Grammar Exercise-shadowswife

Posted on November 5, 2020 by shadowswife

If a primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward their child, it increases the risk that their child will grow up hostile towards others. Moreover, it is not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; many children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. This negative behavior is because the children do not learn appropriate techniques for handling life’s disappointments. If people fail to have the proper coping skills, they are much too likely to act ‘inappropriately’ if they have developed more reasonable approaches. As reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers,” the effect of poor parenting is that everyone gets the child they deserve.

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Grammar Exercise—davidbdale

Posted on November 5, 2020 by davidbdale

If a primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward their child it increases the risk that they’re child will grow up hostile towards others. And its not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; a large amount of children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. The reason for this negative behavior is because the children don’t learn appropriate techniques for handling lifes disappointments. If you aren’t raised with coping skills, your much to likely to act ‘inappropriately’ then if you have developed more reasonable approaches. The affect of poor parenting as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers”, is that everyone gets the child they deserve.

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Rebuttal-Hailthegreat8

Posted on November 5, 2020 by hailthegreat8

Authoritarian parents can help

Authoritarian parents are described as stern and the plain appositive of an alternative parent. Those parents are supposed to have so many rules, and they ignore their child’s feelings and don’t care about their opinion. It may sound horrible to people hearing about this for the first time in their life, but this type of teaching can create an influential, successful, wealthy person in the community. Most of the children that grew up with this style end up being doctors, lawyers, politicians, and more, so there are positive aspects. “But often, this comes at a cost,” stated Jeff Nalin. He said, “children whose behavior is largely dependent on a strict regimen of dos and don’ts will base their own self-worth on whether or not they have obeyed the rules put into place by their parents.” cause you might get punished.

Many individuals worldwide have grown up with Authoritarian parents, and many people say that type of parental style can mess up your life; teaching your child this way can lead to depression, social anxiety, and more. Growing up with this type of parenting, you will resent them when you’re older; you’ll hate them for not listening to you or helping you emotionally throughout your childhood, but having Authoritarian parents can you help you a lot throughout your childhood and prepare for the harsh relate of being an adult. Authoritarian parents can help you. Succeed in the field you’re going after; they will push you to be your better self.

One of the positive aspects of having Authoritarian parents is that your child knows good behavior. “They are also highly attuned to the negative consequences that can stem from wrong behavior, so they will avoid stepping out of line.” Having good behavior has a chance of making many good habits that positively affect your life. Good behavior will help your child make routines. For example, every day you wake up, you clean your room, make your bed, and do your homework; also, your child will respect other individuals when they’re talking to them. Your child’s positive behavior continues to show can affect everyone around them, and that’s a good thing. Another good reason for having an Authoritarian parent is the want to do the right thing. “The authoritarian style of parenting will encourage a child to think about their behavior, before doing it. This means the child has a desire to do right and will be better at thinking through their actions before making a choice to do it”. This can make your child bolder in the future and help with their decision throughout their life.

Safety is another positive trait when learning from an Authoritarian Parent; I mean, they would try to minimize danger in your life. The threat you might face throughout your childhood. Authoritarian Parents plan out a promising future for you, find a career where you will succeed, and teach you everything in that field to be one of the best when you join the working class. Another positive trait that an Authoritarian Parent leads is fighting for the goal, future. ” Children raised by authoritarian parents adhere to detailed plans that include precise instructions”. Teaching this to their kids helps them grasp what steps they need to take throughout their lives to reach their destination.

I know that the Authoritarian parent’s style has many significant aspects that can help your child, but some adverse effects damage your child mentally and physically. For a child to have a genuinely productive childhood and prepare them for the outside world, more than one parenting style is better. I believe combining Authoritarian parent’s style and Authoritative parents will balance your child out and bring most satisfaction on both ends. Authoritative parents talk to their children. It’s like a “give-and-take” scenario with rules that can be adjusted. If your child breaks the rule, don’t punish straight away; explain to them what they did was wrong and show them want to do. You should help your child with their decision so that they can become wiser. Authoritarian parents and Authoritative parents both want a level of control over their child’s behavior/activities. Authoritarian parents believe they are always right and never wrong, but Authoritative parents know they make mistakes and correct themselves. Authoritarian parents shouldn’t “exert psychological control.” If they do this, their child will fight them; it can become a toxic environment, and your child can end up resenting you hating you for their rest of life, and no parents want that.

