people with sexual health issues. (NHS, 2007) Gender is an important issue in STI prevention and care and there are many scientists who believe that gender is the largest role being played in the prevailing increase in sexually transmitted infection rates. (Marston and King, 2006; Coleman, 2007) Gender-based inequalities put girls and young women at an increased risk of becoming infected with a sexually transmitted infection and these inequalities also affect these women’s access to prevention and care services. In addressing these inequalities, we must try to best consider the different requirements and also constraints of young women and young men when we are designing interventions to tackle sexual ill health. (Marston and King, 2006) According to a study by Marston and King (2006), sexual partners influence the behaviour of young individuals in many ways and young people are known to assess potential sexual partners as â€Å"clean† or â€Å"unclean†. Furthermore, there appears to be certain stigmas associated with condoms, such as a lack of trust, and societal norms prevent the lucid communication about sex. (Marston and King, 2006) From a biological perspective, hormonal changes in young men and women which are likely at various times between the age of 16 and 25 years will have a profound affect on the decision-making ability of the individual; especially in younger years and this is likely to be a plausible explanation for certain acts considered by individuals as ‘mistakes’. (Verhoeven, 2003) STIs such as chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea are passed from one individual to another through intimate sexual contact either during vaginal, anal or oral intercourse with an infected partner. (NHS, 2007) The timing and conditions of sexual initiation are of substantial interest in the context of public health. Early age at first intercourse is associated with subsequent sexual health status. Following the steep decrease of age at first intercourse among women up to and incuding the 1970s, in many countries there is evidence of subsequent stabilisation. In several European countries, this stabilisation occurred in the 1980s. In Britain however, heterosexual intercourse continued to occur at earlier stages throughout the 1980s. Factors associated with early age at first intercourse are well documented and include early school leaving age, early menarche, family disruption and a disadvantaged and poor education. A study by Wellings et al., reported a decline in age at first intercou rse in successive age-groups and significant increase in condom use among the youngest age cohort, born between 1971 and 1976. Several important trends have been identified in this data from the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) in 2000. There seems to have been a stabilisation of the proportion of people having first heterosexual intercourse before the age of 16 years among women, as well as a continuation of the increase in condom use and in the decrease in the proportion not using contraceptive methods at first intercourse. There also has been identified an increase in the importance of school in the sexual education of the young, in particular men. Despite the strong trends identified in this data, the author is right to point out that the data is based on alleged behaviour and thus is susceptible to biases associated with recall and veracity. With time, it is pointed out, early experiences may be recast or forgotten although the ability to recall any event is dependent on the time passed since the event’s occurrence, and also on its salience. According to the results of experiments, less than 1% of respondents were unable to remember, with accuracy, their age at first intercourse. This result demonstrates that first intercourse is fairly non-memorable for individuals and there may be implications here into the general lack of responsibility taken with regards to contraception at this time. Further, if we look at the decade of the 1990s as a whole, a higher proportion of young women in Britain reported heterosexual intercourse before the age of 16 years when compared with the previous decade and the median age at first intercourse was also shown to be lower for men than women. Looking within the 1990s however, there are some tentative and possibly ambiguous signs in the data that the trend showing increasingly earlier heterosexual intercourse may have in fact stabilised for women. Furthermore, there is evidence of increasing adoption of risk reduction practices. For only a minority of young people is first intercourse unprotected against infection and conception. The data in the study shows a remarkable rise in condom use in Britain, despite the predictions that a weaker impact of AIDS-linked safer sex messages might have brought about complacency. 25% of young women in this study were already using oral contraception at first intercourse but with respect to the circumstances of first intercourse, the evidence is less positive. Despite the agreement in the behaviour of men and women at particular ages at which first intercourse occurs, there remain gender differences in the experience of the event such as those described above. The proportion of those young people who are sexually proficient according to the criteria which was used, has increased over time; particularly among men. Further evidence reveals that women are two times as likely as men to regret the ir first experience of intercourse and three times as likely to report being the less willing partner. These findings have also been supported by Wight et al., 2000 and Dickenson et al., 1998. 