Mother tongue education Essay Example for Free

Mother tongue education Essay Mercator International Symposium: Europe 2004: A new framework for all languages? The right to mother tongue medium education-the hot potato in human rights instruments Address by Dr. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas in Opening Plenary As long as we have the language, we have the culture. As long as we have the culture, we can hold on to the land. (pg. 1) In an article called Justice for sale. International law favours market values, Mireille DelmasMarty (2003) discusses the danger in the conflict between legal concepts based on, on the one hand, universal market values , on the other hand, genuinely universal non -market values. The genuinely universal non -market values obviously include individual and collective human rights, as a part of the universal common heritage of humanity. Even if philosophy of both human rights law and philosophically oriented parts of political science now start accepting that there shouldbe normative rights in relation to at least some parts of this heritage (in their terminology common public assets), the legal protection of market values is incommensurably stronger than the protection of non-market values. DelmasMarty exemplifies this with the fact that there is no universal international court that individuals could turn to when their (non -market value based) human rights have been violated. Individual rights are entirely a matter for states, and reports are the only form of monitoring (ibid. ). And if this monitoring, which I have exemplified with the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention, does not support educational linguistic human rights strongly, there is a problem. On the other hand, laws based on market values are being spread by more or less global organizations like the WTO (World Trade Organisation) and, it seems to me, even more dangerously, WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) 25. These laws are being developed extremely rapidly, with harsh sanctions for violations. -(pg. 13) Economist Francois Grin offers through his discussion of market failure in his book about the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (2003b) excellent arguments for resisting market dominance for public or common assets/goods like cultural products: â€Å"Even mainstream economics acknowledge that there are some cases where the market is not enough. These cases are called market failure. When there is market failure, the unregulated interplay of supply and demand results in an ina ppropriate level of production of some commodity† (Grin 2003b: 35). In Grins view, many public goods, including minority language protection, are typically under supplied by market forces (ibid. ). The level becomes inappropriately low. Therefore it is the duty of the state(s) to take extra measures to increase it. (pg. 14) Each language reflects a unique world- view and culture complex, mirroring the manner in which a speech community has resolved its problems in dealing with the world, and has formulated its thinking, its system of philosophy and understanding of the world around it. In this, each language is the means of expression of the intangible cultural heritage of people, and it remains a reflection of this culture for some time even after the culture which underlies it decays and crumbles, often under the impact of an intrusive, powerful, usually metropolitan, different culture. However, with the death and disappearance of such a language, an irreplaceable unit in our knowledge and understanding of human thought and world- view is lost forever. (Wurm, ed. 2001: 13). (pg. 17) As long as a numerically small mother tongue does not give you a better job with a higher salary than shifting to a numerically and politically more powerful language, there are, according to thisway of arguing, few arguments to maintain these mother tongues (and bilingualism is often not considered as a real option; the thinking here is often either/or). (pg. 18) I have earlier (Skutnabb -Kangas in press e) claimed that most of these arguments are presented by researchers who tend to write in English and be native speakers of one of the numerically big languages themselves, often English. This does not necessarily mean that they are monolingual themselves, and many of them are global research nomads, holding jobs all over the world, often making the usual rounds in rapid succession, from Britain or USA or Canada to Sydney or Singapore or Hongkong, etc. This means that these researchers have mostly never experienced that their own dominant language has bee n threatened. It seems that many dominant language speakers are much less aware than dominated language speakers of the non -market values of their ownlanguages, and, consequently, of other peoples own languages. At the same time, they are often not aware (or do not want to be aware) of the market benefits that they themselves have access to because of being speakers of dominant languages. Often they take both these benefits and the fact that others are learning their language in a non -reciprocal way, for granted, and are not willing to in any way compensate speakers of dominated languages for these non -earned benefits; they are linguistic free-riders as Philippe van Parijs puts it (2003: 167). This compensation would obviously be fair, even in terms of thetypes of justice that many lawyers accept. Several researchers have started discussing issues in these economic compensation terms (e. g. Grin 2003b, 2004, van Parijs 2003). (pg. 19) Another partially overlapping distinction, also made by Grin (e. g. 2003b: 24-27), can be used to bridge the gap betwe en social market value and non -market value arguments. In describing arguments used to answer the question why anybody, including society as a whole, should bother about maintaining (minority) languages, Grin differentiates between moral considerations arguments and welfare considerations arguments . Most of the legal discourse, including the linguistic human rights considerations, refer to norms about the right tolive in ones own language, even if the extent of the ensuing rights is debated (ibid. : 24- 25). In contrast, the emphasis of the welfare based argument is not on whether something is morally good or bad, but on whether resources are appropriately allocated. The test of an appropriate allocation of resources is whether society is better off as a result of a policy . (pg. 20) Moral or political principles, even if they are sometimes described as human rights, are not necessarily part of internationallaw. They are things that governments should do, if they are nice, not something they must do. Being nice is not a very convincing argument and is less persuasive than rights and freedoms that have the weight of the law behind them. (pg. 20)