If a parent can combine these two teaching styles into their child, the environment will be better, less fighting, decrease depression, anxiety, help their self-esteem. They will build a stronger connection, and that’s what parents want with their child a bond. When your child is in trouble, he mostly likes to come to you for help/advice than anyone else because you connect with them and are willing to listen and not only punish them; don’t pick one type of parenting style; you have to balance them out. As Kenda Cheery stated, “Try not to be too harsh nor too lenient; you can start by letting your child make more decisions, but also have regular discussions about those choices. With time, attention, and flexibility to your child’s needs”. Both these parenting styles have positive and negative effects, and your choice as parents to either pick one of them or combine them for your child., but remember you aren’t doing this for yourself; you’re doing it for your child. Have their best interest in mind when implementing your parenting style.

References

Christin Perry December 06, and Christin Perry. “Authoritarian Parenting: The Pros and Cons, According to a Child Psychologist.” Parents, 6 Dec. 2019, www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/authoritarian-parenting-the-pros-and-cons-according-to-a-child-psychologist/. 

Stephney, Shonette. The Effects of Rewarding Positive Behavior in Children, Ministry of Education, Guyana, 2 Nov. 2015, www.education.gov.gy/web/index.php/parenting-tips/item/1785-the-effects-of-rewarding-positive-behavior-in-children. 

“The Pros and Cons of Authoritarian Parenting.” Blessed Learners, 20 Sept. 2018, www.blessedlearners.com/pros-and-cons-of-authoritarian-parenting/. 

Li, Author Pamela. “Authoritative vs Authoritarian Parenting Styles [Infographic].” Parenting For Brain, 29 Oct. 2020, www.parentingforbrain.com/authoritative-vs-authoritarian-parenting/. 

Cherry, Kendra. “Do You Have an Authoritative Parenting Style?” Verywell Mind, 17 Sept. 2020, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-authoritative-parenting-2794956. 

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Rebuttal – BabyGoat

Posted on November 5, 2020 by BabyGoat

Needs a Better Title than “Music”

Sounds… No. Music… Yes! Music is a language that can connect people from all over. Even if we can’t quite understand the words of a foreigner, we can still hear them. Better yet, we can still feel their music. Music has this weird magical ability to send a message to our brain and  make us react, whether we know the words or not. Is music some type of witchcraft? Should we be worried about the control music has over the human body?

If we ask different people their opinion on music, they may all most likely say that they like listening to music. If we ask them if they think listening to music all day could help them in regular tasks, some may agree and some may say it’s a distraction. Music does help please our senses. It creates a feeling. The sound waves enter the ears, which sends signals to our brain, which then tells us how to react. Different music affects us differently. Uptempo music  can motivate us, while slow music can help us relax. Rap music can bring confidence, while R&B could make us feel in love. Music brings us many different emotions and moods, but can there be too much music? Is there a time when we should take about from the soft drug?

While listening to music does have its benefits, are the benefits able to be stretched out throughout the whole day or even weeks. Or do the benefits max out after a period of time. Music can help while doing fast tasks like cleaning the house, driving to work, writing a quick paper, or even constructing other arts like painting. Sure, as creatures with ears we can hear music, but at what point do we drown it out and it just becomes noise? Do the benefits still apply when we reach this point? 

“Other important benefits include: Learning creative thinking, Learning to express feelings and emotions, Improving language and reasoning skills. Some studies show music programs can raise intelligence. Music can also improve something called spatial intelligence. This important ability helps with seeing the world and making sense out of what is seen. children who took music increased their IQ it may be because of the focused attention, memorization, and concentration skills needed to study music (Shim, 2017).”

Sure, for kids exposure to music has a wide spectrum of long term benefits. But, as for a whole day, when does creativity stop?  When the wide arrangement of moods and emotions create fatigue and sleepiness? The constant release of hormones in the brain and body has to get tired at some point. We can’t always be in overdrive mode, that is how our bodies start to break down and need the reset button to be exercised faster.

For some people, always listening to music could be exhausting. These people could potentially start to lose their minds, as they may need peace and quiet. There’s even evidence that listening to music for a long period of time causes ear fatigue. This explains why audio engineers and recording artists take a lot of breaks while recording music. Think of the ear as a regular muscle. Just like lifting weights, the constant use of the ear can weaken it temporarily until it gets rest. And just like a regular muscle, the heavier the load, the quicker the muscle burns out. The louder the music, the quicker ear fatigue kicks in. Failure to realize this can lead to ear damage. A lot of things in life are good when it’s in moderation, and music is one of these things.

