Category: Authors SP18

Causal Argument – picklerick

Reading more nonfiction literature causes your brain to sharpen. When you read informational text, you’re usually making an effort to fully comprehend the text. Whereas when you’re reading a fiction or science fiction novel, you’re likely reading for pleasure. People who just read for fun may not realize that they are not fully comprehending the text. Public schooling often fails to teach the proper way to close read text. According to Ness (2011), students are struggling with close reading at an increasing rate. This could be caused by a few things. When kids receive summer reading, it is almost always a fiction novel. This makes it easy for the students to skim through the text, gaining little to no value or skill. Caitlin Dakin says, in her thesis paper, “It is essential in today’s educational world that teachers begin to transform their classroom instruction of fiction literature into short informational complex texts to give the students the opportunity to meet the demands of the common core learning standards.” Reading informational, nonfiction text will always beat fiction.

 

References

Dakin, C. (2013). The Effects of Comprehension Through Close Reading (Unpublished masters thesis). St. John Fisher College.
https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1238&context=education_ETD_masters

Amanda Christy Brown and Katherine Schulten. (2012, December 13). Fiction or Nonfiction? Considering the Common Core’s Emphasis on Informational Text. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/fiction-or-nonfiction-considering-the-common-cores-emphasis-on-informational-text/
https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/fiction-or-nonfiction-considering-the-common-cores-emphasis-on-informational-text/

Bartlett, B. (2014, June 20). 4 Bad Side Effects of Reading Fiction According to the 19th Century. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-bartlett/4-bad-side-effects-of-rea_b_5513451.html
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-bartlett/4-bad-side-effects-of-rea_b_5513451.html

Causal Argument- Dancers

Looking at Bullies Differently

Bullying may not seem to be a huge issue in schools today but bullying is still a prevalent problem between children. In 2016 statistics were taken and resulted in more than one out of every five students or children have reported being bullied before. Students who have reported being bullied thirteen percent were made fun of by being called names or being insulted. Twelve percent dealt with rumors being spread around through the school about them, five percent were subjected to physical accounts of bullying such as being shoved, tripped and even spit on. The last five percent state that they were deliberately left out from activities. These numbers may not seem high or outrageous but bullying shouldn’t even be common. It’s normal for children to be bullied or to bully today.

Why do children bully and where do they pick up the tendencies to treat others poorly? Arguments can be made stating that when parents treat their children poorly the child tends to pick up on these behaviors and actions. In turn they begin to treat their peers poorly which leads to bullying. When children grow up with an unhealthy at home life sometimes they don’t know how to act towards others.

Bullies tend to have aggressive behaviors designed to obtain goals and these goals often begin first in their home environment. 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 over react in a verbal, emotional or physical way. Children being raised n 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 families 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.

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.

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. Furthermore, if these children are bullying others their parents often stick up for their child’s behavior and sees it as them sticking up for them self.

References

Bullying Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/stats.asp

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

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

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

Casual Argument-Nreina34

Social Media Is Exposing More Of the Police To the Public.

In today’s society, everyone believes what they read on social media.  It is the new “news” source that seems intoxicating and is convincing mostly the younger generation.  Like everything else, this is a good thing and a bad thing.  This is having a negative impact on police forces throughout the country because of the increase of the exposure they have now.  Advancements in technology give people the capability to video certain events and this is catching the police on their mistakes.  There are cameras everywhere nowadays, cell phones, iPods, patrol cars; all these places are easily accessible to start videoing.  

All of these factors pointing against the police is giving them a bad reputation which means, who is going to want to be a police officer anymore?  There have been declines in police recruits all throughout the country and the bad reputation is a contributing cause to this.  Ultimately, the media is ruining law enforcements and the way they carry out actions in their profession.  Yes, the police do make mistakes but at the end of the day, they are human beings like the rest of us.  There are going to be times where people mess up and unfortunately for them, sometimes their mistakes cause fatal happenings it is just the nature of the job.  

 

        

Works Cited

Brumfield, Ben. “Police Caught on Camera: The Good and the Bad.” CNN, Cable News Network, 21 Apr. 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/20/us/police-actions-under-scrutiny/index.html.

