Single Mother Upbrings her Child Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Single Mother Upbrings her Child - Case Study Example She is a high school graduate, with no college or vocational training. As a result, her jobs have always been minimum wage, unskilled jobs. Currently, she is employed as an inventory clerk in a building supplies warehouse. She has fairly good benefits at this job, including some health insurance for herself and her child. An incident happened approximately a week ago; Amy picked her daughter up at day care after work and she needed to stop at the grocery store before going home. While at the grocery, Angie was misbehaving and was taking items off the shelf and putting them into the cart. Despite several verbal reprimands, Angie continued to disobey her mother. Amy then slapped Angie’s hands making her to begin wailing thus attracting the attention of several customers in the store. After purchasing her groceries, Amy pushed Angie to her car. As she was putting Angie into her car seat, she noticed something protruding from one of the pockets of Angie’s dress. When she pu lled it out, she realized that Angie had taken candy bars and gum from the shelves next to the checkout line and put them in her pockets. Amy wanted to make sure that her daughter understood that taking things without paying for them is wrong as it amounted to stealing. So, she shook her several times, slapped her hands, and then put her hand over Angie’s mouth when she began screaming. Angie then bit her mother’s hand, prompting her to instinctively slap her across the face. Even though she did not mean to hurt her, everything was happening very fast. Angie suddenly became very quiet, so Amy shut the backdoor to the car and drove home. After 10 minutes of driving, she realized that she had not heard from Angie since they left the store parking lot prompting her to glance in the back seat where Angie appeared asleep. Upon arriving home, she realized that Angie was unconscious, not asleep. She then took Angie to the house and tried to wake her up but to no avail. She pa nicked and called 911. When the ambulance arrived, she gave an explanation to the paramedics that Angie had fallen and must have hit her head against something. Angie was initially admitted to the hospital for observation, but she remains there still with a possibility of a concussion or fractured skull. Legal Issues 1. Can Amy be arrested for child abuse if someone had found out that she had hit Angie the previous night in the parking lot of the grocery store and reported to the police? Also, since Angie has not gotten better, Amy is afraid that if the hospital finds out she hit Angie, they may report her to the police and yet she never intended to hurt her daughter, and she was just disciplining her. 2. Can Amy be answerable for child abuse on the basis of giving false information (about the incident at the parking lot) to the hospital staff, since Angie is not getting better after Amy said that Angie hit her head and yet the doctors suspect that Angie may be suffering from a skul l fracture or a concussion? 3. Can Amy loose child custody to Angie’s father whom they have not been in communication with for the past two years since their daughter is in hospital and she is frightened that someone might contact Angie’s father especially if she is arrested for child abuse? Non- Legal Issue 1. Is Amy in need of counseling as pertains to her anger management strategies, disciplining initiatives, and effects of alcohol abuse in parenting since she had been drinking with her friends that night before she picked Angie? Discussion Amy can be arrested for child abuse Child abuse is defined as mental and physical injury, negligent treatment of the child or exploitation and also inculcates sexual abuse of a child.

