My biology teacher was lecturing us on the differences between children and adolescents. Everyone pointed out the obvious physical differences, but our teacher told us that the most important difference was in our brains. She told us to take the following example into account. A man's wife has a deadly disease. In order to save her life, she needs to take a medicine, which costs more than he can afford. He steals the medicine in the dead of night. If you caught him, and he told you his story, what would you do? Pre-pubescent children all came to the same conclusion: stealing is wrong and he should be punished. But pubescent teens saw things differently. They acknowledged that stealing was wrong, but they also questioned the degree of immorality. Would it be more wrong to let your wife die or to steal to save her life? The physiological development of the brain allows adults to reason at a higher level than children. While children see moral issues in black and white, adults see moral issues in shades of grey. And while some of us view political issues such as racism, ethnocentrism, feminism and cultural progress in shades of grey, many of today's conservatives view them like children: in black and white. The issue of racism was a matter of life and death before the civil rights movement. But after almost sixty years, it still seems that racism has not yet been abolished in the minds of some Americans. Granted, some racial minorities have not helped their cause by becoming racial stereotypes for the purposes of humor on television and movies. Some even cry racism when not applicable, most notably the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. But not all people who cry racism are just pulling out the race card... ... middle of paper ... ...sion in social issues, our politics will eventually change too. More and more people will begin to see issues in shades of gray, not black and white, blue or red. As my nåna says, "It's not that you're wrong, it's just that I'm more right." Works Cited Berliner, Michael. Capitalism Magazine. 14 Oct. 1999. Ayn Rand Institute. http://www.capamg.com/article.asp?ID=149. Coulter, Ann. Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism. New York: Crown Forum, 2003. 01-16. Elder, Larry. Town Hall. 04 Dec. 2003. http://www.townhall.com Sowell, Thomas. "We're Not Really Equal." Newsweek 07 Sept. 1981: 13-15. Thomas, Cal. "Personal desires deepen fault in foundation of moral boundaries." Editorial. Pacific Daily News 22 May 2004: 16.
Paul Thompson in the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” claims that a teenager is not an adult and should not be treated as one. Thompson supports his claim by first explaining about the research his group has done. He then describes the results of the research by stating, “But what really caught our eye was a massive loss of brain tissue that occurs in the teenage years… are only being lost in the areas controlling impulses, risk-taking and self-control”(Paragraph 7). This means that during the teenage years, those part of the brain are vastly immature. Lastly, the author explains that during this reshaping of the brain, it does not remove their accountability. He also states, “While research on brain-tissue loss can help understand
As a nation, we have made great strides at improving race relations, but this does not mean that racism is extinct. As was pointed out in the class lecture on the Civil Rights Movement, many things have improved, but the fight for civil rights should be continuing as there is still oppression in operation in our own State as was made clear on the issue of suppressing voter rights. Racism is not born into mankind, racism is taught. This shows that if hate can be taught, then love and respect for others can be taught also.
In the 1960s racial hate was a massive problem, probably the biggest issue to face the country at that time. Fast forward 50 years and ask if that problem has been solved. Obviously it hasn’t. Racial slurs are commonly used in everyday conversations and stereotypical ideas about people of different races are commonplace. Some may argue that since the time of the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s racially motivated hate issues have come so far in the direction of an equal society. While that is very true, by no means are all the problems solved. The media endorses the use of racial slurs and racial stereotypes. Television shows like “Blackish” promote stereotypical ideas of a black family and discusses topics like the use of “the n word”. Rap
Similarly, going along with the prior rebuttal of the importance of differentiating juvenile’s characteristics and actions of that of an adult, science is compiling more evidence of its vitality. Many adults can look back and reminisce about an action he or she did when younger and say, “Wow I cannot believe I did that.” Science has proven the reason behind that is because an adolescent’s brain has not yet fully matured. Tsui states “Studies conclusively established that the brain of an adolescent is not fully developed, particularly in the area of the prefrontal cortex, which is critical to higher order cognitive functioning and impulse control” (645). The facts of scientific research need to be taken into consideration when distinguishing
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
McMahon’s “Inside Your Teenager’s Scary Brain” discusses how adolescent’s brains are delicate and can easily affect their development in a good or bad way, depending on the individual’s experiences. According to Jensen, a Harvard neuroscientist and senior neurologist at two Boston hospitals, “teenage years comprise one of the brain’s most critical periods of development”. She parallels her experiences with her own children with observations of teens in general. With new research continuing to surface, studies illustrate how susceptible juvenile’s brain are and how this could generate different techniques on how society, parents, and teachers handle them.
