Teen pregnancy Essay Example for Free

Teen pregnancy Essay Teenage pregnancy is a social problem that has existed for over a century and has always been a great concern to every nation due to the numerous adverse consequences it brings on both the economy and society at large. In the middle of the 70s, teenage pregnancy had reached an astronomical height that it was described as â€Å"epidemic† by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in a booklet entitled â€Å"11 Million Teenagers† which was widely circulated at the time (Gallagher, M. , 1999). This, in fact, put pressure on Congress at the time to pass a bill that would increase family planning fund by hundred percent as a strategy to curtail teenage pregnancy â€Å"epidemic† (Gallagher, M. , 1999). The rate of Teenage Pregnancy rose from 23. 9 births per 1000 single female teenagers in 1975 to 31. 4 in 1985, and to 46. 4 in 1994. In the last part of the 90s, the rate had dropped by16 percent. For teenagers between 15 and 19 years, the rate of teen pregnancy had dropped by 36 per cent by 2002 and 33 per cent by 2004 (Gallagher, M. , 1999). Until recent times, Teenage pregnancy was considered an abomination and a mockery to a family. It carried a stigma and a disgrace to the young mothers and their immediate families. The young mothers were often considered sinners and the children born out of wedlock were referred to as bastards or illegitimate. The horror and the disgrace that was immediately associated with giving birth to bastards or illegitimate children, kept teenage pregnancy at the lowest minimum (Sprague, C. , 2009). In the 20th Century, the attitude of society toward teen mothers and their children or teenage pregnancy in general changed; society looked at them with compassion. Soon the horror, the intimidation, and the stigma that surrounds teenage pregnancy dissipated. This has, in no simple terms, contributed to the current level of teen pregnancy in our society. Though the rate of Teenage Pregnancy has declined in the United States in the last decade, it is still considered high, relative to other developed countries such as Sweden, Great Britain, and Denmark. Teenage pregnancy is a real social problem that requires all and sundry in finding a lasting solution to it. What makes teen pregnancy a huge problem lies in the negative effects it brings. The purpose of this work is to discuss some of the effects of teenage pregnancy which include health issues, school dropouts and dependency on the public for economic support. One striking effect with teenage pregnancy is the high propensity for the pregnant teenager to suffer some health problems. Very often, teenagers who become pregnant try to hide their pregnancy from their parents and in so doing, they do not get the necessary medical attention that initial pregnancy requires or may use crude means to abort the baby which can result in bleeding and death. About 33% of pregnant teenagers do not receive proper prenatal care and monitoring (Sprague, C. , 2009). This can result in an increased risk of miscarriage, anemia and high blood pressure in the pregnant teenager. Also, children born to teenage mothers usually exhibit low birth weight which is accompanied with other health hazards like respiratory disease, bleeding in the brain, and intestinal problems. All these account for the high mortality rate for infants born to teenage mothers than those born to women older than 20. This will in effect put some financial demand on the families of the teenage mothers. Another effect that has captivated the attention of civil society is the rate at which pregnant teenagers drop out of school. Drop outs today are ill-effects for future labor force; a situation which can cause poverty and semi-illiterates which civil society considers very serious in the development of a nation. Research shows that between 30 to 35 per cent of pregnant teenagers drop out of school compared to the 6 per cent of non-pregnant teenagers (Sprague, C. , 2009). Dropping out of school has an inherent effect on the teenage mothers; the early pregnancy deprives them of getting the necessary education and skills that will ensure them of rewarding and stable jobs. Finding a regular source of income therefore, becomes extremely difficult for teenage mothers as every job position requires certain skills. Their inabilities to secure jobs lead them to falling on the public for financial support. Finally, pregnant teenagers are likely to encounter abject poverty if they do not have a strong financial backing from their parents. Surprisingly, a higher percentage of these teens come from either broken home or staying with single parents, and are already living in poverty (Gallagher, M). Also, most of these teens are unmarried and likely to be single mothers which will cause them to face further acute economic hardships than if they were married. The only alternative at their disposal to partially solving their economic predicaments in the short run is to seek public assistance; that is, relying on welfare which includes food stamp. Over 80 per cent of teen mothers go on welfare within three years of giving birth (Sprague, C. , 2009). If the teen mother does not go back to school to attain any profession which is mostly the case, their daughters are more likely to become teen mothers and it becomes a vicious cycle. There are numerous effects of teenage pregnancy but the limit of this paper cannot exhaust all of them. In conclusion, teenage pregnancy is one source that can cause health, economic and educational setbacks not only in the lives of teenagers who allow them to be impregnated but generations down the â€Å"road†. All these can be averted if teenagers are taught abstinence from early sex until they have at least completed high school or attained age of 20. Where the teenagers are uncontrollable, they must be advice to use protections such as condoms but one thing is that condom is not 100 percent safe. There has been instances where condoms have torn and causing pregnancy. References