26% of women aged between 16 and 19 in this study were found to have had intercourse by 16 years, which is the legal age to have sex in the UK. (NHS, 2007) There is evidence to suggest that a focus on absolute age at first intercourse may not take into account variations in individual development and social norms. Although sexual competence decreases substantially with age at intercourse, more than 30% of young women for whom first intercourse occurred at age 15 years were sexually competent, and more than a 30% of those aged between18 and 24 years at the time were not. The report shows early age first intercourse to be significantly associated with early pregnancy but not experience of sexually transmitted infection. Although early menarche is independently associated with early age first intercourse and with early motherhood, importantly, in terms of the potential for enhancing sexual health, the risk behaviours and outcomes described are also associated with cultural and social factors. Of these, the association is stronger for education than for family background. Young people who leave school later, with qualifications, are less likely to have early intercourse, more likely to use contraception at first sex, be sexually competent and, for women, less likely to become pregnant if they have sex. Family disruption and lower parental socioeconomic status are also associated with early sexual experience and pregnancy when younger than 18 years, but the effect is weaker. (Wellings et al., 2001) The absence of a significant association between educational level and abortion, compared with the strong association with motherhood at younger than 18 years, supports the premise that educational prospects influence the outcome of pregnancy. We do not know to what extent poor educational aspirations themselves lead to early sexual experience and motherhood and the extent to which having a child early in life thwarts academic expectations. Nevertheless, this data identifies a vulnerable group of women in public health terms; 29% of sexually active young women in this study who left school at 16 years with no qualifications had a child at age 17 or younger. From the viewpoint of prevention, there is much that is positive in this data: the sustained increase in risk reduction at early sexual experience; the increasing prominence of the school in the sexual education of the young and the fact that the variables which emerge as most strongly associated with reducing risk are those which are amenable to intervention. Of interest too, with respect to the possible stabilisation of the trend towards intercourse is the evidence from the USA of a reduction in the teenage pregnancy rate following their earlier experience of a similar trend. The strong association between educational attainment and early motherhood also supports the British government’s strategy to marshal the efforts of ministries concerned not only with health but also with education and social services, in a bid to reduce the incidence and adverse outcomes of early teenage pregnancy. Marston and King, in their 2006 study found that there are penalties and rewards encountered for sex which may well affect the rate of STI transmission in the UK. According to these two authors, social rewards and penalties influence sexual behaviour. Adhering to gender expectations and formalities has been seen to raise social status. For women, complying with stereotypes can secure an exclusive relationship with a man, and for men, complying can lead to many partners. (Nyanzi et al., 2001) While pregnancy outside marriage can be stigmatising, for some women pregnancy can be a way out of the parental home. Young people may behave in particular ways through fear of being caught in the act. Sex can also be a way to obtain money and gifts from boyfriends:, which is particularly well described for sub-Saharan Africans, although this behaviour is not exclusive to this part of the world. (Nyanzu et al., 2001) It is believed that the relationship between individual enthusiasm and societal expectations is a complex one as some behaviour considered taboo can become desirable for that very reason. (Marston and King, 2006) Reputations are crucial for social control of sexual behaviour according to scientists. Marston and King, 2006; Stephenson et al., 1993) Reputations are linked to displays of chastity for women, or heterosexual activity for men. Social isolation can result from activity leading to being branded â€Å"queer† or a â€Å"slut†, and in some cases, such brands can result in worse cases such as gang rape and murder. (Wood et al., 1998) A woman’s reputation can be damaged by having â€Å"many†, or more than one partners according to Marston and King (2006) and even the mentioning of sex can risk implying sexual experience and lead to a damaged reputation. Although it has been found that communication across generations about sex is rare, family members may for instance prevent young people socialising with members of the opposite sex to protect the reputation o the family. (Hennick et al., 1992) Young men’s reputations can suffer if they are not seen to push for sexual access and numerous female partners according to some scientists, (Varga, 1997; Harrision et al., 2001) thus, the display of heterosexual activity can be important. It is common that some groups of men visit brothels together in Southeast Asia and young men proudly report sexual experiences to their peers. (Varga, 1997) Furthermore, there is often a stigma attached to not having penetrative sex, and indeed not being able to do so. Young men not having sex with their girlfriends may be accused of being â€Å"gay†. According to a study in Britain by Hughes et al., (2007) new STI diagnoses increased between 2005 and 2006 by an overall 2% whilst diagnoses of other STIs increased by 3% over the year. Looking further back, there has been an increase in new STI diagnoses of 63% between 1997 and 2006 and an 84% increase of existing STIs over the same time period. According to these figures, strategies in place between these times were not working effectively to reduce the incidence of STIs in young people. Between 2005 and 2006, services available to the public in the form of clinics and sexual health screening and HIV tests were increased by 6% thus making them more readily available. The number of HIV tests taken was said to have risen by 12% over that year and the number of sexual health screens rose by 9%. (Hughes et al., 2007) Thus, despite the increase in the services available to the public in the early 2000s, STI incidence continued to rise. There is therefore clearly a huge requirement for the betterment of these services to allow a significant reduction in new and existing STI diagnosis. Presently, services available to young people with sexual health concerns include genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics, which are usually situated in separate Primary Care Trust departments at hospitals around the country. The NHS also provides a numbe

