The Characteristics Of William Tolkien s The Great...

Throughout his work, Tolkien exemplifies the characteristics found in accepted works of literature and asserts himself as a literary author. One method of assessing literary merit is to measure prestige. While it may seem to be a trivial test at first, it is an oddly potent one. People whose voices are respected (scholars, critics, other writers, the kind of people who set the agenda for cultural norms of literary greatness) take Tolkien’s work seriously. Uniformly, no, but broadly yes. W.H. Auden is the foremost example of someone unimpeachably in the â€Å"establishment†, as it were, to push for recognition of Tolkien s artistry, and by and large he succeeded. And he s not the only one, though honestly, one should care a lot less about who thinks Tolkien was sublime or rubbish and pay more attention to why. So there has to be some artistry to recognize. Does it have craftsmanship? Is it well written? Does the author attend carefully to the mechanics of storytelling and the nuances of prosody? Undoubtedly yes, one could argue this is the area that puts Tolkien several leagues above his later imitators in commercial fantasy. One can think of a few good studies that dive right into Tolkien s sentence structure and dialogue and examine just how careful and varied it is. Tom Shippey s book Author of the Century has a whole chapter that is about the different voices in the Council of Elrond—how, for instance, the diction of the Dwarves reflects the culture of the Dwarves, and

Organizational Behavior Analysis Free Essays

string(55) " as forms of disseminating information throughout CPS\." I will be talking about my current job as a Child Protective Investigator (CPI) also known as Child Protective Services (or CPS). This is the governmental agency that is tasked with investigating child abuse or neglect. The primary concern of a CPI is the safety of the child; they do this by assessing the risk involved. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now By weighing that risk the CPI has to make the decision rather to remove the children or child from the home or place services within the home that will allow them to function as a family in a more productive manner. Once the CPI has made the decision to remove the child or children, the next step in the process is find and create a plan that will eventually return the child to a more proficient and safer family environment. The CPI will assign the family to a caseworker who is tasked with developing a plan to administer to the parents that will educate them on better ways to care for the children and meet all their needs, and create and environment free from abuse or neglect. CPI’s deal with a variety of families, with different backgrounds, values, religions, cultures and beliefs, which have a bearing on the way they parent; this means that CPS has be flexible and understanding when it comes to dealing with the problems they face within these family structures. The fact is that the American population is continually changing for many reasons such as; ethnically, culturally, racially, and linguistically based on the diverse populations that are a part of the US fabric. CPS organizations must create and implement a better and improving systemic change in order to understand and meet the needs of this diverse population of families. In this ever changing environment CPS must be even better prepared and become an even more effective communicator when it comes to helping and working with our families and providers. I have been working as a CPI for over 2 ? years and will share with you what I think this organization operates like and what makes it tick. I will evaluate the Organizational Behavior of Child Protective Services and explain the weakness or strengths I have faced since being a part of this organization. First what is Organizational Behavior? It is defined as the study and employment of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. Organizational behavior is not the evaluation of how the organization will behave, but rather the evaluation of the people or individuals behavior within the organizational setting. They study the behavior of the individuals as well as group settings. The study and purpose of organizational behavior is for the leaders to gain a better understanding of those things that may change, interrupt or influence individual and sectional dynamics within a company setting so that the organization can become a more effective and proficient business. A large part of organizational behavior is researching and evaluating as to provide leaders with the needed resources, information and tools they will have to have in order to successfully train, select and retain personal in a manner that would benefit both the personal and the organization. Organizational culture is driven by â€Å"competition and a strong desire to deliver results and accomplish goals†. (Kinicki. and Kreitner 2009, pg. 43). I believe that based on the child Protective services (CPS) organizational culture the concept used is the ‘salad bowl’ because of the diversity within the organization. I say this because many of the CPI’s and workers are of different races, cultures, ages, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity and physical ability. I believe that this diverse culture is very good for this organization it provides a very positive environment which translates into positive productivity. CPI’s use multiple types of strategies