Month: April 2018

Research-LBirch

People around the world live in a very dangerous, harmful world with many things that can go wrong. One safe thing people never notice they have, yet can potentially turn dangerous is smoke detectors. Detectors, whether it is for smoke, heat, or carbon monoxide are one of the most common household appliances. These appliances go unnoticed every day and are not even thought to be harmful or potentially dangerous. The beeping pieces of plastic on the ceiling could turn into a hazard if not cared for or installed properly. Detectors do have many benefits, but only if properly used and maintained. Smoke detectors save many lives annually, but detectors do have dangers that it is trying to prevent in the first place. They have the risk of not alerting when there is a threat of fire or smoke, or worse could start a fire because of improper maintenance, such as the wrong battery being placed inside, bad or old wiring, or simply a manufacturing mistake.

No one can deny smoke detectors are simple but valuable objects for preventing fatal house fires. But smoke detectors don’t always prevent the tragic loss of life. Battery-operated detectors work only when they have fresh, functioning batteries inside. Hard-wired detectors operate only if they’re properly installed and have a constant energy source. Short-circuits in wired models—a more common problem than we like to think—can actually spark fires. Homeowners commonly install detectors incorrectly, or install them correctly but fail to maintain them. Even the best detector cannot do its job correctly if it’s poorly installed or maintained.

It cannot be argued that smoke detectors are a necessity in your home, considering fire departments and fire protection agencies carefully and professionally handle and hand them out. But the risk starts if the installation of the product is not efficient and installed properly. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s “Considerations For Installation Of Smoke Alarms On Residential Branch Circuits”, the proper installation of a detector is essential in order to decrease the risk of fires starting from detectors. Shortages, overheating wires and overloaded circuits are all ways a fire can start at any time if the installation is not done by a qualified professional.

Wires overheating due to excess current in the detector is one of the main issues that can cause an electrical fire. In a shocking report by Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), all home electrical fires account for an estimated 51,000 fires each year, which accounts for nine percent of all house fires. Electrical distribution systems, including the power source cable into the home, the circuit breaker boxes, and the wires supplying current to all electrical fixtures, are the third leading cause of home structure fires. Therefore, it bears investigating how wired smoke detectors might contribute to a fire catastrophe. An article published by CRM Risk lists many ways wiring can start a fire. Physical damage to wires leading to smoke detectors can cause fire at the device; even correct installations can also become damaged or deteriorate with age; overloaded circuits, especially those mishandled amateur home installers, or that use with large fuses and circuit breakers can result in overheated wires, the breakdown of insulation and eventual short circuits. All are intensified by an overuse of electrical devices, leading to the sad but inevitable conclusion that “more smoke detectors make a home fire more likely.”

Short circuits are a common cause of fires, whether it is from the main power source or the detector itself. According to Elizabeth McGrath’s “What Causes Short Circuits“, a short circuit occurs when part of a wire carrying current touches another wire or part of the circuit and gives the electricity a path of less resistance. For example, if a wire with faulty insulation becomes exposed and touches any type of metal, such as a metal light switch, current can flow along the light switch and result in a shock. Short circuits will produce more heat in a circuit and result in burns and electrical fires. In detectors, faulty installation can cause frayed or exposed wires, leading to a burst of energy through the circuit. This burst of energy creates a current into the detector, leading to heat which it cannot handle.

Something else that can actually cause a fire is the batteries used to power the detectors. But in many incidences, an ordinary item that may be found in the “junk drawer” of a house may have a higher risk of catching fire than you think. Fire Protection Team writes that if a metal object touches the posts of the batteries, the battery may short circuit, which creates enough heat to start a fire. There have been reports of this across the country of these batteries actually starting a fire, and enough that homeowners are launching a campaign to provide awareness of this unexpected hazard. In an article by Battery University, the author discusses safety concerns of lithium batteries and times where they have failed. “In 2006, a one-in-200,000 breakdown triggered a recall of almost six million lithium-ion packs. Sony, the maker of the lithium-ion cells in question, points out that on rare occasion microscopic metal particles may come into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit within the cell…” These types of batteries, lithium ions, are the same being used in the detectors in houses today. Non-certified batteries, like the Sony ones, are a concern to many detector makers because they are not the intended battery of use.

One shocking example of this was in the town of Apex, North Carolina when a man was sent to the hospital after the battery inside of the smoke detector got so hot, it exploded and shot battery acid in his face. Raleigh’s news station WRAL reports that Greg Emel was changing a battery after it started to sound in the middle of the night and switched to a low battery chirp. Emel took the battery out but it was too late. Even more shocking than just this one story is that people all over the country have reported exploding batteries in a model of First Alert smoke alarms manufactured before October 2000. In this situation, like many others, a battery was being used that the detector was not intended to have inside. On the inside of Emel’s smoke detector, a sticker recommends a  Duracell battery, which is the exact one that exploded. First Alert posted a “recommendation” on its website a year ago, saying only specific models of Everready batteries should be used. It says other batteries “may bulge or open” inside the alarm. The makers of the detector do not seem they know the correct battery that should be used. Whether this was an off-brand battery in use or even a trusted one like the Duracell battery, the detector reacted negatively and exploded from the heat, causing an injury that could have been worse, like a fire.

This one terrifying event proves detectors are not “fireproof” even if the best plan is used. Chris Brooke from the Daily Mail reports that in 2011 in Humberside, England, the national fire service conducted a nationwide fire prevention campaign to reduce home fires. Of all competing competitors, the trusted Fire Angel ST 620 detector was supplied because of its “ground-breaking” smoke detection technology and its 10-year power pack. It was also supplied because of its quality and reliability to fire and rescue services for this campaign. This detector is now on alert after one caught fire in a home after ideal and professional installation. Despite the high quality and reliability of the detector, this fired occurred after the low battery chirp sounded, then spontaneously bursting into flames. Mrs. Gray, the homeowner said if her daughter Victoria not been at home to quell the flames, or worse, had she been sleeping in the house, a much worse tragedy might have occurred. The installation campaign has been suspended, which is no comfort to the fire professionals, who know full well how precarious are the homes they haven’t served, with their cheaper, less reliable detectors, poorly located, amateurishly installed by inexperienced homeowners. Chris Blacksell, Humberside’s Director of Safety, was forced to admit: “We have contacted every fire service in the country to find out if there have been any other incidents involving detectors [and] have decided to not fit that type of detector until our investigation is complete.”

Poor maintenance and upkeep of detectors can be a major role in a family’s fire safety. It should be added that in hard-wired detectors, batteries are still used as a backup. So if electricity is lost in a household and that backup battery is dead, there will be no way of knowing if there is smoke in a house or not. A deadly example of this is in an article written by Bruce Krasnow, titled “Fire Starts During Annual Smoke Detector Warning…“, which states that a fire started in a house that did not have smoke detectors at all. If there had been any smoke detectors installed, the lives of four children would not have been lost. Fire investigators said that the fire was smoldering long before it ignited, and if a detector was present, the four children would have been alerted and would have been able to get out safely. It is a tragic story that did not need to happen if a smoke detector was properly installed in the home.

The biggest risk a homeowner can take is not having a detector in their house at all. An alarming statistic by the National Fire Protection Agency states, “Three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.” If there was a detector in any of those homes, the occupants may have been alerted, had time to react, and exit the house. However, the NFPA also reports that in home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, 46% of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries. That is no longer a detector error, but a homeowner error. No matter how professional an electrician may be or how professionally placed of the detector is, if the homeowner does not care for the detector tragedy is bound to happen. If there had been family had been inside of the house, possibly sleeping, the horror of escaping a house fire would have been a reality.

The safest home is protected by detectors using fresh, intact, certified batteries that are regularly inspected. According to Arthur Lee’s report for the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission, detector makers have made many improvements for these devices in recent years. Detectors can now be found with the battery life of up to 10 years. Cable Organized discusses maintenance of detectors to ensure they perform correctly in the worst situations. You must clean all detectors of dust and contaminant build-up at least twice a year. You must also replace all detectors at least every 10 years, and change batteries yearly while testing them monthly. A rule of thumb to replace batteries are doing it every time you turn your clocks back for daylight savings time. These are all the best ways to prevent any unwanted false alarms, or worse, no detection of a fire in a house. Along with these safety professional safety tips, new and improved detectors are always coming onto the market, usually advancing with technology. In an article by Haramis Electric, these detectors will alert emergency services automatically if a smoke detector is activated in a home. Also, if a homeowner is away from the house, an alert will still be sent to the police dispatch before the fire can spread. 

All the new technology being created creates a better way to prevent overheating or shortage of a detector while detecting smoke efficiently. McGrath states that a short circuit will cause a household breaker to trip, allowing you to see something was shorted out. But there are still some risks and dangers even with this technology and advancing improvements. Internal shortages can happen within a ceiling, which is harder to spot and can lead to a fire if it is not noticed fast enough. As the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission states, there are some techniques being used to cut down electrical fires. Fuses are now being put in place so if overheating does occur, a fuse will be set off, not allowing any more current to go through the circuit. Overheating would be hard to catch, but a small fuse does make it easier to prevent any fires from starting from a detector.

A system of smoke detectors can seem so simple to most homeowners. A professional comes and installs the system, leading to a safe and effective smoke detector system. But these systems are much more than just a bunch of meaningless beeping circles on your ceiling. These detectors go unnoticed because they only mean something when they are going off. Homeowners are interested when they start to go off because of the danger that may be in their house. Some homeowners, however, will not even budge because they might believe it is a false alarm. False alarms are all too common, either because of the batteries inside are starting to die or a detector problem. As a firefighter, most calls our department receives are false alarms triggered because of a dead battery, and after arrival, all occupants are still in the home. I often think, “What if there is a fire?” or “What if all occupants are still inside and they do not realize the risk?” It is a very scary question all fire responders have upon arrival of a call.

A homeowner already worries that fire may break out in their home at any time. To add to the owner’s worries, a safety device is known to alert many of a possible blaze may turn into a time bomb. The wrong wiring or the wrong battery could possibly turn this safety device into a fiery piece of plastic. People should not need to worry about this device along with the many other safety concerns in a home. This seems strange to think about and no one would think that a device used to alert individuals of a fire, could be the reason there is a fire in the first place. As a firefighter, I, like many others, would not think a smoke detector could turn into a ball of flame, even after professional installation, and all the best ways to ensure a safe electrical system. We all see that blinking red light and hear that loud beep, but we never do think it could possibly turn into an inferno on someone.