Possible Factors In Underachievement Of Males Within Education Education Essay

Possible Factors In Underachievement Of Males Within Education Education Essay Sociological studies with regard the underachievement of males, throughout the British education system, appear to be dominated by the analysis of three central phenomena; the idea of bias and inequality which flaws the educational system, the prevalence of a modern day, laddish anti-learning culture (Byers, S. 1998, Never mind theories, under-achieving boys need practical help, _The Independent_, 5th January 1998.) and lastly, the psychology of the male mind. Each of these three interlinked themes will be reviewed within this document, which will focus solely upon the reasons which may held accountable for the identified underachievement of young men, most notably, at a General Certificate of Secondary Education Level (G.C.S.E) throughout the British education system, and internationally, around the world. The use of the term underachievement is widespread throughout educational discourse, and is predominately used in explaining a perceived failure to reach a given potential. Scott .J. Marshall .G. (2005:3). Sociologists, whose area of expertise lies within this particular field, tend to view low academic attainment in terms of factors such as prior attainment or socio-economic disadvantage, however in doing so, they acknowledge the danger of pathologising the underachiever, when in fact, responsibility may lie within the educational system itself. The term underachievement although widely used, appears to be problematic; masking ideological assumptions that concern socially constructed, subjective and relative matters, which concern the group understudy. The underachievement of young men within the education system is undoubtedly an immensely complex and contested field. Irrespective of these issues, the British education system has continued to make use of the term with a combinatio n of ubiquity and confidence. Gillies, D. (2010). Educational potential underachievement and cultural pluralism. Available: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/eitn/display.php?article_id=39. Last accessed 16th Feb 2011. Historical Background The underachievement of young men within the education system has appeared as a continual problem throughout the last decade. Dramatic illustrations from the media and speeches gave by the relevant government bodies have created in a sense a moral panic which has came to characterise many of the debates that surround the complex issue. Evidence from newspaper articles would suggest the underachievement of boys began in 1995. During this time the main professional newspaper, The Times Educational Supplement carried headlines declaring school work was Not for wimps Haigh, G. 1995, Not for wimps,_ The Times Educational Supplement_, 6th October 1995 and later asked Where did we go wrong? Bleach, K. 1997, Where did we go wrong?,_ The Times Educational Supplement_, 14th February 1997. Education correspondents for broadsheet newspapers similarly headlined articles which discussed The Failing Sex and called for schools to provide a Classroom rescue for Britains lost boys. Foster et al. (2001 ) What about the boys? An overview of the debates, in Martino .W. Meyenn .B. What About The Boys, Issues of Masculinity in Schools. Open University Press. Acknowledgement of the underachievement of boys within the education system can also be seen in Stephen Byers 1998 speech. The School Standards Minister, said: We should not simply accept with a shrug of our shoulders that boys will be boys. Speaking at the 11th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement in Manchester, Mr Byers warned: Failure to raise the educational achievement of boys will mean that thousands of young men will face a bleak future in which a lack of qualifications and basic skills will mean unemployment and little hope of finding work. He disclosed new statistics on the standards of education at the time that had been reached by boys and girls. For example, in addition to girls far outperforming boys at a General Certificate Secondary Education level (G.C.S.E), National Curriculum assessments at seven, eleven and fourteen years of age also highlighted boys underperforming, within English Language in particular. Byers then went on to make an att ack on what he described as the prevailing laddish anti-learning culture. (Byers, S. 1998, Never mind theories, under-achieving boys need practical help, _The Independent_, 5th January 1998.) In response to Stephen Byers identification of male underachievement, Ted Wragg also published an article in the Times Educational Supplement, The Times Educational Supplement Editorial. 1997, Keeping Balance on the Gender Agenda, _ the Times Educational Supplement_, 23rd May 1997. Within this article Professor Ted Wragg warned unless the achievement of boys was improved significantly society would witness immense problems that would continue throughout the 21st century. The then Chief Inspector for Schools, Chris Woodhead too believed the failure of boys, in particular working class boys to be one of the most disturbing problems faced within the entire education system. As a result of such media hype education ministers called for all academic institutions to challenge the laddish anti-learning culture, (Byers, S. 1998, Never mind theories, under-achieving boys need practical help, _The Independent_, 5th January 1998.) which had been allowed to develop. Taking such media build up and government vocalizations into consideration, it would appear something significant entered public consciousness during this time. Despite media and government claims of boys underachievement being a recent phenomenon, problems concerning boys and academic schooling has, in fact, been a longstanding priority with regard to educational studies. In particular the English philosopher John Locke, among others expressed great concern with regard the problems boys faced in language and literacy, in the 17th century. Similarly literature on schooling throughout the 