The Decolonisation of Africa 1959-1964 Essay Example for Free

The Decolonisation of Africa 1959-1964 Essay To what extent was Britain able to retain control over decolonisation in Africa between 1959 and 1964? By 1959 decolonisation in British Africa was well under way, for example, the Gold Coast in West Africa had become independent in 1957, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were well on their way to independence, and agitation and advances towards independence were already taking place in Kenya and Tanganyika in Eastern Africa. By 1964 this had spread throughout Britain’s African territories and many more had either become independent or started their journey and development towards independence, as the â€Å"political face of the continent was transformed†[1]. This essay will examine what it was that led to this huge change in policy towards Africa, from a time at the beginning of the 1950s when no one expected any of Britain’s colonies to become independent within a generation, let alone within a decade, to a time in the mid-1960s when Britain’s colonial possessions in Africa were severely dwindling and there was a clear line of policy towards decolonisation there. Even in 1959, as Hemming recognises, â€Å"a conference of East African governors agreed that the likely timetable of independence would be: Tanganyika in 1970, Kenya in 1975 and Uganda somewhere between the two†[2]. In fact Tanganyika gained independence in 1961, Kenya in 1963 and Uganda in 1962. As Hemming identifies, â€Å"a fifteen year timetable had been reduced by 80 percent†[3]. This essay will look at such questions as: How can we judge if Britain was in control? ; Was Britain in control of the pace, or the actual process of events of how independence came about? ; Was Britain in control of who to transfer power to? This essay will attempt to answer these questions by examining all of the various problems, and pressures with which Britain was faced regarding its African colonies, which can been seen to have taken the control of decolonisation in Africa between 1959 and 1964 out of Britain’s hands. It will look at whether Britain really wanted to maintain control of its colonial territories, or whether, once Britain had decided not to keep its colonies, it actually did not want to remain in control of decolonisation in Africa. In some cases did it actually make it easier for Britain to allow control of African decolonisation **** out of its hands. This essay will examine whether it is certain that once the ‘wind of change’ of African nationalism began spreading through Africa, that Britain was not entirely in control, and, will examine the extent to which Britain did retain control, if it did at all. It will look at the pressures the British government had to deal with, for example, pressures from the UN to end British imperialism, pressures from the US, and pressures from other members of the Commonwealth, as well as from the rest of Europe. It will examine the strength of colonial nationalism and the extent to which this took the control of decolonisation in Africa away from Britain, or at least forced the British government to change and adapt its policy in order to cope and deal with this threat. This essay will look at pressures at home in Britain, from members of the government and those in opposition as well as British public opinion, and the extent to which this affected Britain’s policy over decolonisation. It will also look at the impact and influence that the process of decolonisation being pursued by other European imperial powers in Africa had on Britain’s decolonisation policy. It will look at how much the desire of Britain to maintain its role as a world power, and maintain, for example, the special relationship with America, and its position in the Commonwealth, had on British policy over decolonisation and whether this desire led to Britain pursuing a policy direction which it otherwise would not have done. Finally, having examined all these pressures and events which affected Britain’s decolonisation policy in Africa, this essay will attempt to examine to what extent Britain was, or was not, able to retain control over this process, and affect it in a way which was acceptable to Britain. It will then try and make an assessment, whether or not Britain did retain control over decolonisation in Africa in the period from 1959 to 1964, and, if Britain was in control, the extent of this control.