Refrences

Advantages/Disadvantages of Smart Smoke Detectors. (2016, September 08). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from http://www.haramiselectric.com/blog/advantagesdisadvantages-smart-smoke-detectors/

Brooke, C. (2011, November 08). Fire services on alert after smoke detector is blamed for causing TWO blazes. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058922/Firefighters-forced-stop-handing-smoke-alarms-catches-alight-nearly-burns-house.html 

BU-304a: Safety Concerns with Li-ion. (2018, January 4). Retrieved February 27, 2018, from http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/safety_concerns_with_li_ion 

Common Causes of Electrical Fires. (2012, December). Retrieved February 27, 2018, from http://cmrris.com/news-manufacturing-details/20/common-causes-of-electrical-fires.html

Home Electrical Fires. (2015, February 4). Retrieved February 27, 2018, from http://www.esfi.org/resource/home-electrical-fires-184

How to Maintain Smoke Alarms. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2018, from Cable Organizer, https://www.cableorganizer.com/articles/smoke-alarm-maintenance.html

Krasnow, B. S. w. (1995, October 29). FIRE STARTS DURING ANNUAL SMOKE DETECTOR WARNING OFFICIALS URGE PEOPLE TO CHECK BATTERIES WHILE CHANGING CLOCKS. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/docview/394791605/abstract/4BF70D91880C41AFPQ/1?accountid=13605

Lee, A., & Lee, D. (2005, October). Considerations For Installation Of Smoke Alarms On Residential Branch Circuits. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from   https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/acfismoke.pdf

McGrath, E. (2017, July 11). What Causes Short Circuits?. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from https://www.thespruce.com/what-causes-short-circuits-4118973

Reports and statistics about smoke alarms. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2018, from National Fire Protection Agency, https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Smoke-alarms/Reports-and-statistics-about-smoke-alarms

Visual Rewrite- Lbirch

Friendship & Mental Health

0:00-0:01

The screen opens with orange words “The Awkward Silence Presents,” most likely the production team. Behind this is some sort of small, furry animal that is stuffed standing on a small log or branch. This stuffed animal, maybe a possum, is most likely sitting on a table and is used as some sort of decoration. This addition seems funny in a sense because it is something a little strange. The possum takes away the seriousness for a time. We can assume this does not take place in present time, because taxidermy is not very popular now. Next to this animal is a picture of a boy in a metallic frame, reminding me of something I may see in my grandparents living room from when my dad was still a kid. To the left of the table where the animal and picture is, there is a tall lamp, which is on, with a green base leading to the lamp shade. Further in the shot is a stone fireplace, which we cannot tell is on or not. There are other decorations on the fireplace.

By the wood paneling in the room behind the animal and picture, this could be a living room of a cabin or home in the woods. This could also be in the mountains because I have not seen a living room of a house look like this. We can conclude this may take place in the 60’s because of the oddities we would not see in a modern home.

0:01-0:04

This scene begins with the words “How to know if you should reach out to a friend.” in yellow letters. We can understand that this may be the message of this ad, receiving help from a friend when in need. We can conclude this scene is taken in the same place as the last one because of the wooden wall paneling of the room. On the walls of the room are two pictures or paintings of outdoors scenes. These pictures remind me of a cabin I once stayed in when I was a kid. In the center of the screen is a man, possibly in his 20’s, sitting with his one ankle on the knee of his other leg. This man is in a tan chair that somewhat resembles a shell. He is wearing a brown turtleneck with tan pants that almost resemble the color of the chair and is wearing shoes, but no socks. His style seems out of date and humorous in a way. It does not seem dressy, but more casual. Maybe this man does not really care how he dresses. Next to the chair is a small table with two more statues or ceramic decorations, and a magazine or comic book. One is some sort of bird, maybe a swan, and the other is what looks like a unicorn.

In the background on the left side of the screen is a dark brown cabinet or table. It is two doors for possibly books. I think maybe books are in there because there is a stack of books on top of this table with a glass duck on top. Maybe the man in this frame has a collection of these magazines. Next to the books is some sort of glass or ceramic statue or decoration, and also another smaller light with a wood base and a shade with a light brown and tan pattern.

Directly behind the man is a tall black box (maybe a speaker), sitting on top of a brown table which matches the other one in the room. Next to the box is a medium size fish tank, maybe 10 gallons, and looks well-kept. There are also more books and also vinyl records or maybe magazines or comics. It is hard to tell from the distance.

The first three or four seconds show this ad has a humorous approach to it, still focusing on the main serious issue. We can conclude this man may be a little “weird”, collecting and keeping strange items. This room could be his definition of a man-cave, or maybe even an office or living room.

0:04-0:05

In this scene, the camera zooms in closer to the man sitting in the chair, so now it is only is upper body in the center of the screen. All that’s left on the sides is the ceramic statue, lamp, and the black box behind the chair. We assume he is now the main focus of this video.

0:05-0:13

The next seven or eight seconds, there are quick scenes of 7 different people who are all talking, but we do not know what about.

The first person is a young black female, maybe in her 20’s, without a shirt on. She looks to be laying down in a bed with white sheets. Her hair is curly, but does not look messy. The second is a black male, also without his shirt on. He may be sweaty because of the light reflecting off of his skin. These two may be in the same room or scene. We cannot tell what is behind the man because the camera is focused on him.

The next scene is quick and there is a women, maybe in her thirties, and she talks for less than a second. The background seems to be a messy room, but is hard to make out because the camera is focused on her.

The next is a younger woman again, early twenties, with straight hair and narrow face. Behind her are golden lettered balloons, but are not focused on enough to tell what they spell out.

The next scene is a young man laying down in a bed with white sheets and a white pillow. He does not have a shirt on. The man after this has the same background as the black man in the second scene. So maybe they are both connected?

The next short scene in of a man with curly hair with gold lettered balloons in the background, like the other woman. These two may be connected also.

After each person is seen, all people repeat one more time, with no changes in background. They all appear to talk, but cannot be heard what is being said. The director of this may include all of these different people to send a message that everyone may have something in common, no matter skin color or gender. We can assume some of these people are in the same room because of the backrounds, but it is not clear if they are significant with each other.

0:13-0:16

After the people are show, the scene goes back to the man sitting in the room, zoomed out to its original position. Everything is in the same place and the man is talking, using his hands to possibly get his point across. This man may be each of the other peoples’ friend, representing he is that person they can talk to. He should not be confused with a shrink, more of a friendly figure.

0:16-0:21

The camera zooms back into the man sitting in the chair, like the second scene.

0:16-0:31

The scene changes to the fish tank that was behind the man in the chair, and three fish are swimming around together. The director could have possibly used this scene to show that everyone does have someone else, even if this is shown by fish swimming together.

Research Position Paper- Dancers

Title

Bullying is one of the most common traumatizing phenomena among children and adolescents and is recently being recognized as a growing problem.

In grades 6 through 12 one in every five students reports being bullied according to the National Center for Educational Statistics taken in 2016. Out of the students who reported being bullied 33% said they were bullied at least once or twice a month during the year. Statistic of the students that have been subjected to bullying reported that 13% were made fun of, 12% were subjected to rumors, 5% were physically abused, and the last 5% were deliberately left out of activities. The percentage of students who admitted to being bullied is much higher than the percentage of students who report being bullied to someone within the school. Due to this huge gap in the percentages the bullying problem within schools is worse than we thought.

It is difficult to fully determine why children have bully like tendencies when interacting with others. But arguments can be made that children tend to pick up these tendencies at home. When parents treat their children poorly from a young age the child is going to grow up thinking that’s the way to treat others around them. If a child knows nothing about care and affection of course they will treat their peers poorly.

Its stated “Bullies tend to have aggressive behaviors designed to obtain goals and these goals often begin first in their home environment.” from “Four Marker Questions in Identifying Bullying Behaviors.” Children are most vulnerable to learning the appropriate behaviors at a very young age. Most of the behaviors that bullies tend to pick up on are due to the way their family acts. The home situation of most bullies is quite harsh, punishment is often within the home either verbal or physical. If the child makes a minor infraction it could lead the parent to overreact in a verbal, emotional or physical way. Children being raised in an environment like this often don’t gain approval or praise at any time.

If the primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward the child at a young age with lack of warmth and involvement in this child, it increases the risk that this child will grow up with hostile or aggressive behaviors towards others. Not just people in their family but towards people in general. If the child does become aggressive and the parent becomes permissive of these behaviors, without setting clear limits to the behavior towards peers, siblings, and adults the child’s aggression will most likely increase. If the parent of a child uses physical punishment and violent emotional outburst when trying to get their point across, this child is more likely to become more aggressive than the average child.

It has been concluded that bullies often stem from families where the parents are authoritarian, hostile, and rejecting, have poor problem solving skills and advocate fighting back at least at the least provocation. Children being raised in a hostile home environment could often feel neglected and unwanted. This could lead to the child becoming aggressive and act out in order to try and gain attention from their parents.

The parents of these children probably don’t realize that their behaviors toward their child leads them to act the same way they do towards others. Some of these children who bully may not know any better because they were raised in a home with negativity and where they were constantly put down. So they may see it as normal behavior when they are treating others this way not realizing that they are actually bullying.

According to “Four Marker Questions in Identifying Bullying Behavior” “Out of a home environment of negativity emerges a personality steeped in the belief and justification that intimidation and brute forces are ways to interact with obstacles that are encountered in life.” It has been said that violence begets violence. If a child is treated with violent behaviors they most often turn and treat others with violent behaviors.

The aggression and anger of these children often builds up because they are not able to speak out at home in which it grows. So when they arrive at school and have to deal with some sort of situation they may just explode and go off on others within this environment. It is hard for teachers and peers to deal with children who do not know how to act properly, fearing they will always act out when something bad happens.

Justifying bullies is not what is happening but these children that bullies often can’t take all the blame they are raised in a sense where negativity towards others is normal. Parents of children who bully often don’t acknowledge their tendencies as bullying, just children being children and one sticking up for themself in a situation.

Linda Goldman from “Raising Our Children to be Resilient” claims “Thousands and thousands of boys and girls are sitting in their homes, schools and communities with unresolved, unrecognized grief issues that all too often get projected out in the world in a form of bullying, abuse, violence, and homicide, or inwardly in the form of victimization and low self-esteem, depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide.”

Children could bully just because they have lost someone near and dear to them within their family and aren’t able to cope with the idea and grieve over it. Imagine being put down constantly within the home environment, never having the moment to grieve about how they are treated. If they grieve or look upset within their house about how they are treated it may lead to more violence towards them.