Libaw, Oliver Yates. “Police Face Severe Shortage of Recruits.” ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96570.

safer saws- summergirl1999

4. Consumer Safety Advocates

4A. “The inventors of a saw that senses an electrical current in a finger, as opposed to a piece of wood, and stops before serious harm is done, named their company SawStop.”

4B. Inventors invented a saw that senses flesh and stops moving before it brutally harms the person using it.

4C. Type of claim: Factual Claim.

4D. The accuracy of this quote is that the saw is an invention that tries to prevent brutal injuries.

4. Consumer Safety Advocates

4A. “Very serious injuries, including fractures and avulsions, as well as amputations, have changed the lives of tens of thousands of consumers and impacted their families forever.”

4B. Many saws have the effect of harming people.

4C. Type of claim: Evaluation.

4D. Saws are a dangerous tool to use. Many people get harmed from saws. The invention of the SawStop, is a great help to prevent injuries.

3. Government Officials.

3A. “Now federal regulators are considering whether to make Gass’ technology mandatory in the table-saw industry.”

3B. Many people are getting harmed by saws. Government officials might make it mandatory for saws to have SawStop.

3C. Type of claim: Proposal.

3D. The SawStop is a great way to help people prevent getting hurt from saws. The government might make is mandatory for saws to have SawStop.

8. News Reporters (Mother Jones Magazine)

8A. “Carlos Osorio moved to the Boston area from Colombia in 2003. Unable to find work as a computer technician, he took a job as a flooring installer. He was working at a home in Lexington, Massachusetts, in April 2005 when a piece of flooring got stuck in his Ryobi table saw and his hand slid into the blade. “There was blood on my face, my body. It was everywhere,” Osorio later testified. “I was able to see my tendons.”

8B. A man named Carlos Osorio got a job as a floor installer. He accidentally got his hand sliced by a saw.

C. Type of claim: Factual.

D. Carlos Osorio had his hand sliced by a saw.

5. Personal Injury Lawyers.

5A. “Roughly 150 liability suits have been filed against power tool companies since SawStop saws were introduced. SawStop was a “game changer,” says Osorio’s attorney, Richard Sullivan, whose firm has been involved in most of the cases.”

5B. Saws are dangerous tools, and many people have accidents with them. SawStop was a helpful invention.

5C. Type of claim: Opinion.

5D. Richard Sullivan said SawStop was a “game changer”, which is an opinion. Many people have accidents with saws, and many people have lawsuits with the companies.

Causal Claims-Dohertyk9

Single cause with a multitude of effects (X causes Y and Z):

Laws have changed to state that anyone can give or retract consent, and that it must be constantly expressed in order for consensual sex to occur.

Effects- it should be easier to bring up charges for rape, easier to convict for rape, men can now bring up charges for rape, status of virginity does not matter, how sexually active the victim is no longer matters (or should no longer matter), sexual orientation should no longer matter, race should no longer matter.

It is easier to bring up charges for rape. This is a causation fallacy. If it is easier to bring up charges for rape, then there is no explanation for why there has been a decline in police-reported rape offenses.

It is easier to convict for rape. There seems to be no data to prove whether or not it is easier to get a conviction for rape…

Men can now bring up charges for rape. The change of definition for consent is an immediate cause in this situation. Because laws were changed to become more inclusive, men are now taken into consideration and are able to bring up charges as a victim in rape cases too.

Whether or not the victim is a virgin does not matter. In this case, the change of definition for consent is an immediate cause. In the past, the victim needed to be a virgin to have been legally raped.

How sexually active the victim is no longer matters. In this case as well, the change in definition for consent is an immediate cause. Because the legal definition of consent has changed over time, even very “promiscuous” individuals can bring up charges for rape.

Sexual orientation of the victim does not matter. This is also a situation in which the cause is an immediate cause. The sexual orientation of the victim likely would have played into whether or not the person was legally raped in the past, but now holds no importance in court.

Race does not matter. This is another situation in which the cause is an immediate cause. Regardless of race or ethnicity, a person can be raped, and now, the person is able to press charges and obtain a conviction even if he/she is a minority.

Works Cited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics

Casual Argument- Myrtle View

The Black Community Lose A Part of Themselves When Black Fashion Becomes Mainstream.

