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Oedipus Blindness vs Sight

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Oedipus: Blindness vs Sight

Pride is Oedipus most significant flaw, and it leads him to many misfortunes. He presses on with the investigation to find out his father’s killer, leading to the discovery that he is the guilty party. Throughout the Oedipus stories, he refuses to listen to anyone but always tries to prove his point. Despite the negative connotation to Oedipus’ pride, there is also an upside. Oedipus solved the greatest pestilence on the kingdom of Thebes by following his pride blindly. A pestilence had struck Thebes for some time, and the people desperately wanted to find out its cause. Even before they got to him, Oedipus was already determined to find out the cause. He had his bother in law, Creon, consult the oracle and he returned with the news that for the plague to end Laius’ murderer had to be found. Oedipus made it his mission to investigate what happened and find the murderer, not realizing that he was the guilty one.

Oedipus asked Tiresias the prophet for his insight into the murder of the former king, but Tiresias refused to give him a direct answer. Furious, Oedipus would not relent until he got the answers, he found out the painful truth that he had killed his father and married the king’s wife; in essence, he had married his own mother. The situation is a two-faced one; it rid Thebes of its plague, but at the same time, it destroyed Tiresias. Despite Tiresias’ warning that his pursuit of the truth would bring only pain, Oedipus chose to move on Looking at the greater good, Oedipus; pride, in this case, saved the kingdom and its people from further suffering. However, Oedipus’ family was destroyed. He learned the truth of his childhood and the unfortunate prophecy that had come true.

Works Cited

Sophocles, E. A. Oedipus the king. Classic Productions, 1994.

Offensive Humor on Body Image

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Offensive Humor on Body Image

Humor has often been seen as way of bringing people together or rather a form of entertainment. In most major cities standup comedy often happens almost daily. However, there are rumors that often been termed as offensive. When talking about offensive humor, there are people who think sexist or racist jokes can be used in tackling prejudice or breaking down barriers. However, there are people who think that these jokes are really appalling at times it’s not just a joke as many think (Bemiller, 459-479). The topic has often been seen to be a sensitive one as debates such as political correctness, right of speech as well as the moral values will often arise (Hall, 351-373). One of the offensive humors we have seen are often on body image and while some may find it funny, there are certain jokes that really hit hard on some people and should not be really said. This research paper will explore how popular media uses body image as comedy yet this is a sensitive topic to most people.

Popular media has often been one way which stereotypes about certain things have been created this includes Body image jokes whether about skinny or fat people. There has been argument that offensive humor be it racist or sexist can be able to break barriers as well as challenge prejudice. Those who have often used body image as humor have often done so stating that it may help more people embrace who they are and love themselves. Some researchers have pointed out that offensive jokes often have no consequences as they are just jokes but is this really the case. Some researchers have also pointed out that criticizing offensive humor may be seen as political correctness, a movement that tends to encourage censorship threatening freedom of speech and liberty. However, the truth of the matter is that at times this jokes maligns or belittles individuals in this social group.

Comedians over the years are using disparaging humor without really thinking of the consequences or what people in this position may feel. Those that get to enjoy this humor will often tell those offended to stop being too sensitive. But the real question is “are they too sensitive and do they lack a sense of humor? However, this claims may be completely false (Burmeister, pg. 223). At times these humors are often too offensive such as when one uses jokes to body shame a person who is fat. Fat men are often on the receiving end of these jokes when compared to the women probably because in most cases a man is more likely to brush it off or laugh it out although it may heart. However, for women this is different, jokes on fat women are likely to cause a craze with most women online terming this jokes as body shaming and sexist (Graefer, pg.14). An example of a fat joke that is clearly offensive is “Why is it that pubs won’t serve me if I’m drunk but McDonalds continue serving the fat fuckers? It’s hardly fair”. By just reading the joke you can already see the prejudice and the hate from the tweet. It seems offensive that the joker is insinuating that any fast food that sell junk such as McDonalds should stop serving food to “fat” people. This is offensive especially in a society that is always judging fat people for eating take out or junk foods. There are fat people who cannot eat in public because of the gaze they get from people.

It is for a fact that there are fat people joke that may be funny. Whether you will laugh or not, it will often depend on the relationship that you have to the joke and the joker (Smeltzer, 295-304). When somebody jokes are from friends or people who are close to you, one is more likely to take it on a lighter note. However, when it is someone not so close, it is likely that one may be offended by the joke (Beard, pg. 1-17). Jokes on weight are also quite edgy because weight is often a sensitive matter that may stem from complex deep-seated psychological issues. In our heads we have often equated eating too much with being fat but research has showed that being overweight may be due to psychological issues that one may be going through. In such sensitive issues then as a comedian you really need to reflect on the joke before putting it out there (Luellen, pg. 87).

There are movies that have used fat individuals for comedic effect a perfect example is Pitch Perfect. When Pitch Perfect aired on the TV, Fat Amy was a character who stood out as she gave herself that name so that other girls would not call her behind her back. The first installment did not have as much comedic effect as Pitch Perfect 3. In Pitch Perfect 3, Amy belongs to a rock band group and one thing that stands out is her hat that had been written “Make America eat again” and responds “If I joined your group, I could be Obesity.” The movies directors have often pointed out that the movie was not intended at shaming any one or making a joke out of it but rather it was to bring out a character Amy who is “badass” and confident about herself and one who realizes that there is nothing wrong with being fat as the society has made it. Although this is true, it is for a fact that what Amy often portrays on the screen is not always what goes on in the real world. For example, in very rare occasions will you find a fat person calling themselves “fat X” as fat Amy referred to herself. Some people however have applauded the movie as a great way to break barriers in the Hollywood world where most plus size girls and women do not get opportunity to premier on the screens unlike skinny girls.