The Importance of Risk Management

The Importance of Risk Management Risk management is an important part of decision making process in a construction company. Risk can affect productivity, performance, quality, and budget of a construction project. This chapter gives an overview of construction project risks. Meanwhile, risks in construction project will be recognized and classified into several groups. Furthermore, the current trend in risk management researches will also be discussed in this chapter. It is very important to elaborate risks in construction projects for the purpose of this project paper as to fulfil the first objective of this research, which is to identify and classify the risks in construction projects. Risk is defined as the chance of an adverse event depending on the circumstances (Butler, 1982). Risk is perceived as the potential for unwanted or negative consequences of an event or activity'(Rowe, 1977 ), a combination of hazard and exposure (Chicken and Posner, 1998). Recent research tends to emphasize the two-edged nature of risks, such as a threat and a challenge'(Flanagan and Norman, 1993), the chance of something happening that will have an impact on objectives; may have a positive or negative impact'(AS/NZS, 2004), combination of the probability or frequency of occurrence of a defined threat or opportunity and the magnitude of the consequences of the occurrence. This study examines mainly the negative impacts of risks inherent in construction projects through a combined consideration of the likelihood of occurrence and the magnitude of consequence. Risk management is a system which aims to identify and quantify all risks to which the business or project is exposed so that a conscious decision can be taken on how to manage the risks'(Flanagan and Norman, 1993). PMBOK included risk management as one of the nine focuses in project management and described it as the processes concerned with conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, responses, and monitoring and control on a project. Recently, AS/NZS defined risk management as the culture, processes and structures that are directed towards realizing potential opportunities whilst managing adverse effects'(AS/NZS, 2004). In line with these definitions, risk management in the construction project management context is a systematic way of identifying, analysing and dealing with risks associated with a project in an aim to achieve the project objectives (Zou et al., 2007). Owing to its increasing importance, risk management has been recognized as a necessity in toda ys construction industry, and a set of techniques and strategies have been developed to control the influences brought by potential risks (Zou et al., 2007). A variety of risk and risk-related definitions are applied to construction projects, and no standard definitions or procedures exist for what constitutes a risk assessment. In the construction industry, risk is often referred to as the presence of potential or actual treats or opportunities that influence the objectives of a project during construction, commissioning, or at time of use (RAMP, 1998). Risk is also defined as the exposure to the chance of occurrences of events adversely or favourably affecting project objectives as a consequence of uncertainty (Al-Bahar and Crandall, 1990). According to (Walewski and Gibson, 2003) as mentioned by Dias and Ioannou (1995) , there are two types of risk: 1) pure risk when there is the possibility of financial loss but no possibility of financial gain, and 2) speculative risk that involves the possibility of both gains and losses. CIIs definitive work on construction risks (Diekmann et al., 1998) uses classic operations research literature t o distinguish the concepts of risk, certainty, and uncertainty, and is consistent with the literature (ASCE, 1979; CIRA, 1994; Kangari, 1995; Hastak and Shaked, 2000; PMI, 2001; Smith, 2001) on what is considered as the sequential procedures for construction risk management: 1) identification, 2) assessment, 3) analysis of impact, and 4) management response. Increased concerns about project risk have given rise to various attempts to develop risk management methodologies. An example of such is the Risk Analysis and Management of Projects (RAMP) method produced by the Institute of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Actuaries in the United Kingdom (RAMP, 1998) . This method uses a project framework to identify and mitigate risk by using the accepted framework of risk identification and project controls by focusing on risks as they occur during the project life cycle. It requires users to follow a rational series of procedures and to undertake this analysis at scheduled intervals during the life cycle of a project. Traditional risk assessment for construction has been synonymous with probabilistic analysis (Liftson and Shaifer, 1992, Al-Bahar and Crandall, 1990). Such approaches require events to be mutually exclusive, exhaustive, and conditionally independent. However, construction involves many variables, and it is often difficult to determine causality, dependence and correlations. As a result, subjective analytical methods that rely on historical information and the experiences of individuals and companies have been used to assess the impact of construction risk and uncertainty (Bajaj et al., 1997). Project risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or a negative effect on at least one project objective, such as time, cost, scope, or quality (i.e., where the project time objective is to deliver in accordance with the agreed-upon schedule; where the project cost objective is to deliver within the agreed-upon cost; etc.). A risk may have one or more causes and, if it occurs, one or more impacts. For example, a cause may be requiring an environmental permit to do work, or having limited personnel assigned to design the project. The risk event is that the permitting agency may take longer than planned to issue a permit, or the design personnel available and assigned may not be adequate for the activity. If either of these uncertain events occurs, there may be an impact on the project cost, schedule, or performance. Risk conditions could include aspects of the projects or organizations environment that may contribute to project risk, such as poor proje ct management practices, lack of integrated management systems, concurrent multiple projects, or dependency on external participants who cannot be controlled. Successful project management requires the identification of the factors impacting project scope definition, cost, schedule, contracting strategy