EFFECTS OF WATCHING TOO MUCH TV

Discoveries and invention of devices are always welcome till we, humans, find a way to abuse its benefits and be adversely affected by it. This was the case when Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-ray and within five years, the British Army was using a mobile x-ray unit to locate bullets and shrapnel in wounded soldiers in the Sudan. TV was also invented with positive thoughts in mind – there would be no national borders, education and communication would be worldwide, etc. However, we are now trying to overcome its physiological and psychological adverse effects on human beings.

One of the physiological effects of watching TV in excessive amounts is eye-strain. It is true that there are specifications for watching TV; TV should be 5 m. away from the eye, the room should be adequately lit, TV should be placed at the same height with our eyes, etc. However, these do not prevent our eyes from getting tired if we keep watching TV for a long time. Another effect is obesity, which is widely observed in people who like watching TV and eating snacks everyday (there is even a term “TV snacks” to refer to fast food that is suitable for eating in front of the TV). TV is such a powerful machine that people cannot get away from it – it is addictive.

Apart from the physiological effects, TV also causes psychological effects. One is a result of being exposed to violence. After seeing so many violent scenes on TV, people start considering violent actions normal and they lose their sensitivity to their environment. Partly connected to this effect, the interpersonal communication among people decreases. Being insensitive to the suffering of other people causes people to become alienated. Also, after coming home from work people seek to relax in front of the TV, and generally people prefer watching TV to talking to each other. This issue is very important since lack of interpersonal relationships mostly end with divorces.

Shortly, inventions are meant to be beneficial for human beings, if we know how to benefit from them. TV is one of such inventions that need to be used for the right purpose only – being educated and entertained for a reasonable (according to age) period of time. We may, then, be safe from or at least reduce the adverse physiological and psychological effects of watching too much TV.

EFFECTS OF WATCHING TOO MUCH TV

The Effects of Alcoholism

How many times have you heard about the consequences of alcoholism? Have you taken them into account? Alcoholism is one of the major problems in society. The effects of this disease are really serious. Many people get used to drink alcohol , and they can easily abuse; that is the problem. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the physical, psychological, and economic effects of alcoholism.

The first effects of alcoholism are physical. These are the most important because these can cause your death. For example, alcoholism causes cancer in the stomach, kidneys, and liver. Besides, alcohol alters the digestion of nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy. Alcoholism also causes severe damage in the neurons, so it causes alterations in the body movements, loss of appetite, and depression. There are other effects in the body like gastritis and cirrhosis of the liver. All these physical consequences could cause your death if you drink alcohol in mass quantities.

The second effects caused by alcoholism are psychological. At the beginning, alcohol makes you feel relaxed, but if you drink it in excess, it increases anxiety and causes depression. It also causes family and legal problems, violence, changes of behavior, suicide, among others. Alcohol is very powerful and alters all your normal behaviors.

The third effects of alcoholism are economic. According to the National Institute and Drug Abuse, drug abuse and dependence cost an estimated $98 billion. Alcohol is not cheap. If you drink two or three times in a week, it could cost you about $1000 pesos or more a week! People do not think about the money and spend almost everything when they are drunk.

In conclusion, the effects of alcoholism which are physical, psychological, and economic can cause many problems that affect your life in all aspects. Alcohol alters your brain, muscles, digestion process, and other disorders that affect your health. It also can cause you depression or changes in your behavior that result in problems with your family, friends, and with yourself. Besides, it will leave you in poverty because it cost a lot. Finally, I invite you to think about it and ask you why drink it?

The Effects of Entering a University

Entering a university is a very important and interesting experience in a person’s life, but at the same time it is an experience that will change your lifestyle and personality forever. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the three main effects of entering a university which are missing old friends, learning how to survive during university, and developing responsible behavior which must accompany university studies.

The first and also the most common effect of entering a University is that once you enter the new school, you start missing your old friends. There are many reasons you and your friends start splitting apart and leaving to study in different cities or schools, but feeling sad because you miss them is inevitable. This doesn’t mean you are never going to see your friends again, but it isn’t the same to be at school without your best friends.

