Impact of Texting On Society Essay Example for Free

Impact of Texting On Society Essay A majority of 57 % of teenagers said they view their cell phones as the key to their social life. 47 % of teens say their social lives would end or worsen if texting was no longer an option. The impact of texting even expands in the classroom as numerous amount of teachers nationwide are noticing texting lingo in papers that are handed into them. 64 % of students nationwide say they text in class at least once a week. 54 % of teens prefer texting instead of talking face-to-face or talking on the phone. Texting has become the biggest phenomena in the past decade. One-third of American teens today text over 100 times a day. Texting has even expanded to adults. But in contrast to its original purpose, texting has become a curse, hindering communication, attentiveness, social lives, and even academics. Due to this, texting has become a phenomena that has changed or hindered development and abilities of society negatively. Furthermore, with the increasing numbers of texting, the use of texting messaging has hampered people’s abilities to communicate effectively. LOL, OMG, and BTW are examples of the new texting â€Å"lingo†. Text messaging started its own â€Å"language† in which words and sentences are shortened to what they sound like instead of how they are really spelled. When 293 of teachers where surveyed, 193 of them said that students are carrying text message lingo in their class assignments ( Negative Aspects of Text Messaging 1). This means that many students are shortening their words and using ineffective grammar not only while they text but also when they do school assignments. Even though many teachers have found texting habits in papers being handed into them, some say that the main problem is the lack of depth the students work. Texting is very simple and with the rapid growth of texting student’s sentence are starting to become simpler and less descriptive. Likewise, texting has caused a lack of verbal communication skills on people. Studies have shown that text messaging is the number one form of communication the people prefer, including face-to face or verbal communication. Text messaging is simpler than verbal communication because there is no real depth in the conversation and the people that are communicating don’t have to be engage in the conversation. College engineering major Darko Marquez agrees with this by saying â€Å"The thing I love most about texting is that unlike the phone where you have to sit and concentrate into a long, boring conversation, you can multi-task and talk to as much people as you want†(Cesar Marquez 1). Darko is an example of people in society today lacking the ability to get emotionally attached in a verbal conversation. Psychologist Cecilia Holguin has studied effect of texting on communication skills and her studies have shown that texting does not have any emotional connection compared to verbal conversations, which attracts many young people to texting(Cesar Marquez 1). This means that texting is making society simpler and less emotionally attached while communicating. Furthermore, effective communication and grammar is vital for society to improve intellectually. But unfortunately, texting messaging is playing a key role in hampering society’s improvement in communication and grammar. Likewise, texting has not just affected communication but is also has changed the development of adolescence. Texting has been profoundly used by teenagers in America. Almost, if not all, teens in society text to one another. Teenager’s text everywhere and anytime they can. Teens text in class, at the dinner table, at parties, even if they are in the same room they text to one another. Texting has been hurting many teenagers grades because they text instead of studying or doing homework. A 13 year-old teen named Reina grades plummeted because she texts about 14,528 messages a month(Katie Hafner 1). Reina was so focused on texting that she would push her schoolwork to the side. But grades is not the only thing affecting teens. Sleep deprivation has been a problem because many teens stay up later to text friends. About 80% of teens that text late at night have problems with maintaining good sleeping habits. Sleep deprivation itself has negative side effects on adolescent’s health such as unintentional injuries, poor school performance, low grades, and an increase in mood disturbances(Teen Texting Taking a Toll: Lack of Sleep May Impact School Performance and Mood 1). Furthermore, if texting is causing sleep deprivation, than the health of adolescent’s and their performance academically is at stake. Likewise, the emotional development of adolescents is taking a toll due to the rapid growth of texting. Many teens keep in touch with their parents throughout the day due to instant contact of texting. Due to this many teens have an attachment problem. Sherry Turkle studies have shown that with the constant contact of student’s parents teens lack independence and the ability to make decisions of their own (Texting is not talking 1). This means that instead of teens maturing on their own, they are becoming more dependent. Teens are very important in society because they are our future. If texting is negatively affecting teen’s developments, than there is no future. Texting needs to be limited in order for adolescences to mature into independent, intellectual adults. In continuation, different types of relationships have also been affected by the rapid growth of text messaging. Family structure is important in society because how kids are taught at home resemble their actions in