There has been research that have been conducted on movie film scripts to identify movies that have contributed to offensive body humor images. Bill Murray who is a Hollywood actor has topped highest on the number of body shaming remarks that he has ever made. Weighing in on Movies was research that was conducted on 1223 film scripts and the result was comedy tipped the scale when it came to derogatory remarks on image and body weight. Comedies have most weight related mentions with 23.86 percent remarks. According to Sarah Silverman, most body related jokes made are at times made to overcome pain, most cases a fat kid makes a fat joke first. When people make fat jokes about themselves it is a defensive tactic thus it is sad when comedies and movies use these real scenarios that apply in people’s life for comedic effect. We may want to use political correctness to defend the body shaming humor but making jokes on people’s body is quite unfortunate. The pop culture is widely consumed even by children and young teenagers and the message that they get from the comedies or movies in Hollywood are often quite unrealistic. There are casting agencies that have often been pointed out for the type of body images or casting calls that they advertise out there at times these are roles that need to be played by background actors but if you look at the requirements, a person who may not fit in may feel heavily discouraged.

Although most body image jokes may be directed to fat people slim people are also attacked with certain jokes that may be quite offensive. This is often termed as skinny shaming as the jokes make skinny people uncomfortable in their own body. Skinny people have often wondered why skinny shaming is often given a pass than fat shaming. An example of a skinny joke that I found offensive was “You are so skinny, your mom actually enjoyed child birth”. This joke is wrong in all ways and offensive as it insinuates that the mother to this skinny person most likely did not have any labor pains or simply had it easy during child birth because of how tin he is. We all know child birth or labor pains no matter the weight of the baby when born is so painful. Secondly a person may be skinny as an adult but while young they were not skinny and the mother might have even developed complications during child birth. As stated earlier, an offensive humor will most likely be offensive unless it comes from someone close or someone wo you know are stating the joke but on a lighter one.

Body jokes are sensitive because of self-esteem issues. You may identify a fat or a skinny person who you may think that they are okay or rather confident enough in their body but this may not be the case. Many people struggle to accept how the feel about the way they look and as comedian it is wrong to use body humor and later state that it was only a joke yet it hit a nerve for some individuals. A comedian intention may not to hurt anybody feelings or cause harm, as eventually his goal is to make people laugh but these actions and words may affect a listener emotionally and psychologically leading to a lower self-esteem. In a family setting, at time you may find people teasing each other and these jokes may include body image jokes. The individual who the joke is intended to may laugh along to the joke but deep down may be uncomfortable. When you are around people chances are you may smile or laugh long to a joke even though it may have made you uncomfortable or nervous. It is therefore important to be mindful of the body image humor that we use or how we tend to tease people close to us.

Body jokes image also entail jokes on people’s skin color. Most jokes on skin color have often been seen to be racist (Rosenthal, pg. 126). Kevin art is one of the comedians that have made body jokes that were seen as offensive. In his twitter account, Kevin Hart wrote “Light-skinned women usually have better credit than a dark-skinned woman…Broke ass dark hoes…lol”. Many dark skinned women definitely found the joke to be extremely offensive. Most black women attacked Kevin Hart for this and termed the joke to be offensive. This aspect shows how most people are now standing up against jokes that they think are prejudiced. Trevor Noah is another comedian whose jokes have been found to be misogynistic, fat shaming, anti-Semitism as well as homophobic. He has often been criticized for making this jokes and over time it seems he has dropped them (McKinney).

Tannishtha Chatterjee was angered by the show Comedy Nights Bachao Taza who seemed very obsessed with her skin color. She pointed out that at no point should skin color ever be used as a source of jokes. Tannishtha had gone to the show to promote a movie that she had premiered on and had been told that the show would be like a roast that happens on American shows such as Saturday Night Live. Although she was ready for the roast, the only thing that the host focused on was her skin tone. Tannishtha pointed out that her anger was because skin color and tones is sensitive as we live in a generation where people of certain skin color and tone may not get job opportunities. Often dark skin girls have often felt as if they have been marginalized and thus making fun of ski tones is nowhere close to funny. Jokes that involve skin color may be an offence that someone may not take at a personal level but at a social level because of the many prejudice that is associated with skin color. We live in a society that has constantly pointed out how being dark skin is a short coming and thus it may be difficult to understand why people still want to continue making jokes that seem to mock certain individuals, devaluing their identity.

In conclusion, it is for a fact that there is a thin line between being funny and offensive. AS a comedian it is important to recognize that there are certain jokes may prove a stereotype or prejudice towards a certain group. It is important to keep in mind that there are certain ways that the society is set up and some jokes will be not funny as will be considered a way being used to target a certain group. It is high time we discuss the impact that body humor has without classifying every conversation as political correctness. Although most offensive humor is often not told to create prejudice, then it is most likely to cause a social impact as a releaser of prejudice.

Works Cited

Beard, Fred K. “Advertising and audience offense: The role of intentional humor.” Journal of marketing communications 14.1 (2008): 1-17.

Bemiller, Michelle L., and Rachel Zimmer Schneider. “It’s not just a joke.” Sociological Spectrum 30.4 (2010): 459-479.