Others could argue that the content of certain music can have a negative impact on the youth. Older, experienced, humans may say that pop music is glorifying sex. Rap is glorifying drugs and violence. And others may argue that everything mainstream is pushing these images because it sells. Others may even say that some of the same ideas were in past music, but people now just can’t seem to accept something new. And others may argue that if you dive deeper into the music, you can actually find good substance.

Music is all subjective, just taste. I can understand parents wanting to protect their children from the explicit content. Six year olds should not be singing along with song WAP, which is an adult song made by Cardi B and Meg The Stallion. But, that same parent should not shame someone else from listening to this song, that isn’t her responsibility. This song may not be good to one mom, but it may make another mom feel a special feeling.

But, as a society, it is kind of weird that, for the most part, we can agree on what is a bad or good song. It’s like we evolved to have a standard. Special elements can help us agree, in general. The elements are instrumentation, voice of the singer, lyrics, rhythm, flow, and how the words flow over the instrumentation. All of these elements have evolved as we evolved as humans. 

While some may say listening to music all the time is not always a good thing, everyone can agree that everyone enjoys listening to music at some point.

References

Shim, Dogra. MUSIC AND SPORTS – A PSYCHOPHYSICAL EFFECT. Mar. 2017. 

Click to access 11072017050511112%20sharmila%20Dogra%20133.pdf

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Rebuttal – l8tersk8ter

Posted on November 4, 2020 by l8tersk8ter

Social Interactions Combat Social Anxiety

Forcing or requiring someone to do something runs the risk of having back lash and being perceived negatively, especially by those being forced. Most people in most situations do not like to be told what to do or feel like they have no control over a situation. However, requiring first year students at a high school to participate in a competitive team activity will ultimately benefit them despite the objections that would likely arise.

One of the biggest oppositions to requiring the adolescents to participate in a team activity is that all not all teenagers do well in social situations. A large reasoning for the lack of functioning well during social interaction is that they are struggling with social anxiety or social phobias. Forcing them into these social situations could have detrimental effects on their mental health and well-being from all of the stress and anxiety caused. According to Kenneth Walters and Debra Hope social phobia embodies an excessive fear of social situations that stems from the anticipation of scrutiny leading to expectations of humiliation and embarrassment. People classified as social anxious are said to have activated defense systems. During social interaction they are submissive. The don’t engage in dominant behavior but instead have the goal of avoiding rejection to remain in the situation, or if needed they focus on escaping or avoiding the situations all together. In the study conducted by Walters and Hope they tested the social interactions of those with social phobia against non-anxious people in the same kind of interaction. The results showed that the aforementioned characteristics of the socially anxious are predominately through verbal interaction. When the adolescents join a team the focus is not solely on speaking to their peers, which minimizes the threat to the teenagers that may be socially anxious. This is definitely true with sports. During practices and games the focus is on the sport activities. While you may be the focus for a few seconds while a play is happening the crowd is overall watching the team as a whole. In practice the coaches are focusing on everyone and teammates are focused on their own success at what they are doing. There is no pressure to carry a conversation during these times. The aspects of playing the sport that are beneficial, such as reaching personal goals and achieving personal satisfaction with ones performance, are in turn not actually causing harm to the social well-being of the individual.

Of course there are times when that social interaction does need to occur, or the competitive team may be more verbally focused, such as a scholastic competition team. In the case of the latter, there may be more social pressures that could cause anxiety. However, as time goes on and the adolescent is more involved in the activity and the benefits of doing so are seen, any negativity that may arise at the beginning would be counteracted. As skill improves and the teenager starts to positively participate the fear of being rejected decreases. As the team bonds and becomes closer, whether on personal levels or just in their team environment, the adolescent no longer has to worry about trying to get out of the situation because it will be a situation that they are comfortable being in. In any of the competitive team sports, in order to succeed as a team that bonding does need to occur. This means that all of the participants will have to eventually verbally interact as they get to know their team. This may seem daunting, but actually is the type of situations that adolescents need to develop positive social behaviors. Annette La Greca and Nadja Lopez did a study to evaluate social anxiety among teens, which differs from the more commonly studied and utilized data from among adults. Their study analyzed adolescents interactions with peers and their general social environment and the linkages to social anxiety. The results showed that a major important factor in development of adolescent social functioning is having close friendships. These relationships result in emotional support, intimacy, and an expression of emotions, which are all beneficial to the emotional development of a teenager. When the adolescents have at least one person that they are close with it makes them feel like they are not an outsider. This will help prevent shying away from further social interactions. Being on a team gives teenagers that are social anxious a chance to form relationships that they may struggle to do on their own. If they fear social interaction then when they are in school, they will likely keep to themselves. By being on the team it puts them with a group that they will inevitably interact with. This could relieve the pressure of seeking out relationships on their own, because they are already in the environment where relationships are likely to result.