1960s and 1970s cautioned teachers against grouping boys according to their academic ability as it resulted in less academic boys developing negative attitudes towards education and schools. Foster et al. (2001) What about the boys? An overview of the debates, in Martino .W. Meyenn .B. What About The Boys, Issues of Masculinity in Schools. Open University Press. The introduction of the National Curriculum alongside the induction of complex assessment and reporting procedures, many believe, was what initially highlighted the problem of male underachievement in todays society. From 1991 onwards students have been made to complete Standard Assessment Tasks (S.A.T.s) at the ages of seven, eleven and fourteen. Responsibility lies with the educational institutions at this time to ensure pupils achieve the expected standards. Additionally schools undergo rigorous inspection; such inspections appear to be central to the Educational Schools Act 1992, which introduced the implementation of National League Tables. These tables rank schools according to their pupils performance in the Standard Assessment Tasks (S.A.T.s). Many believe such a procedure was what set the scene for the emergence of the boys underachievement debate. In order for schools to survive they had to attract clients in the form of parents, and they could only attract parents if they were able to demonstrate they provided and delivered a high standard of education. Schools were judged to be efficient by the national league tables according to their success in getting pupils to reach the required standards at the ages of seven, eleven and fourteen. In 1996 the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Office for Standards in Education produced a joint report on performance differences between boys and girls in school. Their findings included girls being more successful than boys or broadly as successful in almost all major subjects. They reported girls tended to be more reflective than boys and also better at planning and organising their work. Reactions to these findings that boys are doing less well in school and are also suffering in other respects, such as the disproportionate degree of unemployment, as mentioned previously have varied. Some have identified what they see to be a crucial social problem of the 21st century. Others see it as solely a symptom of a male backlash, creating a sense of moral panic, aimed at clawing back the gains made by women in recent years. In light of such diverse view points, when researching this area for myself it would appear necessary to mantain a sense of balance before finishing upon any su ch conclusion. Official statistics on the academic performance of pupils in Northern Ireland, England and Wales indicate girls have been performing increasingly well compared to boys in terms of their attainment at General Certificate of Secondary Education (G.C.S.E) level examinations in most subjects. As mentioned previously, this development has been the focus of considerable debate in both the popular media and the academic press, with regular pronouncements from politicians and government policy makers. The obvious heated debate over boys underachievement throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century is not solely connected to Britain, figures suggest male underachievement is a problematic issue in Australia, Canada, The United States of America, parts of Western Europe and Japan. Epstein. D. Et al. (1998) Educating Boys, Learning Gender. Open University Press. Focusing upon the underachievement of boys within the context of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland in particular, I plan to focus upon Symbolic Interactionism as the basis of my own theoretical research. I plan to consider Symbolic Interactionist debates over Britains Lost Boys and the undoubtable underachievement of boys compared to girls in certain subjects, predominately at General Certificate of Secondary Education level (G.C.S.E). Symbolic Interactionists, unlike functionalists and conflict theorists, tend to limit their analysis of education to what they directly observe happening within the classroom. Their main focus is on teacher, pupil relationships and the interaction processes that occur within the classroom. Symbolic Interactionists see the education system as playing a vital role in shaping the way students see reality and themselves. Interactionists such as Howard Becker see school settings as creating serious difficulties for students who are labelled as less academically able than their peers. He believed such students may never be able to see themselves as good students and move beyond such labels. Teacher expectations play a huge role in student achievement from an interactionists point of view and this is a point I would be interested in investigating further with regard to my own research. Labelling theory, was developed predominately by Howard Becker who in Outsiders 1963 argued underachievement to be created by society, in the sense social groups create underachievement by making the rules whose infraction constitutes low attainment and by applying those rules to particular persons and labelling them as such Scott .J. Marshall .G. (2005:341) Becker and Lermert initially developed Labelling Theory, Hargreaves et al showed how it could apply within school settings and Rosenthal and Jacobson suggested that it could create a Self Fulfilling Prophecy in school, such that children defined as bright would in fact live up to such expectations. In education, despite the Rosenthal and Jacobson study, labelling-based self-fulfilling prophecies usually operate to the disadvantage of students. Specific categories of students, based on gender, ethnicity or indeed social background, may be written off as incapable of achieving, setting up a frame of reference in which their failings are noticed and their achievements discounted. Individual students may also be labelled by being told they will never amount to anything, or for example they are no good at a particular subject. Internalised, these labels are carried into new situations, including further and higher education, as a result many believe the failure of the student to be inevitable. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson conducted a land mark study for this approach in 1968. Firstly, they examined a group of students in accordance with standard IQ tests. The researchers then identified a number of students who they said would likely show a sharp increase in abilities over the coming year. They informed the teachers of these results, and asked them to watch and see if this increase did occur. When the researchers repeated the IQ tests at the end of the year, the students identified by the researchers did indeed show higher IQ scores. The significance of this study lies in the fact that the researchers had randomly selected a number of average students. The researchers found that when the teachers expected a particular performance or growth, it occurred. This phenomenon, where a false assumption actually occurs because someone predicted it, reinforces the notion of a self-fulfilling prophesy. Rosenthal .R. Jacobson .L. (1992) Pygmalion in the Classroom, Teachers Ex pectations and Pupils Intellectual Development. Crown House: Publishing Limited. Ray Rist conducted research similar to the Rosenthal and Jacobson study in 1970. In a kindergarten classroom where both students and teacher were of African American origin, the teacher assigned students to tables based on ability; the so called better students sat at a table closer to her, the average students sat at the next table, and the weakest students sat at the farthest table. Rist discovered that the teacher assigned the students to a table based on the teachers perception of the students skill levels on the eighth day of class, without any form of testing to verify such a placement. Rist also found that the students the teacher perceived as better learners came from higher social classes, while the weak students were from lower social classes. Monitoring the students through the year, Rist found that the students closer to the teacher received the most attention and performed better. The farther from the teacher a student sat, the weaker that student performed. Rist continu ed the study through the next several years and found that the labels assigned to the students on the eighth day of kindergarten followed them throughout their academic journey. Rist, Ray (1970). Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education. Harvard Educational Review 40, 3, 411-451. While Symbolic Interactionists have undoubtedly analysed this self fulfilling process, they have yet to find the exact way in which teachers form such expectations of students. Irrespective of such an issue I feel the Self Fulfilling Prophecy may be a crucial determining factor with regard to answering my own research question. The real importance of Rosenthal and Jacobsons findings at Oak School relates to the potential long-lasting effects of teachers expectations on the scholastic performance of students. It is of interest to explore some later research that examined the ways in which teachers unconsciously communicate their higher expectations to the students whom they believe possess greater potential. A study conducted by Chaiken, Sigler, and Derlega (1974) involved videotaping teacher-student interactions in a classroom situation in which the teachers had been informed that certain children were extremely bright (these bright students had been chosen at random from all the students in the class). Careful examination of the videos indicated that teachers favoured the identified brighter students in many subtle ways. They smiled at these students more often, made more eye contact, and had more favourable reactions to these students comments in class. These researchers go on to report that students for whom these high expectations exist are more likely to enjoy school receive more constructive comments from teachers on their mistakes, and work harder to try to improve. What this and other studies indicate are those teacher expectancies, while their influence is not the only determinant of a childs performance in school, can affect more than just IQ scores. Due in large part to Rosenthal and Jacobsons research, the power of teachers expectations on students performance has become an integral part of our understanding of the educational process. Furthermore, Rosenthals theory of interpersonal expectancies has exerted its influence in numerous areas other than education. In 2002, Rosenthal himself reviewed the literature on expectancy effects using meta-analysis techniques. He demonstrated how the expectations of psychological researchers, classroom teachers, judges in the courtroom, business executives, and health care providers can unintentionally affect the responses of their research participants, pupils, jurors, employees, and patients (Rosenthal, 2002, p. 839). Martino .W. Meyenn .B. (2001) What about the Boys, Issues of Masculinity in Schools. Open University Press. What about the Boys, Issues of Masculinity in Schools is a book which attempts to develop further understandings about masculinity. Such a piece of literature is timely given the continued moral panic that persists about boys disadvantaged status in comparison to girls. Throughout this book the view boys are victims and are attributed with a disadvantaged status remains throughout. Research undertaken with boys spanning Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States is brought together in this collection. The focus for each of the contributors is addressing issues of what about the boys in relation to their own research and informed perspectives on boys and schooling. Many focus on what boys (and girls) themselves say about their experiences of schooling and sexuality and use their voices as a basis for drawing out what the implications might be for those working in schools. In this regard the chapters are written with a broader audience in mind particularly teachers and administrators in schools with the view to using research to illuminate the effects of masculinity in the lives of boys and girls at school. All of the contributors are concerned to highlight the impact and effect of certain forms of masculinity on the lives of boys at school, but locate their research and/or discussion within the context of the boys education debates outlined by Foster, Kimmell and Skelton in the