Burmeister, Jacob M., and Robert A. Carels. “Weight-related humor in the media: Appreciation, distaste, and anti-fat attitudes.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture 3.4 (2014): 223.

Graefer, Anne, Allaina Kilby, and Inger-Lise Kalviknes Bore. “Unruly Women and Carnivalesque Countercontrol: Offensive Humor in Mediated Social Protest.” Journal of Communication Inquiry (2018): 0196859918800485.

Hall, Jeffrey A., and Ken Sereno. “Offensive jokes: How do they impact long-term relationships?” (2010): 351-373.

Lockyer, Sharon, and Michael Pickering, eds. Beyond a joke: The limits of humor. Springer, 2005.

Luellen, Morgan. “That’s Not Funny.” ENGL 4384: Senior Seminar Student Anthology. 2016.

McKinney, Kelsey. “The Line between Funny and Offensive Is Thin. Trevor Noah Is on the Wrong Side.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 31 Mar. 2015, www.vox.com/2015/3/31/8319065/trevor-noah-twitter-offensive-jokes.

Rosenthal, Angela, and David Bindman, eds. No Laughing Matter: Visual Humor in Ideas of Race, Nationality, and Ethnicity. Dartmouth College Press, 2015.

Smeltzer, Larry R., and Terry L. Leap. “An analysis of individual reactions to potentially offensive jokes in work settings.” Human Relations 41.4 (1988): 295-304.

Online Learning

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Online Learning

With the coronavirus pandemic spreading around the country, the majority of schools have shifted to online learning as a safety measure for both students and teachers. Everyone has been advised to stay home to avoid catching the highly contagious virus. Although many schools around the country have reopened for in-person learning, online classes have become the first choice for most others. The shift from in-person to online learning is both exciting and challenging. Students and teachers can stay safe at home while still catching up on their learning and teaching, but this requires many adjustments. For students, online learning, if not taken seriously, can turn into a web-surfing session where the student does what they want and ignores other requirements. Given the current situation, Ellen Laird’s article titled ‘I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider’ in the Chronicle of Higher Education website couldn’t be more relevant. In the article, Laird argues that students treat their online classes as the rest of the internet, expecting absolute freedom to do what they want and immediate responses to their needs.

Laird’s article summarizes some of the critical differences between in-person and online learning. One of these is the non-verbal cues that students and teachers both benefit from during in-person learning in the classroom. Laird says that in class, students can read her bearing; therefore, she does not need to share a lot of personal information. In the online courses, however, students cannot see their teacher face-to-face. Therefore, the instructor has to give detailed information about their availability or lack thereof. Laird also explains that online classes’ diversity can be challenging because students come from different backgrounds and situations, all of which affect their learning process and ability. Additionally, Laird is concerned about the students disregard for deadlines and consideration of reading materials with online learning. With in-person learning, students take things more seriously and will often dedicate enough time to their work, offering explanations for any missteps and challenges. The article is an honest review and analysis of students’ attitudes to online learning compared to in-person learning.

As an online student, I agree with Laird’s points. Taking classes online reduces the sense of urgency and seriousness of the class. For example, students do not have to get up early and show up for their classes. Physical class presence helps students take their work more seriously. Taking an online class also reduces the urgency to complete and submit assignments. Hearing a teacher remind me in person to present my work or inquire about my progress in class is motivation to do all my work in time or explain why I cannot. Laird also points out that online class forums lose their professionalism, and this is because students begin to treat them as a social platform rather than an academic one. Because students spend a lot of time interacting on social media, they forget that online class forums are not just any other webpage. Students tend to become overfamiliar with both each other and their instructor, which takes away from the seriousness of the class.

Laird’s argument that students treat their online class differently from a brick-and-mortar classroom is accurate with regard to deadlines. Laird writes, “Students in my traditional classes certainly miss deadlines. But they generally regard deadlines as real…..Not so with my online students.” (Laird 1) The main reason for this disregard for deadlines is the lack of urgency and seriousness within online classes that students expect to see in in-person learning. Pearl Jacobs carried out a study into the various challenges that come with online learning, and the findings support Laird’s arguments. Jacobs points out that interaction is essential for success in learning (Jacobs 3). Online classes do not have the same interaction level that would allow instructors to remind students of deadlines as in-person classes would. The minimal interaction in online classes creates a sense of laxity, which makes students disregard deadlines.

Students treat online and in-person classes differently with regard to their expectations of feedback. They expect their online instructors to respond to their questions and concerns immediately, just like a Google search would. However, the reality is that instructors need more time to respond to their students. Laird explains, “The speed of Internet transmission seduces them into seeking and expecting speed as an element of the course.” (Laird 1) These expectations from students are normal, given the quick results they are used to from the internet. Whenever one types in a query into their search engine, they get millions of results within seconds. They expect the same from their tutors, which is obviously impossible. Laird writes, “It takes me a long time to respond thoughtfully to students’ work, particularly their writing.” (Laird 1) With in-person learning, students would expect faster feedback. For example, students can ask questions during class time, which can be answered immediately, unlike online learning, where the instructor could find a large number of questions and concerns, which takes time to sort through.

Laird also explains that unlike in-person classes where students remain mostly formal, online classes tend to take on the over-familiarity that students are accustomed to when using the internet. Many students are used to spending a lot of time on social media and other online platforms where they interact informally, which lulls them into thinking that their online classes are a similar space. Laird explains that “The egalitarian atmosphere of the Internet chat room transfers rapidly and inappropriately to the online classroom” (Laird 1). This issue goes back to the idea of interaction that Jacobs analyzed. With in-person learning, Students see their professor’s authority from their interaction. As Laird says, seeing her graying hair and mode of dress would show her students that she is not a peer but an instructor (Laird 1). One-on-one interaction between instructors and students asserts authority, and lack of this interaction with online learning erodes the authority and respect accorded to the teachers.