A common psychotherapy approach to combating disorders like social anxiety is exposure therapy. If a patient was afraid of snakes the therapist would start by having one in the same room as the patient and then eventually have the patient able to tolerate the snake being on their body. The best way to combat a fear is to face it head on. This therapy exposes someone to the very thing they fear the most which in turn eliminates the fear or at the very least makes it manageable. In an article by Steven Shearer he discusses how these this time of cognitive behavioral therapy is useful. He says that even if its self-conducted any gradual exposure lasting long enough from the anxiety to diminish is effective in combating it. Prolonged exposure, such as an hour-long practice or meeting, provides optimal time for adolescents to face their fear of interacting with their peers at the rates they are ready. The teenagers learn how to deal with the social situations that they are uncomfortable in. As more time is spent with a team the more comfortable an individual gets, which makes it easier to work on these skills.

References

La Greca, Annette M., and Nadja Lopez. “Social Anxiety among Adolescents: Linkages with Peer Relations and Friendships.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, vol. 26, no. 2, Apr. 1998, pp. 83–94. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=507634802&site=ehost-live.

Shearer, Steven. “Recent Advances in the Understanding and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders.” Primary Care, vol. 34, no. 3, Elsevier Inc, 2007, pp. 475–504, doi:10.1016/j.pop.2007.05.002.

Walters, Kenneth S., and Debra A. Hope. “Analysis of Social Behavior in Individuals with Social Phobia and Nonanxious Participants Using a Psychobiological Model.” Behavior Therapy, vol. 29, no. 3, 1998, pp. 387–407., doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(98)80039-7.

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Rebuttal – clementine

Posted on November 4, 2020 by clementine102

Increase in Quality of Life When Giving Birth

The goal for most woman, in fact all people, is to have a satisfactory life. We can also say that we would do anything it takes, if is laid out before us, to improve or increase the status of our life. For some pregnant woman who know they can’t support their baby, think that having abortion will improve their quality of life. The effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and many other mental health issues on woman who have had an abortion in their third trimester have clearly proven that having a third trimester abortion is not satisfactory. It is less than that. Woman who are still in their third trimester could also argue that giving birth to their baby will diminish their quality of life more than it will if they had an abortion. Although being unable to support a baby financially is understandably difficult; choosing the alternative of abortion comes with no additional mental illnesses if the birth process is safe. Furthermore, if a mother doesn’t think she’ll be able to support the baby, there are many safe alternatives. Woman who give birth to their baby can potentially increases their quality of life rather than diminish it. 

            Woman who have an abortion in their third trimester are unwarily allowing a diminished life to walk through their door. Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome is sadly, commonly seen in woman who have had an abortion in their third trimester. When PTSS is addressed in woman, many studies show that their abortion is a traumatic experience. PTSS also affects a household because it has been proven that PTSS along with PTSD can be contagious. Woman also have an intimate attachment to the baby in the third trimester without even realizing it. They will always inevitably go through internal conflict of whether it is a good idea or not because the physical intimacy is there since the baby is physically attached to the mother. The intention to abort will always be a conflict with the per-existing tendency to be attached to their un-born child. This conflict that woman go through is in itself an experience of emotional stress. Considering all of the emotional stress leading up to and after a third trimester abortion, conceiving the baby would eliminate all of these specific internal conflicts. These internal conflicts can be eliminated even more when you give the baby a chance at life.

There is a false narrative that when woman give birth to their baby, society does not cater to their needs. However, society caters to their needs without them realizing it. For example, many women in the United States and even around the world are infertile, which means that they are unable to reproduce. In fact, in the United States, ten percent of woman between the ages of 15 and 44 are infertile, which is the equivalent of 6 million woman. We can say that out of these women, there are definitely a good portion of them that wish to have kids of their own. A lot of woman desire to create their own family and wait on unborn child adoption. Unborn child adoption is when a person adopts a child from a pregnant woman who has an unborn child. Another small but false argument is that it is dangerous to give up the pregnant woman’s child to someone that they don’t know for sure will be good for them. In fact, when pregnant woman is open to unborn child adoption, there are many opportunities to get to know the people the pregnant woman is giving their child to. When pregnant woman have this option laid before them, they need to let other infertile mothers have an opportunity to receive that they can never receive on their own. Pregnant woman who do opt for unborn child adoption have less regret than woman do who have a third trimester abortion. 