and steps to ensure good production and good service. Such as reading the families background if they had a prior case as many of them do and checking law enforcement reports to see what are the families issues, culture and background prior to going out on the case which will give the CPI a better insight on the type of family and the concerns they are facing. I believe the culture of CPS as an organization is evident by the values, norms, organizational beliefs, goals and many other primary factors. This also relates to all internal interactions and any informal and formal implementation. In CPS there is a strong mutual respect for each other and the CPI’s are supported, encouraged allowed to do what they think is needed to meet the family and organizational goals and to continue to develop and hone their skills in the field. Because CPI’s work primarily alone in the field, they are entrusted with decision-making and execution in the absence of their leaders. Many times the CPI will have to attack a problem and make a decision on the spot and may not be able to get into contact with the supervisor therefore leaders must have the type of people they can trust and rely on to make the best decision without guidance. In CPS you can see that the organizations culture is evident in their goals, mission statement, integrity, standards, values, and ethics. The mission statement of CPS is to provide proficient, caring and productive services to the protection of children and their families; to seek the improvement and protection of abused children and to seek reunification for the families and provide family the education tools required for the child to remain in the home; and to meet and exceed the needs of the families using innovative and unique products, resources and services. To create and provide an equal, balanced and great place for the CPIs to work and excel. Because of the different cultures and people CPI’s face in this business there are multiple types of communication used and embraced by CPS. CPS uses a variety of both verbal and written communication as forms of disseminating information throughout CPS. You read "Organizational Behavior Analysis" in category "Papers" The type of communication that is used is dependent upon the importance of information and how quickly it needs to be provided. Some of these communication devices are: emails, brochures, company websites, meetings, notice boards, letters, telephone, and texting. What the CPS tries to do is to ensure that the communication is always open and that it represents and displays the culture of CPS. Communication devices play a major role in CPS, because many of the families we come into contact with have disabilities which may require a different type of communication, such as sign language interpreters, virtual websites may have to be used because the interpreter may be in another state, like interpreters for people that speak different languages and so on. It is vital to be able to communicate the message you are trying to convey to these families in a manner they can relate to, because bad communication can be destructive to the fabric of this family and there well-being. CPS believes that the key to the success of this organization is to ensure effective leadership and that the leaders have strong leadership, communication, management, and people skills, as well as be compassionate and caring when it comes to child protection. In CPS, the leadership hierarchical of authority flows from the upper management down to the CPI’s and their supervisors. But this process of leadership is of a democratic type leadership because CPI’s and workers have the chance to voice their concerns and participate in decisions making that will affect the organization. But if conflict arises the final decision is made by the supervisors and higher. The higher hierarchical do make the decision on policies and procedures but will usually have meeting and conferences asking the opinions and concerns about upcoming changes, if it is something that is coming down the pipeline that is more of a directive they will try to give the organization the time and information needed to prepare for this change in policy or procedures. Leadership tries to work with CPI’s and try and understand what their concerns are as they are the ones dealing with the everyday changes within the community and families on a day to day basis. It is not just important for the leaders to be in touch with their CPI’s, but to be able to relate to the issues and concerns they have about what they are seeing in the field. If a leader shows the compassion, understanding and empathy to what their CPI’s is going through, they will without a doubt gain their loyalty and trust. If CPI’s feel they cannot trust their supervisors they have an open door policy for CPI’s to come in and voice their concerns without reprisal. CPS has a code of conduct which applies to all members of the organization and is enforced if abused. These Codes of Conduct embodies all the ethical policies and procedures to be followed. This code of conduct makes CPIs and other workers of CPS feel they have a voice and make them feel empowered and not afraid to attack a situation or problem. CPS also has a Whistle blowers protection policies implemented within this organization. I think this policy creates trust within the organization and its leadership, and CPI’s feel that they are an asset to the company and are valued. When it comes to motivation how to motivate