Students also treat learning materials very differently in online learning compared to in-person classrooms. This applies to materials such as handouts ad textbooks. Online learning avails all the learning materials in electronic form, making it easy for students to click on a button and download what they need. However, many online students do not make use of such resources (De Paepe, et al. 130). As Laird highlights the difference with in-person learning, writing, “In traditional classrooms, students do not pick up or download only the handouts that appeal to them; most do not try to begin the semester’s final project without instruction in the material on which it is based.” (Laird 1) Online students in comparison, only make use of the materials which appeal to them, resulting in shallow learning and inability to complete their assignments as expected.

In conclusion, online learning is very different from the brick-and-mortar classroom. Although students are expected to put the same effort into their learning regardless of the instruction mode, this is rarely the case. Some of the significant differences between online and in-person learning arise with deadlines, learning materials, overfamiliarity, and unrealistic expectations. Before taking up online learning, both students and instructors need to be aware of the challenges that come with different modes of learning so that they can adapt accordingly. Works Cited

De Paepe, Liesbeth, Chang Zhu, and Koen Depryck. “Online language teaching: Teacher perceptions of effective communication tools, required skills and challenges of online teaching.” Journal of Interactive Learning Research 29.1 (2018): 129-142.

Jacobs, Pearl. “The challenges of online courses for the instructor.” Sacred Hear University. (August 2013). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=cj_facLaird, Elle. “I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider.” WebCT.3 January 2003. Retrieved from http://celt.cui.edu/celt/webct_for_instructors/Laird_Article.htm

Organ Donation

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Organ Donation

The sale of human organs is illegal across the world. There are many diseases that can be treated or even cured with organ transplants, but these donors need to be donated by willing donors. It is illegal to solicit organ donation using financial incentives for many reasons. There is a high demand for organs to be donated, but disproportionately fewer available donors. For example, in the United States, there are roughly 113 400 organs needed every day, but only 3,300 available donations. This situation creates a higher demand than supply, which promotes a market for organ sales. Many people who donate these organs are poor people, which means that financial incentives would encourage them to donate organs. To regulate the organ donation process, governments across the world have set up policies and laws on how donations are done. For example, most donors remain anonymous to avoid compensation. Parties such as transplant organizations match donors to recipients through an anonymous process. In other cases where donors find matches on their own, there must be proof that there are no incentives given to the donor. The sale of human organs should be illegal because it promotes human trafficking, black markets for organs, and it is also unethical.

Because of the high demand for human organs, legalizing the sale of the organs would encourage human trafficking. Many people who need organ transplants in developed countries travel to developing countries where the implementation of laws against organ sales is more relaxed. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 10000 kidneys are traded illegally from trafficked individuals every year (Caulfield et al 28). The main victims of human trafficking are poor and vulnerable populations that cannot protect themselves from traffickers. Although these numbers may seem few, examining them relative to wait times for organs gives a clearer picture. For example, waiting for a kidney in Canada can take any time between 4 to seven years. Waiting time in the United States averages 3.6 years. This dire situation encourages trafficking of organ donors from developing countries so that their organs can be harvested forcefully. The sale of human organs should be illegal because it puts vulnerable populations at risk of trafficking. Traffickers use various tactics to lure victims such as promises of employment and financial rewards.

The second reason why the sale of human organs should not be legal is that it encourages the creation of a black market for organs. Under laws that prohibit the sale of human organs, recipients have to rely on national transplant lists run by government organizations. If the sale of human organs were to be legalized, a black market for the organs would be created to meet the high demand for organs. Dealers in such organs would find organs through unscrupulous means, and they would find many desperate buyers. In such a market, organs would go to the highest bidder. According to Global Financial Integrity, the black market for human organs generates revenues of up to $1.7 billion annually, but the figures are likely to be much higher (Scheper 117). Faced with the prospect of high returns, organ dealers will have even more incentives to procure organs illegally. Legalizing the sale of human organs would allow these dealers to procure organs and sell them for very high prices.

Crime rates and exploitation of vulnerable people is another reason why the sale of human organs should not be legal. Kidnappings and murders would increase exponentially with the legalization of the sale of human organs. Some organs such as the heart and lungs are in high demand but can only be donated by recently deceased individuals. For this reason, it is challenging to find donors for these organs, and legalizing their sale would encourage illegal harvesting (Cohen 37). It is impossible to harvest a human heart without killing the owner, and such harvest would lead to many murders. Additionally, many vulnerable people would fall victim to forced abductions so that their organs can be harvested. Most donors come from poor and vulnerable backgrounds, and legalizing the sale of human organs would affect such populations disproportionately. Legalizing the sale of organs would offer financial incentives to poor people who need money for various reasons. Corrupt brokers, hospitals and physicians would take advantage of such people and exploit them. These corrupt parties pocket huge profits from the sale of organs while the donors are left with little money. Most of these donors are also gullible and illiterate; thus, they are more susceptible to deception. Those who do not understand the laws and donor contracts can easily be taken advantage of. Legalizing the sale of human organs thus paves the way for exploitation of vulnerable populations, and such situations should be avoided at all costs.