All in all ““Children learn what they live” is a useful phrase to emphasis the huge effect adult modeling has on our youth. Family systems that foster aggression and condone bullying on perpetuate the misconception that bullying toughens kids.” Goldman argued.

Parents often punish their children in order to make them grow up to learn that life isn’t perfect trying to toughen them for what’s to come later in life. Children can misconstrued this and think this is what life is supposed to be like while bullying other children. That they are trying to toughen their peers.

Bullying is not a problem that can be stopped by children alone especially when it may be exposed to them within their home. Schools need to step in with interventions throughout the whole school and within individual classrooms. Staff at schools need to talk to the children one on one in order to help them grieve and be able to discuss what is happening at home or just in life generally.

Children need to feel supported by at least one person and it is up to school districts to provide care for children who may not receive affection at home. Instead of just thinking bullies are horrible children staff should look deeper often they can misunderstood children crying out for attention, or not knowing any better way to act towards others.

Skepticism occurs about the connection between at home abuse and children who grow up to be bullies. Due to the fact that abuse cannot fully be defined, so the chain between the two can’t be proved.

Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. This abuse can come in many forms including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation and emotional abuse. Physical abuse of a child is when a caregiver causes non-accidental physical injuries to a child. Signs of physical abuse in a child will behave differently they may show signs of aggression toward peers or pets. Cases of sexual abuse is when an adult uses a child for sexual purposes or involves a child in sexual acts. After a child is sexually abused their behavior can become withdrawn, depressed or anxious. They can also show signs of aggression, delinquency, and have poor peer relationships. Emotional abuse is when a parent or caregiver harms a child’s mental and social development or causes severe emotional harm. Behavioral signs for children who have been emotionally abused include destructive or anti-social behaviors, violence and cruelty. (“The issue of Child Abuse”)

Abuse at home does have an effect on children who are living there, their behavior and or actions taken may be off a little. However it doesn’t mean that it is off so much to the point where the pick on others because of it.

Abuse at home does not include a child being reprimanded for the way they were acting by being spanked or yelled at. It means that the child is consistently being hurt at home in which they start to fear for their survival within the home. Abuse within a home can come in many different forms they may have loving parent but abusive siblings or one parent may be caring but the other may not be. It’s difficult to precisely determine what fully qualifies at home abuse.

Not every child will grow up to be a bully some of these children may escape their fate. Or it may be argued that some children who bully do not experience abuse at home at all. Making the connection between at home abuse and bullying difficult to be determined fully.

According to a study by researchers from the University of Washington and Indiana University, children who are exposed to violence in the home engaged higher levels of physical bullying than children who were not witnesses to this behavior. This study was the first to examine the association between child exposure to intimate partner violence and the involvement in bullying.

In the study they found the thirty-four percent of children that were studied engaged in bullying and seventy-three percent reported being the victim of some form of bullying with in previous years. It also found that ninety-seven percent of the bullies said that they were also victims of bullying themselves.

Lead author of the study, former UW pediatrician and now an assistant professor of pediatrics at Indian and Riley Children’s Hospital Nerissa Bauer states “Parents are very powerful role models and children will mimic the behavior of parents, wanting to be like them. They may believe that violence is OK and they can use it with peers. After all, they may think, ‘If Daddy can do this, perhaps I can hit this kid to get my way.’ When parents engage in violence, children may assume violence is the right way to do thing.”

Data from the study was drawn from the ongoing Seattle Social Development Project and the Intergenerational Projects, tracing youth development and social/ antisocial behavior. “Participants in these long-term studies were recruited from Seattle elementary schools, and 808 students (generation 2), their parents (generation 1) and their children (generation 3) have been followed since 1985.” The study looked at the behavior of 112 children form the third generation between the ages of six and thirteen, ages who are not normally studied in bullying research.

The study particularly focused on partner violence which is a broader term for domestic violence, physical, emotional or sexual acts of violence including couples who aren’t married or living together.  In 2000 a federal study showed an estimate between 3.3 and 10 million children are exposed to intimate partner violence.

The study found that seeing domestic violence does not lead to children becoming bullies. “Physicians and teachers should be sensitive that when children display behavior issues that the possibility of domestic violence in the family exists. Not all children exposed to violence will respond in the same way, but there are many indirect effects and problems that you can see, such as engaging in bullying, not being able to make friends, not eating or those with extended school absences. But not all bullies come from violent families.”  Bauer stated.

This study shows that in some cases children who are exposed to domestic violence may become aggressive toward other children. It is hard to determine what constitutes at home abuse and effectively take statistics of the children who bully that were also victims of bullying at home. But it shows that children who are exposed to at home violence may be more likely to become aggressive towards others.

Bullying comes in many different forms not just physical or verbal but also online, cyberbullying is a growing issue nationwide. Cyberbullying is becoming more prevalent now a days because every child is on at least one social media platform. Instead of bullying in person some now find it easier to do it online thinking they won’t get caught.

Social platforms are beginning to evolve world wide in order to attract a bigger audience and gain more users.  On average a teenager spends about nine hours on social platforms a day. The average person in society today will spend about two hours on social media. If calculated this is about five years and four months spent on social media within a lifetime. The average time spent of social media now adds up to be more time than a person uses to eat, drink, and socialize. Evan Asano, in his article “How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media?”, states that the average person uses YouTube for approximately forty minutes, Facebook for thirty-five minutes, Snapchat for twenty-five minutes, Instagram for fifteen minutes, and finally Twitter for 1 minute.

Social media is all around us in this day and age and every person is on at least one social media site. But what is social media exactly, it is “Computer mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.” Wikipedia claims. Social media can be accessed through computers and cellphones now. Which means you have the the technology to use social media in your pocket at all times. There are thousands of different social media platforms available to use daily now not everyone uses every platform but the top five just about everyone uses.

According to statics taken in January of 2018 there are 7.593 billion people in the world.Out of the 7.593 billion people about 4.021 billion of them use the internet, 3.196 billion of them are active on social media, and 2.958 billion of them are active mobile social media users. Within the last year social media users have gone up by 362 million people and people who use mobile apps for social media has gone up 360 million people. America’s population is 1,011 million people and 648 of those million people are active social media users.

Social networking is growing to be more popular and more wide spread to reach all ages of people. Social networking gives people the opportunity to meet new people that share common the common interests. On social media websites the introductions about yourself gives other users information about you, allowing them to get to know you slightly before deciding to even interact with you.  Social media sites are also user friendly they are easy to navigate, even people with little knowledge on how to use the internet can work most of these sites. These websites also give people a job market by allowing professionals to establish their brand online, by posting their skills, accomplishments and previous experiences. In doing so they may be recognized by potential employers and or peers. Now social media allows individuals to reach out but it also allows businesses to reach out as well. Some businesses purposely buy adds on these different websites in order for customers to see them. Finally social networking sites are popular because they are free. It is free to sign up make an account on most of these websites. By these websites being free they gain more and more users.

For each social networking site they reach reach all different ages. Snapchat’s has demographics of 45% percent of users being eighteen to twenty-four, 26% of users are twenty-five to thirty-four, finally they even have 1% percent of users that are sixty-five or older. Facebook’s demographics are the most evenly spread throughout different age groups. 16% of users are between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four, 22% of users are twenty-five to thirty-four, 19% are thirty-four to forty-four, 18% are forty-five to fifty-four, 15% fifty-five to sixty-four, and the last 10% of users are over the age of sixty-five.

Social media reaches people of all backgrounds, such as common people and celebrities as well. Some people have become famous off of using different social media platforms allowing themselves to get their name out their and recognized. Most You Tuber’s start off with very little subscribers but can eventually take over and become widely known around the world. Social media is so influential that sometimes our president even takes to it in order to voice his opinions.

While everyone worldwide loves social media and uses social media daily, it may not be for the best even though it has benefits it also has negatives. With social media it gives people a false feeling of connection. Social media allows you to feel connected to people but at the same time you barely know this person. Using social media decreases the amount of privacy you have within your personal life. The last negative when it comes to social media and maybe the most prominent is the risk of cyber bullying occurring.

Cyber bullying is a problem within schools worldwide and is happening more often than expected. Children and teenagers now turn to these different platforms in order to harass other people, finding it easier to hide behind a screen.

References

Aqab, S. (2015, October 10). 6 Reasons Why Social Networking is Popular Today. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-reasons-why-social-networking-popular-nowadays-sara-aqab

Chaffey, D. (2018, February 08). Global Social Media Statistics Summary 2017. Retrieved from https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/

Goldman, L. (2004-12-27) Raising Our Children to Be Resilient. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rowan/reader.action?docID=240663&ppg=22

Hoelzel, M. (2015, June 29). UPDATE: A breakdown of the demographics for each of the different social networks. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/update-a-breakdown-of-the-demographics-for-each-of-the-different-social-networks-2015-6

Ma, X. (n.d.). Bullying and Being Bullied. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.rowan.edu/stable/pdf/3202462.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A60abb9588a61d9951c2434b757060c62

Musu-Gillette, L. (2017-5) Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2016. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017064.pdf

Olweus, D. (n.d.). Bully/Victim problems in school. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.rowan.edu/stable/pdf/23420286.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A81a118046b9f273c73808da868e8d722
Roberts, W. B., Jr., & Morotti, A. A. (n.d.). The Bully as Victim. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42732181.pdf?refreqid=excelsior:691cee82878e2580b4ba2f967406d63a

Reflective- paTricKStar123

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

Throughout the semester, our assignments in the class were formatted to be a social process continually keeping a line communication open and getting constructive criticism. My professor helped me find sources that offered statistics for mentally ill college students. More importantly, he made me understand that sources are not equally reliable. During one of our meeting for my causal argument, he introduced me to the rowan databases as well as google scholar. I was amazed by the quality of the sources compared to previous sources that stated the number of mentally ill with no statistical evidence to back it up. For example, Some sources exaggerated the number of mentally ill students to make political points. That advice made me a more discerning researcher. Not only did My Professor helped guide me into narrowing my topic from

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities.