Pregnant woman who are not sure what safe adoption alternatives are out there need to know that there is other woman who desperately want children. It is safe to say that pregnant woman who have an abortion, especially when they are in their third semester when the baby is mostly grown, are selfish. They are taking away opportunity to let the baby have life. Pregnant woman who abort are doing a disservice for themselves because they give themselves the risk to contract a mental illness when they have an opportunity to do good. 

References 

Barnard, C. (1991). Post Abortion Stress. Retrieved November 04, 2020, from http://lifeissues.net/writers/air/air_vol3no4_1991.html

Biggs, Rowland. “Does Abortion Increase Women’s Risk for Post-Traumatic Stress? Findings from a Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study.” BMJ open 6.2 (2016): e009698–e009698. Web.

Nachinab, Donkor. “Perceived Barriers of Child Adoption: A Qualitative Study Among Women with Infertility in Northern Ghana.” BioMed research international 2019 (2019): 1–9. Web.

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Rebuttal-PardonMyFrench

Posted on November 4, 2020 by pardonmyfrench13

Social Media No More?

Many people in the world today have the mindset of “if you don’t like it, leave it”. Social media has taken over the internet, and with that comes increases in cyber bullying, lack of self-esteem and suicide. Of course, there are several opponents to this viewpoint that counter the argument by saying if people were just to stay off of the platforms and live a social media free life, then these problems would not be so prevalent in society. While this may be true and useful advice to some people, it is almost impossible to rid social media presence completely. Younger teens are not always being monitored in order to stay offline, school and work now flow through social media platforms and electronic access only continues to grow. So how long is “just stop using social media” really a solution?

Social Media has blown up over the past decade and grown millions of users. Sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter all depend on user generated content to keep the site growing and popular. This all seems great until you look at the statistics of what these platforms and “likes” are doing to young users. 52% of students have reported being the victim of cyberbullying with 84.2% naming Facebook as the site through which they have been bullied, followed by Instagram (23.4%), Twitter (21.4%), and Snapchat (13.5%). This bullying can stem from photos posted, the number of likes a picture has or how many followers a user has. Students who range younger in age take this sort of bullying into a different head space. Middle school children who are victims of cyberbullying are almost twice as likely to attempt suicide than a high school student. A different 2016 study found that overuse of social media as an adolescent may decrease success in relationships later in life as online communication hinders the development of conflict management skills and awareness of interpersonal cues. In turn, this can cause low self esteem and a lot of future issues with self-appreciation. Instead of doing away with being able to see the amount of likes a user is getting to assist in bringing these statistics down, opposing viewpoints say to get off of the site completely. This is not possible and would never work in today’s society for an ample amount of reasons.

Deleting social media all together seems like a peaceful getaway. Sure, it’s a semi permeant solution to end cyberbullying, low self-esteem and suicide caused by social media, but not an everlasting one. Parents think they have full control over their children at all times and can limit what they are seeing online. Facts are, they don’t. Kids will never stop migrating to new apps that are foreign to parents. Banning social media just isn’t realistic. All that is needed to be a new user on a social site is an email address and internet access. With this being said, students would still be able to access the sites and find themselves in the same position they are now. This could also end worse than if likes were just deleted because the young users would have no one to turn to if they were being bullied and felt low since they have been hiding the accounts. This is the ultimate backfire and would be the opposite of what success would look like.

Not only would banning young teens from social media be nearly impossible, it could also lead to issues in school. There’s a risk of social marginalization for kids who are not allowed to socialize in this way that’s now so embedded in social lives. If a teenager is at the age where all of their friends are on social media it can lead to feelings of being left out, isolated and socially ostracized from peers. Again, this could lead to self-harm and irreversible neurological damage. Another reason banning social media can have the reverse effect.

Another reason the argument of banning social media is invalid and unattainable in todays world is due to work and school flow through the sites. 48% of job-seekers credit social media for helping find their current job and 69% of students use social media when finding internships. Ignoring these sites would hurt the value that they bring to the table. Social media is also sometimes required for school research and to network with fellow students. In the United States more than 80% of college and university faculty use social media; more than 50% use it for teaching; and 30% for communicating with students. This is a need and another reason deleting the site as a whole would hinder students and not aid to their success.