Selling human organs is unethical as it promotes the commercialization of vital organs. Renowned philosopher Immanuel Kant opposed the commercialization of human organs, explaining that people should always act in a manner to promote human dignity. Various ethicists and philosophers convened at a meeting organized by Harvard University to examine the ethics of selling human organs. The main ethical objection brought forward by philosopher Samuel Kerstein is that legalizing the sale of human organs robs donors, especially poor ones of their human dignity (Caulfield 42). This step labels human donors as tools that can be exploited at the right price and denies the inherent worth of a human being. No amount of money can be measured in value to a human organ; thus, the sale of such organs is unethical. Another reason why the sale of human organs should not be permitted ethically is that it inflicts physical and psychological harm on donors. For example, if a person is kidnapped and forced to donate their organs, the whole process could bring serious psychological damage to the person. Additionally, some donors may suffer physical damage as a result of their donations, such as infections from surgery. In case of future health problems, organ donations may prove detrimental to donors. An example of this is a person who donates a kidney, then later suffers from problems in their remaining kidneys.

Those in support of legalizing the sale of human organs argue that it would save many lives. Many people in dire need or organs die every day because they cannot access the organs that they need. In many countries like the United States, donors have to opt in for organ donation, which is a deterrent for many. Donors also have to prove that they do not receive any compensation for the organs they donate. The process of becoming an organ donor may be daunting for potential donors, and they end up not donating at all at the cost of thousands of lives each year. Legalizing the sale of human organs would be a great incentive for many donors as they would see that the process also benefits them (Calandrillo 69). People should be allowed to sell their organs legally because every person owns their body, and they can do whatever they want with their organs. If a person can safely donate their organs and live without them, then they might as well benefit from such a sale.

Another reason why the sale of human organs should be legal is that some other products of the human body such as semen, sperm and eggs are already legal; therefore there should be no discrimination on what a person can and cannot sell. An article appearing on CNN’s website explores the issue of financial compensation for bone marrow tissue. At the end of 2011, a US court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made it legal for donors to receive payments for their bone marrow tissue, for 3,000 USD (Parker 1). Plaintiffs in the case argued that such financial incentives would increase the supply of life-saving tissue and save the lives of many patients who die needlessly each year. However, this ruling came with some provisions attached. For example, the bone marrow tissue must be extracted through a process called peripheral apheresis, where doctors harvest tissue from the blood rather than from the bone itself. This provision allows for the bone marrow tissue to be treated as fluid, which is legal to sell. This ruling shows that the country should take a similar path when it comes to other organs so that many more lives can be saved.

After examining both sides of the argument, it is clear that the sale of human organs should remain illegal. Legalizing such sales brings many problems and ethical concerns which mostly affect vulnerable donors. Governments should take charge of the organ donation process to maintain human dignity and promote transparency. Government regulation also keeps patients safe because all organs are screened and certified as safe for donation. Donor rights should also be protected as some unscrupulous parties can take advantage of vulnerable donors for their own benefit. Although financial incentives could increase the supply of valuable organs, the potential risks are far greater than the benefits and therefore, it should remain illegal. People should be encouraged to donate organs out of altruism rather than any financial benefits.

Works Cited

Calandrillo, Steve P. “Cash for Kidneys-Utilizing Incentives to End America’s Organ Shortage.” Geo. Mason L. Rev. 13 (2004): 69.

Caulfield, Timothy, et al. “Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal and the ethical and legal obligations of healthcare providers.” Transplantation direct 2.2 (2016).

Cohen, I. Glenn. “Can the government ban organ sale? Recent court challenges and the future of US law on selling human organs and other tissue.” American Journal of Transplantation 12.8 (2012): 1983-1987.

Park, Alice. “Should people be allowed to sell their organs?” CNN. 28 August 2012. https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/03/health/allowed-sell-organs-time/index.htmlScheper-Hughes, Nancy. “Illegal organ trade: Global justice and the traffic in human organs.” Living donor organ transplants (2008): 106-21.

Parental Snooping

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Parental Snooping

Social media and digital technology have taken over the world of teenagers today. We live in a world where Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and the internet are the in thing. Anyone can access any information they want on the internet. This has brought a myriad of problems to parenthood. Many parents are baffled by the question of how far is too far when it comes to protecting your child privacy. Where do we draw the line between ensuring that our kids are safe and not crossing the line and invading their privacy?

To start with, parents should understand that there is a direct relationship between the amount of privacy that a child is allowed to have and how consistent, honest and responsible the child is. In order to understand how much privacy should be accorded to any child, parents need to grasp a clear understanding of how kids develop and how much privacy should be accorded at each particular stage of development.

When a child is young, there is a close bond between the child and the parent or the caregiver. Parents will feel the need to be close to their children and vice versa. They will want to cuddle and embrace each other for a better part of the day. Psychology describes this as ‘attachment parenting (Hawk, pg. 443-458). As the child grows and develops, a healthy and natural separation begins to occur. The child will become more sensitive to privacy issues. You will find that a child will start to close the bathroom door and will become embarrassed if someone comes in. The child will now prefer to spend more time with their peers playing and socialising. The line of separation becomes clearer and bolder when the child gets to adolescent.

During adolescents, the kid will feel the need to be recognised as an individual. At this stage kids want to be independent. At this point in life many parents will start to fight with their kids over the issue of independence and privacy. Parents need to know that it is necessary to accord the child the prerequisite amount of privacy but within set boundaries. Allow the kid to have their own room and to close the door when they want. This will allow the kid to have some alone time and learn to do things independently.