Ultrasound examination of deep vein thrombosis during pregnancy Essay

Ultrasound examination of deep vein thrombosis during pregnancy - Essay Example Deep venous thrombosis was classically diagnosed by venography, which has its own problems in a pregnant patient. Recently with development of suitable technology, noninvasive methods such as plethysmography and specifically Doppler ultrasonography are being increasingly used to diagnose clinically silent deep venous thrombosis in pregnant individuals. The clinical criteria of deep venous thrombosis are rarely apparent in many cases, and some actual cases of DVT are termed as superficial phlebitis (Chan et al., 2002). Thus a diagnostic modality that can establish the diagnosis would be very necessary due to initiate management and prevent complications which may be detrimental to the fetus and life-threatening to the mother. Mortality rates of thromboembolism in pregnancy have been reported to be 15% in untreated patients and less than 1% in treated patients. This substantiates the grounds for establishing an early diagnosis and treatment based on that. It is quite evident that the r easons the patients remain untreated are ill-defined clinical manifestations, need for a very index of suspicion, lack of guideline regarding routine screening examinations for DVT in pregnant women, unavailability of a dependable and reliable noninvasive test, consequent failure to establish the diagnosis, and resultant failure to initiate treatment, all of which culminate into death of 15% pregnant women affected with DVT, much of which can be prevented with the use of a noninvasive and easy to use diagnostic imaging procedure (Ray and Chan, 1999). Early diagnosis and early intervention remain the clues to successful outcome specially in pregnant women since missing the diagnosis has potentially fatal implications. Over the top of that misdiagnoses have implications of potentially unnecessary risks of anticoagulation therapy such as teratogenic effects of drugs in the first trimester and the risk of fetal

Negative Aspects Of Nuclear Power Plants

Negative Aspects Of Nuclear Power Plants There are many different types of power sources across the world that produce electricity in many different ways. There are methods that use the power of nature, such as: hydroelectric power which uses the power of water to spin a turbine, windmills that use the power of the wind to spin a generator, and solar power which uses the heat from the sun. There are also man-made methods such as: power plants that burn coal, generators that burn gasoline, and plants that burn wood to use the heat from the fires to produce electricity. There is also nuclear power, which uses the heat from a radioactive isotope to produce electricity. Nuclear power is formed by energy harnessed from a natural resource. It is produced in power plants or power houses. Nuclear power is efficient, uses fewer natural resources, and adds a minimal amount of pollution to the atmosphere (Wilcox 1996). In the same respects, nuclear power can be very dangerous and produce long term negative effects to the environment. Radioactivity is extremely harmful, not only to the environment, but also to the people who come in contact with it. This has long made it feared by people who live around nuclear power plants and made these power plants a target for terrorists. The are at least two incidents involving nuclear power plants that had gone wrong within recent history. On April 26, 1987, Chernobyl nuclear facilitys number four reactor sustained catastrophic damage when a routine safety test went wrong. An explosion in the number four reactor spewed radioactive material miles into the air creating a radioactive situation 100 times worse than Hiroshima. The immediate death toll was 31, while thousands will have to live with the long term effects of the radioactivity (Chernobyl accident..2011). On March 28, 1979, Three Mile Island nuclear facility experienced an overheat condition in one of their nuclear reactors when operators noticed an increase in water flow to the reactor exceeding normal levels. They attempted to correct the problem, but only succeeded in making it worse. The incident was contained with minor exposure of radioactivity to the environment but not until after the radioactive fuel rods melted through the bottom of their HYPERLINK ../../../../../../../bio/Jennifer-Rosenberg-7900.htmcontainers. During the process some radioactivity escaped into the atmosphere (Three mile..2010). The examples of the disasters above show both the instability and destructive nature of the uranium used in nuclear power plants. Uranium and plutonium, the byproduct of nuclear fission, which is the process used to create nuclear energy, and are extremely unstable if not maintained perfectly in the correct conditions. The instability of these two radioactive elements can lead to both dangerous and destructive outcomes. As witnessed in the Three Mile Island disaster, when uranium is not properly cooled it can reach temperatures high enough to allow it to melt through its container causing the possible release of radioactive material into the environment. The outcome from the accidental release of radioactive material from a nuclear power plant into the environment is far more destructive and long term than the release of other energy producing materials, such as coal, oil, or other fossil fuels. Clean up is also a lot more difficult and hazardous. The effects of the release of radioa ctive material can last several billion years and can forever change the environment where it occurred. The after effects of an accidental