Communication for Health Promotion

Communication for Health Promotion The purpose of this assignment is to strongly critique an interaction between a health professional and a service user in a video clip titled â€Å"Sexual Health Advice Role-play† (Nice (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) Media, 2012). In the video clip, an adolescent male is seen using the C card scheme to obtain free condom from a pharmacy. The health professional in the pharmacy takes this as an opportunity to offer the adolescent service user a free chlamydia test. The type of health promotion and communication seen in the video clip will be discussed including the health promotion models observed in the clip and the strategies that could have been used to enhance the opportunity will be highlighted. In order to promote health, heath professionals must understand the definition of health. Health is commonly defined by two definitions; one of which is a negative definition and the other positive. The negative definition of health defines health as the absence of disease or illness (Naidoo and Wills, 2009), whereas the positive definition looks at holistic health and defines health as not just the absence of disease and infirmity but as a state of complete physical mental and social well-being (World Health Organisation (WHO), 1946). Health is holistic and consists of different dimensions which all need to be considered (Naidoo and Wills, 2009). Health promotion is a practice of empowering people to improve control over their health, and to also better it. It encourages people to improve their mental, physical and social well-being and to do so individuals and groups should have the knowledge of interventions that are in place in order to help people satisfy their needs, and change or cope with the environment (WHO), 1986). Nutbeam (1998) suggested that a comprehensive social and political process is represented by Health Promotion. It does not just look at strategies used to strengthen people’s skills and capabilities but it also looks at the strategies used to change social, environmental and economic conditions in order to improve their impact on individuals and public health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behaviour towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions (WHO) 1986). There is a variety of health promotion approaches which all have different objectives. These approaches are medical, behaviour change, educational, empowerment and social change (Naidoo and Wills 2009). The medical approach concentrates on strategies used to decrease morbidity and premature mortality. The approach is also concerned with disease prevention among high-risk groups. This approach is usually linked with the three levels of health promotion, which are primary, secondary and tertiary (Leddy, 2006). Primary health promotion consists of strategies that prevent ill health before it occurs. Strategies may include immunisation or encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles (Hubley et al, 2013). The C card is a form of Primary health promotion because it aims to help young people protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases by issuing free condoms.[g1] Condoms are an effective way of preventing sexually transmitted diseases (National Health Service (NHS) choices, 201 3) therefore the C Card scheme is a good example of primary health promotion because it prevents disease before it occurs. Secondary health promotion consists of actions taken to identify and prevent the progression of disease at an early stage (Scriven,2005). Secondary health promotion strategies may include health screening programmes. Secondary health promotion is seen in the video clip when the health professional encourages the service user to get screened for chlamydia. Every young person under the age of 25 is entitled to a free and confidential chlamydia test through the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP). The NCSP is an NHS sexual health programme which was put into place by the Department of Health (DOH) in 2003 (NCSP 2003). In 2012 206,912 people in England tested positive for chlamydia and 64% of these were under 25 (NHS Choice, 2013). The NCSP targets young people under 25 because they are a high risk group where chlamydia is concerned. The programme’s aims are to make sure that young people under the age of 25 who are sexually active are aware of the effects of chlamydia and have access to free and confidential chlamydia screening (NCSP, 2013). According to Public Health England (PHE) (2013), since the NCSP was introduced there has been a 40% increase of chlamydia diagnoses in young people. This shows that more young people are being tested and getting treatment for chlamydia. The last level of health promotion is tertiary health promotion which looks at improving the health of individuals who are already affected by a disease. It consists of actions to avoid deterioration and aims to reduce complications (Fertman and Allensworth, 2010). An example of tertiary health promotion is when an HIV infected person takes antiretroviral drugs to help slow down the spread of virus in the body (NHS choice, 2012). The educational approach aims to enable individuals to make informed choices about their health behaviours by educating and assi sting them in developing skills (Trapani 2007). The educational approach is applied in the interaction when the health professional firstly provides the service user with information about chlamydia before performing the chlamydia test. The behaviour change approach aims to change individual’s unhealthy behaviours, by encouraging them to adopt healthy behaviours (Dixey, 2013). An element of the behaviour change approach is seen in the video clip; by providing free condoms to young people, the C card scheme is trying to change their behaviours by encouraging them to stop engaging in unprotected sex. The C-Card scheme is a service for young people which provides free condoms, advice and information. [g2]The service is free and confidential. The aims of the scheme are to help young people have more access to condoms, support them, educate them on sexual heath and how to correctly use condoms (Burtney, 2008). The initial reason why the service user went to the pharmacy was to obtain free condoms but the health professional takes this as an opportunity to promote health. The promotion of health and wellbeing is a fundamental part of being a health professional (Scriven, 2005). All health care professionals are encouraged to make every contact count. They are encouraged to use every interaction with an individual as an opportunity to promote health, whatever their profession or the reason of the interaction (Department of Health, 2012). Good communication