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This article is about the rising rates of teen crime in Britain. Just last week, an 11-year-old boy was gunned down by another young boy around 13-15 years old. A month back, a 47-year-old died from head injuries after confronting a gang of more than 15 teenagers throwing stones at his car. 3 days after that, a 23-year-old died after challenging a group of youths over a half-eaten chocolate bar thrown into his sister's car. An elderly man who tried helping him had a knife put to his throat. Figures show that teenagers are responsible for 40 per cent of all recorded crime. This alarming trend is definitely something that we have to put a stop to.
Many researchers have shown that during adolescence, teenagers go through a stage where they wish to express their own individuality. This usually leads to them rebelling, so they do not fit into the crowd and are unique. For example, some teenagers argue with their parents, refusing to conform to standards that their siblings have accepted. All of these actions are to get noticed, sometimes even to impress their peers. However, in recent years, these actions have become more extreme, usually breaking the law.
So what has caused this phenomenon to occur? I believe strongly that it is because of the environment that these teenagers live in.
Firstly, it is the upbringing of the child. In the article, experts say that absentee dads and parents lacking in moral fibre are also to blame for the decline in respect and discipline. How can a young child be expected to grow up with good morals if his parents aren’t a good role model for him? Thus, it is very important for parents to teach their children good values from a young age. This will then prevent such cases of teenage crime from happening.
Next, the friends that teens make also play a huge part in the development of the teen. During adolescence, people are greatly affected by peer pressure. Thus, many of their actions are done just to fit in, or to be accepted by their friends. We can tell from this that teens will be in trouble if they get into bad company. This can be counteracted with good advice from parents, but in some families, both parents are working. Therefore, teenagers spend much more time with their peers than their parents, and slowly but surely, they will be more influenced by their peers than parents. With the lack of control that the parent has over her children, the teenager will just follow whatever his friends do. Should they commit a crime, no one would be able to tell them that it is wrong.
Finally, the school also has a part to play. Why are parents so anxious about their children going to a good school, going to extremes like moving close to a school just to get a place in it? That is because in good schools, children are more likely to be well behaved, therefore their child is less likely to get into bad company. The school teachers will also be more particular about discipline, so as to maintain the good reputation that the school has. Therefore, with teachers to keep the students’ discipline and conduct in check, teenagers are much less likely to commit crimes.
In conclusion, the environment has a huge part to play in healthy development of a teenager’s moral compass. Thus, we have to put in more effort to ensure a safe environment for these teenagers, and put a stop to the rising levels of teenage crime.
598 words
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Democracy Creates Stability in a Society
Firstly, the term ‘democracy’ has to be defined. It is actually a government that is decided by the people. The citizens of the country are given the power to vote for the parties they want, and the party with the majority of votes wins the position. There are two types of democracy, pure democracy and representative democracy. The former is extremely rare while the latter is more commonly practiced, so this essay will be focusing on representative democracy.
I think that democracy cannot create stability in a society. The following points can illustrate my point.
Firstly, there has to be a large majority compared to the minority. If the votes are split very evenly, like 51% to 49%, then the minority will rebel and try to overturn the decision. This may come from mild methods like demanding recounts to more extreme ones like rioting. Should this happen, it is obvious that democracy does not create stability in a society.
Next, the citizens of the country have to be able to make a good choice themselves. Some countries are unable to be democratic because they have a low literacy level. This means that people will not be able to make a good choice, as they are unlikely to know about all of the political happenings.
Another point is that the parties must be good in the first place. If there aren’t any good parties to choose from, you will make a poor vote regardless of your choice. This is a very important point as there is nothing to argue about if there is no party that you can trust with the running of the country. Thus democracy will not create stability.
However, democracy can also work well in some aspects.
The first advantage is that the people decide the government. As a result, people will not be unhappy with the government, because they voted for them in the first place. The satisfaction of the people shows that democracy will create stability in a society.
The second advantage is that the government will be more motivated. In most countries, the elections are held within 5 years of each other. It can be shorter, but never longer. As a result, the government has to keep working towards a better future. If there is any shortcoming at all, they would most probably be voted off and a better party will take over. The motivated leaders will definitely try to create the best for the country, so democracy will create stability in a society.
In conclusion, the disadvantages of democracy outweigh the advantages by a little. It is hard for it to create stability, but if you are able to fulfil several conditions such as abovementioned, democracy is definitely one of the best political systems that can be found. No other system is able to create as much stability with as few unhappy people as democracy. However, it is hard to fulfil all the conditions, thus democracy does not create stability in society.
498 words
I think that democracy cannot create stability in a society. The following points can illustrate my point.
Firstly, there has to be a large majority compared to the minority. If the votes are split very evenly, like 51% to 49%, then the minority will rebel and try to overturn the decision. This may come from mild methods like demanding recounts to more extreme ones like rioting. Should this happen, it is obvious that democracy does not create stability in a society.
Next, the citizens of the country have to be able to make a good choice themselves. Some countries are unable to be democratic because they have a low literacy level. This means that people will not be able to make a good choice, as they are unlikely to know about all of the political happenings.