Social media is seen for all of its negatives at most times but deleting it would be detrimental in case of emergency. Federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals surveyed say that they use social media to notify the public of emergencies or disasters. Facebook also allows people to mark themself safe in the event of a crisis which notifies the friends list that the user is okay. This would be otherwise impossible without an account.

Critics who emphasize the concept of deleting social media as a whole is almost ridiculous. Not only is this nearly impossible but there are also many negatives that are not be looked into. Sure, a parent can “ban” their child from social media, but they can still sneak on anyway and see worse effects in isolation and becoming ostracized. Businesses thrive on social media existence and taking it away completely would only create a collapse of them. Schools (especially since COVID) have been using social media sites to communicate with students and allow students to get in touch with one another as well. Taking away this avenue could affect learning completely. Lastly, it all sounds amazing to live a social media free life until a crisis occurs. Marking ourselves safe and becoming aware of surrounding dangers in the world in a timely manner would be taken way if social media wasn’t in Americans lives. Deleting social media as a whole is just not the answer. Maybe doing the lesser of two and taking away the likes social media presents would be a perfect intermediate point. Not showing likes would allow for the use of social media for all the positives, without giving users a reason to feel insecure and low.

Refrences:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/06/12/why-its-a-mistake-to-ban-social-media-and-what-to-do-instead/

LexisNexis, “Social Media Use in Law Enforcement: Crime Prevention and Investigative Activities Continue to Drive Usage,” lexisnexis.com, Nov. 2014

opRank Marketing News, “TopRank Fast Facts: 50+ Useful Consumer Insights & Statistics for Online Marketers,” toprankmarketing.com, May 20, 2013

Statistic Brain, “Cyberbullying / Bullying Statistics,” statisticbrain.com (accessed July 13, 2016)

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Rebuttal- cardinal

Posted on November 4, 2020 by cardinal7218

Diversity Sells–But Hollywood Isn’t Selling It

Hollywood has led the entertainment industry in America for over a century, playing the vital role of not only entertaining the masses but also shaping our social climate through storytelling. The images and stories we take in sway the way we view ourselves and others as well as our ideologies. Given the power of storytelling, people understandably want stories to represent them and the beliefs and experiences they hold dear. Others want stories that detail experiences and ideologies different from their own in order to expand their worldview. Basically, audiences want diversity. America grows less tolerant of racism and a lack of inclusion by the day, and many expect entertainment to reflect that social climate. Puzzlingly, though, Hollywood continues to stay behind the curve when it comes to racial diversity.

One long-held belief in Hollywood is that diversity doesn’t sell. Any studio executive would likely say that diversity and inclusion is a noble pursuit, but might add that it’s not the most profitable one. Executives clutch onto concerns about diverse movies not performing well overseas. Granted, the concerns are not entirely unfounded, even in recent years. For example, in 2015, the Chinese poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens made a prominent Black character smaller and took out a Latino character entirely. Other similar incidents allow studio executives to say that while America is surely not racist, the rest of the world just might be, and therefore making non-diverse films to rake in money at both domestic and worldwide box offices is the wisest business practice.

This belief, however, is a misconception. Diversity sells, and not just domestically. In UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood diversity report, the numbers pointed to diverse films attracting audiences around the globe. The study, which accounted for 286 theatrical films released over 2018 and 2019, showed that films with diverse casts performed better overseas than non-diverse films. Films with casts made up of 21-50% minorities performed the best overseas, and the trend holds up even at the extreme ends of the spectrum; films with over 50% minority casts performed better than films with less than 11% minority casts.

The overwhelming individual successes of diverse films make the truth even clearer. Take, for example, Marvel’s 2018 hit Black Panther. The superhero film, which featured a predominantly Black cast and a fictional African society that was developed and technologically advanced, was both a critical and commercial success. Not only was it the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it grossed over 1.3 billion dollars at the global box office, making it, currently, the twelfth highest grossing film of all time according to Box Office Mojo’s data. Black Panther also outperformed similar blockbuster films, such as Aquaman and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, that were released in the same year and featured predominantly white lead casts. Furthermore, Black Panther was well-loved enough to break cultural barriers, and not just cultural barriers in America or even ones related to race. In order to host a special screening of Black Panther, Saudi Arabia lifted a ban on movie theaters that had gone on for 35 years. To make the impact even greater, men and women were allowed to sit together, and according to NPR, it was the start of a more widespread reopening of movie theaters in the country. Black Panther was a success in every sense not despite its diversity, but because of its diversity, if the reactions of critics and fans alike are any indication. The world ravenously adored this movie and the groundbreaking diversity it brought to the table, clearly illustrating that diversity is attractive and does, in fact, sell.