skills are essential when health professional are attempting to promote good sexual health to young people. Effective communication enables health professionals to maximise the success of the interaction and this enhances the associated health promotion throughout the consultation (Barnes, 2009). The communication process begins at point of greeting and introduction (French, 2006). Williams and Davies (2005) suggest that communication with adolescents should begin with the development of trust. They further on elaborate that rapport with the adolescent should be built by health professionals and they are also are advised to be non judgemental and straight forward. Throughout the interaction, the health professional did not introduce herself to the service user. The health professional could have presented the idea of a chlamydia screening more effectively by firstly introducing herself. According to NICE (2012) health and social care professionals must always make it a priority to introduce themselves to service users and clearly explain their role and responsibilities. If the health professional had introduced herself to the service user, the service user would have felt more comfortable and would have had more trust in the health professional. Introducing herself could have helped her build rapport between herself and the service user. Establishing rapport and building a relationship between a service user and health professional are considered as foundations to good communication (Mitchell and Welling, 1998). Building a relationship is fundamental when working with young people because if a young person does not trust you, they may not disclose personal information (Royal College of Nursing (RCN), 2013). Throughout the consultation the health professional maintained excellent professionalism. The language used by the health professional was that of a professional manor and not over technical. The service user used clinical language that could be understood by the service user, she did not speak in way that could have been patronising to the service user. When interacting with adolescents, some health professionals resort to using patronising language because they believe an adolescent would not be capable of understanding professional language (Berry, 2006) The health professional maintained good eye contact throughout the interaction. When interacting with a service user, health professionals are advised to maintain eye contact if it is culturally acceptable for the service user because it shows honest, confidence and helps build a more therapeutic relationship (Eisenberge, 2012). According to Bateman (2000), a health professional’s advice may not be absorbed if there is a la ck of eye contact. Appropriate body language was used by the health professional throughout the interaction. The body language used by the service user was also that of a professional manor. Allen (2013) suggests that body language can be used as a foundation of building rapport between service user and health professional. She also goes on to say that trust can be established through mirroring and matching the body movements of a person. The health professional is seen mirroring the service user’s body movement throughout the interaction. Maintained good communication skill, eye contact, body language Good environment no noise, privacy, no interruptions When service user asked if it could be transmitted through kissing professional asked as if she didn’t know. No information. Did not ask for consent She did not give him a chance to ask questions Gave information before test References Burtney, E (2008) Guidelines for Setting Up a C-Card Condom Distribution Scheme For Young People. Available at: http://www.phru.net/shin/Condom%20Distribution%20Review/Brook%20guidelines%20FINAL%2029%20Oct.doc (Accessed: 23 April 2014) Department of Health (2012) The NHSs role in the publics health: a report from the NHS Future Forum. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216423/dh_132114.pdf (Accessed: 23 April 2014) Public Health England (2013) Chlamydia screening intervention proves infectious in general practice. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chlamydia-screening-intervention-proves-infectious-in-general-practice (Accessed: 24 April 2014) Fertman, C. and Allensworth, D. (ed.) (2010) Health Promotion Programs: From Theory to Practice. London: Jossey-Bass Hubley, H., Copeman, J. and Woodall, J. (2013) Practical Health Promotion. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press Leddy, S. (2006) Integrative Health Promotion: Conceptual Bases for Nursing Practice. 2nd edn. London: Jones and Bartlett Naidoo, J. and Wills, J. (2009) Foundations For Health Promotion. 3rd edn. London: Elsevier NCSP (2013) What is the NCSP?. Available at: http://www.chlamydiascreening.nhs.uk/ys/about.html (Accessed: 23 April 2014) NHS Choices (2012) HIV and AIDS – Treatment. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/HIV/Pages/Treatmentpg.aspx (Accessed: 23 April 2014) NHS Choices (2013) Chlamydia. Available at: ttp://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Chlamydia/Pages/Introduction.aspx (Accessed: 24 April 2014) http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qualitystandards/patientexperience/PatientAwarenessOfHealthcareProfessionals.jsp Nutbeam, D. (1998) ‘Evaluating Health Promotion – progress, problems and solutions’, Health Promotion international ; 13, pp. 27-44 Scriven, A. (2005) Health Promoting Practice: The contribution of nurses and allied health professional. 1st edn. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan World Health organisation (1986) The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Available at: http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/Milestones_Health_Promotion_05022010.pdf?ua=1 (Accessed: 23 April 2014) World Health Organisation (1946) Constitution. World Health Organisation, Geneva http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TjI1QMi3cnoCdq=medical+approach+in+health+promotionsource=gbs_navlinks_s http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xwOd0PcEdtoCsource=gbs_navlinks_s http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/clinical-zones/sexual-health/health-promotion-in-sexual-health-2-nurses-role-in-engaging-with-clients/5001424.article http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yUTP2ioasf8Csource=gbs_navlinks_s http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bkDjTmriEiYCdq=why+is+eye+contact+important+in+health+and+social+caresource=gbs_navlinks_s http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AK_Mg2J5EhUCdq=language+used+by+health+professionalssource=gbs_navlinks_s http://www.naturalhealthcourses.com/Reading_Room/Body_Language.htm [g1]Reference [g2]Reference