people varies from person to person; but it is vital to the success of a company that the leaders have the ability to motivate their CPIs and workers in order to be successful and more productive. The best way for leaders to do this is to know their people and what makes them tick. Because I may be motivated by time off and another person may be motivated by money. In CPS motivation is needed and imperative for CPI’s to go out day in and day out and be productive when facing such grim situations. For instance I remember a week where I was being overwhelmed with cases, working late hours every day, and I ran into a case where a 6 year old girl was being molested by the step-father and the uncle and the mother was aware of it. This case really drained me and it took everything I had as a man and a person to get up the next day and go back out to do this job. I remember my supervisor called me into the office and said â€Å"I can see this week has been hard on you; take the day off and go home and be with your family, I got your cases for the day†. This meant a lot to me and it was the motivation I needed to get through another day when I returned, it was the time off I needed and my supervisor showed me he understood and cared for what I was going through. From that day on there was nothing he could ask me I would not do, he earned my respect and loyalty. This is part of the culture that is CPS, CPI’s are given their assignments and goals and what are expected of them and if needed, to work as groups. CPI’s are given continuous training to improve their knowledge and skills. CPS tries and implements incentives and rewards, promotions are available if you are productive and efficient in your job performance. CPI’s are given Pay raises, time off and other incentives as a form to motivate them. CPI privacy is safeguarded through the CPS compliance officer; this is an important factor to CPI’s as they deal with sensitive situations. CPI’s has the responsibility of making critical decisions when it comes to child protection. What this means is CPI’s has to have strong decision making skills, this is accomplished by them knowing and understanding their emotional quotient. CPS encourages the CPI’s to seek this both personally and professionally by using classes provided on the website, through seminars, sessions and provided guest speakers. When CPI’s and workers are aware and in control of their feelings and emotions it resonates throughout the organization and they are much more productive and confident. It is important that CPI’s have the ability to excess their interpersonal and intrapersonal emotions to help them to become a more well-rounded CPI within their jobs. They can do this by being more self-aware, self-regulated, self- motivated, having stronger social skills and being empathetic towards the cases and families that encounter. CPS provides CPI’s with emotional training workshops and training coaches to help them become more proficient and productive. For instance I remember when I first got this job, when I received the report on the family and looked at what some of the prior reports were I found myself forming opinions about the family before I ever met them or conducted the investigation into the allegations. My supervisor taught me that it is important to keep your personal feeling out of the process and find the truth and only deal with the truth. Because people change over time and allegations are just that allegations until they are proven otherwise. This is the best advice I got when it came to this job and the knowledge I needed to be a more productive investigator. CPS is not a virtual organization but does use virtual organizational elements to enhance the technical experience needed to keep up in this fast pace and growing organization. We are a very large organization and are spreaded out through several regions, not only are we as child protective investigators spread thin; we are in contact and have to use many other resources and organizations that help us provide services to our clients and families. These other entities and organizations include , medical personal, Psychologist and other mental personal and agencies, law enforcement, counselors, schools, lawyers and non-profit agencies to name a few. So when we have what we call a staffing which involves many of these different people and organizations, they are spread out all over the city and state. So this can be very difficult to get them all in one place based on each individual busy schedule. This is where the virtual elements came in as a manner in which to provide a tool that allows us to all be in different places and still be able to come together and address an issue. We are able to do this through virtual elements like; virtual meetings, classes, teleconferences, virtual speaker conferences, etc†¦ to be able to reach and communicate with other CPS personal and offices around the country and state. By using virtual elements it saves time, resources and money and we can effectively reach our goals and get out our message to a large audience with little complication. In conclusion, I think it is imperative that an organization should continuously evaluate their organizational behavior as a manner of determining how effective their process and business policies and procedures are doing. You must try and understand what are the strengths and weaknesses of your organizations performance and what is needed to fix it so your organization can move forward in a positive