Another considerable success is 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. One of the two lead characters was played by a Black man and a supporting but still narratively important character was played by a Latino man. Despite China’s theatrical poster seeming to suggest an issue with these characters, the film went on to gross over 2 billion dollars globally, becoming the current fourth highest grossing film of all time as shown by Box Office Mojo’s data. Granted, The Force Awakens did face considerably greater backlash from fans regarding its diversity, with some groups threatening to boycott the movie because it featured a Black lead. While these pockets of backlash may seem to suggest that diversity is a risk, they actually prove the opposite. The numbers don’t lie. The movie was an overwhelming success at the box office, proving that diversity did not actually hinder the movie’s success.

The success of diversity is no secret to Hollywood executives. It’s reasonable to think that diversity would be their goal, if not for ethical uprightness then for a profit, and especially when the desires of the consumer are this clear. Since catering to the desires of the global audience cannot reasonably be the rationale behind inhibiting diversity, perhaps Hollywood executives are withholding some truth. Perhaps the real motivation lies within the Hollywood hierarchy.      

As of early 2020, the overwhelming majority of Hollywood studio CEOs, senior executives, and unit heads were white, according to the UCLA study. White people have held the power in Hollywood since its conception over 100 years ago, they still hold it today, and when people have power, it’s not in our nature to easily relinquish it. With white executives making the biggest decisions about what stories to tell and who should tell them, it’s no surprise that white stories are overrepresented. In Hollywood, where risk is inherent in every decision, executives “surround themselves with people who make them feel comfortable, who are a lot like them,” according to Darnell Hunt, the leader of UCLA’s study. Hollywood’s history of over-representing white people has tricked executives into thinking that less diversity equates to less risk, allowing them to rationalize the white monopoly on power in the business. Hiring white people and telling white stories makes white executives feel secure, and they use a disproven economic excuse to cover for their true desire- to remain in power.

References

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/02/12/275907930/redefining-hollywood-diversity-makes-more-money

Deggans, E. (2014, February 13). Redefining Hollywood: ‘Diversity Makes More Money’. Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/02/12/275907930/redefining-hollywood-diversity-makes-more-money

Click to access UCLA-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2020-Film-2-6-2020.pdf

Hunt, D., & Ramón, A. (2020, February). Hollywood Diversity Report 2020: A Tale of Two Hollywoods [PDF]. Los Angeles: UCLA College of Social Sciences.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross/?area=XWW

Top Lifetime Grosses. (2020, November 04). Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross/?area=XWW

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/2020-hollywood-diversity-report

Wolf, J. (2020, October 22). 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report: A different story behind the scenes. Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/2020-hollywood-diversity-report

Posted in cardinal, Rebuttal Essay | 8 Comments

Rebuttal-ComicDub

Posted on November 4, 2020 by comicdub

The Price Of Saving Driver’s Lives

Forcing all cars on roadways to be of the same size would be a very difficult task indeed. Infact, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that this would even be impossible. Nonetheless, forcing cars on the road to be the same size is still the backbone of my thesis and by the end of this, I will prove that it is not only necessary, but also achievable. So, up to this point the evidence makes it clear that the size of two vehicles involved in a car-to-car collision is one of the driving factors that make accidents so fatal. This makes it very clear that something needs to be done about the disparity of car sizes on roadways. Otherwise people will keep dying from something that is known and can be prevented. Going back to the challenge of forcing all cars to be the same size, the simplest and most effective solution would be to construct dedicated roadways for different classes of vehicles. This is a solution that will satisfy most people. Everyone will still have the freedom to choose whether they drive a big or small car, slow or fast one, pretty much whatever kind of car they want with the only downside being they would have to drive on certain designated roadways for their vehicle type. But, this isn’t even really a downside as I’m sure most people would agree that having a much lower chance of dying while driving but having to drive on specific roads isn’t that bad of a deal at all. 