Another point is that the parties must be good in the first place. If there aren’t any good parties to choose from, you will make a poor vote regardless of your choice. This is a very important point as there is nothing to argue about if there is no party that you can trust with the running of the country. Thus democracy will not create stability.
However, democracy can also work well in some aspects.
The first advantage is that the people decide the government. As a result, people will not be unhappy with the government, because they voted for them in the first place. The satisfaction of the people shows that democracy will create stability in a society.
The second advantage is that the government will be more motivated. In most countries, the elections are held within 5 years of each other. It can be shorter, but never longer. As a result, the government has to keep working towards a better future. If there is any shortcoming at all, they would most probably be voted off and a better party will take over. The motivated leaders will definitely try to create the best for the country, so democracy will create stability in a society.
In conclusion, the disadvantages of democracy outweigh the advantages by a little. It is hard for it to create stability, but if you are able to fulfil several conditions such as abovementioned, democracy is definitely one of the best political systems that can be found. No other system is able to create as much stability with as few unhappy people as democracy. However, it is hard to fulfil all the conditions, thus democracy does not create stability in society.
498 words
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Teens' love corner?
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Headline: They kiss and grope and don't care if you watch
This article is about the area between blocks 623 and 628 in Bukit Batok Central. Students have been seen geting intimate in that area. Their behaviour has riled and shocked residents. This area used to be occupied by old people who chatted there, but now, it has been overrun by students, mostly in secondary school, who drink, smoke, and 'make out' in the open. Several students who were interviewed showed obvious indifference to their appalling behaviour. When a resident shouted at them to ask a student couple to stop kissing, they actually dared to glare at her. They seem to be oblivious to their extremely unwanted behaviour , as can be seen by their response to the reporters question. When asked if they thought they should be doing this, someone said 'I'm old enough to know what's wrong or right. This is my choice (to smoke in my uniform). I don't think it's anyone's business to interfere.' Another girl that was 14 years old said: 'They(her parents) think I'm attending supplementary classes at school when I'm actually with my boyfriend. I'm going to marry my boyfriend one day, so I say it's okay if we get close to each other now.’ These answers showed the ignorance of these youths.
In my opinion, this should never ever happen. As a teenager myself, I understand very well the pressures during this period of time where we have just started to get our freedom. Our parents have let go of us much more, and a lot of decisions are made on our own. Among these pressures, there are 2 which stand out as the most common, and happen to be the two which are addressed by this article. They are peer pressure, and intimate relationships with the opposite sex ( also known as ‘bgr’- boy girl relationships).
As a teenager, nothing much matters to us except for having fun, hanging out with friends and being popular. Without the proper guidance, whether from teachers or from parents, we can easily get into bad company and we get ridiculously irrational. This often means that the teen’s sense of judgement is badly affected, which may lead them to think that smoking is ‘cool’ and it makes them hip and fit in with his/her friends. The few friends I have who smoke told me that they thought smoking was cool and that was why they started.
The other factor is intimate relationships, which is also linked to peer pressure. At that age, many teenagers think that since their friends have a boyfriend/ girlfriend, they should also get one. They may also want to get in a relationship so that they can show off to their friends, as they think that it makes them be envied.
Headline: They kiss and grope and don't care if you watch
This article is about the area between blocks 623 and 628 in Bukit Batok Central. Students have been seen geting intimate in that area. Their behaviour has riled and shocked residents. This area used to be occupied by old people who chatted there, but now, it has been overrun by students, mostly in secondary school, who drink, smoke, and 'make out' in the open. Several students who were interviewed showed obvious indifference to their appalling behaviour. When a resident shouted at them to ask a student couple to stop kissing, they actually dared to glare at her. They seem to be oblivious to their extremely unwanted behaviour , as can be seen by their response to the reporters question. When asked if they thought they should be doing this, someone said 'I'm old enough to know what's wrong or right. This is my choice (to smoke in my uniform). I don't think it's anyone's business to interfere.' Another girl that was 14 years old said: 'They(her parents) think I'm attending supplementary classes at school when I'm actually with my boyfriend. I'm going to marry my boyfriend one day, so I say it's okay if we get close to each other now.’ These answers showed the ignorance of these youths.
In my opinion, this should never ever happen. As a teenager myself, I understand very well the pressures during this period of time where we have just started to get our freedom. Our parents have let go of us much more, and a lot of decisions are made on our own. Among these pressures, there are 2 which stand out as the most common, and happen to be the two which are addressed by this article. They are peer pressure, and intimate relationships with the opposite sex ( also known as ‘bgr’- boy girl relationships).
As a teenager, nothing much matters to us except for having fun, hanging out with friends and being popular. Without the proper guidance, whether from teachers or from parents, we can easily get into bad company and we get ridiculously irrational. This often means that the teen’s sense of judgement is badly affected, which may lead them to think that smoking is ‘cool’ and it makes them hip and fit in with his/her friends. The few friends I have who smoke told me that they thought smoking was cool and that was why they started.
The other factor is intimate relationships, which is also linked to peer pressure. At that age, many teenagers think that since their friends have a boyfriend/ girlfriend, they should also get one. They may also want to get in a relationship so that they can show off to their friends, as they think that it makes them be envied.
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