and successful manner. CPS is an organization that cannot afford to fall behind or lack in any form of technical, environmental or any other change as it relates to the services they provide to families. CPS has a very important job and it requires us to be proficient, up to date and fully trained so we can ensure that nothing but the best service is being provided to children who are being abused and families that require assistance. I believe this is the kind of job that requires people that care, are empathetic, and have a burning need to help others because we cannot afford to drop the ball when it comes to children safety. How to cite Organizational Behavior Analysis, Papers Organizational Behavior Analysis Free Essays Military’ and then answer the required questions based on that analysis. First the organizational behavior analysis must be understood so that It can serve as a planning tool for leadership and management. The organization behavior analysis basically shows how the people within the organization are working together within it. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now This can lay out whether the organization Is living up to its purpose, responsibility, expectations or mission. Since the U. S. Military is much more than a specific organization, this can be more than Just one’s personal view and thus must e based on the ethics, rules and expectations of the leaders of the military. Type of Culture What type of culture is the U. S. Military made up of? The type of culture for and organization will fall into or even a possibility of a mixture of one of the different organizational culture types: 1. Pluralism- is when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique or specific cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture of the organization, provided they are consistent with the laws and values of that organization (Pluralism, 2012). 2. Dualism – Is the system of two separate cultures, holding to their own beliefs and views with accord to the others. The Canadian society and constitution is considered dualism as it was settle by the French and the English and both are given equal Rights. 3. Salad Bowl – is a combination of many deferent cultures that are mixed together such as in a salad (e-notes, 2012). Even although these different cultures are thrown together they do not mix but stay separate within the culture of the whole organization. Based on the definitions of the different types of cultures, the culture within the U. S. Litany would have to be the â€Å"Salad Bowl† culture. Even although once you join the military and have the culture within as a soldier following the military set rules and ethics, you have many different cultures. You have the different Latino groups within the military from the Puerco Ricans, the Mexicans, the Cubans and many more. Each stay within their own cultural groups off duty and even within these groups you have sub-groups of cultures such as the New York Puerco which consider themselves different from the northern Cubans within their own cultures. You have the â€Å"born and proud to be southern† culture, hard line religious ultras from Catholic to Muslim. There are the ones who consider themselves African American Blacks as well as Blacks who consider themselves African. All of these cultures are accepted within the military as long as no rights of other cultures are infringed or intimidated by your culture, and none of the activities based on your culture are illegal based on the laws of the military code of conduct. Communication One of the most important tools within the military is considered communication. This communication is both verbal and written but the emphasis is put on verbal for lily activities. All leaders are taught communication skills from the different Schools they must attend within their enlistment. But today due to the considered high stress of the military in combat situations and high rates of suicide and other personal incidents communication skills are pushed throughout the command (Analogy, 2011). The military prides itself on all types of communication. Awards, medals, citations, promotions many say are not what or how well you did it, but how well it was written about. But this communication is small in comparison to the daily verbal communication. From the start of any military career with the daily orders being shouted by the Drill Sergeant, to the open door policy of every unit commander, communication is expected and directed. This allows the leaders to know what soldiers are thinking, allows friends to let the leaders know when one of their own may have problems with any recourse, and as a whole as long as the line of communication is open information keeps from becoming a blocked problem. Authority The Authority in the military is simply based on position and rank. All enlisted are controlled by the higher enlisted soldiers. Soldiers of equal rank answer to that of the position, such as two sergeants may have the same rank, but the one with the position such as Squad Leader is the one in charge. One soldier may even outrank another on select mission such as A Master Sergeant (MUGS) may have to follow a Sergeant First Class (SEC) on a mission due to the SF being the Patrol Leader (PL) or Mission Commander (MAC). All enlisted fall under the officers and they are based again on rank and position as well. All military members then fall under the defense secretary and then the President of the United States (POTTS). It is