public. Families are important to give advice, love, and support. But texting has played a key role in decreasing the amount of time families spend together. Teens are always texting to their peers, which normally isolates themselves from the rest of their family. Even at dinner time, numerous amounts of parents have said they have caught their child texting while at the dinner table. But it is not just teens, parents do it as well. Some parents usually text excessively for work, making it hard to spend time with their children. A parent-child relationship cannot be strengthen when a child or a parent is texting excessively which makes it harder for children to lose crucial life skills(Michele Borba 1). In romantic relationships, texting is a key attribute in many relationships. April Jones says that texting is major in her relationship and that she texts her boyfriend 20 times a day at least(Jefferson Graham 1). This means that April and her boyfriend have instant contact with each other which means less space and privacy. In continuation, some couples even call it quits through texting instead of face-to-face or a phone call. In a survey, 30% of the people surveyed said they have been dumped through texting and another 24% say it is acceptable to dump someone via text( Jefferson Graham 1). This means that text has decreased the emotional aspect of relationships and breaking up. Peter Tollner had experienced a break up via text and that most of the communication had been through texting even though they work in the same office( Jefferson Graham 1.) This means that romantic relationships have shifted to texting instead of affectionate time spent together. Bonds and relationships are important and in order to maintain these bonds time must be spent with one another. But with the increase of texting, family relationships and romantic relationships have changed for the worst. Furthermore, texting has ultimately became a distraction for many people of all ages. In the classroom, many teachers have caught their students texting. Schools across the nation have banned the use of cell phones in the classroom. But students continue to use their cell phones to check up on their peers or even text someone in their classroom. According to studies by Professors Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlander, 95% of students bring their cell phone to class and 91% text while in class(Audrey Watters College Students Admit To â€Å"Shocking† Text Messaging Habits in Class 1). Of course it varies from school to school and class to class, but the number of students using cell phones in class is steadily increasing. This increase in cell phone use in class distracts students from the lesson and contributes to poor performances academically. Furthermore, what is worst than distractions in the classroom is distraction on the road due to texting. The numbers of people that are dying due to texting while has increased over the years. People who text while driving put themselves and others lives in danger. Even thought many states have banned DWT or driving while texting, but a new survey shows that 26% stiil do it and 60% of the 24% are from ages 16-19(Robert Roy Britt 1). This means that lives, especially youth lives, are in danger. According to studies, 16,000 deaths have been caused from texting while driving in a course of six years, 2002-2007,(Stephanie Hanes 1). The addictive aspects of texting have affected people so much they do it everywhere and anywhere they can. People do it in classrooms, in restaurants, and even while driving. Texting has become a major distraction in the classroom and even on the road. In continuation, texting has become people, especially adolescence’s, social lives and without texting many people would not know what to do. 57 % of students feel that their cell phones are a key to their social lives and 47% of that 57% feel that their social lives will get worse if their cell phones were taking from them. To maintain a healthy social life people must gather and enjoy an activity or spend time with each other. But now some people feel as if their the main part of a social life is communicating by texting instead of gathering together. Dr. Martin Joffe surveyed teens and found out that many students text about a hundred times a day(Katie Hafner 1). This means that most of time that teens spend together is not actually with each other but texting one another. With the rapid increase of texting, a new form of harassment is being displayed through texting. 39% of high school students said that they have been bullied through text messaging(Text-message bullying b ecoming more common 1). This means that rumors and nasty things are being said about teenagers through texting. This can ruin someone’s social life and even crush someone’s self-esteem. Bullying has been around for years, but with instant communication of texting more things can be spread to more people faster than ever. Social life is key for adolescence development. Texting has changed social life by communicating in person to texting being a number one form of communication. Texting has become a curse that has hindered many aspects of society such as communication, attentiveness, teenagers, social lives, and relationships. Texting has become a huge phenomena that is changing how adolescence develop mature. With the increase of texting, people no longer have to put forth the effort to do things that are normally done in person. Texting has made people more dependent and it has worsen critical thinking. Therefore, texting has become a problem that has negatively affected the skills and abilit ies of society.