The second effect of entering a university is the fact that you have to get acquainted with the entire university environment. Being at junior high or at high school is completely different than being in a university, so you have to learn how to survive in it. During university studies you have to search for your own way to success because at a university, teachers are not going to solve your problems.

The third and most important effect of entering a university is the responsible behavior you must develop during your way through the university. Entering a university forces you to be a responsible person because you are the only one who will care about you. During university studies you are in charge of your life and of the decisions that you make such as doing or not doing homework, going or not going to class, etc. Being a responsible person is essential for anyone in this world; without responsibility a person’s life can be a mess and will never reach success.

Entering a university, as everything that is new in our lives, can be terrifying at first, but with a little bit of effort, it can become one of the greatest experiences of our lives. It is very important to enjoy our university studies because it will help us become independent and responsible people, only if we learn how to survive it.

Why are Beauty Contests Harmful?

Competition can be fairly called one of the main motivators, as well as one of the main organizing principles for individuals. It affects many spheres of life: employment, work performance, global marketing, education, creativity and arts, even entertainment. A bright example of the latter is beauty contests; despite their purely entertaining nature they can be harmful or even dangerous in terms of setting inappropriate beauty standards, encouraging to evaluate people by their appearance, and affecting public opinion negatively.

The most obvious detrimental effect of beauty pageants is enforcing an inappropriate body perception for men and women. Unlike the majority of so-called “average” women, the beauty of such contests’ participants is cherished and rehearsed; this is the case when natural beauty is heavily supported by the efforts of visagistes and dressers. Though pageants represent the absolute minority of the society, their appearances set high, unrealistic standards for how women of all ages should look like (Miss America). Young girls who try to live up to these standards, mature women complexing about their bodies, men who demand their wives/girlfriends to look like beauty pageants – all of them are affected by the illusions propagated by beauty contests.

Another perception issue arises from the very nature of beauty contests – the objectification of women. Despite proclaimed gender equality, physical attractiveness (including sexual) remains one of the major requirements for women today (FAR). No matter how progressive and tolerant people strive to be, they still make their first impression about other people by their appearance, and this is natural. However, the idea of beauty contests implies evaluating women solely on their physical shape, ignoring all other aspects of individuality. Interviewing, meant to show a contestants personality is a fraud; as one of the former pageants wrote, none of the judges wanted to hear about deep problems, asking about the most challenging childhood experiences (Generation Progress). This turns a woman into a media object, or even a product, which can be assessed and then either approved or rejected; due to the popularity of beauty contests, such attitude is being widely propagated.

Health problems among the younger generation is yet another negative effect caused by beauty contests. Skinny models performing in such shows have undergone years of exercises and diets – they have developed special lifestyles to maintain their perfect shape; on the other hand, adolescent girls striving to look “better” exhaust themselves with hunger, considering it to be the main method to becoming slim (FAR). Such an attitude often leads to anorexia and other related psychological problems; because of the continuous influence of media-created images of the “perfect shape,” the number of young women with anorexia remains high.

The idea of beauty contests implies competing in physical attractiveness. Ignoring the absurdity of this idea, a number of detrimental effects caused by such contests still needs to be emphasized. Beauty contests set unrealistic standards of beauty, which lower women’s self-esteem and increase the demands of men for their wives or girlfriends. Beauty contests objectify women, turning them into a product which can be assessed based solely on its appearance. In addition, beauty pageants influence the minds of adolescents, often resulting in anorexia and other psychological disorders.

Negative Effects of Laziness

Sometimes, an urge to rest passively is overwhelming; the most common reason for this is fatigue, as the fast pace of metropolitan life requires people to push themselves to the limit on a daily basis. In such cases, there is nothing wrong with a wish to spend several calm hours doing nothing. However, there is a category of people whose entire lifestyle can be described by the slang phrase “couch potato.” Mostly, such people prefer to act as passive spectators of life, and though the masses do not consider laziness to be a significant misconduct – treating it mostly as a forgivable weakness – this personality trait can cause severe negative effects both on an individual and on their surrounding.

