Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Link : http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080610-70006.html
Recently, there have been reports on students committing suicide over academic results. For example , in the Jun 10, 2008 news, a fourth year science student was found dead after leaping from a building in the vicinity of the university. In the last semester of her third year, her GPA dropped from her usual 3.7 - 3.9 to 3.18. The drop in the grades was believed to be the main cause behind her suicide. Are students nowadays 'obsessed' with grades or is it the social pressure behind the scene that drives for such behavior ?
High expectations of parents often put the child to high demands. Children are always expected to get good grades or some even the best grades. Due to the high expectations, children placed ifinite priority on their academic grades. Thus the children end up being over concerned over their academic grades. This leads to the utter disappointment when students get grades worse than what they expected. Thus students turn to suicide when grades are below theirs and their parents' expectations.
In this competitive society, where each and every individual tries to outdo others, students are also in the competition for better grades. Comparision of grades between students creates stress for the students as they strive to outperform each other. When the students compare their grades, they prioritise their grades because they did not want to lose out in the competition. As such, when their grades are inferior compared to their peers they would be devastated and deemed as the 'losers'. Therefore, they end up turning to commit suicide because they could not take the 'defeat' in their stride.
Students living in the modern world have not tasted the bitterness of life, therefore being 'unfit' to endure pain of defeats and not capable of adapting to changes. Quoting from the article , "Her grades have continuously dropped, but that is normal because most students' grades drop when they study at higher levels and do more activities," Supot said. As students move on to higher levels of academic pursuit, they faces harder challenges. Therefore, there was a higher possibility of them failing to meet their usual targets of academic grades. This is normal as quoted by Prof Supot Hannongbua. But the students have enjoyed glamour of victory and the glory of being the best. They could not leave their pride behind after failing to meet their target grades, thus being overstressed by the results and turn to suicide. If they had gone through hardships of life, then the outcome may be different.
Expectations may be important. Competition may drive for the better results. But the students being too pampered is definitely not a good thing. The underlying problem behind such situations is that the students are not 'fit' enough to endure the pains of defeat. School Education should not only prioritise academic results, whereas should also place priority on character development. If the school had taught the students on how to handle defeats and stress, they would not be turning to suicide. Morever, students are key to our future. If they could not even cope with a single defeat, how could they take over the leadership of the country? All in all, students should be given a all rounded education so that they would be 'fit' enough to handle defeat(s) .
Labels: Blog 3
Signing Off
Saturday, July 12, 2008
“Democracy creates stability in the society”
I agree to the statement to a large extent due to the fact that democracy promotes economic and political stability which lead to social stability in the society.
Within a society, people usually struggle for economic interest for riches and fame. This would lead to conflicts between groups struggling for economic interests. Democracy plays a important role in this situation. An feature of democracy is such that every single individual have economic freedom as well as equal economic opportunities. This will prevent conflict ,such as civil riots, due to economic discrimination between social groups. For example in USA, before the civil rights movement, the blacks were denied equal economic rights leading to the blacks being economically powerless. The blacks in USA therefore rioted for equal rights so that they would be able to survive economically. After declaration of equal rights, numbers of riots reduced.
Features of democracy : There is a equal distribution of political power and influence. More than one political party must participate in elections and play a role in government.
Since citizens have a right as well as a duty to vote for a government during elections, then the political power is within the people's hands. An example would be the government must act on petitions with 2% or more of the voter’s signatures. When the government is flawed, they may be removed by the people. This would prevent abuse of the political power and corruption. In such a society, government are representation of the people's will. Since everyone has a right to vote, there would not be political discrimination. Thus the political stability leads to stability in society.
Multi-party politics allows oppositions to play a role in the government. This would promote fairness in the government and also helps provide the government with different viewpoints on issues. Also the people will be given a choice of candidates, parties and policies. Since there are more than one choice of party to vote for, the people will have a choice. This brings about political stability as the people will be well represented with the party they voted for therefore would not have conflicts with the government. Since so, the people will not go against the government by rioting therefore bringing social stability.
I disagree to the statement to a small extent. When the people are unsatisfied, they may resort to riots to solve the problem. But when the government ignores it, the people resort to violence. Even if the problems is resolved, the long lasting impact may still cause social upheaval. Therefore democracy do not creates stability but instead promote it.
All in all, I agree to the statement to a large extent. Democracy as an ideal is a way to give more people the opportunity in the government and as an system is a fair way of choosing the government. This would creates stability. Therefore, I agree to the statement to a large extent.
Signing Off
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Around me, there are friends who are currently in a relationship with another girl or boy. Having read recent articles about teenagers entangled in a relationship, seeking help from the magazine's editors. I became interested in the BGR issues of teenagers.
There has been a current trend of starting a relationship early during the teenage years. While sharing with my friends about BGR, I became aware of the "necessity" of having a partner. Most of my friends pointed out that it's a fashion to have a partner, and they would "lose out" if they did not have one. Besides gathering information from my friends, I read up articles on BGR on Teenage magazines. I gather that relationships that are started during the teenage years do not sustain long and always "breaks" because of childish reasons.
BGR although may not be harmful, but is a main cause of many teenage problems. It harms a teenager academically, psychologically or sometimes, physically. For example, teenagers become depressed after a failed relationship. During teenager years, we are developing our character and the environment becomes an important factor. Under peer pressure, teenagers are influenced to find a partner. This is when relationships are developed. These relationship usually start because of "puppy love" or mere" crushes", resulting to the eventual "break". During this period of time, the teenager is harmed academically, psychologically or sometimes, physically. During the relationship, the teenager focuses too much on the relationship itself, and prioritises it. Therefore, the grades suffers. Then, when the relationship ends, the teenager falls into depression. When facing the extreme emotions, the teenager may hurt himself/herself, to vent out the emotions.
BGR usually leads to issues like Teenage Pregnancy, or Teenage Suicide. During the teenage years, youngsters are rash and curious. Innocent youths are not concern of the consequences and seek fun more than anything esle. BGR sparks off events like underage sex, leading to teenage pregnancy. Youths are too young to handle a realationship and usually mishandle it causing harm to both parties of the relationship.
All in all, I feel that teenagers should abstain from BGR. Teenagers are not mature enough to handle a relationship. Based on the information I gather, BGR are built on "puppy love" or mere crushes. This can be prove by the reasons provided for break-ups. For example, my friends broke up with another teenage girl for she spoke to another guy. These simply proves that the teenagers are simply treating BGR as a necessity, misunderstanding that a relationship should be about love. Teenagers should be concentrating on their studies instead of wasting their time on a BGR which will lead to a eventual break-up. Only when they are mature enough would they handle a BGR well.
Signing Off