1. Black fashion in the mainstream media causes cultural appropriation.

The best thing about diversity is being surrounded by people and cultures that can be similar and very different from our own. The world is becoming more and more diverse and unfortunately things like cultural appropriation do occur. Cultural appropriation is when a race steals elements from a culture in an opposing race and uses it for financial gain or re-branded ownership. During this era, black women and men are embracing their culture in a most positive way. Black fashion is one of the ways the black community speaks to the world without saying anything and will continue to inspire people. Although, this type of fashion is only acceptable when worn by someone not black. For example, in 2015 Zendaya, a famous celebrity teenager, graced the Oscars with her styled in faux dreads. Zendaya was then criticized for looking like she smelled of weed. Kylie Jenner also wore faux dreads for a Teen Vogue story and was labeled “edgy”, “beautiful”, and “raw.” The more black fashion is exposed in the mainstream the more likely it is that the black community will lose black fashion.
2. Black fashion in the mainstream media causes black people to lose their identity.

Since cultural appropriation effects how black people are first perceived it is hard for the black community to feel lost in what their identity is. A big majority of black culture is black fashion. Black fashion was and is still a major approach used by the black community to fight back against oppression and the conformity of society. The black community has to live with knowing that they exist only because of the 246 years slavery existed. They must also learn that after slavery the black community continued to feel pain because of segregation which lasted about 89 years. Through these years the black community has fought wars and forced laws all to make living a little easier. Black fashion is what makes black people happy as well as surviving subjugation and racism. This explains why black people are so passionate and interested in incidents regarding cultural appropriation towards their culture. Knowing that black people would become just like everyone else is what pushes this group of people forward to stop this from happening. If the barrier between mainstream “trends” and black fashion was to be removed many black youths would grow up confused at how to define their style and wear their style actually originates.
3. Popular white celebrities and black fashion causes cultural appropriation.

These trends in mainstream fashion do not come out of nowhere. Most of the trends in fashion are determined by popular celebrities who are seen by the media.  They are also more likely to set a “trend” if they are white. The Kardashian family is infamous for cultural appropriation since they draw inspiration from black culture and profit from it or rename a fashion in black history. Popular white celebrities wearing black fashion causes cultural appropriation which also causes black people to lose their identity in society. White people wearing black fashion does not cause them to be a victim in the negative side effects of being black.

Causal Argument- LBirch

Smoke Detectors: The Source of Fire

Smoke detectors are an essential tool for your household safety, just like a lock on your door. Detectors play a huge role in fire safety, alerting an occupant when there is smoke in a building or house and allowing them enough time to exit without harm. Detectors seem to be easy to install, and are thought to require little to no care or attention. But with that belief, most detectors can become faulty and do not operate, or can even lead to a risk of starting a fire itself. Shorted wires or bad batteries can all be leading causes of these detectors catching fire, and both of these people do not check regularly. Without the appropriate maintenance of the detectors in your home, it is possible that the thing that alerts you of a fire is actually the cause of the fire.

The smoke detectors in your house are either hard-wired, meaning their main power source is from your house, or a battery-operated  detector, which gets its power from a battery. There are many battery options for a detector, but the most common and efficient battery is the lithium battery. According to Arthur Lee’s report for the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission,  “In recent years, the market has offered battery-powered residential smoke alarms with long-life batteries of up to 10-years. The batteries are lithium 9-volt batteries…” But what is not known is the dangers of these long-life, lithium batteries. Lithium batteries do have a history of shorting out, causing a fire. 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… Quality lithium-ion batteries are safe if used as intended. However, a high number of heat and fire failures had been reported in consumer products that use non-certified batteries, and the hoverboard is an example”. Of course a hoverboard is not a smoke detector, but if the batteries are the same in the two, there is certainly a risk of a fire.

On the other side of battery-operated detectors are hard-wired detectors. As it should be noted, hard-wired detectors also use batteries, but only as a backup power source. The main source of power, however, uses wires. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), home electrical fires account for an estimated 51,000 fires each year. It is also stated that electrical distribution systems are the third leading cause of home structure fires. In an article published by CRM Risk, lists many ways a fire can be started due to wiring. Physical damage to wires or other electrical equipment can cause a fire and installations can also become damaged or deteriorate with age. Overloaded circuits used with large fuses and circuit breakers can result in overheated wires, breakdown of insulation and eventual short circuits. These circuits will produce high amounts of heat, which can lead to fire.