A definition provided by Oxford Dictionaries describes laziness as the quality of being unwilling to work or use energy; and while unwillingness to work seems to affect only one sphere of an individual’s life – career – having no intention to spend one’s energy seems to have a negative impact in multiple areas.

Laziness negatively affects an individual’s relationships with their boss and/or colleagues, due to certain behavioral standards that lazy people usually develop at work. In particular, lazy people tend to handover their work to someone else, often because of knowing that other people are more responsible workers and will accomplish additional tasks anyways; lazy people often procrastinate, justifying themselves by various reasons, or getting distracted by less important and more enjoyable tasks; besides, lethargic individuals develop a habit of complaining about their circumstances, or to put themselves in a favorable light and show that they work harder than their colleagues, but are undervalued (LifePaths 360). These, as well as other behavioral patterns usually result into the loss of a job, with the followup of anxiety, depression, and other psychic disturbances. In this case, the situation is twice as worse for such a person, as they may, due to their indifference, hesitate to look for a new job, preferring to justify themselves and feel miserable, thus only aggravating their psychological problems.

Another negative aspect of being lazy is connected to physical health. It is not a secret that lethargic people are physically less active than those who prefer to throw themselves into the span of life; logically, idle people spend more time without movement. According to a recent study by Tel Aviv University, being inactive causes one’s fat cells (those which already exist in the body) to become larger; in other words, an inactive lifestyle not only contributes into an individual gaining extra weight, but also makes the situation with their already existing fat cells worse (Fitday). Moreover, the bad news is that the negative effects of leisure time spent in a nonconstructive way cannot be negated by physical exercises – in other words, the damage dealt to one’s body by hours spent in laziness is irreversible. In its turn, extra fat can result into obesity with all its intrinsic health issues.

Laziness can affect the entire life of an individual. Because they are unwilling to make active efforts in regard to the important spheres of life, lethargic people miss numerous opportunities that life offers them every day. Though a person may think that they are too tired to step out of their comfort zone, they comfort themselves by promising to do it later, or justifying themselves in any other way – in fact all these thoughts and obstacles are illusionary. During the thousands of years of evolution (or according to God’s plan) human bodies and minds have become pinpointed for active performance; human beings need new experiences, physical activity, emotional charges and discharging to function properly and feel well. By being lethargic a person denies themselves from this, and excludes themselves from the course of life, which leads to mental stagnation and intellectual degradation.

Laziness can be called one of the scourges of the modern world. Though often seen simply as a forgivable weakness, it can have a number of negative effects on a person. In terms of these consequences, it should be mentioned that laziness often leads to the worsening of one’s relationships at work and decreased work performance, which can result into job loss, excessive stress, and psychic disturbance. Also, laziness and the stated inactive lifestyle leads to irreversible health damage. Finally, laziness results in mental stagnation and intellectual degradation.

What Causes Mental Retardation In Children?

Giving birth to a child is, perhaps, the most significant event in the life of almost any woman. Though today women often prefer to follow a career rather than give birth to children, the majority of young mothers state that it is a life-changing experience. Without a doubt, a beautiful healthy child is the most valued and loved living being for every mother. But, unfortunately, a certain percentage of children are born with different deviations, both physical and mental. In relation to this, a question arises: what causes mentally challenged children to be born?

The first and foremost factor which causes mental retardation and other deviations is an excessive use of alcohol by a young mother in the prenatal period – particularly, during the first trimester (12 weeks) of pregnancy. According to statistics, at least one of over 600 children only in the United States is exposed to fetal alcohol syndrome (Encyclopedia of Children’s Health). Researches show that even moderate intakes of alcohol can affect the mental capabilities of future children. In addition, smoking tobacco (or other substances) and taking illegal drugs can also cause mental retardation.