Throughout my research paper, I have shown a variety of references to the information I researched. when citing quotes I didn’t place them where ever in the text. I made sure ever quote and sentence went with the flow of my writing so that it wouldn’t stray off topic. There I explained I have I used the knowledge learned from either the articles or journals into my paper. An example of this is when I got a quote describing the effectiveness of self-mindfulness I made sure it was grouped with all the other method of coping. I also introduced the topic and give detail before just placing it anywhere in the report. In text quotes would be in APA format with authors name and year.The process of doing so was tedious, but it let readers know where the credit comes from and refrains me from stealing someone else’s work.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

When I first wrote about my topic for the casual argument, it was a complete mess. In my writing, I did not have a clear set audience to who I was writing about. I contracted myself a lot and did not choose a side. For example, I was arguing for universities to pay for mental health services on campus because many students are in need. The only problem with this was I would continue by defending them and say I although it is expensive some students need this resource to function with their conditions. My professor talked to me about it because he explains that not staying firm on one side kills the strength of your argument. He helped me narrow not only my topic but also which types of college students I was addressing about in my work. He was the one that helped me determine my focus was on college students with mental illnesses.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my ideas and interpretations.

I would say that the visual rhetoric assignment was an excellent example of this core value because I analyzed and interpreted images of the commercial. My commercial was a cartoon clip of animals from the forest finding a nearby garden full of plentiful crops. The ads central theme was about saving food and not being wasteful because there is always someone that could use that food. During this assignment, we looked at second my second frame by frame. I wrote down every detail I saw. the whole commercial had to be watched in silence to see if we can understand the theme by visual images and background cues only.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation.

I use Core value number five consistently when writing. The project where I pieced this all together would have to the Bibliography and finally my Research paper. In the bibliography we had our references, there I included what the article was about and how I used the information in my writing. For my reference paper citing my source was a key factor because if not that would be considered plagiarism. Whenever I found an outside resource, I gave full credit to the author by using APA format. With my quotes that I pulled I made sure I stated the article and the author as well as the publication date. During my writing process, I informed the reader about where they can find these quotes by making a reference page. An example of my in-text citations would be when I took statistics about suicide from a publication I made sure the reader knew the source. I wrote… Statistics show that “80-90% of college students who die by suicide were not receiving help from college counseling centers” (Beresin, 2017). Even while summarizing knowledge from an author I stated where these ideas came from.

Bibliography-paTricKStar123

1.Beresin, E. (2017, February 27). The College Mental Health Crisis: Focus on Suicide.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inside-out-outside-in/201702/the-college-mental-health-crisis-focus-suicide

Background: The article gives very alarming and strong facts to support my argument. A credible author, Dr. Beresin published it. He highlights the details of the increase in mental illness on college campuses. Also, he offers some ideas for trying to counteract the issue and reduce the number of lives lost.

How I used it: I used this article to strengthen my paper by giving facts statistically. Upon reading, I got to relate to some of his ideas of increasing access to medical health services. I also got to learn more about the ways we can counteract the stigma that is causing many students to go undiagnosed.

2. Bowen, S. (03/2014). Relationship between dispositional mindfulness and substance use: Findings from a clinical sampleElsevier.10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.10.026

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909670/

Background: This article discusses the abuse of substances when trying to cope. The article experiments to try to see if mindfulness has any effect on changing improving the conditions of addictive tendencies.

How I Used It: I used this to explain how mindfulness is an alternate method that has mixed results. The students should try it out with as
a way to clear their minds and lower stress.

3. Brown, J. (n.d.). A Growing Number of College Students are Seeking Help for Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Psychological Disorders | BU Today | Boston University.


http://www.bu.edu/today/2016/mental-health-college-students/

Background: the article talks about the recent rising in students with mental health issues. It gives specific details what type of person is at risk. As well as, it provides a list of warning signs of students who may have a mental illness.

How I Used It: I used this article to compare with the warning sign of another piece. I also incorporated the use of people who are at a higher risk. I found this interesting because after searching for so long many did not have an answer or a specific reason.

4. Emily A. Pierceall & Marybelle C. Keim (2007) Stress and Coping Strategies Among Community College Students, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 31:9, 703-712, DOI

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10668920600866579

Background: the article explains stress and what it is. It continues by describing how with college and life stress in a regular occurrence. Students were surveyed to determine their amount of stress, and how they view the impact, it has on them.

How I Used It: this article played along with the other with stress. I didn’t find anything specific that I didn’t use. I mostly used this one for supporting evidence.

5. Downs, M. F., Golberstein, E., Zivin, K., & Eisenberg, D. (n.d.). Stigma and Help Seeking for Mental Health Among College Students.

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1077558709335173

Background: It explains the main reasons why students are reluctant to get help. It explains that students don’t ask for help because of fear of being perceived differently by others.

How I used it: I used it to point out the reason why the counseling health services are not as efficient. This helped me come up with ideas to help bring down students stigma.

6. Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 78(2), 169-183. doi:10.1037/a0018555

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2848393/

Background: This explains how they tested the effect of meditation on anxiety and depression. They generally, the observed effect of the treatment. They concluded that although results aren’t considered effective, it does have a slight effect.

How I used it: I explained that this method should be used as an addition to what your medical professional recommends. I’m not ruling out people trying it because although results aren’t excellent, they have slight success.

7. Katz, D. (2013). Community college student mental health: A comparative analysis (Order No. 3572817). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1434835907).

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0091552114535466

Background:  It mentions the occurrences how well as the different demographics between community college and traditional universities. Studies mentioned how they found that traditional university students were more likely to report being treated or diagnosed by a professional for anxiety and depression than community college students.

How I Used It: I used this article to explain how community college is not promoting mental services as much. Students at community colleges are being overlooked and under-diagnosed. Community colleges believe its okay because of the fact a small number of students live on campus, and the demographics are different.

8.Kitzrow, M. A. (2003). The Mental Health Needs of Todays College Students: Challenges and Recommendations. NASPA Journal, 41(1).

chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/http://depts.washington.edu/apac/roundtable/1-23-07_mental_health_needs.pdf

Background: the journal explains the struggles college students with mental needs go through. They have to deal with academics, social life, fitting in, and their disorders.

How I used it: I used this journal to give examples of these student’s struggles, and they know they deal with obstacles on a daily. I used t to try t persuade the university’s board of education to allow counseling service as a resource. They must help their students and accommodate them on their needs.

9. Moise, G. (2014). Good stress or bad stress? Relationships between stress appraisals and strains in healthcare practitioners (Order No. 3630437). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1563382680).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4973650/

Background:  The article covers stress as its main topic. It lets the reader know the definition of stress as well the two different types of stress as well as the effect on the person.

How I Used It: I wrote about the different types of stressors and explained them in detail. I wrote about what they contribute and how they affect someone. I did this so the reader can differentiate the difference between stress and something more serious.

10. Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A. et al. Acad Psychiatry (2015) 39: 503.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4527955/

Background: This widespread of mental illness is increasing rapidly. Hundreds of thousands of students are being left untreated. It goes to community college age groups are different they are typically older. Then it goes into substance use done by young adults in college.

How I Used It: I used this resource to explain how alcohol and drug abuse is high in college. This problem combined with rising mental illness is deadly. Students turn to this method of negative coping to deal with a problem.

11. Storrie, K., Ahern, K. and Tuckett, A. (2010), A systematic review: Students with mental health problems—A growing problem. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 16: 1-6.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1440-172X.2009.01813.x

Background: this journal gives insight into the college mental health epidemic as well as the challenges students face. It explains why students hesitate to get help.

How I Used It: I got to understand the in-depth what their stigma students have is. I got to understand characteristics that put people at risk as well as why certain people deal in certain ways.

12. Stressed or Depressed? Know the Difference. (2015, October 08). Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/stressed-or-depressed-know-difference

Background: the article gave you information to distinguish normal stress and depression.

How I Used It:  I examined the compare and contrast list to see if I could determine the difference between stressed and depressed. This is important now since most of the signs are similar. Many of us think that they might be the same thing or is that depressed might be someone being sad when it’s much bigger than that.

Research Position Paper- DoubleA

The NFL: Artificial vs. Natural Grass

From the grandstands, artificial turf fields look so good it’s hard to believe they could be hazardous. But down on the field, where the cleats meet the turf and the athletes twist against the surface to propel themselves or push back their opponents, looks are irrelevant. When their knees buckle and they’re down on the turf crying for the trainer, the last thing wounded athletes are thinking of is how green the field looks.

One of the leading questions critics and players of the NFL have is what to do about the significant amount of knee injuries endured during an NFL season, and the correlation the playing fields have on these knee injuries. With multiple knee injuries occurring to big name players every season the NFL has a problem on their hands.

Due to the increasing number of concussions players were suffering over the past couple decades the NFL has tried to make the game safer. With new safety rules the NFL has managed to decrease the amount of head to head contact during games, but by doing this has raised the amount of low tackles which causes low blow tackles to the players knees.

Paired with concussions knee injuries are one of the biggest problems the NFL officials face now a days. Every season some team is affected by injuries along the way, but knee injuries are the biggest blow because they can take anywhere from 6-12 months to heal with rehab. This past season big names like Deshaun Watson, Carson Wentz, JJ Watt, Jason Peters all had big knee injuries that affected their team tremendously

Turf fields do have a direct impact on the increase in injuries we see in the NFL. 13 out of 32 stadiums sport an artificial turf material and even with less than half the number of fields of grass there is still more injuries on turf. An article written about the statistics of injuries on turf and grass fields from all the games from 2000-2009 found that there is a 22% increase in knee sprains on turf and a 67% increase in number of ACL sprains.

With this being said what exactly is the material the players are playing on? Field turf was a huge hit in the late 90s and most teams sport it now a days on their fields. The catch is though that the traction is so good with the new technology cleats that it is even easier to get a cleat stuck in the turf when planting or cutting.

We saw a prime example of this in 2017 when Bears tight end Zach Miller went to just plant while running from a defender and his knee bent the completely wrong when his knee just got caught up in the turf. It sparked a huge debate about the traction that turf causes while playing because Miller almost lost his leg due to the injury.

A study done in the late 90s tested a number of cleats from manufacturers and found that most cleats cause a safety implication because of how good the cleats react with the turf. The study suggested that people where turf cleats but as we all know no football players where them they all wear football cleats. Maybe the NFL can work on new cleat technology but for now safety precautions should be in effect after horrific injuries like Millers’.

Knee sprains are caused by unnatural movements during physical activity. Sudden turns or pivoting can cause injury to your ligaments. When these players get that much traction and that much body weight on a cut in the turf their body and knees cannot handle the pressure and force, so they give in on them. It’s a tragic thing to see. It is almost like you can’t watch a game without being scared every play someone can get hurt and their season can end on one play.

In 2010 a doctor by the name of Dr. Geier was asked a question on his blog about knee injuries. The question was “My question for you is do you think playing on turf field compared to regular grass has an impact on injuries?”