Structure fires are already a concern for homeowners and to add to their worries, an safety device that has been known to help may turn into a time bomb. The wrong wiring or a bad 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 things in a home. But you may need to be concerned about even the most object, like a smoke detector.

 

References

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

Lee, A. (2002, June 28). Preliminary Test Results on Lithium Batteries Used In Resident Smoke Alarms. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/lithiumfinal.PDF

 

Casual Argument- Ugandanknuckles

 

SHMHBS

If I told you that whenever you were sad or felt bad about yourself, you could just sit down and chant some magic words to be happy, would you believe me? There are people who actually think you can do just that. While the practice is rather old and dates back to the early modern era, possibly earlier, we know now that there is no such thing as magic.

An excerpt from an article written by Lori Majewski on the benefits of mantras titled “9 Empowering Mantras to Shift Your Mindset,” will help give you can idea of how bs the whole “mantra” movement is:

I didn’t “get” Kaur or her mantras right away, though. The ones on her album Feeling Good Today! initially struck me as too simple, too obvious, and, dare I say, hokey. “Feeling good today, I am feeling good today,” she sings on the title track. “I am happy, I am good. I am happy, I am good,” she intones on “I Am Happy.”

Still, I kept the songs on in the background as I went about making myself breakfast, during my morning yoga practice, and throughout the workday. Ever since, I’ve started most days singing along to Kaur’s mantras. Whenever I get up on the wrong side of the bed, a dose of “I am happy, I am good” right-sides my mood; it helps me to approach the work day with confidence and anticipation. Far from corny, I now see these, yes, simple phrases—and mantras in general—as quite powerful.

She has no evidence to back up the idea that these songs that sound like something off of a children’s CD were the reason she felt better, nor does give a specific example. She could just be trying to promote Snatum Kaur’s CD as part of a business deal. Majewski and many others subscribe to the idea of chanting or mantras as a way to feel better, rather than finding something more effective.

Hard facts, however have proven her to be wrong- mostly. A study done by The University of Waterloo and the The University of New Brunswick shows that the only people mantras actually help are the people who don’t need them. People who already have high self-esteems or feel good about themselves don’t need to feel better. People like to try and prescribe people with poor self-image/self-esteem cure-all mantras, but it has the inverse effect. It doesn’t help that a highly publicized and praised figure promotes this system. Oprah Winfrey is a proponent of the mantra movement for anyone and everyone, but I doubt she’s ever done much research on the topic.

Sas Petherick, a well known self-help blogger from New Zealand, explains why mantras are bullshit fairly well.

Our super-smart brains see straight through us wanting to want to believe something we actually don’t.

So you might find yourself saying a version of ‘I am: loved, whole, fit, abundant, free, successful, strong, beautiful, joyful, unlimited, powerful, creative, expansive, sexy, thriving, rich… I am enough!’ *ends with dramatic flourish*

Except actually: its Lady Moon Time, he’s left a wet towel on the bed AGAIN, you suspect Little Miss might be being bullied at school, the car needs new tyres, you have four missed calls from Mother, no pension plan, your favourite frock is feeling a bit tight, you’ve spent three days ignoring the ominous letter from The Bank, you can’t have a family holiday this year without extending the overdraft, you’ve found yourself having a tiny cry in the loo after every meeting with that bloke from sales who makes you feel about nine years old….

Its no wonder that after a few days of repeating an affirmation, we start to think – actually, this is bullshit.

When our reality is in such contrast to our mantra – those  hopeful thoughts of a different result – we end up feeling trapped in a circuitous loop of repeating the same crappy patterns.

You are not going mad – this is exactly what is happening. Because our brains are hard-wired to look for patterns and make connections. So when thing X happens we believe it will result in outcome 56 – we focus on the evidence that reinforces what we think about X.

We expect these things to work, but then our lives prove the opposite. We need to confront the issues in our lives before we attempt to try to move passed them. Sitting there repeating that you’re a good person isn’t gonna help if you’re an asshole to everyone around you, and telling yourself that you can be successful is useless if you’re not gonna take steps to try and better yourself. At the end of the day, action speak louder than words, but if you do manage to get your actions right, some words are alright.