The term ‘spying’ comes in when a parent starts to go through the kid’s stuff. You will find some parents going through their kid’s phone, drawer, diary, closet and the backpack. The word spying is used here to denote a term that the modern day parent understands otherwise it has a negative connotation.

When it comes to the issue of protection and privacy, parents need to understand the personality of the kid they are dealing with. If you are dealing with a teenager who is obedient, respectful towards you and other people then accord that child the kind of respect that they deserve but within set boundaries since you are the parent and you don’t want to abandon your primary role of a parent. Caution should be taken since some teenagers are good at faking. They can pretend to be all good but in the real sense they are engaging in fishy business.

The game changes when you know you are dealing with an irresponsible and disobedient child. This is the kind of teenager who does not give you the respect you deserve. If you discover that your child is engaging in suspicious activities or you find anything incriminating against your child then you need to take the necessary action (Kerr, pg. 39-64). At this point, many parents find themselves in a dilemma. Parents often wonder how far is too far when it comes to the child’s right. The term ‘right’ has been overrated in this modern world. I believe that as long as the child is under your roof and you are paying the bills then you need to do your parental duties without hesitation. Instead of referring to the child’s right, it is better to talk about accountability and responsibility (Youn, pg. 362-388). If you have any suspicion as to whether your child is taking drugs or engaging in any risky behaviour, put the term privacy aside and go through anything and everything connected to that child.

Parents need to take the issue of privacy seriously. It is always good to monitor what the kid is doing but at the same time allow them some level of privacy. The required dose of privacy will help them gain independence and develop their characters and personalities as individuals. Parents are encouraged to actively monitor the activities of their child when using computers, phones, emails and messaging apps. Many children have fallen victims of cyber-bullying and other threats because of lack of guidance and online protection from their parents.

Communication is an important key in parenthood. Parents need to constantly communicate with their kids and spend adequate time with them. This will enable them develop a close relationship with their kids and they will get to learn of their behaviour. In case a child develops any queer behaviour then the parent will be able to pick it up and know how to deal with it. Every child has a right to privacy but it should be accorded within set boundaries that gives the child 100% protection and at the same time allows them to develop independence and their personal characters.

Work Cited

Hawk, Skyler T., Andrik Becht, and Susan Branje. ““Snooping” as a Distinct Parental Monitoring Strategy: Comparisons With Overt Solicitation and Control.” Journal of Research on Adolescence 26.3 (2016): 443-458.

Kerr, Margaret, Håkan Stattin, and William J. Burk. “A reinterpretation of parental monitoring in longitudinal perspective.” Journal of Research on Adolescence 20.1 (2010): 39-64.

Youn, Seounmi. “Parental influence and teens’ attitude toward online privacy protection.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 42.3 (2008): 362-388.

Part I Milgram Obedience.

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Part I: Milgram: Obedience.

In his book, Obedience to Authority, Milgram gives his perspective of how obedience and authority have changed with the division of labor. I agree with Milgram’s views about obedience and authority due to the clips that support his ideas. When a person can see the whole picture, they can think about their actions and the resulting consequences and then decide whether to do something. With the division of labor, individuals have learned to play their role in any undertaking and then leave the rest to other concerned parties. In this way, people rarely think of the result or the bigger picture. This is precisely what happens in the clip. The teachers, in this case, are alienated from their actions. They know that shocking their learners causes pain. However, because the experimenter absolves them of all responsibility, the teachers feel emboldened to do whatever they want. They yield to authority and dissociate themselves from their actions.

Milgram’s experiment is an excellent example of using sociological imagination. Sociological imagination involves putting individual actions and situations in the context of the larger society, and the experiment achieves this. The teachers in the experiment yield to the authority of the experimenter even though they know the electric shock causes distress to the learners. In society, people tend to yield blindly to authority figures, especially when they are not responsible for their individual actions. For example, people will willingly do whatever a government agent asks them to because the agent is an authority figure, and this agent will bear responsibility for whatever happens. If the person is told that their actions serve a purpose in a larger scheme, this assurance persuades the individual and allows them to escape responsibility for their actions. Milgram has placed the teachers and experimenter’s actions in the context of the wider society, which is the very definition of sociological imagination.

Reasons for Joining the Nursing Program

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Reasons for Joining the Nursing Program

I have chosen the nursing career because of the vast fulfillment and the challenge it offers. I regard nursing as a career that offers never-ending training due to the myriad of challenges that arise in the healthcare profession. From my personal and work experience, nursing offers immense fulfillment due to the core values it promotes in its practice: caring for the most vulnerable and for human life. Working at the Tower Health Reading Hospital and the Albright College Gable Health Center has exposed me to various professions in Health Care but I am convinced that Nursing is the career for me since it offers the highest level of human interaction. The nursing career is also one of the few careers that have perks such as providing an opportunity to make a real difference in the world, offers a work-life balance, job security, career diversity, flexibility, provides room to grow, and high salary packages. Therefore, nursing does not only resonate deeply with my own personal interests it also resonates with my career goals.

I believe I make a good fit for this Nursing Program because I am dedicated, hardworking, and passionate in all my endeavors. I also have solid communication and interpersonal skills and I am highly empathetic. I have a keen sense of detail and not to mention, some experience in Public Health. With time and experience, I have learned to work well under stress and pressure and to be flexible. My GPA is also commendable. However, I do not attribute my academic success to grade-fixation or innate intelligence, but to the fact that I believe in hard work and that I enjoy new learning experiences that come my way.