“Our varsity football team practices on grass field and play more than half of their games on turf. We had 3 meniscus injuries on the turf fields. Two were medial and one lateral; all 3 were repair. Also had a tibia/fibula fracture without impact. When asking the injured kids what they thought about the turf they all said it feels like their cleats stick into the ground.”

This question and evaluation was brought in by a random blogger named Gino who must play high school football.

The thing about Gino is the answer he received from the doctor was that it was the same results we talked about earlier 22% increase and 67% increase. He used the same study from earlier. Here is what he said,

“In a study performed by the National Football League Injury and Safety Panel, published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Elliott B. Hershman et al., reviewed injury data from NFL games played between 2000 and 2009.They found that the injury rate of knee sprains as a whole was 22% higher on Field Turf than on natural grass. While MCL sprains did not occur at a rate significantly higher than on grass, rates of ACL sprains were 67% higher on Field Turf.”

There is obviously a clear correlation between turf and injuries. Yes, it was 3 kids in high school games but, my point is that in the article Dr. Geier flat-out gives us the results from a study done by the NFL and there were increases in knee sprains to the ACL and knee sprains altogether. This being said, knee sprains and other major knee injuries are overlooked in the NFL and some players may have to get surgery done multiple times throughout their careers due to sprains and tears.

I for one encountered my own injury on turf during a game where I played on turf. Of course, the one play I get put in at running back to run a jet sweep at the receiver position I tear my MCL. I just see it happening all over the place. Football is filled with injuries and at all levels but at the NFL level there is no doubt an increase of knee injuries on turf because of the size and speed of the players their bodies cannot keep up with the field conditions and wear and tear.

There is an article written about the cause factors of these freak knee injuries. The article states,

“Independent variables such as weather conditions, contact versus noncontact sport, shoe design, and field wear complicate many of the results reported in the literature, thereby preventing an accurate assessment of the true risk(s) associated with certain shoe-surface combinations. Historically, studies suggest that artificial turf is associated with a higher incidence of injury. Furthermore, reliable biomechanical data suggest that both the torque and strain experienced by lower extremity joints generated by artificial surfaces may be more than those generated by natural grass fields.”

As we see there is a lot of factors that it could come down to for cause of injuries but, with biomechanical data it says that it is caused by the torque and strain on joints. This is because the shoe surface is so good on turf that the stress endured by players knees is unbearable for the players knees. The article also claims that indeed there is a higher incidence of injury on artificial fields.

There can be tons of factors involved in why these freak knee injuries occur so often on artificial turf but, the only thing that we know is that artificial must go. If the injury rates keep coming back year after year the same, then something must be done. It’ll just be another one of Roger Goddell’s flaws in his term as commissioner. Player safety is huge in the NFL now a days with players retiring after a couple of seasons in their prime because they must look into the future and see if they can really go through with the injury worries anymore. Being an NFL athlete is hard and it takes a tole on your body but, when you are playing on these dangerous surfaces it can cut your career way short than expected. Something must be done now.

Critics of natural grass playing surfaces like to cite the woeful condition of their neighborhood high school field to illustrate the danger to athletes’ ankles and knees. Granted, those fields suffer a lot of abuse, and playing on them after several home games in a row is hazardous. It’s even true that many school districts have replaced their grass fields with artificial turf because they can’t afford the high cost of maintaining perfect grass. But the NFL, for the sake of reducing player injuries, is willing and able to make that continuing investment.

Fans of artificial turf say that grass requires too much maintenance. They contend that keeping fields polished and playable throughout the weather conditions and the strenuous foot traffic of an NFL season requires an expensive professional grounds crew. But the same objection is not made about baseball fields, which are always grass, nicely kept to avoid dangerous patches. To be fair, field turf has to be maintained too, and uneven wear creates dangerous worn down areas that should result in its replacement.

People may also say that grass can get real cold in areas like Minnesota and Green Bay. Yes, this is true, and it is almost like the players are playing on bricks but in Minnesota they just installed nice turf and first game of the year top pick Dalvin Cook tears his ACL cutting non-contact on the turf. Injuries like this are popping up everywhere.

In an article written about the Houston Texans, Texans cornerback D.J. Swearinger talked about the awful field conditions at NRG stadium. They have turf square panels that get put in for every game. They essentially have seams in them as would Astroturf and everyone knows how awful Astroturf was to play on. Swearinger says in the article, “We actually said that the day before (the injury). If somebody was running right here and (they) plant, their ACL or MCL is gone just because of how deep the holes are.” Swearinger is referring to an injury that happened to top pick Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney was running for a tackle and got his leg caught in a seam and twisted his knee the wrong way and tore his meniscus.

People may also say that grass can get real cold in areas like Minnesota and Green Bay. Yes, this is true, and it is almost like you are playing on bricks but in Minnesota they just installed nice turf and first game of the year top pick Dalvin Cook tears his ACL cutting non-contact on the turf. Injuries like this are popping up everywhere.

In an article written by NFL.com, they bring up the amount of ACL injuries that occur on turf fields. The number was staggering high when they found the results. The author states,

“The panel started to notice a higher rate of injuries on the new turf in evaluating the data that the NFL compiles each season, Hershman said. Once enough games had been played on the newer surfaces to do a scientific analysis, the panel found that anterior cruciate ligament injuries and a more serious type of ankle sprain occurred at a higher rate that is statistically significant.”

This panel was doing research from every game from the 2002-2008 season and how many ACL injuries occurred during these seasons. Their results were clear-cut and they came up with one result. That artificial turf causes more lower extremity injuries than natural grass fields. Their number is so staggering that they say that there is an 88% percent chance that you obtain a knee injury on artificial turf than natural grass.

Opposers may say that these results were too old to our times it has been ten years since they have conducted research on these fields. They also could say times have changed and that player safety is more thought about today and that they would have increased the quality of the fields in order to keep more players healthy. This may be the case but, in an article written in 2018 has stated the same results still occur today. The article says,

A variety of design factors have been hypothesized to play a role, including surface hardness, rotational stiffness, and release torque. These physical characteristics may interact with other environmental factors such as cleat design, surface moisture levels, and ambient temperature. Partially in response to these concerns, manufacturers have continued to refine these products to bring their physical characteristics closer in line to natural grass surfaces, but concerns among players, medical personnel, and the public persist.

The article furthers my point that artificial turf fields are still causing these injury bug problems to players now a days. Like the article says with all these risk factors it just makes the fields way more dangerous than the NFL wants them. It’s almost nerve-racking to watch your team play a game because you’re scared that your best players could go down in any play of any game because injuries are that common in the NFL. The biggest factor I see there in the article is rotational stiffness and release torque. I have seen these types of factors come up everywhere in other articles. The feel for turf is so good that people cannot cut on these fields properly and their knees bend the wrong ways and so much stress is being put on these ligaments they eventually just give out. With football players are the biggest and the strongest overall out of most sports so when you add these guys to these sketchy and unqualified fields long-term and career ending injuries could occur and that is the last thing the NFL wants.

There is no reason why teams can’t sport some nice Bermuda grass in a dome stadium. It doesn’t make teams cooler to have turf in their billion-dollar dome, what matters is player safety. Players all over the league past and present have questioned player safety with concussions. Knee injuries are the second most occurring injury in the NFL and they require surgery and months of rehab, the time to speak up is now.

To conclude, I think it is conclusive that there needs to be a change in the way turf fields in the NFL are kept and I think as this last season in the NFL teams got slapped in the face with the injury bug. I think that the NFL and team owners will discuss or should discuss ways on how to make the game safer for all players. Just like the concussion issues the NFL had endured I think it has to take a look at the knee injury numbers and truly come up with a conclusion as to how this is happening. To my estimation I truly believe that the turf fields are not helping this problem and I believe there might be a solution. Either teams convert to a universal playing field surface so teams are used to the surface or the NFL takes a look at the science between the traction of cleats and the turf to find a solution as to safer kinds of cleats that the players can play on and enjoy wearing.

References:

NFL panel finds some knee, ankle injuries more common on turf. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d816e77f1/article/nfl-panel-finds-some-knee-ankle-injuries-more-common-on-turf

NRG Stadium’s Playing Surface An ‘Abomination’. (2014, September 09). Retrieved from http://houston.cbslocal.com/2014/09/09/nrg-stadiums-playing-surface-an-abomination/

6 – Risk of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury as a Function of Type of Playing Surface. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323389624000060

Is an ACL tear more common on artificial turf or grass? (2018, March 03). Retrieved from http://www.drdavidgeier.com/ask-dr-geier-acl-tears-on-natural-grass-or-fieldturf/

A Review of Synthetic Playing Surfaces, the Shoe-Surface Interface, and Lower Extremity Injuries in Athletes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10

Hershman, E. B., Anderson, R., Bergfeld, J. A., Bradley, J. P., Coughlin, M. J., Johnson, R. J., . . . Tucker, A. (2012, 09). An Analysis of Specific Lower Extremity Injury Rates on Grass and FieldTurf Playing Surfaces in National Football League Games. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 40(10), 2200-2205. doi:10.1177/0363546512458888

 

Research- paTricKStar123

A silent cry for help! Undergraduates are dying.

 

College is a place we come to enhance our education, to learn more about ourselves, and to choose our career paths. While most students live on-campus housing to gain the experience of living on our own, dorm life can be an intimidating environment. Yes, it’s fun and exciting to leave family and friends and arrive at college knowing only a handful of people, but it’s also stressful. Stress is a normal life process, and all freshmen will experience it. Unlike negative stress that can be debilitating, eustress pushes students beyond our fears to reach our goals, encouraging us to bring new ideas to our ever-growing world, like how to get along with a roommate we don’t like.

On the other hand, for students, who are unprepared to meet these challenges that quickly arrive going to college; these challenges can be draining. Mental illness is rising exponentially and is acting an epidemic that is spreading worldwide. Two million of our brightest youth want to kill themselves, and three-quarters of them are being ignored. “More than one in three undergraduates reported ‘feeling so depressed it was difficult to function,’ and nearly one in 10 reported ‘seriously considering attempting suicide’ in the previous year” according to the 2008 National College Health Assessment sponsored by the American College Health Association. Tragically, according to the Journal of Academic Health, most people who struggle with a mental health illness will not be diagnosed until it becomes quite severe. Many will argue that the mental health and psychological services are not needed and are a costly resource that needs to be cut from the universities budget. For the thousands of students that go to a single intuition, this service is the difference between them having an opportunity to function in a school environment and get an education.