introductory chapter. Many have also indicated what the implications of their research are for daily practice in schools and classrooms. In this sense, the research documented here has major implications for the professional development of teachers in schools and for st udent teachers in tertiary institutions. Sociologists like Bob Connell (1987, 1995) have been particularly influential in drawing attention to how social, cultural and historical factors have influenced the various ways in which masculinity comes to be defined and embodied by boys and men. We see the contributors of this book building on this work. They highlight that there are many forms of masculinity that are played out in the context of a complex set of power relations in which certain types of masculinity are valued over others. Many also draw attention to the role of a dominant form of masculinity, which comes to be defined in opposition to femininity, and highlight that association with the feminine for boys can often lead to other boys questioning their sexuality (see also Frank,1987, 1993). Other factors such as race, class, ethnicity and geographical location are also taken up to develop an understanding of the various ways in which boys learn to relate and behave in certain social situations and within particular educational institutions. In this sense feminist educators and theories also inform the perspectives on boys and schooling elaborated in this book. Such perspectives have contributed significantly to producing valuable insights into the links between gender and power (Davies 1993; Steinberg et al. 1997), specifically in terms of illuminating boys social practices and ways of relating at school. All contributors recognize that schools are important arenas of power where masculinities and femininities are acted out on a daily basis through the dynamic processes of negotiation, refusal and struggle (Giroux and McLaren 1994). In other words, these papers illustrate that there are indeed social constraints and power imbalances in educational sites, but that gender regimes are more shifting and contradictory than theorists supposed in the seventies and eighties (Jackson and Salisbury 1996; Kenway et al. 1997). In this sense, each chapter included in this collection builds on studies into boys at school which have been undertaken by Kessler et al. (1985), Walker (1988), Mac an Ghaill (1994) and Epstein (1994). The contributors also suggest ways forward and beyond the popular and simplistic views which stress the need for boys to reclaim lost territory. There is a powerful discourse of neglect informing many of the popularist debates about the boys which continue to assert that provision for the educational needs of girls has been at the expense of boys (Yates 1997). Moreover, the idea or assumption that boys are somehow victims or losers now competing with girls who have suddenly become the winners is also refuted strongly by the various positions that are taken up in this book. Compounding such a position is the view that biology needs to be given equal consideration in developing an understanding of boys behaviours and learning orientations. This argument continues to be promulgated within the context of these debates about the boys (see submissions to Australian inquiry into boys education at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/eewr/Epfb/sublist.htm) as if appeals to biological sex differences and essentialism are somehow outside the effects of certain power relations (see Fausto-Sterling 2000). As Peterson (2000) has illuminated, appeals to biological determinism have been used historically to enforce a binary categorization of gendered behaviours always within the context of and in response to the perceived power gained by women. Moreover, as Lingard and Douglas (1999) have lucidly illustrated, the debates about the boys in the nineties have been characterized by a strong backlash against feminism and this continues to be the case as we enter the new millennium. If we are indeed to encourage diversity and citizenship in multicultural societies it is crucial that issues of opportunity, access and distributed success before grounded in debates about gendered educational outcomes. Collins et al. (2000) have addressed this in a recent governmental report on the factors influencing the educational performance of males and females in school and their post-school labour destinations. In line with the positions taken up in that report, we believe that policy formulation and curriculum development in schools must avoid the popularist tendency to assert a binary oppositional and competing victims perspective on the factors impacting on the social and educational experiences of boys and girls. This will only lead to homogenizing and normalizing boys and girls on the basis of biological sex differences and, hence, reinforce the very versions of masculinity which the research shows have detrimental consequences for both the former and the latter. This book, therefore, is offered as an attempt to provide a more informed perspective on the social practices of masculinity impacting on boys lives at school. We hope that it will have the effect of moving the debates beyond the feminist backlash rhetoric which persists in casting boys as the new victims. If anything, as the contributors of this book argue, the issue that needs to be addressed is the investment that many boys, men and schools have in promoting a particular version of masculinity which is to their detriment in the sense that it limits them from developing a wider repertoire of behaviours and ways of relating. Until a commitment is made, particularly by men and boys themselves, to addressing the role that sexuality, homophobia and misogyny continue to play in how many of them define and negotiate their Masculinities, we believe that very little will change. Connolly .P. (2004) Boys and Schooling in the Early Years. Routledge Falmer Press. Boys underachievement in education has now become a international concern, prioritised highly b government bodies around the world. Boys and Schooling in the early years represents the first study of its kind to focus solely upon young men and their achievement within the education system. Throughout