Viking Impact on Northern Europe :: miscellaneous

Viking Impact on Northern Europe When we hears the term Viking an immediate image of bloodthirsty men with long beards and horned helmets is conjured up in our minds. This is the image the historical sources have given us, and it is partly true. Vikings were merciless when raiding, but they were peaceful when they traded. Their navigational technology was exceptional, and the ones who settled in foreign lands contributed greatly to the lands’ culture. The Vikings are famous for their violent ways when they pillaged and plundered villages of Northern Europe. Their dramatic exploits commenced during 800 – 1050 A.D, The first being the raid on Lindisfarne Monastery in 793, followed by a chain of attacks all over the coast of northern Europe during the next 200 years. As the years went on the frequency of Viking attacks increased as they became bolder. They were opportunists, raiding when the villages were off–guard or weak and trading when they were powerful. The speed and tactical advantage of the Viking longships allowed them to slip quietly ashore, pillage the village and make a fast getaway via water before the village can summon an army. By this time some Viking plunderers would stay over winter in a village. Soon their raiding camps became settlements and Viking control over Europe began to grow, it was not long before Vikings overran most of England. The other skill that Vikings excelled at was the skill of navigation. Their longships were the cutting–edge technology at the time, and their ingenious sun-compass, which worked somewhat like a sundial, allowed them to sail to their destination with precision. The longships were usually made with oak boards stripped from trees with thin ropes soaked in pitch trapped between joints to act as a flexible, waterproof membrane. These ships, combined with their streamlines design, are very fast and seaworthy and would flex out of places when a sturdier ship would shatter. The sun compass is also very useful because it is the only directional tool at the time. It uses a shadow cast by a small pin in the middle of a round plate with bearings to give the direction. This tool allowed them to sail on open seas without landmarks for directions, a great advantage. This tool allowed them to sail on open seas without landmarks for directions, a great advantage. Through raiding, some Vikings settled in foreign lands, where they farmed, raised cattle and in time, contributed to the community like the natives.