Colleges fail in helping because they rarely promote their services. When this illness makes students feel different than anyone else. Many don’t get diagnosed because of the lack of thought put into the programs. If universities want to help students, they need to truly make students feel welcomed by allowing anyone to partake in learning about resources for incentive maybe food or points toward prizes.  As stated by Medical Care Research and Review, “Perceived public stigma was considerably higher than personal stigma”. What this means is that people are more afraid of how others will perceive them. In the article called The College Mental Health Crisis: Focus on Suicide, Dr. Beresin writes in his research about how schools should increase their access to mental health counseling. He believes that we need to increase counseling services as many school still don’t have have or properly use them. Another of his ideas are creating a foster community counseling and support forum in the universities. By establishing these it lets kids feel less hesitant than trying to take to some an adult. These ideas are good because they allows students to be more open to expression and to try to reduce stigma that occurs with recieving help. Besides, University only advertises their services at the beginning of the school year. As a student who has attended both community college and traditional universities, I can say for a fact there are considerable differences in demographics and how they go about their educational services. In a recent study, the American College  Counseling  Association  Community  College  Task  Force  (2010)  found  that  95% of community colleges have no contracted on-site psychiatry services, compared to 58.8% of traditional universities (Gallagher, 2012).

Many People ask is there a criterion to determine who has a mental illness. There are some symptoms to identify, but when doing self-examinations, it may be difficult. The reason it is difficult to determine is because of the many similarities between having stress and some mental illnesses. For example, in the article by Mental Health America, explains that depression and stress have similar symptoms like having memory problems, trouble sleeping, trouble functioning, and change in eating habits. Among these symptoms with depression comes thoughts of self-harm/suicide, feeling drained, feeling overwhelmed, withdrawing from friends/loved ones, and finally having negative thoughts about yourself.  In terms of depression alone, A 2010 study conducted by the American College Health Association found that “28% of college students reported feeling so depressed at some point they had trouble functioning, and 8% sought treatment for depression” (Mental Health America, 2015). One group of students that are at risk to deal with mental health issues are those in the LBGTQ. The reason being is they face a variety of issues revolving their situation such as “’coming out” in public and be accepted by their identity. According to the article called Mental Health Matters: A Growing Challenge, minorities, and international students are also at a higher risk of mental health. “International students are vulnerable because, in addition to facing the same stressors as everyone else, they have to assimilate into a new culture and are far from their network of family and friends” (Brown, 2016). The reason minorities face a greater risk is because of the racial and cultural differences they may face in society as well as the financial problems. Minorities, in my opinion, have it worst because of the fact are less disposable to receive treatment.  “Individuals low in emotion management competence are less willing to seek help from family, friends and health professionals” (Storrie, Ahern, Tuckett, 2010).

What is alarming is that there are critics who argue that mental health services on campus aren’t useful and have a slight success in the lives of students. This is inaccurate. Students with mental health issues depend on these services; to them, they are a necessity of life on campus. Without having this support, hundreds of thousands of undergraduates will have their lives impacted. The young adults will face even more obstacles as their resources get stripped of them. University students depend on these services which can help them keep them on track with their personal, academic goals. The journal called The mental health needs of today’s college students: Challenges and recommendations states “Mental health problems may also have a negative impact on academic performance,  retention, and graduation rates.   Brackney and Karabenick   found that high levels of psychological  distress among college students were significantly related to academic performance”(Brackney 1995). How it affects is mental illness’ such as depression can cause students to lose motivation to do even the simplest task such as eating, getting up for classes, and even self-hygiene. Anxiety another mental health illness can make it difficult to interact with teachers and other students; as well as function through the campus every day. In turn, the board of education would be adding more weight to these students who have enough on their plate, to begin with. Service like these offers a sort of relief to know they have someone who cares about them and checks on them nearby. A huge portion of Our undergrads would not have been able to keep up with the demands of school as well as their condition. Thus, leading universities nationwide have a worse reputation because not only will an abundant of people have their GPAs be lowered due to not being able to concentrate in classes but also Dropout rates will increase. College is expensive already; to have to constantly repeat courses due to medical issues it’s a waste of money that most people don’t even have to begin with.

For this reason, I’ve researched to try to discover any methods of coping with mental illness. I found that student’s primary means of dealing as well as some new techniques of coping with stress. When attending a university while suffering from a mental illness such as depression or anxiety; it is critical to keep yourself emotionally healthy. This means try to formulate new bonds find good friends to have your back but also maintain your emotional ties with loved ones (whether friends or family) close. The reason for this is it makes it easier when dealing with obstacles if you even fall in a rut, while you may not notice your loved ones can guide to in the right direction to get help. Notably, A systematic review: Students with mental health problems—A growing problem, just that.  “Individuals with high levels of psychological distress might not recognize that their psychological state is unusual. They might not understand that there are effective ways of coping with the distress or know how to obtain help” (Storrie, Ahern, Tuckett, 2010). Overall treatments depend on the severity of the mental illness but for the most part it involves psychiatric counseling. These professions will assess your symptoms to diagnose a proper treatment, which may include medication for severe chronic illnesses such a being bipolar and schizophrenia. The key to treating mental illnesses is to diagnose and treat early on. This is why it is essential for students to take care of themselves when living on campus.

An alternative method used that has had the effective result is mindfulness. When individuals think about the practice of mindfulness otherwise know as mediation, they associate the world with the religious practice of Buddhism. The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology define mindfulness as a process in which that allows the user to reach a mental state where they are aware of the present yet can reflect on their sensations, thoughts, and bodily states. “The basic premise underlying mindfulness practices is that experiencing the present moment nonjudgmentally and openly can effectively counter the effects of stressors, it can help students remain focused and calm” (Hofmann et. al 2010). The way mindfulness can help is for students who used negative coping methods such as self harm, substance and alcohol abuse, or even have bad reoccurring thoughts , it can allow you to change your personality and curve your impulses. Now, these methods aren’t used for all mental disorders only mood and anxiety disorder such as depression. These methods should act as a reinforcement to what your health care professional diagnoses and shouldn’t be used without seeking the proper medical help first.

On the contrary, many students when dealing with mental illness’ take up negative forms of coping as mentioned alcohol/substance abuse and self-harm. “Approximately one in five college students meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder”( Pedrelli et al. 2015). Furthermore, about 44% of students binge drink regularly; with mental illness rising at an alarming rate these students are in a whirlwind of trouble. Alcohol is not the only thing to worry about on campus. The frequent use of drugs and other illegal substances are present. The standard drugs you will hear about and see are weed, cocaine, acid, pills (Adderall, Xanax) and even Promethazine w/Codeine (otherwise known as Lean). The blurred line between relief of stress and avoiding problems are prevalent in such an environment. “Neurobiological mechanisms in areas associated with craving, negative affect, and substance use relapse may be affected by mindfulness training” (Witkiewitz, Lustyk, & Bowen, 2012). Depending on the case and severity practicing mindfulness with the help of a medical professional, can allow you to revert bad habits.

Many have speculated that by having offered these services, it holds the university responsible and acts as a liability putting the university at risk. When quite the opposite, by providing mental and psychological health services it can help keep the university from lawsuits. For example, many students with depression may turn to negative ways of coping such as substance abuse and even self-harm. Nowadays, we hear about these tragedies happen too often in media. “Several institutions, including Brown, Harvard, and MIT, have been the target of lawsuits alleging inadequate or negligent treatment of mental health problems. One widely publicized case (Thernstrom, 1998) involves the family of Trang Ho. Ho was a Harvard University student who was murdered by her mentally ill roommate Sinedu Tadesse, who subsequently committed suicide.  Ho’s family filed suit against Harvard alleging negligence by failing to adequately monitor the troubled student” (Kitzrow, M. A. 2003). Stories of instances like these and suicides are becoming more and more prevalent in media. Dr. Eugene V. Beresin, M.D., who is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School states more than 1,000 suicides take place on college campuses every year which turns out to be about two to three per day. With students suffering and losing their lives over things they cant control i dont understnad why no one wants to help. Statistics show that “80-90% of college students who die by suicide were not receiving help from college counseling centers” (Beresin, 2017). The excuses and claims made by critics are put to rest after this cold fact. It is as simple as taking initative. By stopping the services, universities can prevent lawsuits and even more keep the students safe while pursuing their goals. The risk of not having health services are more significant than having them because with tragedies happening it not only cost the university money but hurts its future reputation.

In conclusion, the fact of the matter is mental health is rising, and we need to take steps looking forward to reducing the amount present. Together the university needs to be more proactive in their approach to combatting and promoting the mental health services. Things need to change because if not we will continue to lose more and more lives everyday. Universities need to change there whole approach in those who have counseling services.  By allowing incentives, this allows students to get to know symptoms as well as how to methods of treatment without feeling judged or intimidated. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s is trying to develop a College Screening Project to allow them to determine which students need assistance. Although having a program like this add up to be another expense at the cost of the university this can help prevent future lawsuits as well as attract more family’s knowing their kids have a some to turn to. I believe that after the Screening test gets accurate it will be a great tool for helping to assist those students who may not have the courage to speak up or are even clueless about their symptoms. After all College is the place to learn, strive to reach our career goals and grow up as we start our new chapter into adulthood. Therefore it with the expensiveness of college tuition the least they can do is enable students to receive the resources they need to focus on their classes. Not to mention, This is essential for providing a safe environment for all and avoid future incidents. Without the help of universities, this disables the many who want a chance at a healthy life.

References

Bowen, S. (03/2014). Relationship between dispositional mindfulness and substance use: Findings from a clinical sampleElsevier.10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.10.026

Brown, J. (n.d.). A Growing Number of College Students are Seeking Help for Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Psychological Disorders | BU Today | Boston University.

Emily A. Pierceall & Marybelle C. Keim (2007) Stress and Coping Strategies Among Community College Students, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 31:9, 703-712, DOI

Downs, M. F., Golberstein, E., Zivin, K., & Eisenberg, D. (n.d.). Stigma and Help Seeking for Mental Health Among College Students.

Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 78(2), 169-183. doi:10.1037/a0018555

Katz, D. (2013). Community college student mental health: A comparative analysis (Order No. 3572817). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1434835907).

Kitzrow, M. A. (2003). The Mental Health Needs of Todays College Students: Challenges and Recommendations. NASPA Journal, 41(1).

Moise, G. (2014). Good stress or bad stress? relationships between stress appraisals and strains in health care practitioners (Order No. 3630437). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1563382680).

Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., & Wilens, T. (2015). College Students: Mental Health Problems and Treatment Considerations. Academic Psychiatry : The Journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry, 39(5), 503–511. http://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014-0205-9

Storrie, K., Ahern, K. and Tuckett, A. (2010), A systematic review: Students with mental health problems—A growing problem. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 16: 1-6.

Stressed or Depressed? Know the Difference. (2015, October 08). Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/stressed-or-depressed-know-difference

Research – DudeInTheBack

Addiction is debilitating. When someone’s body and mental stability are physically dependent on a drug, it begins to effect the addicts life. Positive or negatively, the dependence of a substance can effect daily function, interpersonal relationships, or even make the dependent believe they need the drug to perform better. When a person has been prescribed a drug for their entire life, all they know is that drug, and without it, functioning seems abnormal. This is the case for most people who have been prescribed the ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ) medication “Adderall” since a young age. This is a drug that gives ADHD patients the magical ability to function normally by blocking the side effects of the diagnosis. Whether it be controlling outbursts, making it easier to focus, or class performance enhancing, being prescribed at a young age will make a child grow up thinking they need the drug to function normally. This is the problem at hand. We cannot idly sit by to setting up our diagnosed children to be dependent on a drug, regardless of its benefits.

The prescription of Adderall, along with other ADHD medications is readily available to all ADHD diagnosed children. This is a drug that is effective, and positive results will be shown in the short term. This is what the parents of the prescribed individual wants to see, and soon to come growing children realizing the drugs effect on themselves. All of the symptoms involved with ADHD, like inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, lack of focus, disorganization, fidgeting, excessive talking, or frequent interrupting, are controlled by the medication. An article titled, “Adderall vs. Ritalin: What’s the Difference?” explains how the drug works, saying it “..work by increasing the availability of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine in your CNS connections. This speeds up your brain activity.” Speeding up the brain activity causing the superhuman focus and ability to become prevalent is what makes the drug readily prescribed to those with ADHD symptoms. As the drug is administered and the brain is working faster than without, the encompassed performance enhancing becomes prevalent.

In today’s society, the trust we put into doctors goes a long way. We follow their prescriptions and advice because we were paying them to give us the best answers to our problems. Rightfully so, we should trust them, but we should also realize that doctors are not in the business of caring about the long, long term. What is best for a child at a young age may not be the best thing for them as an adult. Unfortunately, our society’s view of what truly helps is medication, and some parents, along with their doctors guidance, take the medication route for their children. The prescription of Adderall, a medication that parents with ADHD diagnosed children resort to, although may be positive for a child in the short term, can lead to lifelong dependency issues and social problems.

A child who has symptoms of ADHD, may blurt out the answers before the questions have been completed, has difficulty awaiting turn, or intrudes and interrupts others. Temperaments that can simply be the result of bad teachings, and immaturity. As a parent, seeing your child struggle and not be able to focus at a young age puts parents in a position where they would do anything to help their kid. Going to the doctor and asking for his advice is a start to finding a solution. When the doctor assesses the child to having ADHD, the next recommended step is medication. The problem is that agreeing on the prescription of medication as the solution to their child’s classroom disturbances can be a lifelong decision.

This is where the problem starts: The miracle pill taken every day that without will prompt underachievement of what could potentially be achieved while on the drug. Depending on a drug to make you perform, rather than relying on what is normally produced by the body sets up a child for many problems in the future like addiction. The purpose for the pill is being put into effect and working, but what happens if the pill is not there? An article titled, “Adderall Addiction and Abuse” posted by the Addiction center states, “The brain of an addicted person is dependent on Adderall to stimulate alertness and productivity. Without Adderall, addicted people often feel tired and mentally foggy. These are symptoms of Adderall withdrawal, a strong sign of an addiction.” The withdrawal symptoms caused by Adderall addiction makes it hard for users to quit on their own. the come down, the grogginess, and mental skill lessening without the drug all boils down to keeping on the cycle of getting that medication, and coming back up to full potential. Someone who relies on this artificial performance, after receiving the skills they have obtained through the drug, can act like a bubble pop when the drug is taken away, becoming slower, and simply not performing as well.

In taking medication every day, especially longer down the line subconsciously becomes a way of life. There is no thought in taking the pill, since it is now a routine, and the only self that is known becomes the self on the drug. I personally feel that it is sad how it happens. Taking that pill everyday because the doctor prescribed it, and now being reliant on that pill to succeed is how the problem begins, and in most cases is not the individuals beginning choice to be put on the medication.

Take coffee as an example, I’m sure many people insist that coffee is what gets them through the day and without this coffee, they would perform less efficiently. The prescription of Adderall, along with other ADHD medications creates the same situation. By showing the parent, and child a more, in a sense, normal version of themselves creates the same problem of feeling inadequate without. I’m sure if a coffee drinker never was introduced to coffee, they would have no idea how much better they would perform with it. Even if it works, the problem of it working brings the problem of reliance.

The Recovery village, which specializes in addiction awareness/education, put an article up on their website titled, “Is Adderall Safe? | Safe for Adults and Children?” describing the true risk of the drug. The article describing the pills purpose as, “… not meant to be a long-term treatment because symptoms of ADHD often get better in children as they get older.” We cannot deny the positive performance effect of the drug, and with that comes the problem. With these amazing results of the child’s improvements performance, why would anyone want to stop taking it? Resorting back to a less functioning self is not the ideal situation. As their adolescent ADHD symptoms presumably subside, a diagnosed individual is already on that daily regiment of popping that pill each day that without, could not function to their presumed highest. Someone who is reliant on this pill, and who has been brought up entrusting that pill with their normality in society cannot simply say goodbye to the pill when symptoms vanish. Once medication is perceived to be this sort of “Miracle pill” to the user, who thinks the medication is a necessary part of their daily success, that is where the problem unavoidably starts.

Since determining an aspect of someone’s life is a very probable result of prescribing in the sense of dependence, we should at least avoid prescription in minors. I also say that the medication determines a child’s life because it puts them on the path of dependence. These ADHD medications bring with them heavy self improvement, and that is the counterintuitive aspect (the counterintuitive aspect being the fact that a doctor should not be prescribing something that could be so life changing, and dependence causing to someone looking for help). It is not right to show a child a better them through taking medication. Making the user believe that the drug will make it easier to function more efficiently is exactly why the drug should not be prescribed. Imagine being on a drug that you are brought up thinking makes you better than you actually are. Having to be constantly being reminded to take the medication, never missing a day, and being on this mind altering drug. What makes the drug so dangerous, is how the medication needs to be taken on a regiment, which in turn leads to becoming a habit.

The problem of these ADHD medications can be avoided by not prescribing and instead, providing behavioral therapy. In an article by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) titled “Behavior therapy for young children with ADHD” they say that, “Behavior therapy is effective treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that can improve a child’s behavior, self-control, and self-esteem.” As a parent I would much rather my child learn to deal with his symptoms through coaching, rather than relying on a drug. This dependence can be avoided by not giving the medication, and actually using a safer method that proves results. although it may be harder and less effective than treating it with medication, the problem of addiction can be avoided.

The matter of originally classifying a child’s temperaments, and immature qualities as ADHD stigmatizes a child, and puts them in a category different from others who are perceived to be “normal.” Once this connotation of being less functioning than the normal kids is put around an adolescent, they will start to think they need medication to be normal. In a YouTube video titled, “CCHR Co-Founder Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus” Dr. Thomas Szasz describes the connotation an illness or disease has now. He believes that any disease cannot be not based on behavior, its something in the body that malfunctions. The stigma and connotation ADHD has around it is socially constructed. By diagnosing a child with ADHD and classifying it as a disease, or disorder stigmatizes a child, and puts them in a category that they should not be in. Parents should not think that their kid has an illness based on behavior, and should not jump to try to treat it. Instead, society, and doctors push to treat immediately. Making a child feel like he is sick and needs the medication to be normal destroys their perception of their own life by already seeing themselves as having an issue. Putting them in the pill cycle till they don’t have any more pills to take… and when they don’t have the pills, they believe they cannot be normal.

The other issue of stopping the medication intake is Adderall’s extremely addictive properties. The devastating effects of addiction should be enough to deter anyone from approaching any drug, but people tend to overlook, and outweigh addiction with all of the miracle works of the drug. In a first person account of one woman’s Adderall downfall published by The Washburn Review, in an article titled, ”The real effects of Adderall: a personal testimony” Taylor Evans goes in depth in her experiences. Evans knew that she did not have ADHD, but a simple visit to the doctors office with descriptions of problems with paying attention, and whatever other fluff she needed to embellish on to get the Adderall prescription. Evans loved the drug, comparing taking Adderall to “being superwoman.” She could get all of her homework done, write papers longer than the required length, clean her house until it was spotless and still pick up extra hours at work. Once someone builds up this notion of only achieving that success from the medication, they will make the connection of pill equaling success, and no pill equaling no success. As time went on, Evans addiction to the drug worsened. The author says, “…Evans started accomplishing less at school and work and shifted her main focus to finding more pills. This disrupted both her studies and home life”. The drug will turn the user into them fully depending on the medication.

The biggest refutation to my argument of Adderall being unsafe prescription is those who believe in Adderall’s therapeutic abilities. These medical properties should not be ignored, and I am not saying that the drug does not have medical properties. If it is as bad as I argue, then why is it still legal? It has to be helping out those with ADHD, and others who take the drug for performance enhancing.

The Invention of Adderall became what it was to compete in the market for ADD/ADHD medications, and eventually rose to being one of the most prescribed medications to treat ADD/ADHD. This hype over the medicine can be credited to its surprising results. In an Analog Classroom Assessment of Adderall in Children With ADHD, the effectiveness of the drug was tested. In this study of 30 children with ADHD, the effects of different dosages (5mg, 10mg, 15mg, 20mg), and a placebo were tested to see how the drug preformed.

For each treatment condition, a capsule was administered in the morning and assessments were performed in an analog classroom setting every 1.5 hours across the day. Subjective (teacher ratings of deportment and attention) and objective (scores on math tests) measures were obtained for each classroom session, and these measures were used to evaluate time-response and dose- response effects of Adderall.” In conclusion, “For doses of Adderall greater than 5 mg, significant time course effects were observed. Rapid improvements on teacher ratings and math performance were observed by 1.5 hours after administration, and these effects dissipated by the end of the day. The specific pattern of time course effects depended on dose: the time of peak effects and the duration of action increased with dose of Adderall.