always stated that no matter what the rank there is only 6 or less positions of command between the lowest enlisted soldier and the Commander In Chief, (POTTS). The rank in the military is earned and awarded, there is no way to buy or start at higher ranks they must be earned with time, schooling and experience. Motivation As the military is an all-volunteer force since the end of the draft after the Vietnam War, the motivational requirements are not as hard as they were years ago. There are still times with specific individuals, but as a whole motivation is based on a few basic principles. First you do what you are ordered as it an order and punishable by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCM) to not obey any â€Å"Lawful† order given by a superior officer or NCO. Lawful was stated as no unlawful orders must be obeyed or may be punished for ad’s-obeying. As a fact, if an unlawful order is given and known to be unlawful, the person following it is as guilty as the one who orders it (LOC, Even with the laws being the number one motivation, other motivations are used such as time off. When a soldier does extra well on a Job many times a reward of a pass or liberty is given. Awards are given as motivation to distinguish those who do above the basic requirements. And of course promotion and pay, with rewards also come’s promotions and with promotions come higher pay. This is this ultimate motivations and leads back to that of the UCM as well. For to not follow the rules, one can lose rank and pay, this is a big motivator within itself. Virtual Organization With the places the military is around the world, virtual elements are used constantly. POTTS, Commanders and other staff get to watch real mission being streamed in real world time, as that of the killing of BLOB. Meetings are held by units played at multiple locations hourly throughout the day. Many soldiers video chat to loved ones back home from some of the most perilous locations today through virtual means. Soldiers have watched their children born, graduate, play sports and all in real time through virtual means while deployed around the world. Years ago these actions from streaming, meetings and letters took days to weeks. But now from real times to only seconds of delay these actions are conducted by the U. S. Military and their personnel. Analysis Implementation Once leaders within the military understand the analysis and behavior of the Litany organization they can lay out plans. These plans are from the most basic to the most intrinsic mission plans. Housing soldiers is a common daily Job for leaders who receive new soldiers. As it is not a problem to understand to put men and women in separate quarters for basic reasons but how to bunk and room others can be a hassle. Even although they will do as told, how to make it better to keep moral? This will go first back to the different culture of individuals. Where are they from? Are they religious, and if so what religion? Are they a Gamer in today’s society? These all gust be looked and when housing soldiers. Next, what motivates the individual, while stated, soldiers will follow orders how to get it done, and the quickest and best way must be looked at. If a person likes attention, then maybe a basic citation or formal acknowledgement in front of others at times may be their motivation. But others may not like the public view, maybe they want time off. Maybe they Just want personal acknowledgement in a monthly or quarterly review between them and you the boss only. Each person must be looked at based on the analysis conducted for this motivation. Will it be difficult to get the individuals to work together? With all the analysis, culturing, many times there are internal problems that make individuals not work together. This is where the communication portion of the organization comes in. Will the individuals tell you the leader why they can’t? Will others tell on the two or three who may be causing the problem, but to fix the problem not to get into a he said she said argument breaking the group apart more? Only if communication was established and constantly ongoing can all of this and the above analysis be conducted to start. How to cite Organizational Behavior Analysis, Papers

Teen Pregnancyâ€A Social Issue free essay sample

After researching various statistics, I found that premarital pregnancy is quite prevalent in teenagers throughout the world. Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school or other plans. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of shame and fear, and it may appear that you will crumble under pressures in your environment. The stress of how one would break the news to their parents might be even greater, and finding help may seem an impossible task. People might think that they can help others, or one might be too embarrassed to search for help. For the most part, when one sees teenagers raising children, we often think that the teen has been raped or is too mature for their age. For this reason, some totally miss the issues that one must have been exposed to in their society, the society of their home, community, school. There are many viewpoints as to why teenage females are having so many children out of wedlock. However, the facts are obvious—teenaged females are highly influenced by many social issues, but those with the lack of strong parental guidance, sex education, and positive mass media are more likely to have a premarital pregnancy. As one travels the globe, they