Homosexual Marriages Must be Permitted Essay -- essays research papers

Homosexual Marriages Must be Permitted   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marriage is traditionally viewed as the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. However, what happens when those two people are two men or two women? This topic of gay marriage has been a major issue in the United States over the past few years. It has raised several political debates as well as other minor arguments throughout the United States and around the world. Until recently, homosexual couples in the United States were allowed to marry. Recently, a series of events change the standing of homosexual marriages in the United States. The Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas repealed a Texas law that made sodomy a crime in order to affirm the privacy rights of homosexuals. In November 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the state cannot deny marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Following the Massachusetts decision, more gay marriages occurred publicly across the nation from San Francisco to New York. President George W. Bush responded to these activities by urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to grant legalized same-sex marriages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and they view anything else as morally wrong. They claim that homosexual marriage is unconstitutional and would destroy the sanctity of marriage. I believe that gays and les...

Animal Intelligence Essay -- Papers

Animal Intelligence Intelligence is defined as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge. Psychologists have exploited this concept in many ways to try and determine whether non-human animals are capable of intelligence. From social learning it is logical to assume that, since non-human animals are able to both acquire and use new behaviours, they must be intelligent in some way. Heyes stated that there are 6 types of behaviour which suggest intelligence. These are imitation, self-recognition, social relationship formation, role-taking, deception and perspective taking. These 6 behaviours are referred to as the theory of mind (ToM). Imitation is the ability to copy another's behaviour, this may be because the behaviour is adaptive. Kawai (1965) studied Japanese macaques and found that due to one monkey's actions (Imo), a large amount of the macaque population acquired a useful behaviour in a 5-year period. Kawai reported that Imo would wash her sweet potatoes before consumption, later other macaque monkeys showed the same behaviour. Kawai thus suggested that the rest of the monkeys had imitated Imo's behaviour. Galef suggested that this behaviour was due to social learning. Given the time period, of 5 years, it is possible that other monkeys had learned this potato washing behaviour by themselves instead of imitating Imo. The observers in this experiment provided the sweet potatoes, and would pay more attention to the monkeys that washed the potatoes. This attention would be a reinforcer of the behaviour causing other monkeys to copy it. Although there is not enough supportive evidence for imitation, some behaviours ca... ...ceive the trainer in white and pay attention to instructions given by the trainer in green. The chimpanzee successfully got the food most of the time. This supports the idea that non-human animals are capable of deceit. The characteristics of this behaviour are very like a conditioned behaviour. It is nearly impossible to say whether non-human animals are intelligent. Most studies, in this field of psychology, were carried out on primates, and it is thought that these animals are naturally superior. It seems most behaviour in the research discussed in this essay can be explained through association learning, therefore not actually a result of intelligence. It is difficult to falsify whether animals are intelligent or not because, although they are able to solve problems they only show some aspects to suggest ToM.

Process of Issuing Ipo by a Bangladeshi Corporation Essay

When a company wants to go public the following procedure must be performed: †¢The first thing it does is hire an investment bank, which does the underwriting. Underwriting is the process of raising money by either debt or equity (in this case we are referring to equity). We consider the underwriters as middlemen between companies and the investing public. †¢The company and the investment bank will meet to negotiate the deal. Items usually discussed include the amount of money a company will raise, the type of securities to be issued and all the details in the underwriting agreement. †¢The deal can be structured in a variety of ways. For example, in a firm commitment, the underwriter guarantees that a certain amount will be raised by buying the entire offer and then reselling to the public. In a best efforts agreement, however, the underwriter sells securities for the company but doesn’t guarantee the amount rose. †¢Investment banks are hesitant to shoulder all the risk of an offering. Instead, they form a syndicate of underwriters. One underwriter leads the syndicate and the others sell a part of the issue. †¢Once all sides agree to a deal, the investment bank puts together an offer document to be filed with the SEC. This document contains information about the offering as well as company info such as financial statements, management background, any legal problems, where the money is to be used and insider holdings. †¢The SEC then requires a cooling off period, in which they investigate and make sure all material information has been disclosed. Once the SEC approves the offering, a date (the effective date) is set when the stock will be offered to the public †¢Then Individual Deposit the same amount in the listed bank-branch and submit an application for getting stock. †¢Then Conduct a lottery to distribute the stock †¢Those who are not get the stock they refund there subscription fee within one month. †¢Those who got the lottery, stock will deposited in there BO account.

Sociology of Sport

Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are. Sociology of Sport Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are.