Beautiful Brains by David Dobbs is an article about why teenagers usually take more risks than adults. In the article Dobbs begins by discussing how his son once got in trouble for speeding down a highway just because he was curious to know what it felt like. He then goes into asking why teenagers often do "stupid" things and then explains that teens have always done that throughout time. He provides scientific evidence that the brain changes between the ages of 12 to 25 affecting our decision making. One way that a reader could interpret this data is that teenagers have a hard time using new parts of their brain and seem to be in a state of retardation. Dobb also describes the reckless acts of teenagers in order for them to adapt to any situation.
Further research indicates that a person's intellectual capacity is at its greatest during these years. So much so that it could be compared to that of a full grown adult. The brain acts as a sponge soaking up all the information around it, learning as much as it can. “Adolescents and adults seem to engage different parts of their brain to different extents…” Thought the intellectual ability of a teen can match that of an adult does not mean that they think and interpret things the same. While performing tasks such as solving different problems and test, studies show that, when compared side by side, teens use different parts of the brain to different extents then the adult. This is due to the fact that the brain is still “Under Construction”. Therefore teen must use different parts of the brain for the same task as not all aspects of the brain are ready to handle some tasks, causing different results in different emotional and behavioral responses. This indicates the teen brain is still maturing
Racism comes in many forms ad can be expressed in many different societies in various ways. 1 The dictionary defines racism as the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. This definition of racism makes it clear that it is a perceived point of view that implies prejudice towards people or a person based solely on their race. Racism has been an issue in many societies for many years and still is an issue in modern society. 2 Recently in the U.S. many cases of racism towards African Americans have been shown in the media. However racism is not just a U.S. culture based issue but also a cross-cultural issue
When looking back at our country during the civil rights movement, many people are appalled at how people of color were being mistreated and hated for so long. In our society, today, people like to pride themselves in not being racist and being accepting of all different races and cultures. Although people like to think that they are not racist and that our society is entering a “post-racial” phase, the truth is that we are all somewhat subconsciously racist and to think that we will ever become a post-racial society is unrealistic. People may not believe that white privilege is a real issue but the truth is that it is real and it is happening in our country more than ever. Sadly, race still plays a huge and important role on how you are treated and looked at in this country, there are still people in our society who treat others differently simply because of how they look and because of the color of their skin.
Every generation faces new challenges and new problems to which we have progressed, conquered or simply just swept right under the rug. In today’s world we are increasingly facing numerous social problems, such as income disparity, unemployment, political instability amongst many others, but racism seems to have resurfaced in these past years. Although, the United States has come a long way in the issue of racism, it has never completely conquered it. Incidents such the shooting at Ferguson Missouri has raised an upheaval of protesters against the Country’s system that claims equal treatment and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race or gender. Incidents such as the one previously mentioned, clearly depicts that white-power continues
Do you believe racism is still going on today? Racism dates all the way back to the 1600’s, back then it was known as slavery. Some people say that racism has never ended, Proof of it is shown today with the riots in Ferguson and the black lives matter movement. With all of this racial stuff going on its creating a negative environment, people of certain descents are afraid to be in certain places, some fear for their life. The people in America should stop all racism because it is creating an unsafe and negative environment which leads to conflict, and effects the health of people who get discriminated. Racism also takes away opportunities from the people.
Juveniles are not mature enough or developed psychologically, and, therefore, do not consider the consequences of their actions. In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Thompson,
Modern liberalism and modern conservatism are both political outlooks that involve acceptance or support of the balance of the degree of social equality and social inequality; while they tend to avoid political changes that would result in extreme deviation of society to either side. Modern liberalism and modern conservatism tend not to be as centrist or middle-of-the-road ideologies as they once could be. Ideology is a set of ideas and beliefs that guide the goals, expectations, and actions of a group (Webster’s Dictionary). Individuals who are conservative or liberal tend to have views that align within a political party, whether it be Republican or democratic, but this is not always the case. There are conservative democrats, such as, Jim Costa and Jim Cooper and there are liberal republicans, such as, Nathaniel Banks and George Washington Julian. Another name for conservative democrats would be blue dog democrats while the nickname for liberal republicans is the Rockefeller republicans. These two ideologies tend to be more of the centrist ideologies. Modern liberals tend to be members of the Democratic Party because they support a wide range of welfare programs and government support of the public sector and tighter corporate regulations (PP Modern Liberalism). U.S. Conservatism evolved from classical liberalism, which makes them similar, yet there is many differences between modern conservatism and modern liberalism. There are principles and tenets that govern each ideology. A tenant is a belief or idea that is held as being true from a group (Webster’s Dictionary). In understanding both ideologies, it is imperative to have an understanding of classical liberalism. Classical liberalism was built on ideas from the seventeenth ...
Juveniles mental issues and brain behavior is the full picture of their everyday lifestyles. In “Juveniles don’t