and work execution plan. However much of the research related to risk identification, assessment and management for constructed facilities is focused on specifics such as location, categories of risks aspects, or types of projects. For example lists of relevant construction project risks have been developed (Kangari, 1995, RAMP, 1998, Smith, 1999, Hastak and Shaked, 2000, Diekmann et al., 1998) as well as political risk are available (Ashley and Bonner, 1987, Howell, 2001) . The value of systematic risk management of project activity is not fully recognized by the construction industry (Walewski et al., 2002) . Since no common view of risk exists, owners, investors, designers, and constructors have differing objectives and adverse relationships between the parties are common. Attempts at coordinating risk analysis management between all of the project participants have not been formalized and this is especially true between contractors and owners. (Hayes et al., 1987) defined three phases for risk management process (RMP), namely: risk identification; risk analysis and risk response. (Uher and Toakley, 1999) indicated that out of three phases involved in risk management, the concept of risk identification appears to be the most known and practiced. (Lam, 1999), in his paper which discussed risks associated with major infrastructure projects, and defined risk identification as listing of most, if not all, the potential areas where an undesired outcome may result. Such listing should be done at the earliest possible stage of the project. Furthermore, the author listed some techniques that could be used in risk identification such as brain storming, prompt lists, structured interviews and hindsight reviewers. Another useful method is to simulate events and relationships using a hypothetical project life cycle so that the relevant risk factors are made apparent. Risk identification is normally done in a group.(Chapman, 1997) introduced three methods for risk identification, namely: brain storming; Nominal Group Technique (NGT) and Delphi. These are ways to collect judgments from the project team. However, brainstorming was the most commonly cited technique. (Tummala and Burchett, 1999) defined Risk Management Process (RMP) as a logically, consistent and structured approach to enumerate and understand possible risk factors and to assess their consequences and uncertainties.(Chapman, 1997) stated that a formal (RMP) should be applied at all stages in the project lifecycle by project owners and contractors. Alternatively, the process is referred to by many authors as (PRAM) Project Risk Analysis and Management. However, it is the authors opinion that (PRAM) and (RMP) are similar terms for the same concept and can be used interchangeably. (Uher and Toakley, 1999) resented a paper discussing the use of risk management in the conceptual phase of the construction project development cycle where uncertainty is at its peak. Furthermore, (Cano and Cruz, 2002) explained a generic risk management process to be undertaken by organizations with the highest level of risk management maturity in the largest and most complex construction projects. As a final validation, Delphi analysis was applied to assess the risk management methodology. (Fang et al., 2004) presented a risk assessment model for tendering of Chinese building projects on the basis of identification and evaluation of the major risk events in the Chinese construction market. The findings showed that the risk of a project can be assessed through analysis of factors such as: owner type; source of project financing; existence or lack of cooperation between contractors and the owner; the intensity of competition for tendering and the reasonableness of the bid price. (Charoenngam and Yeh, 1999) stipulated the importance of a proper contractual foundation to ensure successful project execution, especially in case of projects involving multidisciplinary teams.(Thompson and Perry, 1992) addressed the necessity of model or standard sets of conditions of contracts where risk is allocated to different contract parties, but the principals behind this allocation have not been stated . Construction contracts are one of the primary vehicles of risk allocation and management, Ibbs et al. (1986). Furthermore, (Bubshait and Almohawis, 1994) stated that when a contractor is working in an unfamiliar construction environment, one source of risk is the contract conditions. There is significant evidence in the literature that checklists are the most commonly used methods of risks identification.(Uher and Toakley, 1999, Akintoye and MacLeod, 1997, Simister, 1998), all stated that checklists recorded the highest use among practitioners of risk management as compared to other techniques. (Uher and Toakley, 1999) stated that the most commonly applied risk identification techniques were checklists, brainstorming and flowcharts. Other techniques such as questionnaires, scenarios building and case based approaches were less popular, while techniques such as influence diagrams and Hazop were largely unknown. (Akintoye and MacLeod, 1997) on the basis of the results of a survey of risk management techniques conducted on general contractors and project management firms, stated that checklists based on intuition, judgment and experience recorded the highest formality with the respondents. The authors also stated that checklists could not be considered as a formal technique. (Simister, 1998) indicated that traditional methods are still favored in the UK, even though the level of awareness of other formal and more complex techniques is high. The study listed 12 techniques and indicated a percentage of the current/past use as well as the level of awareness for each technique. Checklists were the most popular technique, followed by Monte Carlo Simulation, Project Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT), Sensitivity Analysis and Decision Trees. (Hassanein and Afify, 2007) in their study about Risk management practices of contractors: a case study of power station projects in Egypt identified a marked lack of consistency in the contractors risk identification effort. Contractors possessing past experience in Egypt were far better able to identify the relevant risks. On the other hand, local Egyptian contractors with vast experience in Egypt but limited project management experience were shown to lack the necessary expertise to properly identify risks and to take the appropriate exceptions. Furthermore, the results revealed that bidders do not include in their proposals their true lists of exceptions which represent genuine risks to them.