will find that industrialized and developing countries have distinctly different rates of teenage pregnancy. In the online article, â€Å"Teen Pregnancy on the Rise,† Sipokazi Maposa says that in developed countries, teenage pregnancies are associated with many social issues: lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and no strong parental guidance in the teenagers life. Maposa discusses the challenges which teens in Africa face as the teenage pregnancy rate increase. She contributes a wealth of information as to why teens have children at such a young age. Maposa suggests that the primary reason for teen pregnancy is the lack of communication between them and their parent(s). This is a useful source because it shows how teenage pregnancy is a more of a social issue than physical or emotional issue. Teens that have no strong father figure or parental guidance will be more likely to have children at an early age. The child provides posit ive regard (love), affection, and fulfills the social loss. Therefore, the article shows the effects that lack of parental guidance, sex education, and mass media has on teenage pregnancy, and how it relates teenage pregnancy to foster homes. Most people who are put into foster homes do not come from parents of strong guidance, because indeed they lost their children. An online report, â€Å"Fostering Hope: Preventing Teen Pregnancy among Foster Youth† examined how teenage pregnancy relates to foster care sates Love. The reports shows that foster youth that have lost their parents and end up in a foster home are less prone to having teenage pregnancies. Therefore, the correlation breaks because even though youth do not have their biological parents they still have some type of parental guidance. Consequently, most foster homes do have strong parental guidance, control over sex education, and negative mass media because there are so many restrictions as to what foster homes can and cannot perform by law. With this information, one would conclude that when someone is put into a foster home they turn out not to be pregnant at a one age. This is true according to a study performed to examine how common teenage pregnancy is among young women in and aging out of foster care and to determine whether the risk of becoming pregnant can be reduced by extending foster care beyond age 18. Amy Dworsky states that the study used data from the first two waves of the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth, a longitudinal study of foster youth making the transition to adulthood in three Midwestern states, as well as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Dworsky examined the relationship between care status and the risk of teenage pregnancy. Foster youth are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy than their peers in the general population, but staying in care seems to mitigate their risk of becoming pregnant even after the effects of other factors are taken into account. The findings of the study was to provide additional evidence of the need for a more concerted effort by child welfare agencies to help youth in foster homes avoid becoming pregnant. It would suggest that allowing young people to remain in foster care beyond age 18 may be one way to reduce teenage pregnancy among this population. Even the federal government has found teenage pregnancy to be a social issue in which lack of parental guidance, sex education, and positive media has been recognized. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), teenage pregnancy has been rising steadily from 1987 to 1991; the birthrate for teens aged 15-19 declined for 10 straight years, from a high of 62.1 per 1,000 teens aged 15-19 in 1991 to a record low of 45.9 in 2001, according to preliminary figures. The birthrate for young teenagers aged 15-17 fell 8 percent from 2000 to 2001, reaching 25.3 births per 1,000 teenagers. All 50 states had a decline in their teen birthrates between 1991 and 2000, with 10 states recording declines of more than 20 percent during this period. Recent declines in both birth and abortion rates indicate that teen pregnancy rates are continuing to fall. Overall teen pregnancy rates have dropped 19 percent since 1991. About 900,000 pregnancies occur each year among American teenagers aged 15-19. Most of these pregnancies are unintended. Almost 190,000 teens aged 17 and younger have children are not in school, have no parents around, and are overtaken by the imagery of mass media. After seeing those statistics, if makes one wonder if there are any more studies which will create a solution. President George Bush and the HHS sent researchers to Detroit, Michigan for a study to be conducted. They have found that the increase in teenage pregnancy has arisen out of social issues as well. The article â€Å"Teen Pregnancy† focuses on the potentials causes: society, individual families, and media. The article states how society has embraced teenage pregnancy in the United States. Society relates to our schools and media which have caused teen pregnancy to increase. Finally, the report presented solutions to the decrease teenage pregnancy: create pregnancy-prevention programs, public attention on interventions, and highlight the challenges of becoming a teenage parent. All of the solutions will be effective, encouraging, and empowering. â€Å"There are significantly more teenage pregnancies in the United States than all other developing countries,† state s Cleo Moore in the Complete and Authoritative