Genetics is the second influential cause of mental retardation among children that should be taken in consideration. Inherited causes of mental retardation are numerous; for example, chances of giving birth to a mentally challenged child increase if one or both parents were mentally retarded. Sometimes, decreased mental capabilities are caused not by genetic defects or omissions, but rather by abnormalities in chromosomes – structures inside cells’ nucleus which contain genes. Down syndrome is one of such diseases (Human Illnesses).

The factors which are difficult to avoid is ecology and environment. It is not a secret that we live in the age of poor ecology. Industrial and traffic emissions, radiation, stressful factors that affect future mothers – and thus their children – all this increases the chances of giving birth to a child with mental retardation. Besides, in disadvantaged regions mental handicaps can be caused additionally by malnutrition, disease-producing conditions, and inadequate medical care – both for mothers and children (The Prevention News).

Despite the fact that we live in a technologically-advanced environment, women are still exposed to different dangers that can harm their future children. Not all of them threaten the physical health of children – there is a group of factors that can also inflict mental damage. Among such factors one should mention the overuse of alcohol and other poisonous substances by a woman during her prenatal period; genetic factors, such as mental retardation of one or both parents, chromosome defects, and so on; and poor ecology, which negatively affects disadvantaged areas greatly.

The Effects of Divorce on Children

Marriage by mutual consent is without a doubt one of the most important and happy events in the life of an individual. When two people meet and once decide to create a family, it may seem that they will stay together forever. However, the reality brings in its own adjustments, and about 50% of marriages end up with a divorce; in 2011, the divorce rate in the USA made around 50%. In 2000, the divorce rate (per 1,000 people) was at the rate of 4.0, and by 2011, it was at 3.6 while the marriage rate was 8.2 in 2000 and fell to 6.2 by 2011 (Trust). Though divorce is often a psychologically difficult procedure, adults can deal with the consequences. The situation changes to worse if the couple gave birth to a child, who is often the one to suffer the most from divorce.

Divorce causes different emotional reactions in children of different ages. Preschoolers, who are often unable to understand the reasons behind their parents’ divorce, tend to blame themselves and feel responsible for bringing their parents back together again (Clinical Psychology Associates). Children of 6-8 years continue to have similar fantasies, though the feeling of guilt and responsibility for the divorce decreases; they, however, experience a strong sense of grief and loss. Children of 9-12 years are able to understand the reasons of their parents’ divorce better, and tend to consciously express their anger and disapproval, and take the side of one of the parents. As it can be seen, divorce causes intense emotional distress in children, and can make them feel guilty and responsible for bringing their parents back together.

Children and teenagers whose parents are divorced are more likely to drop out of schools and are more prone to committing crimes. Research held by the law firm Mishcon de Reya in 2009 revealed that people who had experienced parents’ divorce in the preceding 20 years showed increased aggression (42%), were forced to comfort upset parent (49%), or had to lie to one of them (24%). 1 of 10 turned to crime, and about 8% considered committing suicide. Besides, only 60% of children by the age of 20 had graduated from high school, compared to 78% of children in two-parent households (The Week).

Research held in 2005 showed that children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce themselves when they become adults. If both of the partners experienced a divorce of their parents in the past, the chances for them to break the relationship are three-to-one (The Week). This also corresponds to Eric Berne’s conception of life scenarios, according to which children tend to repeat their parents’ lives to a certain extent.

As it can be seen, the divorce of parents can have severe psychological effects on children. First of all, they become exposed to significant emotional distress, based on the feeling of guilt and responsibility for the break. Children from divorced families consider committing suicides more often, are more prone for crime, and have less chances to graduate from school. Finally, the risk that children from divorced families will divorce themselves as adults is much higher. Thus, children are the ones who suffer the most from divorces, because they cannot cope properly with their grief and can have difficulties with socialization and marriage in adult life.

Reasons Standing Behind Poverty

After the global economic crisis of 2008, many people around the globe faced one of the worst social phenomenons – poverty. In the United States alone, the number of poor people in 2012 increased up to 46.5 million (Reuters). In developing countries, the situation has become even worse. Poverty does not mean that a person has little money to afford goods they want to purchase, or to maintain a stable quality of life; rather often poverty is absolute, which means that one literally has no livelihood at all. But what factors usually stand behind such dramatic impacts of poverty around the world, except the aforementioned economic crisis?