I originally said that this would be the simplest solution to the problem of forcing all cars to be the same size but that doesn’t actually mean that this task would be simple, it’s just the simplest out of the very limited options. Since it won’t be very easy and is pretty controversial, there is without a doubt plenty of arguments against this idea. Out of all the possible arguments, the one that most likely would be the top argument is that the cost of constructing multiple roadways for different sized vehicles is extremely high. This argument is an unsurprisingly very good one. To get an idea of how much it would actually cost we can take a look at an existing idea of truck only highway lanes. This is essentially the exact thing that I want to achieve but for more classes of cars than just trucks. In the article titled, “Issues in The Financing of Truck-Only Lanes,” authors David Forkenbrock and Jim March reference Robert Poole and Peter Samuel who “estimate that, in general, constructing a truck-only facility alongside an existing rural interstate would cost approximately $2.5 million per lane-mile (about $10 million per route-mile for two lanes in each direction), plus land acquisition costs, if applicable.” Currently, the United States Interstate Highway System is 46,876 miles long. This means that just for truck only highway lanes alone, it would cost a staggering $468 billion dollars  to create. And for my thesis to work there would need to be at least two other roadways alongside the current roads meaning that number would be doubled. 

So, as previously stated, the argument that constructing dedicated roadways would be too expensive is a valid one, but there is a reason why I still stand firm on the idea. That is that human lives are priceless. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “There were 33,654 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2018 in which 36,560 deaths occurred.” Some, if not a majority of these deaths could have been prevented if dedicated roadways were constructed. And as stated by the CDC, “Traffic crash deaths resulted in $55 billion in medical and work loss costs in addition to the immeasurable burden on the victims’ families and friends in 2018.” So if dedicated roadways were actually constructed and put into use, the lives that these new roadways save will in turn reduce that $55 billion. Let’s say, hypothetically, that the reduction in fatal car accidents due to dedicated roadways cut the $55 billion in half, bringing the total cost resulting from traffic crash deaths down to $27.5 billion. This means that, each year, the United States would save on average $27.5 billion. With this much money being saved every year, constructing dedicated roadways for different classes of cars can not only be seen as life saving but it also can be seen as a long term investment. Based on the estimated cost of truck only lanes, the cost of dedicated roadways can be estimated to be around $900 billion dollars. That means that it would only take around 32 years for the cost of the roadways to be balanced out by the yearly savings due to less fatal car accidents. Some may think that 32 years sounds like a long time, but compared to the age of the United States, it is not that crazy of a number. The $27.5 billion in savings doesn’t just end when the cost of the roadways is balanced out either, the United States will continue to save the money every year which is the long term investment part of this idea. 

Money aside, constructing dedicated roadways for different classes of vehicles will save lives, thousands of lives in fact. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claims, “A total of 4,136 people died in large truck crashes in 2018.” Nearly 70% of those deaths were occupants of cars while only 16% were deaths of the large truck drivers. These are thousands of deaths from only two of the different vehicle classes that could have been avoided if they weren’t driving on the same roadways. Bringing it back to the argument of being too expensive, yes, it is expensive but that money will eventually come back around and even profit will be made all while saving the lives of drivers. That is why forcing all cars on roadways to be of the same size is not only achievable, but also a necessary step towards reducing the fatality rate of accidents.

References

Fatality Facts 2018: Large trucks. (2019, December). Retrieved November 05, 2020.

Fatality Facts 2018: State by state. (2019, December). Retrieved November 05, 2020.

Forkenbrock, D. J., & March, J. (2005, September). Issues in The Financing of Truck-Only Lanes. Retrieved November 05, 2020.

Highway History. (2018, December 18). Retrieved November 05, 2020.

State-Specific Costs of Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths. (2020, October 26). Retrieved November 05, 2020.

Posted in comicdub, Rebuttal Essay | 4 Comments

White Paper- Jeffbezos

Posted on November 4, 2020 by jeffbezos123

Waking up to a 6am alarm clock, having over a 14 hour day ahead of them. This is the normal for most college athletes. Students across the country try to balance athletics, school work, their jobs, social life and family life in a “healthy way”. Many students enrolled in a college have no idea what these athletes have to do everyday. This does not just include the big divison 1 schools, this goes all the way down to even divison 3.

When looking at the students at University of Penn, every athletes rouitine is diffrent. One thing that is not, is the early mornings and even longer nights. “Engineering freshman and swimmer Carly Catella starts her day at 5:45 a.m. four times a week and sometimes doesn’t finish with classes until 9 p.m.” This would mentally and physically drain every person I know. The worst part is, what happens during final exams? This is when the playoff runs start. Where do you possibly fit in the studying needed for your degree. Sleepless nights, fueled by caffiene.

This is what starts the menal health problems.

https://www.thedp.com/article/2015/02/student-athletes-work-hard-and-play-hard

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