release of fossil fuels, such as oil, from a typical power plant is far less dangerous (Diehl 2004). The wildlife repopulates and regrows quicker from the accidental release of fossil fuels than from the accidental release of nuclear energy. This shows how nuclear energy is dangerous to the health of the environment. The mining process of uranium for a nuclear power plant causes the same environmental effects as the mining of coal, on a smaller scale. The mining process also produces lead, a hazardous material known to cause cancer, birth defects, and other human and environmental problems. Uranium, unlike many other sources of energy, such as wind, water, and sun, is a non renewable resource. During mining, to keep ground water from entering the underground mine, uranium contaminated water is often pumped into local rivers and lakes, polluting that water as well. After the mine is shut down, there is a great risk of ground water becoming contaminated. Waste rock which is rock removed from the mines that does not have enough usable material in it is removed from the mine and piled above the surface. This material usually contains higher than normal amounts of radiation. This waste rock is often turned into gravel used for cement and paving roads, spreading radioactive material across large areas (Diehl 2004). This shows how even the mining process is very destructive and dangerous to the environment. While producing fewer greenhouse gases, nuclear power can hardly be considered an efficient, effective, cleaner alternative to the production of electricity. When compared to the amount of energy produced from the burning of fossil fuels, we see that the amount of power from a nuclear power plant is lower than that created from the burning of fossil fuels. It takes far more time and resources for nuclear power to equal the production from other sources such as fossil fuels (Linnerud 2011). In the increase in demand for energy from the nuclear power plants, the green house emissions also rise with the increase in production. This shows the inefficiency of nuclear power and the increase of greenhouse pollution. This proves that the increase of nuclear power in place of fossil fuels does not provide a reduction in climate changing effects during the production of energy (Lloyd 2006). Resources Chernobyl Nuclear Accident [homepage on the Internet]. World Nuclear Association; 2011 Mar..[cited 2011 Mar. 21]. Available from http://www.world-nuclear.org Diehl P. Uranium Mining and Milling Wastes: An Introduction. [homepage on the Internet]. 2004 Aug.15..[cited 2011 Mar. 21]. Available from http://www.wise-uranium.org Linnerud K. The Impact of Climate Change on Nuclear Power Supply, Energy Journal 2011; 32 (1): 149-168. Lloyd B. Nuclear Power and the Greenhouse Effect [homepage on the Internet]. Darwin (NT): Parlamentary Library Service; 2006. [cited 2011 Mar. 21]. Available from http://www.ntl.nt.gov.au. Three Mile Island Accident [homepage on the Internet]. World Nuclear Association; 2011 Mar..[cited 2010 Jan.]. Available from http://www.world-nuclear.org Wilcox C. Powerhouse. Minneapolis (MN): Carolrhoda Books, Inc. 1996. 48p.

illegal :: essays research papers

Insider Trading "Insider trading" is a term that most investors have heard and usually associate with illegal conduct. But the term actually includes both legal and illegal conduct. The legal version is when corporate insiders—officers, directors, and employees—buy and sell stock in their own companies. When corporate insiders trade in their own securities, they must report their trades to the SEC. For more information about this type of insider trading and the reports insiders must file, please read "Forms 3, 4, 5" in our Fast Answers databank. Illegal insider trading refers generally to buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, while in possession of material, nonpublic information about the security. Insider trading violations may also include "tipping" such information, securities trading by the person "tipped," and securities trading by those who misappropriate such information. Examples of insider trading cases that have been brought by the SEC are cases against: Corporate officers, directors, and employees who traded the corporation's securities after learning of significant, confidential corporate developments; Friends, business associates, family members, and other "tippees" of such officers, directors, and employees, who traded the securities after receiving such information; Employees of law, banking, brokerage and printing firms who were given such information to provide services to the corporation whose securities they traded; Government employees who learned of such information because of their employment by the government; and Other persons who misappropriated, and took advantage of, confidential information from their employers. Because insider trading undermines investor confidence in the fairness and integrity of the securities markets, the SEC has treated the detection and prosecution of insider trading violations as one of its enforcement priorities. The SEC adopted new Rules 10b5-1 and 10b5-2 to resolve two insider trading issues where the courts have disagreed. Rule 10b5-1 provides that a person trades on the basis of material nonpublic information if a trader is "aware" of the material nonpublic information when making the purchase or sale. The rule also sets forth several affirmative defenses or exceptions to liability. The rule

Evaluation of Evolutionary Theory of Altruism and the Role of Genes-a Modern View Essay