Recognition and Reversal

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Recognition and Reversal

Oedipus is the main character in the Oedipus plays, and his character, as well as others, experience many recognitions and reversals. An example of recognition and reversal comes when Creon returns from the oracle with news that the solution to Thebes’ pestilence is finding Laius’ killer. Oedipus vows to find out who murdered the late king, and he succeeds. However, he turns out to have killed the late king Laius. The plot is reversed in that he had vowed to drive out the murdered, but he himself is the current king of Thebes. What is he to do?

The second instance of recognition and reversal comes when the shepherd from Corinth ascertains that Oedipus was indeed the child of King Laius and his wife. Jocasta, the widow of the late king and the current queen, realizes that the reveal means that she married her own son. She tries her best to dissuade Oedipus from further pursuing his investigation of who his birth parents were. Jocasta fulfilled the prophecy that Oedipus would marry his mother. When Oedipus realizes that he indeed married his own mother, he is shocked because he thought that he was from Corinth. Jocasta tried to keep the truth from him. Will the queen protect her son or avenge the killer of her late husband?

The third instance of recognition and reversal for Oedipus’ character comes when the messenger from Corinth arrives with the News that Polybus, the king of Corinth, is dead. Long before, the oracle had given Oedipus the prophecy that he would kill his father. The news that Polybus had died naturally brought him joy that he managed to run away from the prophecy. However, it soon comes to light that Polybus was not Oedipus father, and this leads Oedipus to probe further for the truth. He finds out that he did not escape the prophecy but killed Laius, his birth father.

Works Cited

Sophocles, E. A. Oedipus the king. Classic Productions, 1994.

Reflection Essay of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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Reflection Essay of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

In the non-fiction book by Rebecca Skloot ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,’ it shows how the writer writes about a woman of title whose cells were harvested from her tumor. The book displays how the harvest was done without her consent while she was alive. It is a true story based on the life of a young farmer who died aged 31 in the year 1952. The Southern-African American tobacco farmer had died from cervical cancer and in modern history, the cells that were harvested from her body have become an important tool in modern-day medicine. This story was filled with success and anguish despite it being filled with issues of morality and ethics. The legal parts were also developed as it portrays the apparent nature of biasness in the American health care system. The story at john Hopkins hospital displays despicable and annoying values of the nurses and other staffs who work there. The doctors demonstrated a pure lack of care for Henrietta when she was literarily burning to c crisp but the doctors wrote indicated that she seemed fine in their reports. Due to the life of poverty of Henrietta, the doctors evidently disregarded her in a case where they valued treating the more powerful and rich whites than the blacks, thus by the American standards subjecting Henrietta to in inhumane treatment that denied her full treatment.

In matters of life and death, it is despicable that doctors ignored Henrietta by not according her the best efforts to save her. This clearly shows how the doctors do not value when Henrietta was dying and was not given the best attention to save her. Even though it was a common practice to harvest cells from a dead person, it is unethical to do so without their consent while alive. As this act may be the worst part of her treatment, the disregard doctors had to her was way worse. It cannot be precise and certain that Henrica being poor and black is the reason why she was treated poorly with disregard but in her lifetime the trends that were demonstrated made it appear as though the things that mattered the most were ethnicity and class.it was evident from the plot that Henrietta’s doctors were not valuing her as much as doctors are expected to value other patients. The book’s setting and storyline demonstrate the negligence of doctors to many of their patients especial of black origin in the mid-1900s. it shows a time where people were made to suffer more than they ought to and a complete disregard of the well-being of others is represented.

In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks they got fewer pain medications and had higher mortality rates” (Skloot, pg. 64) showed that blacks besides suffering more pain they died frequently, which is a passage that is used to show that many blacks just like Henrietta were significantly treated worse than whites due to their poverty and race. Thus being given semi and low-quality care. The cells harvested in from Henrietta’s dead body have been used for science success as the have served advancements in research and development in the medical field thus becoming immortal. The setting occurred in a time when segregation in America was at peek and despite being a success for the medical development it was a sorrowful moment for the family of Henrietta.

The story shows of ho modern growing of living cells were kick-started through Henrietta’s sample tumor that was harvested and grown in the lab calling her cells ‘Hela’ that was taken at the John Hopkins Hospital. The main point of reading the book was the highlights presented in the book into modern advances in medicine. With success agony and sorrows the story presents multiple lines of anguish and injustice that Henrietta suffered and the sorrows of her family especially the daughter Oprah. There are also the aspects of lack of consent, segregation and racism, the unethical profiting of the biotech industry from the unknowing donation of a poor black woman. Se states “They keep trying to push us off the earth, but God won’t let them.” (Skloot, pg.72) In this statement Skloot is telling Courtney how a black community Turner Station had been pushed out as it was no longer available on the maps. Taking into consideration the life of Henrietta and the injustices she faced one can easily burst into outrage. But through proper analysis of the book, I was able to realize that the unjust aspects of the story to Henrietta were not just extraordinary but rather a day to day related to the racism that most people face when seeking for care.

Lack of consent is a major theme expressed by the story as Henrietta was never told or asked if her cells would be used for a research and the misleading factor whereby her family members were brought in for checking on the basis that it was for their own good but in the real sense it was for their own benefit whereby they were to check and detect if the Hela cells are genetic related. In contemporary health care system harvesting of cells for the purpose of developing medical research has become a common practice, however, there is a need for consent from the patient whose cells are to be used or even her family.