In conclusion to this study, the addition of Adderall has shown that class performance has greatly increased. Showing that this medication is effective in correcting these ADHD symptoms.

We cannot overlook the short term benefits Adderall has on those with ADHD. Although there are long term effects of taking the drug, giving your child that boost in their start of schooling could benefit the child. In an article posted by Attitude Magazine, an ADHD blog, they say “Experts agree that parents should consider ADHD medications when symptoms interfere with their child’s social, emotional, or academic life.” Starting your child off with medications to quill their hyperactive tendencies could prevent interferences in their development that would come if symptoms were not dealt with. All of this information makes the medication seem important and almost like it rips the child out of the pit of failure, and gives them the opportunity to improve at a young age. If this is the case, it is still changing how a child would normally function, and still changes their own adapted personality. This outside force of medication, although changing the success of the child, renders too many negatives. The unfortunate upmost negative being addiction

This topic first spiked my interest when I first moved into college and started living with an Adderall addict. As I watched him up his daily dosage (without being prescribed to) and seeing how dependent he was on the drug to be able to wake up, go to class, maintain his appetite, and stay focused scared me. This is a great example of someone who has been prescribed Adderall ever since they were a kid. He mentioned to me that sometimes, when he felt like he was lacking, or becoming slow, he wondered if he even took his mediation that day. Upon this recollection, he would assume that he did not, and take more of the medication. His descript sounded like his situation was a mess. Not only did it scare me, but it made me fascinated as to why a doctor would prescribe such a drug readily to millions of people.

In fact, this idea of why doctors prescribe can easily be understood from an article focusing on the work of psychiatrist, Donald Levin titled, “Behaviorism and Mental Health An alternative perspective on psychiatry’s so-called mental disorders.” This article explains how easy it is to get a prescription, and the many ways why it is so easy. the diagnosis and prescription of medicine is what people see psychologists for nowadays. Donald says, “You have to have a diagnosis to get paid,” he said with a shrug. “I play the game.” Psychiatrists no longer engage in talk therapy anywhere near how they used to. instead, they prescribe medication to alternate behavior. The pills become what keeps the person going through her day as if it was a normal day, just drug induced. He gives the example of how a psychiatrist can earn $150 for three 15-minute medication visits compared with $90 for a 45-minute talk therapy session to show why a psych might just resort to a prescription, and getting paid for it.

It is not natural to have something change your performance so much that without it, fullest potential would not be reached. The use of the medication becomes extremely detrimental when the thought of how performance without the medication begins to taunt the user. This thought that they need it to perform is the problem with the drug. Without the medication, the prescribed individual will be forced to deal with reality in what they are equipped with. Having gone through life using this pill as their crutch does not show someone what they are naturally equipped with. Basically, this everyday routine of living with the benefits of the prescription blinds the individual of the fact that they need the medicine in order to act to their adapted fullest (adapted fullest being what they could have naturally achieved without medical influence). With all of this being said, the prescription of Adderall, and other ADHD medications should not even be considered. Giving someone this false home, and self reliance on a drug will lead to so many problems that can easily be avoided. Regardless of the short term benefit, this sort of showing someone the easier life by performance enhancing should not be acceptable.

References

Is Adderall Safe? | Safe for Adults and Children? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/adderall/adderall-safe/#gref

F. (2012, February 20). Retrieved April 24, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4SFyWilyV0

https://search.proquest.com/docview/1715703263?pq-origsite=summo

Adderall vs. Ritalin: What’s the Difference? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/adderall-vs-ritalin

Adderall Addiction and Abuse – Prescription Amphetamines. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.addictioncenter.com/stimulants/adderall/

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). (2017, April 10). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/behavior-therapy.html

McCarthy, L. F. (2018, March 08). Top 10 Questions About ADHD Medications for Children… Answered! Retrieved March 20, 2018, from https://www.additudemag.com/top-10-questions-about-meds-answered/

http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(09)62951-8/abstract

Hickey, P., & HickeyI, P. (2011, March 16). Home. Retrieved from http://behaviorismandmentalhealth.com/2011/03/16/psychiatrists-are-drug-pushers/

Definition Rewrite – DudeInTheBack

The Unfortunate Downside to a Supposed Cure

Addiction is debilitating. When someone’s body and mental stability are physically dependent on a drug, it begins to effect the addicts life. positive or negatively, the dependence of a substance can effect daily function, interpersonal relationships, or even make the dependent believe they need the drug to perform better. When a person has been prescribed a drug for their entire life, all they know is that drug, and without it, functioning seems abnormal. This is the case for most people who have been prescribed the ADHD medication “Adderall” since a young age. This is a drug that gives ADHD patients the magical ability to function normally by blocking the side effects of the diagnosis. Whether it be controlling outbursts, making it easier to focus, or class performance enhancing, being prescribed at a young age will make a child grow up thinking they need the drug to function normally. This is the problem at hand. We cannot idly sit by to setting up our diagnosed children to be dependent on a drug, regardless of its benefits.

The prescription of Adderall, along with other ADHD medications is readily available to all ADHD diagnosed children. This is a drug that is effective, and positive results will be shown in the short term. This is what the parents of the perscribed individual wants to see, and soon to come growing children realizing the drugs effect on themselves. All of the symptoms involved with ADHD, like inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, lack of focus, disorganization, fidgeting, excessive talking, or frequent interrupting, are controlled by the medication. An article titled, “Adderall vs. Ritalin: What’s the Difference?” explains how the drug works, saying it “..work by increasing the availability of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine in your CNS connections. This speeds up your brain activity.” Speeding up the brain activity causing the superhuman focus and ability to become prevalent is what makes the drug readily perscribable to those with ADHD symptoms. As the drug is administered and the brain is working faster than without, the encompassed performance enhancing becomes prevalent.

This is where the problem starts: The miracle pill taken every day that without will prompt underachievement of what could potentially be achieved while on the drug. Depending on a drug to make you perform, rather than relying on what is normally produced by the body sets up a child for many problems in the future like addiction. The purpose for the pill is being put into effect and working, but what happens if the pill is not there? An article titled, “Adderall Addiction and Abuse” posted by the Addiction center states, “The brain of an addicted person is dependent on Adderall to stimulate alertness and productivity. Without Adderall, addicted people often feel tired and mentally foggy. These are symptoms of Adderall withdrawal, a strong sign of an addiction.” Someone who relies on this artificial performance, after receiving the skills they have obtained through the drug, can act like a bubble pop when the drug is taken away, becoming slower, and simply not performing as well.

In taking medication every day, especially longer down the line subconsciously becomes a way of life. There is no thought in taking the pill, since it is now a routine, and the only self that is known becomes the self on the drug. I personally feel that it is sad how it happens. Taking that pill everyday because the doctor prescribed it, and now being reliant on that pill to succeed is how the problem begins, and in most cases is not the individuals beginning choice to be put on the medication.

Take coffee as an example, I’m sure many people insist that coffee is what gets them through the day and without this coffee, they would perform less efficiently. The prescription of Adderall, along with other ADHD medications creates the same situation. By showing the parent, and child a more, in a sense, normal version of themselves creates the same problem of feeling inadequate without. I’m sure if a coffee drinker never was introduced to coffee, they would have no idea how much better they would perform with it. Even if it works, the problem of it working brings the problem of reliance.

Since determining an aspect of someone’s life is a very probable result of prescribing in the sense of dependence, we should at least avoid prescription in minors. These ADHD medications bring with them heavy self improvement, and that is the counterintuitive aspect (the counterintuitive aspect being the fact that a doctor should not be prescribing something that could be so life changing, and dependence causing to someone looking for help). It is not right to show a child a better them through taking medication. Making the user believe that the drug will make it easier to function more efficiently is exactly why the drug should not be prescribed. Imagine being on a drug that you are brought up thinking makes you better than you actually are. Having to be constantly being reminded to take the medication, never missing a day, and being on this mind altering drug. What makes the drug so dangerous, is how the medication needs to be taken on a regiment, which in turn leads to becoming a habit.

The problem of these ADHD medications can be avoided by not prescribing and instead, providing behavioral therapy. In an article by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) titled “Behavior therapy for young children with ADHD”  they say that, “Behavior therapy is effective treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that can improve a child’s behavior, self-control, and self-esteem.” As a parent I would much rather my child learn to deal with his symptoms through coaching, rather than relying on a drug. This dependence can be avoided by not giving the medication, and actually using a safer method that proves results. although it may be harder and less effective than treating it with medication, the problem of addiction can be avoided.

References

Adderall vs. Ritalin: What’s the Difference? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/adderall-vs-ritalin

Adderall Addiction and Abuse – Prescription Amphetamines. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.addictioncenter.com/stimulants/adderall/

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). (2017, April 10). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/behavior-therapy.html

Reflective- Myrtle View

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

My definition and definition rewrite arguments have accomplished Core Value 1 by refining my thesis and finding sources that identified with my thesis. I had to first explore what I wanted to do through the internet and somehow form that into my thesis which was frustrating work. Unfortunately, it was even harder to find sources that I could tie into my thesis. This pushed me to discover more articles and books about my concept and develop my mind to reach beyond what is already given. In the rewrite I felt more comfortable to using more sources and making corrections because I understood that this was a work in progress.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

Part of writing a research paper is making sure that the sources being referenced make sense with the argument being made. My work demonstrates Core Value 2 since I correctly used my references and explained its relevance in my research paper. I also showed comprehension during the Summaries assignment because I summarized the purpose of the sources chosen correctly without any confusion.

https://wordpress.com/post/rowancounterintuitive.com/36685

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

My Definition rewrite argument shows that I was able to determine my purpose, audience, and contexts successfully. When I received the necessary feedback to fix my mistakes I realized that this first part of my research paper could have been better written. This allowed my to go back and correct my mistakes and add information that is essential for my research paper to flow and make sense.

https://wordpress.com/post/rowancounterintuitive.com/38187

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

My research paper demonstrates that I have completed Core Value 4 because it shows that I took a concept that has not been written before and made an academic paper in 15 weeks. My paper interprets ideas that were never written of before and references credible sources as well.

https://wordpress.com/post/rowancounterintuitive.com/36685

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

My causal argument rewrite is a good example of Core Value 5 since that has the most of my sources and I took the time to properly reference them. From this assignment, I understand how important it is to give credit towards others when they are used because it would be unjust to take someone else’s work and claim it as your own.

https://wordpress.com/post/rowancounterintuitive.com/38206