Evolutionary theory holds that organisms with the strongest genes for survival and reproduction do, in fact, survive and reproduce most successfully. They thus multiply their genes most widely, spreading the advantageous genes through whole populations. Ceaseless repetitions of the process can gradually transform species into totally new ones. Such a world seems to have no place for self-sacrificing types, who presumably couldn’t spread their genes very far. Several competing theories attempt to solve the puzzle. One is that groups with cooperative members out compete groups with selfish ones, and thus spread their niceness genes, in a scaled-up version of the process by which genetically favored individuals trump other individuals. Variants of this notion have gained popularity in the past decade, although it fell from favor earlier, as it has some trouble explaining how altruism got a foothold in the first place. The origin of altruism and cooperation is an enigma because evolutionary theory seems to predict such behavior should be rare or nonexistent. Yet some forms of altruism, conscious or not, are widely documented in creatures as humble as insects and bacteria. Evolutionary theory attempts to explain the evolution of aiding others in two general ways: 1. It argues that genes favoring altruism can spread in future generations if their costs to altruists’ personal reproductive success is outweighed by the benefits in reproductive success of altruists’ relatives carrying copies of the same genes (‘kin selection’). The ratio of these indirect benefits through relatives, versus costs to oneself, needs to be greater the less closely the altruist is related to those helped – i. . , the lower the likelihood the altruist will be helping copies of their genes in the other. 2. It proposes that genes favoring altruism could spread if the altruism is sufficiently reciprocated (‘reciprocal altruism’) (Axelrod, R. & Hamilton, 1981). Biological Altruism versus Psychological Altruism Charles Darwin theorized that all species behave in ways that increase their chances for survival. Often, this survival instinct expresses itself as selfish behavior. Humans (and some animals), however, frequently ignore their personal interests and help others—a behavior called altruism. In volutionary biology, an organism is said to behave altruistically when its behavior benefits other organisms, at a cost to itself. The costs and benefits are measured in terms of reproductive fitness, or expected number of offspring. So by behaving altruistically, an organism reduces the number of offspring it is likely to produce itself, but boosts the number that other organisms are likely to produce. This biological notion of altruism is not identical to the everyday concept. In everyday parlance, an action would only be called ‘altruistic’ if it was done with the conscious intention of helping another. But in the biological sense there is no such requirement. Indeed, some of the most interesting examples of biological altruism are found among creatures that are not capable of conscious thought at all, e. g. insects. Altruistic behavior is common throughout the animal kingdom, particularly in species with complex social structures. For example, Vervet monkeys give alarm calls to warn fellow monkeys of the presence of predators, even though in doing so they attract attention to themselves, increasing their personal chance of being attacked. In social insect colonies (ants, wasps, bees and termites), sterile workers devote their whole lives to caring for the queen, constructing and protecting the nest, foraging for food, and tending the larvae. Such behavior is maximally altruistic: sterile workers obviously do not leave any offspring of their own — so have personal fitness of zero — but their actions greatly assist the reproductive efforts of the queen. Human altruism goes far beyond that which has been observed in the animal world. Among animals, fitness-reducing acts that confer fitness benefits on other individuals are largely restricted to kin groups (Trivers, 1971)(Axelrod & Hamilton, 1981). Where human behavior is concerned, the distinction between biological altruism, defined in terms of fitness consequences, and ‘real’ altruism, defined in terms of the agent’s conscious intentions to help others, does make sense. (Sometimes the label ‘psychological altruism’ is used instead of ‘real’ altruism. ) What is the relationship between these two concepts? They appear to be independent in both directions ( Sober, 1994). An action performed with the conscious intention of helping another human being may not affect their biological fitness at all, so would not count as altruistic in the biological sense. Most often, evolutionary psychologists explain the presence of social behavior like altruism in humans and other animals by reference to kin selection. Kin selection is the idea that natural selective pressures can favor a gene if it provides a trait that makes one’s relatives more likely to survive because that relative likely carries many of the same ( Dawkins, 1976) . Ultimately, I tend to find arguments for kin selection unconvincing for a whole host of reasons, among them: There’s seldom any consideration of the neural mechanisms that might be responsible, only the assumption that the ‘gene’ will cause altruistic behavior if it is favorable to the gene’s transmission and the most recent findings with the function of neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and norepinepinephrine along with others prove there is no validity to kin selection and giving importance to individual affect and emotions including the feeling of euphoria in being altruist. ) An inability to explain why, if natural