Guide. He also claims that out of every five women in their teens, two will become pregnant in the United States. Teen pregnancy rates have increased 23% from 1972 to 1990. In order to come to a solution it is important to examine why teenage pregnancy is so high in the United States. When one analyzes teen pregnancy, an effective way to get to the root of the problem is using the critical component of the sociological imagination. Mass media is designed to reach large audiences with technology. Its purpose is meant to give us entertainment and information we need to act as a society. Media is everywhere; there is no escaping from it. Almost every home in America has at least one TV, the internet, and a cell phone. You cannot drive down the street without seeing billboard signs. Checking out at the grocery store can be tricky if trying to avoid magazines. There are more forms of media available today than ever before; consequently, teens are exposed to a lot of information. The media is supposed to portray what is normal; therefore, it affects what society considers normal. Teens are much more impressionable then adults. What the media tells them is normal affects them more. The media’s portrayal of body image affects teens negatively through using stereotypes, encouraging sexual behavior, and promoting unnecessary products. The media portrays single parent homes, teen pregnancy, and the social issue th at America faces in a positive light. Music Television (MTV) has several shows which portray teen pregnancy as a positive attribute of life: Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. Teen Mom is an American reality television series that premiered on MTV on December 8, 2009. The series is a spin-off of 16 and Pregnant and chronicles the lives of four of the original teenagers from that series as they navigate their first year of motherhood. In addition to showing the teenage motherhood, the show focuses on themes of changing relationships; specifically, those of the family, friends, couples, and school. It shows the struggles teenagers have to go through to raise their children. This show adds to the point that the media can display teenage pregnancy in a way that makes other teenagers want to become pregnant. Now people get pregnant because they have an excuse: I have social problem and now I can get pregnant. Richard Smith, a Washtenaw Community College student, states, â€Å"The American po pular culture glorifies sex and ignores responsibility. Beginning in early childhood, young people are bombarded with sexual messages. Especially from the world of media, the messages are subliminal.† The urge to have sex and get pregnancy is now stronger because of the fact that one has an encounter with media. Likewise, 16 and Pregnant is also a MTV reality television series produced by Morgan J. Freeman, and was first broadcast on June 11, 2009. It follows the stories of pregnant teenage girls in high school dealing with the hardships of teenage pregnancy. Each episode features a different teenage girl, with the episode typically beginning when she is 4 1?2–8 months into her pregnancy. Scott Brown, church member, discusses that although teenage pregnancy is not inevitable, some life circumstances place girls at higher risk of becoming teen mothers. These include poverty, poor school performance, and growing up in a single parent household. One can either have a mothe r who was an adolescent mother, or have no strong parental guidance with lack of sex education and positive media. There are teenagers who are getting pregnant just to be on these reality television shows, according to Rob Shuter. Shuter claims in an online article, â€Å"Teens Become Pregnant to get on Teen Mom,† that teenagers are getting pregnant just to get an audition on the reality television shows. Now teenagers, of course, get pregnant for many reasons, but most teens that get pregnant come from broken homes and have no strong parental guidance. The web article â€Å"Teen Help† states that despite declines in rates of teen pregnancy in the United States, about 820,000 teens become pregnant each year. That means that 34 percent of teenagers have at least one pregnancy before they turn 20. Teen Help declares that 79 percent of the teenagers who get pregnant are unmarried. According to the National Vital Statistics Reports, there is a connection with the pregnancy and divorce rates in America. This is quite interesting because many do not associate divorce with pregnancy as they think that there is no longer a sexual urge with the individuals. Divorce does not only affect the adults, but the children as well. Therefore, those children can lose the parental guidance needed to keep them from immoral ideals such as premarital sex and pregnancy. According to the article Lack of Parental Guidance Contributes to Teen Pregnancy, many pregnant teenagers do not have any cognition of the central facts of sexuality. This means that the teenagers have no idea what they are doing. This points back at the parents, because even though children get sex education in elementary, they do not get the â€Å"real† information until their parents have talked to them. The Lack of Parental Guidance Contributes to Teen Pregnancy, states that most people evade their children from talking about sex. In some cases, they provide false information regarding sex and discourage their children to participate in any informative discussion about sex. In some cases, teenage mothers are not well educated about sex before getting pregnant and thus this leads to lack of communication between the parents and the children. Steven Black, child of teenage parent states, â€Å"I think the lack of parental guidance is a strong influence on teenage pregnancy. The fact remains that more teenagers/adolescents are having babies, and the teenager would not see the problem with sex at a young age since their parents had sex at a young age.