References

Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. E., & Lee, J. W. (2009). Positive Self-Statements. Psychological Science, 20(7), 860-866. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02370.x

Majewski, L. (2015, March 27). 9 Empowering Mantras to Shift Your Mindset. Retrieved February 26, 2018, from http://www.sonima.com/meditation/mantras/

The stuck record: why mantras feel like bullshit. (2014, August 21). Retrieved February 26, 2018, from http://www.saspetherick.com/the-stuck-record-why-mantras-feel-like-bullshit/

Causal Argument—dudeintheback

The prescription of Adderall will lead to a lifetime of addiction, and many other social problems

In today’s society, we trust everything that a doctor tells us. We follow their prescriptions, and advice because we were paying them to give us the best answers to our illnesses. In most cases, doctors want what is best for their patents, but doctors unfortunately do not make their money from treating healthy patients. Also, unfortunately, our society’s view of what truly helps is medication. The prescription of medication gives us reassurance, and in many cases, the medication works for the prescribed individual. 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, a whole new can of worms is popped open with its own problems. Looking at the prescription of Adderall, an ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ) medication, the drugs Addictive properties, and perceivable superhuman brain ability is just what doctors want in the medication.

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. Describing ADHD as a made up mental illness would be wrong, since there are definitely cases of people whose problems cannot be subdued thorough punishment, and behavioral teaching. The problem is, a doctor, or a parent (sometimes both) agree on the  prescription of medication as the solution to their child’s classroom disturbances. What they should realize, is that with these amazing results of astounding performance, and a quilled, drugged up child, brings nothing but harm in the future.

We cannot idly sit by to a prescription that changes our immature youths brain. 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. As a parent, we want what’s best for our kid. We cannot deny the therapeutic effects of Adderall onto those with ADHD. In return, we must also realize that these symptoms of ADHD can disappear over time. 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”. The problem with this thinking of solving the problem at the beginning, or first signs of ADHD, is that the prescription can be fully avoided by letting a child figure out the consequences of their actions. As their symptoms perceivably get better, an ADHD diagnosed person is already on that daily regiment of popping that miracle pill each day. 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.

The love of Adderall is not just due to Adderall’s unnatural performance enhancing, but its extremely addictive properties as well. 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 said drug. In a first person account of one womans 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. Amazing right? Why would someone want to throw this superhuman opportunity away. Simple, they can’t. Once someone builds up this notion of only achieving that success from the medication, they will make the connection of    pill = success, and no pill = 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 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 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. When you make a child feel like he is sick, and needs the medication to be normal, this messes up the kid for the rest of his life. Putting him 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.

This topic first spiked my interest when I started living with an Adderall addict. 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. It is not natural to have something change your performance so much. The benefits of the prescription (which there are many positive effects of the drug) should not even be considered if there is potential for a lifetime or dependency.

 

 

Work cited

https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/adderall/adderall-safe/#gref

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

 

Causal Argument First Draft – PaulaJean5

The World Around You is Creating a Biased Version of Yourself

Today, the placebo effect has been a big part of pharmaceutical trials. Placebos and their effect really only have had a place in medical facilities. But, once you dive in to the placebo effect and the way it affects our mind, there is a whole different side of placebos and the way we view them.

We are affected by unconscious forces 24/7. You may randomly be in a bad mood and not know why. This is most likely due to something you heard or saw without really taking notice to it. If you walked past a couple fighting, you may have noticed it and then let the thoughts pass. The feelings may have stayed with you , though. Although these two individuals arguing did not make you directly upset, you may have heard a word or phrase that subconsciously triggered a negative feeling in your mind. This may be because of certain stereotypes or different experiences in your life.

One study included two classes taking a standardized test. One class was asked to confirm their gender beforehand and one was asked to after. The class that got asked prior to taking the test had very interesting results. The girls in that particular class did worse than the girls in the other class while the boys did better than the others. This was due to stereotypes against certain genders. The females may have subconsciously felt inferior and created a lower self esteem before the test which led to a lower average grade than the other class. The males could have been reassured or had a boost in self esteem due to a male’s role in society being stereotypically and in some cases actually superior to a female’s. This was such a simple question yet had such an effect on their actions and results.

A lot of the things around you really impact what and how you do things.

References

S. (2011, June 02). Asking Students to Confirm Their Gender Before a Test Leads to Lower Scores for Girls, Higher for Boys. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from https://www.themarysue.com/gender-in-test-taking/