selection cares about our close relatives so much, our ‘altruism gene’ couldn’t be much more selective about who we feel altruistic about . ) The kin selection perspective tends to take an adaptationist view of natural selection, assuming that organic variation can easily produce candidate ‘adaptations’ to suit any environment and that all traits of an organism are necessarily adaptive (when, in fact, it’s a whole organism that is selected, not each individual trait, and traits are often connected genetically so that selection might be acting on another trait produced by the same gene) (Haldane , 1955). ) The problem of how closely related we need to be to kin for our altruism to really be a selective advantage if we are in competition with each other is frightening (Goldschmidt, 2006). The evolutionary process can generate behaviors that can be experienced in the evolutionary process but whose meaning can be completely detached from its original biological motivation. Let’s say that the evolutionary process produced a set of prompts in females, say big breast, which at the time were a sign of a woman’s ability to produce more milk for her babies (more kids they can produce and feed, the more genes will propagate, so men instinctively desire to want to mate with these females ). Lets now imagine that these females became sterile and the obsession for big breast had nothing to do with its original motivation. Taking from such observations we can say that a behavior which probably has been natural selection in the evolutionary process as Darwinian view suggests. However the same behavior may develop new motivations and may lose original evolutionary purpose altogether. For instance, it is entirely possible that pleasurable sex originated because organisms that â€Å"felt good† having sex had more of it and thus passed on more genes. Sex today serves entirely different role and in most cases is entirely unrelated to childbearing in humans. To trace altruistic behaviors in humans to evolutionary history based entirely on Darwinian concepts of reproductive success does not grab the trends in its entirety. It is possible that throughout the course of evolution certain nervous systems bound tightly with others for reproductive success reasons. However, it should be kept in mind that altruism is a set of behavioral concepts that originated in the things we can study and use as objects of exploration. True altruism can likely be a rewarding behavior that has little to do with its original biological altruism. Certain behaviors which give a greater chance of propagating our genes are likely to make us feel good so that people who feel good about such actions may have more offsprings. If a mother felt good about saving her kid, it is possible her brain is organized in a way that she feels good saving another kid who is not hers. However, we can say nothing about the question of why it makes us feel good, unless we undertake the task of finding the mechanism of both the biological evolutionary reasons as well as cultural components which caused the changes in the brain. The brain is structured in such a way that the feeling of compassion can be felt within its manifestation (limbic system, prefrontal cortex along with neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine)(Moore, 1984). We can say that there are lot of levels of organization between original evolutionary purpose and its eventual expression. Some of the most fundamental questions concerning evolutionary origins of altruism and selfishness need to be dealt with a multifactorial approach. Experimental evidence indicates that human altruism is a powerful force and is unique in the animal world. However, there is much individual heterogeneity among altruists . Current gene-based evolutionary theories cannot explain all important patterns of human altruism, pointing towards the importance of both theories of cultural evolution as well as gene–culture co-evolution. For evolutionary scientists, altruism is one of the great mysteries: it feels good, is linked to better mental and physical health, and is intrinsic to who we are, yet no one can quite explain how it evolved. The Feel-Good Chemicals and Altruism Now a new study suggests that altruism may be partly guided by genes that regulate the neurotransmitter dopamine — the one linked to craving, pleasure, and reward. Dopamine, referred to as a neurotransmitter in the brain’s reward mechanism, can be artificially released at very high levels by drugs such as heroin and cocaine, leading to euphoria. If altruism operates along the same lines, it would mean that the altruist gets the same feeling, albeit at much lower volume, as a cocaine user. The feeling becomes an incentive to help others again. Dopamine is widespread in the brain as well as the rest of the nervous system and plays a very important role in pleasure, love, libido, motivation, salience and integration of thoughts and feelings. This neurotransmitter plays a critical role in the control of movement. It has a stimulating effect on the heart, the circulation, the rate of metabolism, and is able to mobilize many of the body’s energy reserves. It helps to modulate brain activity, control coordination and movement, and regulate the flow of information to different areas of the brain. Dopamine is believed to release chemicals that allow us to feel pleasure (e. g. , endorphins). A massive disturbance of dopamine regulation in the brain can result in a person no longer being able to respond emotionally or express his or her feelings in an appropriate way (e. g. , schizophrenia). Our brains release favorable hits of dopamine when we engage in selfless behavior. Some individuals may be more genetically predisposed to altruism than others and that could be based on individual neurochemistry. This can be explained with the evidence from neuroscience. It’s said that altruism results in elevated serotonin levels as well. Serotonin happens to be the most widely studied neurotransmitter since it helps regulate a vast range of psychological and biological functions. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) was first identified in 1948. The wide extent of psychological functions regulated by serotonin involves mood, anxiety, arousal, aggression, impulse control, and thinking abilities. Other brain chemicals, such as dopamine and norepinephrine, also influence mood and arousal along with serotonin. It is said that altruism results in elevated serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and also a neuromodulator for dopamine. It can mobilize the energy reserve of the body and aid in maintaining dopamine function in brain circuits of mood and thought; mesocortical and mesolimbic pathways. Dopamine has 5 receptors and subsets of dopamine genes vary in the general population, and the study finds that a specific, common subtype is highly linked to altruistic behavior. The research, conducted at Hebrew University and other centers, was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry in 2005. Psychologists and geneticists looked at 354 families with more than one child, measuring the individuals’ tendencies to ignore their own needs and serve the needs of others — a trait associated within dopamine genes. They then analyzed the individuals’ dopamine receptors for well-known variations, or genotypes. Their fascinating findings: the most common genetic subtype — known as the D4. 4 — was significantly linked to altruistic behavior, regardless of whether the receiver was a relative. But in general, say the scientists, this gives us the first hard evidence that many of us are indeed â€Å"hardwired† for giving. It may be that generosity feels good because it is rewarded by spikes in dopamine. The scientists even speculate that further research could reveal variations in dopamine genes that favor generosity to kin, and others that favor giving to all and thus these neurotransmitter studies give us latest information regarding both an excellent counter-argument to the ‘selfish gene’ hypothesis as well as a much more persuasive account of the possible evolutionary origins of altruism than the typical explanation like kin selection (Neimark, 2006).

Effects of Divorce on Children Essay

A divorce is a law that ends all the legal relationship of married couple, except those that are written in the decree of divorce. Parenting arrangement, spousal support, financial obligations, payments of debts, division of property, and support of the children are the things that can be included in the divorce decree. (Divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A court of law should certify a divorce because legalities are needed to dissolve a marriage. The court decides on certain matters that can lead to years of hearing, as well as to a stressful and expensive experience. (Divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Studies show that 27 percent of Americans have been divorced and the term â€Å"till death do us part† is becoming less likely. 43 percent of first marriages also end up in separation within 15 years. Second marriages also have lesser chnace of survival than first marriages. It was also found out that couples who married early are less likely to survive the marriage than those who married at older age. (Divorce Doesn’t Last)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For many years, it has always been a debate of whether or not the parents should work out the relationship for the sake of the children. A lot of people stand by the fact that when a relationship starts to fall, there’s no other way but down. But is it really worth it to stay in a married life for the sake of the children? Or is it better to part ways instead of staying in a troubled relationship? According to Michael Cochrane, a lawyer specializzing in family laws, there are two reactions which the children fall into when it comes to the divorce of their paraents. The first one are the super-good children who believes that by showing a good behavior, their parents will finally be together again as a reward for them being good. The other one is the exact opposite, those that tries to get the attention of their parents by acting negatively. (Are Your Kids At Risk?)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When divorce enter into the married life, it will never be a question of whether the children will be hurt, but a question of how badly they will be hurt. (Are Your Kids At Risk)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children of divorced couples are often affected by the conflicts that the separation brings. Their physical, moral, spiritual, and social growths are affected by this vicious phenomenon that seems to be the trend among married couples nowadays. Their value formation and moral identity suffers the most and their fear of the future starts to develop. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fear, sadness, anger, confusion, worry, yearning, feeling of rejection, depression, conflicting loyalties, low self confidence, loneliness, high anxiety, and increased suicidal instincts are immediately felt by children upon the breakup of their parents. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Studies also show that if divorce occurs when the children are between 12 to 15 years old, their tendency is to react by attempting to speed up their growth, or to avoid growing up. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A national survey among 20,000 adolescents found out that those children with divorced parents did worse than those who came from an intact family when it comes to the sense of personal control, happiness, friendship, and trust.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Boys are are also more likely to show or feel depression than girls. Substance abuse dependence, earlier involvement in sexual activities, depression and hostile behavior are more likely to follow after a divorce. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce) Childrens of divorced parents also suffer from neglect or abuse. Child abuse is related to violent crime and deliquency, and divorce is germane in the background of an abused child. Mothers and fathers who are divorced tend to remarry but it can only worsen the problem because the step-parent usually continue abusing the children. The rate of sexual abuse among daughters and step-fathers are also very high, compared with biological abuse of fathers who are in intact families. Two professors from McMasters University in Canada, Professors Martin Daly and Margo Wilson, report that young children are more likely to be killed at the hands of step-parents. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children of divorced parents can experience varied effects. From short-term to long term, and from mild to severe. Although not all children of divorced parents experience difficulties, a lot of children are still negatively affected by the feeling of rejection. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Over a million American children suffer their parent’s divorce every year. Furthermore, children with divorced parents experienced the separation even before they reach their 18th birthday. The effects of divorce can also be a lifetime experience for the children involved. It can last from the day their parents separated, to their adulthood. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to recent findings, children lose their contact with their fathers and are often not close with their mothers, and have difficulties adjusting with their step families. It was also found out that boys have a harder time in emotionally adjusting than girls. Studies also showed that 20-25 percent of children with divorced parents suffer more damage compared with the 10 percent from intact families. (We’re Successful and Hurt)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children of divorced parents suffer a great deal when it comes to their emotions. Emotional difficulties are experience by these children. Divorce leads a child in being self-destructive, therefore contributing to his poor image. Children of divorce develops very low self-esteem, anxiety, grief, and depression which can lead to an early loss of virginity, less desire to be a parent, and higher divorce rate when they enter marriage. This is now becoming a vicious cycle. Children of divorce also tend to be engage in divorce later in their adult life. Divorce also reduces the capacity of a child to be productive because of the lack of will to work. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Younger children, especially those below 5 years old, are more susceptible to emotional conflicts that occur when their parents separated. They are often associated with problems of younger children such as bedwetting. On the other hand, older children often try to look for love away from home therefore withdrawing themselves from home life. A study by Judith Wallerstein says that when divorce occurs on the parents of the children between six to eight, a huge segment of children experinece severe sadness and a constant need for encouragement in their everyday work. Anxieties for them are very high when it comes to personal commitment when they are older, especially when they enter into a maried life. Other studies suggest that college students with divorce parents have low self-confidence and low self-esteem. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Divorce can lead to increase rates of suicides and suicidal tendencies, increased risks for problems regarding health, and increased burdens when it comes to the emotional, psychiatric, and behavioral factor. The psychological stability of a lot of children can be chaotic when parents part ways. Suicide is very high on children with divorced parents. More often, these children feel alone and neglected and the only way to escape their depression is by killing themselves. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children of divorced parents are also having problems when it comes to their social role in the society. They tend to isolate themselves from other people because of the feeling of hopelessness.   They are very much concerned about the betrayal of the one they love when it comes to their romantic relationship because they fear that what happened to their parents can also happen to them. They worry about being hurt or abandoned by their partner in life. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The parent’s divorce has a very high impact on the learning capacity and educational performance of the children as well as with their capacity to be an achiever. Educational difficulties are also experience by children who have divorced parents. They often show a slow learning capacity, and they perform poorly compared with other children. They also tend to repeat a grade level and drop out rates among these children are also very high. Divorce hinders learning by distracting the children’s way of thinking. This is because children tend to think more of the problem of their parents than that of their schooling. Because of its neghative effect on a happy home life, divorce can weaken a child’s capacity to learn. According to a study by the Kent State University in Ohio, children with divorced parents often have difficulty when it comes to studying compared with those that have a two-parent family. Cognitive scores are low for young children and math scores are badly performed to those children who do not have a father. On the other hand, there is an increase in the verbal capabilities of daughters when they are with their fathers. And even the most deterrent work on math and readin skills cannot eliminate the low performance at school among children with divorced parents. Furthermore, these children also have difficulties in relating with their peers and teachers. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Health problems are also experienced by children of divorced parents. The separation of the parents can also cause harmful physical health effects, and even worst, the length of a child’s life. A study shows that children whose parents parted ways before they reach their 21st birthday, can actually shortened the life sapn of those children by an average of four years. There is also a higher mortality rates for those children who have divorced parents than those who do not have. Another study also states that the mortality rates actually increases when the divorce occurs when a child does not yet reach his fourth birthday. Included in the health effects of of divorce during childhood are the larger increase in the rates of injury and higher asthmatic tendencies. Another study suggests that the negative effects of divorce on health did not subside even when a divorced parent remarried. Even Swedish researchers found that the differences in hospitalization rates and health risks are evident after they control for the social and family background. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Negative eveidences of divorce is indeed observable nowadays. And such indication of the negativity of divorce should be reason enough for the Americans to speak out and voice their views regarding this issue, or else, we will continue to experinec social putrefy.   Policymakers should never forget to always look at both sides of divorce and never forget to consider the welfare of the children because they are the primary victims of this social issue. Marriage education should be expanded as to help the couples to save their marriage. (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The family is indeed the basic unit of the society. It is where children first gain confidence and it is their very first school. The parents are their first teachers and their siblings are their first friends. The importance of a family is indeed very significant in contributing to the ddevlopment of the society. Intact families are more likely to develop productive citizens than those with parents who are separated. Although it is safe to conclude that intact families tend to develop good better children, it doesn’t mean that children of divorced parents cannot produce productive citizens. The growth of a child depends on the upbringing of a parent, divorced, or not. How the parents handle the issue of divorce is the most imporatnt factor when it comes to the betterment of the children. In conclusion, it is trenchant to say that divorce is really rampant nowadays, but people should always keep in mind that the children are the parents’ responsibility. It is up to them to let their children feel loved no matter what the marital situation is. Respect and understanding should also be observed in order to ensure a child’s bright future. Parents should also never understimate the importance of communication with their children because it is the only way to know what they feel. Parents should explain to their children the reason why the marriage did not work out. They should help their children realize how important they are for both parents even if they parted ways. They should also make them understand that instead of using the divorce as a way to destroy one’s life, why not take it as a challenge and find better ways to improve their life even without their parents being together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through the institutions of our society, we must teach the people that a home, with parents never fails to show love and respect for each other is the best environment to raise happy and healthy children, and that the family is the most important institution to develop the children’s social, emotional and physical well being.       Works Cited:       (Are Your Kids At Risk?) Retrieved on June 16, 2006 from http://www.divorcemag.com/cgi-bin/show.cgi?template=article&state=CA&article=children/kidsatrisk       (A Kid’s Guide to Divorce) Retrived on June 16, 2006 from http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/home_family/divorce.html       (Divorce). Retrieved on June 16, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce (Divorce). Retrieved on June 16, 2006 from http://www.utahbar.org/bars/slcbar/html/divorce.html (Divorce Doesn’t Last). Retrieved on June 16, 2006 from   www.gallup.com/content/print.aspx?ci=11161    (Divorce. Josh McDowell’s personal notes on divorce) Retrieved on June 16, 2006 from http://www.josh.org/notes/file/Internet8-Divorce.pdf#search=’divorce’ (We’re Successful, and Hurt) Retrieved on June 16, 2006 from http://www.americanvalues.org/html/c-we_re_successful_and_hurt.shtml