† Emily, a college student at Eastern Michigan University claims that she was pressured into having sex with her boyfriend when she was thirteen, but neither of her parents had taught her how to deal with this pressure and to say no . The lack of communication, supervision, and guidance is the main result of teenagers becoming pregnant in America. There are so many cases, such as Emily’s, where young girls have not been taught about self-respect and guided to say no to sex. There is still work to be done because the lack of education on safe sex, whether it’s from parents, schools, or otherwise, is not yet preventing teenage pregnancy. Many teenagers are not taught about methods of birth control and how to deal with peers who pressure them into having sex before they are ready. Some teens have said to be pressured into having sex with their boyfriend when the teen was young and yet no one had taught these teens how to deal with this pressure or to say no. According to an online new article, â€Å"Sex Education the Works† educating teenagers about their sexual behavior and activity create skills helps to inform them about acting on these choices. When providing sex education it can seem daunting because it means tackling a sensitive issue and involves a variety of people a parents, schools, community groups and health service providers. However, because sex education comprises many individual activities, which take place across a wide rang e of settings and periods of time, there are lots of opportunities to contribute. Nevertheless, it is often argued that teenage pregnancy has multiple results as to why it is more prevalent. In some societies, early marriage and traditional gender roles are important factors in the rate of teenage pregnancy. For example, in some sub-Saharan African countries, early pregnancy is often seen as a blessing because it is proof of the young womans fertility. In the Indian subcontinent, early marriage and pregnancy is more common in traditional rural communities compared to the rate in cities. The various areas have created an educational plan for their youth, and it has helped dramatically. Now, there are those who say that society can be blamed for many things, but teenage pregnancy is not one. Most people blame the individual teenagers for creating this epidemic across the world. There have always been parents who have not been strong figures in their child’s lives, but the child never had a teenage pregnancy. Sex education can only teach a person so much, but if one does not inhabit what they have been taught, then they really have not learned anything at all. Finally, the mass media says to do many things and portrays many negative and immoral activities, but teenagers, like any other age group, have to decide what is right and wrong. Christ Lewis, student at Washtenaw Community College and child of a teenage mother states that society can deal you a bad hand of cards, but it’s how you response to what you do with what you have been given. Schoffner claims, â€Å"Many issues through society will come forth, but you have to know how to handle it.† Of course, society has created a world for humans to fail and do wrong, but in the end the decision is up to the individual. When one looks at teenage pregnancy, especially in America, they see a high rate of pregnancies. It would make a person wonder, â€Å"Why is pregnancy prevalent in teenagers?† The answer is quite simply, yet interesting†¦teenagers who do not have strong parental guidance, sex education, and positive media reinforcement are more prone to a premarital pregnancy. Imagine a young girl, who’s in school, makes honor roll, helps her community, and is just an all-around good person. However, she has never had strong, consistent parental guidance in her life. She has never been taught about birth control, and the how to deal with peer pressure. She has the media pressuring her every day. Last week she was pressured into having sex with a guy that was cool and popular in their school, and just a few days ago she found out that she was pregnant. Now she has to go tell her parents (who have never cared before) about the news. This news is shocking, but happens every day in Am erica and throughout the world. People can blame the teenagers who get pregnant, but our society is the blame! The lack of parental guidance, sex education, and positivity media on the outlook of pregnancy has impacted the high rates of teen pregnancy across the world. Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school or other plans. For the most part, when one sees teenagers raising children, we often think that the teen has been raped or is more mature for their age. For this reason, some totally miss these social issues in which all have great impact on the teenagers decision on getting pregnant or not. There are many viewpoints as to why teenage females are becoming pregnant at such a young age. However, the information is apparent—teenaged females who lack of strong parental guidance, sex education, and positive mass media are more likely to have a premarital pregnancy.