Adjustment Essay -- essays research papers

My cousin Kara just got married recently. She is about six years older than I am and has graduated from college and is ready to settle down. She has been planning her wedding for almost a year. It took a lot of time and effort to make her wedding day perfect. Just finding the dress took six months. On the day of the wedding tons of things went wrong but in the end it all worked out and it was beautiful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I got a chance to talk to her and ask her some questions about how she felt about everything. She told me that the biggest adjustment she had to make was knowing that she was all grown up. She felt like the real world had finally come along and she was no longer dependent on her parents. That scared her to death. She said that she loved David her fiancà © more than anything and she knew she was making the right decision, but the fact that she was going to be with him forever took some time to get used to also. Not only did she have to worry about the planning and spending, she was also becoming very emotional about everything as the day drew closer. Her parents are divorced so that made her planning process even more difficult. Each parent gave her a certain amount of money but neither would really get involved in helping her get everything together. She lives in St. Louis and both of her parents live more than a eight hundred miles away from her. So she felt bas ically on her own from her family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another major adjust...

The Changing Trend in Counselling Psychology: Internet Counselling as a Psychotherapy Practice

Introduction The emergence of counselling psychology as a distinct profession in the United Kingdom two decades ago was a significant pointer that the field’s practitioners, represented by the British Psychological Society, had finally recognised that the field is unique in terms of identity and practicing philosophy. This recognition is captured in the definition by the Society that counselling psychology is a value based approach to counselling as a profession, and puts emphasis on the counselling primacy or relationship-oriented approach based on therapeutic observation (Milton, 2010). However, amidst the recognition are challenges, both present and potential, affects and will continue to challenge the effectiveness of counselling psychology as a noble profession. The challenges, as a matter of fact, are based on the modes of delivery of delivery of counselling psychology. Presently, scholars and practitioners have identified issues, such as technological revolution challenges, ethical dilemmas in relation to health maintenance organisations, psychologists facing certain challenges including prescription delivery services, and challenges with empirical research based support system among many other issues. Although these issues are no doubt a big concern currently, the biggest debate has revolved around the role of technology in counselling psychology, considering that the literature about this area is hard to come by. The growing dilemmas are based on the impact of technology on the growth of counselling psychology and, at the same time, the challenges that come with its increased use, given the nature of counselling psychology services modes (Gackenbach, 2011). Internet Counselling Technology has become part of almost every household, and is predicted to continue having tremendous impact on the lives of families and households, particularly in the spheres of economic, socio-political and cultural aspects. In fact, internet technology has not only affected how families and households buy or sell things online through ecommerce trading platforms, but has also had a tremendous impact on physical and mental health of many people around the world. Health professional practitioners have, therefore, incorporated internet into one of their modes of transferring services to the care receivers or clients. In turn, the general public, including those in need of counselling services, can access these services from home within minutes, and cost effectively. However, the inherent challenges when delivering counselling services via internet cannot be assumed, and has attracted unending debate not only on its viability but also its effectiveness as compared to the traditional in-person mode of counselling (Reamer, 2013). The question would therefore be on whether advantages of internet counselling supersede its disadvantages. The British Psychological Society established a â€Å"Division of Counselling Psychology: Professional Practice Guidelines† in 2006 (Reamer, 2013), which emphasised the need to have a balanced approach to counselling psychology service delivery methods. For instance, they state that the practitioners should not assume any form of automatic superiority over any one in terms of experience, feeling, value, and know-how. They also state that any practitioners should be ready to challenge the views of persons who pathologise on the basis of â€Å"sexual orientation, disability, class origin, or racial identity and religious and spiritual views† among other critical aspects of the society (British Psychological Practice, 2006, cited in Reamer, 2013, p.169). The concept of not assuming one-way knowledge in counselling psychology has led to a number of challenges, particularly with the increasingly growing technology-laden population, including those in need of counselling and psychological support. In certain cases, the client may not have the adequate mental capacity to interpret certain information, thus leading to miscommunication. In other words, the client may wrongly interpret a message as critical or not friendly, thus end up feeling hurt or injured. After all, online interaction sessions do provide neither counselling psychologist nor client with shared environment. Internet psychotherapy sessions may suffer from miscommunication between the psychotherapist and client. In any case, studies have shown that miscommunication may inadvertently harm the client and possibly increase trauma after the disclosure of important facts about them (Gackenbach, 2011). For example, text or email based communication is prone to miscommunication since the more important non-verbal cues are missing. Moreover, most counselling psychologists are mainly trained on in-person techniques. The counselling psychologist may, thus, lack the writing skills necessary to adequately express meanings in written words. (Patrick, 2006) As technology pushes people o the brink of being an entirely online society, the viability of internet counselling will remain a thorny issue as it is apparent that certain aspects of counselling psychology could be more difficult to deal with than others. Most professional organisations unanimously recommend that counselling therapists practicing online counselling sessions should continue using the basic ethical standards applied in the in-person psychotherapy sessions (Luepker, 2012). Some of the recommendations are based on the need to adhere to the informed consent used in in-person counselling, including informing the clients about risks, benefits, available safeguards, limitations, and exceptions to confidentiality and privacy, identity verification, limiting practice to the scope of one’s qualification, accurately representing themselves and their licensure status, finding solutions to the potential harm that may arise from dual roles, and establishing emergency respon se for clients in different geographical locations (Gackenbach, 2011). However, the question that has never been answered is how to deal with clients coming from different jurisdiction locations with varied laws and legal procedures. In addition, a therapist may find it extremely difficult to handle a case where a client threatens to commit suicide. Informed consent, Disclosure and Confidentiality The introduction of diverse digital versions in the counselling psychology practice has brought with it diverse problems related to informed consent, disclosure and confidentiality. However, like any other internet usage, the concept of informed consent, disclosure and confidentiality still lingers as serious sources of dilemma. The lack of physical presence may make it difficult to verify identity, thus may lead to psychotherapist treating a minor without parental knowledge, and this consent (Gackenbach, 2011). When such occurrence become rampant, there is likely to be more actions from policy makers to protect the majority from the possible breach of informed consent in the context of internet counselling. Within the context of informed consent is the issue of confidentiality, a critical aspect of counselling psychology. Studies have shown that internet is not a secure platform to assure the preservation of confidentiality (Barak, 2008). Although psychotherapists are advised to inform the clients of the potential dangers and risks associated with modes of service delivery, including breach of confidentiality and experimental nature of the process, this kind of advice still leaves gaps in better ways in which confidentiality can be maintained, a concern that is unlikely to end any time soon. Accuracy in assessment and monitoring effectiveness of interventions One of the first steps in the counselling process is to assess and monitor the client (Milton, 2010) However, with barriers in the virtual world, it is may be difficult to accurately assess and monitor the patients during service delivery sessions. It is important to note that virtual interaction means lost contact, which is an integral part of achieving the goals of counselling psychology as outlined by the British Psychological Society. Moreover, one of the perspectives that were present during the formative periods of counselling psychology is the need for psychologist to understand people as relational beings. In the process of fostering collaborations with people as well as contexts that draw on a range of perspectives, including the traditional views of people as independent entities, counselling psychology has always recognised that relational perspectives have significant contribution to make on not only understanding people but also help the clients work towards bettering their wellbeing (Patrick, 2006). However, this relationship is lost through lack of physical interaction between the psychologist and the client. Moreover, the psychologist’s inability to focus on other family members and intimate partners obviously jeopardises any chance of learning the relationship between the clients and their significant others. As Barnett (2005) states, failure to understand the relationship between clients and people close to them may make it difficult to assess the former’s self-esteem, likes, cultural upbringing and socio-political background. The controversy that is likely to extend over a long period of time is the criteria in which internet psychotherapy sessions can be evaluated. While the traditional in-person counselling therapy has elaborate theoretical frameworksand models that support its use, internet counselling psychotherapy does not have any historical frameworks and models that guide its use. Although most psychotherapists have solely relied on relational counselling, they still run short because of the inability to establish therapeutic relationships with clients. At present, the main concern is how the traditional models can be interpreted into online models. Barak et al (2008) observed that internet-based interventions in the field of counselling psychology have been used for over a decade. However, no clear analysis of its effectiveness has been forthcoming. They, however, recommend adoption of online counselling as a legitimate option in offering psychotherapeutic counselling sessions. Still, they warn t hat the psychotherapists must be willing to use online counselling with strong ethical issues in mind. Ethical challenges The other challenge is the ethical issues that emerge from counselling psychology practice. In the field of practice of counselling psychology, one of the potential current issues is how to enforce ethical code of conducts, including ensuring psychologists only practice within their areas of competence based on qualifications in terms of training as well as experience (Patrick, 2006). In addition, the psychologists are expected to take reasonable steps in ensuring their work follow necessary procedures that protect clients from any possible harm. However, this challenge still poses serious challenges to the regulatory authorities as it is difficult to weed out unqualified persons from assuming counselling responsibilities at the detriment of the clients. In essence, professional accountability is still considered far from being managed. Furthermore, laws governing counselling psychology practices may be different from one geographical jurisdiction to another, with questions as to how the two persons; client and psychologist, can operate (Luepker, 2012). It has been observed that many practicing counselling psychologists have attempted to navigate through the legal and professional barriers in internet counselling by defining their online counselling services as psycho-education (Patrick, 2006). Although some online counselling may be legitimately offering purely therapeutic education services, some therapists cross the boundary and treat clients within multiple sessions, which clearly suggest therapeutic counselling sessions rather than claimed educational. This is a serious ethical breach that, although may be tamed by stricter regulatory laws and policies, may be difficult to interpret for appropriate actions to be taken. Conclusion Despite the advancement in technology and the desire to build long-standing strategies to effectively deliver appropriate services to clients in the field of counselling psychology, there are inherent challenges that remain controversial to date. Confronting the complexity of electronic media to deliver counselling sessions in the most professional manner has is one area that remains a challenge, and is expected to continue dominating this comparatively new profession. Moreover, virtual interactions are limited in the sense that the psychotherapist and the client are not connected beyond internet, hence are not able to experience the common advantages that come with physical interactions, such as nonverbal cue interpretations. Issues that have arisen, and will continue to generate debate in the foreseeable future are: miscommunication, inability to stick to professional code of ethics by some counselling psychologists, inability to assess and measure the success of online counselling sessions, and difficulty in keeping internet communications secure. In fact, these issues have been discussed and continue to dominate the profession’s sphere of influence. It may be important to state that counselling psychologists may need to participate in developing thoughtful policies and procedures related to technology use in the field of counselling psychology by involving clients in the process. Lastly, it must be important to state that whenever technological intervention affects therapeutic relationship, either positively or negatively, the impact becomes part of the profession, hence must remain in the record. References Barak , A., Hen, L., Boniel-Nissim, M. and Shapira, N. (2008). A comprehensive review and a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of internet-based psychotherapeutic interventions. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 26 (2-4): 109-160. Barnett, J.E. (2005). Online Counseling: New Entity, New Challenges. The Counseling Psychologist, 33 (6): 872-880. Gackenbach, J. (2011). Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Implications. Waltham, Massachusetts: Academic Press. Luepker, E.T. (2012). Record Keeping in Psychotherapy and Counseling. Protecting Confidentiality and the Professional Relationships. London: Routledge. Milton, M. (2010). Therapy and Beyond: Counseling Psychology Contributions to Therapeutic and Social Issues. New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Patrick, P. K. S. (2006). Internet counseling: Trends, applications, and ethical issues. In P. K. S. Patrick (Ed.). Contemporary Issues In Counseling. Manuscript submitted for publication (Allyn and Bacon). Reamer, F.G. (2013). Social work in a digital age: ethical and risk management challenges. Social Work, 58(2): 163-172.

Purple Fire - Easy Instructions for Colored Flames

You can make purple fire yourself using common ingredients. Keep in mind purple is a tricky fire color to produce because there is no wavelength of light that is responsible for a color between red and violet, yet fire colors mostly are produced by the emission spectra of chemicals. In order to get purple, you need to produce violet flame and red flame. Purple Fire Ingredients You can burn the salts that produce the colors in any fire, but youll get the best results if you use a blue flame, like the type produced by lighter fluid or alcohol. Lighter fluid, alcohol or alcohol-based hand sanitizerLite salt (potassium chloride)Red emergency flare (contains strontium nitrate) Get Strontium From the Flare The emergency flare is a long cardboard tube with a striker at one end. Leave the striker end alone and use your fingers to peel away the bottom of the cardboard to reveal the powdery substance inside the flare. Collect this material in a bowl or plastic baggie. You only need a little, so store the rest for later. You can throw away the cardboard and striker (or save them for another project). Making the Purple Fire All you need to do is sprinkle some of the contents of the flare and some lite salt onto a fireproof surface, add the fuel and ignite the mixture. The proportions of the chemicals are a matter of personal preference. Add more lite salt if you want a more violet flame. If you want a reddish or pink flame, use a larger amount of flare content. Tips and Cautions Its fire, so treat it with respect. Further, be advised the flare contents will burn very brightly if you light them on their own. The best fuel for this project is diluted alcohol where water can moderate the rate of combustion. The flame in the picture uses an ethanol-based hand sanitizer. The project also works well with Ronsonol lighter fluid or with rubbing alcohol. However, lighting the mixture without the liquid fuel will give you just a bright red flame from the flare.