this book this is a powerful argument for the need to begin tackling the problem of boss lower educational performance in the early years. This proved entirely beneficial as it includes one of the most detailed analyses of national statistics regarding gender differences in educational achievement from the early years right through until compulsory schooling. Together with original and in depth case studies which vividly capture the differing experiences and perspectives of 5-6 year old boys, this book sets out the nature of the problems facing young boys in education and highlights a number of practical ways in which they can begin to be addressed. This is entirely relevant as i am conc erned about boys lower levels of achievement. This book follows the sandwich model: for the filling, juicy case studies of two contrasting schools in Northern Ireland; and, around the outside, nourishing chapters of theorizing, a critical review of the rhetoric and reality of the problem, and a detailed discussion of the strategies needed to sort everything out. Of these, probably the most useful is the chapter that sets the factual record straight, dismissing some current explanations of boys under-achievement: its not their brains, neurons or testosterone that are to blame; it isnt a question of girls holding boys back, or the feminization of schools, or an epidemic of laddish behavior. Rather, Connolly argues, the key factor in boys poor educational performance relative to girls is masculinity itself or, rather, masculinities. This is the rationale for the case studies that follow: one school in an affluent, peaceful, middle-class area, and another in a seriously disadvantaged working-class area, riven by sectarian violence. It is also the starting point for the authors research questions: what are the dominant forms of masculinity in the early years, and how do they influence boys attitudes towards schooling? Between October 2001 and June 2002, Connolly spent a day a week in each of the two primary schools, observing five and six-year-old boys, and interviewing boys, teachers and parents. In the middle-class school, dinosaurs are cool but reading is rubbish, while, on the other side of the tracks, resistance to school reaches dizzy heights. Boys in this school are not without enthusiasms, but these appear to be football, fighting, wrestling, pulling down girls trousers and marching with the local loyalist flute band. The chapter on home-school relations in this school is even more depressing, as parents describe how the teachers discourage their children from even entering for the 11-plus. Bad news all round then, including the research process itself: in particular, there are some dodgy interview questions that virtually invite the boys, across the class divide, to assert their innate superiority: If you had a choice, would you want to be girls or boys?; Would either of you like to be a girl? The boys answers fall smoothly into the stereotyped trap prepared for them. Nevertheless, this book asks some serious questions, not least of which is: why do we worry so much about gender differences when social class has a much greater impact on achievement? Furthermore, why are so many teachers apparently so willing to accept their pupils low levels of achievement on entry as a sure and certain guide to the future? And, lastly, when are we going to learn what Bronwen Davies tried to teach us long ago (in Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales) about the need to go beyond male-female dualism, so that we can position ourselves, and our pupils, as neither male, nor female, but human. Im yet to be convinced that studies such as Connollys are going to help us take this tremendous step forward. Head .J. (1999) Understanding the Boys, Issues of Behavior and Achievement. Falmer Press. Attention is given to general aspects of learning and assessment before examining the response of boys to specific subjects within the curriculum. Personal, social and health education concerns are addressed. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/ This text aims to increase understanding of the potential causes of underachievement, violence and even suicide amongst teenage boys. Suicide has dramatically increased among young males and academic underachievement is common. The author argues that it is therefore important to understand the young male psyche. The text addresses questions such as: has male behavior in school worsened, or has media hype inflated the proportions of a good story; what is at the root of male violence; and are biological or social explanations telling the whole story? The author shows that it is only by engaging boys in arenas of thought and feeling that we can understand and help overcome the difficulties faced by boys today. The issue of boys work and behavior in school has created considerable public interest and has undoubtedly polarized opinion, with some claiming it is the greatest social problem of our time, while other asserts it is merely an expression of male backlash intended to divert attention and resources from the need of girls and women. The first of the two sections within this book contains a review discussion of the various explanatory models biological, social and psychological. Emerging message is schools and teachers matter in academic performance can be made and we need not see the failing or difficult boys as inevitably trapped in their current position. Head believed the key to successful intervention was in understanding the boys and attempting to see things from their perspective. Martino .W. et al. (2003) so whats a boy, addressing the issues of masculinity and schooling. Open University Press. So whats a bay? is a timely volume. It comes at a critical point in the expanding debate regarding boys and schools. Juxtaposed against an increasingly strident and often times stark mass media, this book offers a sober and contemporary view of boys and their place in that confused environment called school. However, not content to simply cite data and/or repeat refrains found elsewhere, the authors have avoided the boy crisis trap and raised the debate by taking an appealing, narrative approach. One can hear and appreciate the voices of boys (all kinds of different boys) through this volume! More Articles of Interest MALE TEACHERS AND THE BOY PROBLEM: AN ISSUE OF RECUPERATIVE EDUCATING BOYS: TEMPERING RHETORIC WITH RESEARCH EDITORIAL WHATS TO FEAR: CALLING HOMOPHOBIA INTO QUESTION Real Men or Real Teachers: Contradictions in the lives of men elementary http://dw.com.com/redir?tag=rbxira.2.a.10destUrl=http://www.cnet.com/b.gif The book is divided into three, roughly equal sections. Part 1, Normalization and Schooling, sets the general scene and brings the reader into the lives of boys with discussions regarding body image, emerging masculinities, bullying/harassment, and friendships. The second part, Diverse Masculinities, delves into the central issue of how boys see themselves, their developing sexuality, cultural/home conditions, how they are seen by others, and how