Poverty rates are greatly influenced by overpopulation. Overpopulation is a situation of a large number of people residing in a territory extremely limited in space and resources. Developing countries often face the problem of overpopulation; except the unequal distribution of resources and the lack of space, they usually have high birth rates, and low agricultural productivity. For example, Bangladesh has the highest population density in the world – 2,970 persons per square mile. The dominating majority of them are engaged in low-productivity farming and manual labor, which causes extremely high levels of poverty in this country (Poverty at Large).

Another factor standing behind the increased poverty rates increase is unemployment. This problem has become one of the most urgent after 2008. In 2009 through 2010, about 42% of all families in Great Britain alone had no working members (Children Poverty Action Group). The job markets cannot offer enough jobs that would correspond with the skills of unemployed people. Besides, because of poverty many people are willing to get any job for any payment; thus, they decrease the overall wages in those spheres that they start working at. In other words, the cheapening of labor and the working force takes place. There is no need to tell that low-wages jobs and part-time jobs are nothing else but poverty traps.

One more reason – not so obvious as the previous, but not the least important – is significant demographic shifts. For example, in the United States a number of single-member families is traditionally high, and has been increasing; because one parent has less opportunities to ensure an adequate standard of living both for their children and for themselves, single-parent families are traditionally poorer then normal. Besides, poor people often share a belief that it’s the social institutions to blame for their poverty, or that they can never make it out of their low income; therefore, they create psychological backgrounds for their financial condition.

Poverty is not a new social phenomenon. It has existed as long as the humankind has been around. But, until 2008, it was more typical for developing countries, whereas after the global economy crisis, even the developed post-industrial countries experienced it. Among the reasons for poverty the most obvious are overpopulation, unemployment, and demographic shifts together with psychological premises.

Causes of Failure at School

"You cannot watch TV now; you have to finissh your schoolwork first!" "If you do not study now, you will fail your Math test." Sound familiar? Every year, countless children hear similar comments from their parents and teachers, who are trying to help them to be succesful. Still, many students fail. As education prepares young people for life, it might be a good idea to consider the causes of failure at school.

One reason for failure at school is parents' attitudes. Some parents are overambitious. They push their kids to limit, which causes students to hate schoolwork and give it up altogether as a reaction. There are, on the other hand, parents who are indifferent to school. They might for some reason consider education unnecessary and either directly or indirectly discourage their kids from studying. It is also a problem when parents do not set a good example for their kids. Many will tell their kids to study and read, but they will not read much themselves. As human babies learn most by imitating, children from such families may adopt poor studying habits and fail.

Another reason why students fail is their own attitudes. All people prefer to take it easy whenever they can. Success, however, comes with hard and steady work. Students who opt for "all fun and no work" will definitely fail. Some students, on the other hand, might be slow learners and find it hard to catch up with schoolwork while their classmates are speeding on. This usually causes them to lose courage and interest, which ends up in failure. Some other students might have good intentions and be clever as well, but they might lack discipline. Students who cannot create a schedule that includes both work and leisure and then follow that schedule are also likely to fail.

Finally, the educational system itself may cause some students to fail. Our present system is based on having many students of different ability in the same classroom. As the curriculum targets the average-ability student, weaker students cannot succeed. Moreover, the students in a class have different interest. The core material that needs to be covered may be very uninteresting for some students, which demotivates them and causes them to fail. Another problem is that the system based on learning through memorization rather than research. Teachers and books provide the required information and students are expected to memorize it. This passive role in the learning process also demotivates students.

To sum up, factors such as parent and student attitudes, as well as the system itself, cause some students to fail at school. Obviously, the encouraging and threating efforts of parents and teachers are not working. A more rational, up-to-date and motivating system should be developed for the sake of not only the students, but also of our future.

Sınav Sonuçları

11 Aralık 2014 Perşembe