The Hella cell line eventually became a commercial patented line that generated massive revenue for a number of biotech companies as the family of Henrietta languishes in poverty with economic depression. The unjust nature of this information is surprising as according to the ethical obligations, legally the family would be entitled to a share of the biotech firms profits. Legal proceedings that followed were more surprising when court ruling ruled against Moore whose cancer cells were patented for commercial use stating that once the cells were exercised out of his body, he was not entitled to its financial benefits. The 2003 legal precedents of no rights considered the scenarios where sample tissues were freely donated. Ignoring the fact that there was the issue of informed consent in the case of Henrietta and misleading upon testing.

After reading the chapters in the book I have often viewed the world in a different way with a possibility of other more complex and greater injustices carried in the medical industry that are underlying the themes and other concerning issues presented by the chapter. The structures and chapters I covered in the book had shown several injustices that are projected against Henrietta Lacks and exposure of unethical practices in the medical fields. The possibilities raised to me is that these injustices may have been a distraction from greater injustices. The structural background of racism was quite rather different from the questions of finance and other benefits interests raised through the features of biotech companies registering massive revenue through the use of these cells. The story may have other concerns that were much bigger but were not accurately presented as major themes like the under looking of lack of education access and employment opportunities that are the core cause of these themes. With proper educations, the characters would be able to make informed decisions and give out consent to the doctors. Employment is portrayed through the fact that Henrietta Lacks was a farmer and precisely stated to be poor thus giving rise to the lack of care by the doctors. The lack of health care systems is also portrayed in the story in that it was until Henrietta’s tumor was fully developed and she would feel it herself that she went to seek treatment. Thus the rise for an urge to developed health care systems for early detection that was lacking in the story.

It is not precise but I can say the level and standard of care given to Henrietta Lacks was inadequate and it was an unethical practice for the John Hopkins hospital to harvest her cells without her consent or consent of her family. The remaining family of Lacks had a right to be given proper information and be enlightened of the tests that were carried upon then rather than the hospital misinforming them that it was for their own good in the detection of cancer while in real sense it was for their benefit. The system until now has consistently failed Henrietta’s family many of whom continue to suffer from chronic illness physically and mentally. Even the end-user result of these extraordinary cells from Henrietta fueled a biotechnology revolution, the underlying injustices to Lacks should not go unnoticed. And because of the true storyline presented by Skloot, we ought to continue talking of these underlying injustices.

Work Cited

Skloot, Rebecca. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. Broadway Books, 2017.

Research Methods

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Research Methods

When doing research, a person can either employ quantitative or qualitative methods. Each of these methods is useful in different situations. Quantitative research methods present data collected in the form of numbers or figures. Qualitative research methods, on the other hand, are descriptive, meaning that it is used in cases where the phenomenon can be observed but not measured (Lampard & Pole 22). For example, if a person counts the number of people aged between twenty and thirty years old in a room, this is an example of quantitative research method. If the researcher were to ask the same group of people which political party they belong to, this would be qualitative research. Examples of qualitative methods are interviews, focus groups, and observation, while quantitative methods involve the measurement of different things.

There are many differences between the two methods of research that make them useful in particular situations. The first difference is that in qualitative methods, the researcher collects data from observations of the information and interviews while in quantitative methods, the researcher measures things such as distance, temperature, numbers, quantities and others. The second difference is that for qualitative research, the phenomena under investigation will be reported in the language used by the informant while in quantitative methods, the data is reported in statistical figures. Another difference between the two methods comes in analyzing the information that has been collected. For qualitative research, the data is classified based on themes while in quantitative research, the data is classified based on statistical analysis. For example, in the use of a qualitative method, people could be grouped based on religious beliefs while quantitative research will find the number of people who belong to each religious group and then analyze the data.

Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have their advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage of qualitative methods is that it is very flexible. One example of flexibility is that when collecting information, the researcher can ask more questions or change the setting so that they can get the responses they need. The second advantage is that qualitative methods are quite targeted. The researcher identifies the particular group they would like to investigate, which makes the process speedy and cheap. Disadvantages are the sample size may not be representative of the entire population, and there is a lot of bias. Advantages of quantitative methods are that data is more reliable and allows for straightforward analysis using appropriate statistical tests (Wincup 13). Some disadvantages of quantitative methods are that creating a research model can be challenging and it gives a false focus on numbers while disregarding other relationships.

Quantitative and qualitative research methods are applied to different situations in criminal justice. For example, qualitative methods will be used in a study to find out how many juvenile offenders have been confined in adult prisons with the past five years. Qualitative methods will be useful in learning about the life experiences of drug offenders serving sentences (Wright & Bouffard 128). For example, a researcher would conduct face to face interviews with the offenders to ask them why they went into a life of dealing drugs. The researcher can ask many types of questions to find answers to this question. From these examples, researchers choose either qualitative or quantitative methods depending on the goals of their study and also the phenomena to be measured. In finding the number of cars that pass through a certain point, a qualitative method would hardly be efficient. Both research methods have their advantages and disadvantages; thus a researcher has to look into this before making their choice. None of the methods is superior over the other, as many would assume quantitative to be better than qualitative methods.

Works Cited

Lampard, Richard, and Christopher Pole. Practical social investigation: Qualitative and quantitative methods in social research. Routledge, 2015.

Wincup, Emma. Criminological research: Understanding qualitative methods. Sage, 2017.

Wright, Kevin A., and Leana A. Bouffard. “Capturing crime: The qualitative analysis of individual cases for advancing criminological knowledge.” International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology 60.2 (2016): 123-145.