Euthanasia Essay - Lutheranism and Doctor-Assisted Suicide :: Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide

Evangelical Lutheranism and Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide   Ã‚   As a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, I feel it important to express in this essay the stand of the church on the question of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Our church has strong biblical and traditional reasons for adamantly opposing these new end-of-life approaches.    Increasingly, people know from their own experience some painful dilemmas involving elderly or handicapped individuals who are in pain. While the achievements of modern medicine have been used to prolong and enhance life for many, they have also helped create an often dreaded context for dying. Costly technology may keep persons alive, but frequently these persons are cut off from meaningful relationships with others and exist with little or no hope for recovery. Many fearfully imagine a situation at the end of their lives where they or their trusted ones will have no say in decisions about their treatment. In this context, new emphasis is being placed on the rights of patients. Recent federal legislation, for example, requires all health care facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid monies to inform patients of their right to make medical treatment decisions. This includes the right to specify "advance directives," [1] which state what patients wish to be done in case they are no longer able to communicate adequately.    We consider the legislation consistent with the principle that "respect for that person [who is capable of participating] mandates that he or she be recognized as the prime decision-maker" in treatment. [2] The patient is a person in relationship, not an isolated individual. Her or his decisions should take others into account and be made in supportive consultation with family members, close friends, pastor, and health care professionals. Christians face end-of-life decisions in all their ambiguity, knowing we are responsible ultimately to God, whose grace comforts, forgives, and frees us in our dilemmas.    Which decisions about dying are morally acceptable to concernd Christians, and which ones go beyond morally acceptable limits? Which medical practices and public policies allow for more humane treatment for those who are dying and which ones open the door to abuse and the violation of human dignity? Proposals in various states to legalize physician-assisted death [3] point to renewed interest in these old questions. ELCA members, congregations, and institutions need to address these questions through prayer and careful reflection.    Euthanasia Essay - Lutheranism and Doctor-Assisted Suicide :: Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide Evangelical Lutheranism and Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide   Ã‚   As a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, I feel it important to express in this essay the stand of the church on the question of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Our church has strong biblical and traditional reasons for adamantly opposing these new end-of-life approaches.    Increasingly, people know from their own experience some painful dilemmas involving elderly or handicapped individuals who are in pain. While the achievements of modern medicine have been used to prolong and enhance life for many, they have also helped create an often dreaded context for dying. Costly technology may keep persons alive, but frequently these persons are cut off from meaningful relationships with others and exist with little or no hope for recovery. Many fearfully imagine a situation at the end of their lives where they or their trusted ones will have no say in decisions about their treatment. In this context, new emphasis is being placed on the rights of patients. Recent federal legislation, for example, requires all health care facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid monies to inform patients of their right to make medical treatment decisions. This includes the right to specify "advance directives," [1] which state what patients wish to be done in case they are no longer able to communicate adequately.    We consider the legislation consistent with the principle that "respect for that person [who is capable of participating] mandates that he or she be recognized as the prime decision-maker" in treatment. [2] The patient is a person in relationship, not an isolated individual. Her or his decisions should take others into account and be made in supportive consultation with family members, close friends, pastor, and health care professionals. Christians face end-of-life decisions in all their ambiguity, knowing we are responsible ultimately to God, whose grace comforts, forgives, and frees us in our dilemmas.    Which decisions about dying are morally acceptable to concernd Christians, and which ones go beyond morally acceptable limits? Which medical practices and public policies allow for more humane treatment for those who are dying and which ones open the door to abuse and the violation of human dignity? Proposals in various states to legalize physician-assisted death [3] point to renewed interest in these old questions. ELCA members, congregations, and institutions need to address these questions through prayer and careful reflection.