Laurence Sternes Tristram Shandy :: Personal Reflection Essays

Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy Perhaps it is no more than the accumulation of years, the simple passage of time that accounts for the recent turn in my thoughts towards the manner in which the events of my life have occurred and brought me to what I politely call "the current state." After all, when those accumulated years require the placement of a number with (to my thinking) the heft of a 29 in front of them to be described, and there is (again, to my thinking) so little to show in the way of accomplishment for so great a span of time, well, a fellow can't help but begin to wonder "how?" or, more to the point, "why?" These recent thoughts of mine dovetail nicely with one of the themes in Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy: the randomness of life. Although an acceptance of the randomness of life may seem somewhat frightening at first, with all it portends for the futility of human planning. I think the opposite case is more frightening still. Personally I would hate to think that the sequence of events that have led me to the current state have happened by design. That, trust me, is the truly frightening thought. Sterne highlights the theme of the randomness of life by exposing the ridiculous extent to which events can be linked by cause and effect. For example, the flattening of Tristram's nose can be traced back in an almost straight line from the end of Dr. Slop's forceps to the marriage articles between Mr. and Mrs. Shandy. The articles stated that Mrs. Shandy should be permitted, when pregnant, to lay in (if she chose) in London. This right, however, would become void if she should cause Mr. Shandy to go to the expense of a journey to London without her being pregnant. Unfortunately she takes such a trip and, as a result, is obliged to lay in at home during her pregnancy with Tristram. When her time comes, Dr. Slop is called in and, consequently, Tristram's nose becomes caught in the doctor's forceps and is flattened. Tristram, therefore, sees the weight of the marriage articles as falling directly upon him. This judgment may appear absurd as the connection between the articles and the nose is somewhat tenuous, but I can understand it.

Invisible Man Comparative Essay -- essays research papers

Their Eyes Were Watching God and Invisible Man Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Life has never been easy for African-Americans. Since this country's formation, the African-American culture has been scorned, disrespected and degraded. It wasn't until the middle of the 21st century that African-American culture began to be looked upon in a more tolerant light. This shift came about because of the many talented African-American writers, actors, speakers and activists who worked so hard to gain respect for themselves and their culture. Two writers were on the front lines of this movement, Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison. Their novels, Invisible Man and Their Eyes Were Watching God, probed deeply into the life and culture of the African-American, something that was practically unheard of. But not only did their novels shed light on the African culture, but they also shifted away from the traditional Romantic style of writing. Instead of focusing on religion or society, these novels focused on self-awareness, pride, and finding happiness. The merit of these novels pervades every page, but can especially be found in the themes, diction, and characterization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both novels shared two similar themes: the pursuit of happiness and self-actualization. These themes had to be dealt with tenderly in an intolerant, white-culture society. Both Hurston and Ellison did this beautifully, in that their stories were not forceful nor prea... Invisible Man Comparative Essay -- essays research papers Their Eyes Were Watching God and Invisible Man Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Life has never been easy for African-Americans. Since this country's formation, the African-American culture has been scorned, disrespected and degraded. It wasn't until the middle of the 21st century that African-American culture began to be looked upon in a more tolerant light. This shift came about because of the many talented African-American writers, actors, speakers and activists who worked so hard to gain respect for themselves and their culture. Two writers were on the front lines of this movement, Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison. Their novels, Invisible Man and Their Eyes Were Watching God, probed deeply into the life and culture of the African-American, something that was practically unheard of. But not only did their novels shed light on the African culture, but they also shifted away from the traditional Romantic style of writing. Instead of focusing on religion or society, these novels focused on self-awareness, pride, and finding happiness. The merit of these novels pervades every page, but can especially be found in the themes, diction, and characterization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both novels shared two similar themes: the pursuit of happiness and self-actualization. These themes had to be dealt with tenderly in an intolerant, white-culture society. Both Hurston and Ellison did this beautifully, in that their stories were not forceful nor prea...

Censorship Essay -- essays research papers

Censorship Everyone has a voice and an opinion. Some people, unfortunately, are censored and denied the right to express their opinion because it is different. Because everyone thinks they are right, if something is new or different, it will, more often than not, be disliked because people do not like to hear new and different ideas. It is not right that some people can express their opinion and some are censored and cannot express their opinion because their opinion is different from the norm. Censorship is wrong because it denies an individual the chance to be heard simply because they have different ideas. It also restricts freedom of information, which is vital to the survival of Democracy. With censorship, moral, artistic, and intellectual growth would cease to exist, and people would have no choice to believe what the government tells them, because they would have no other sources of information to turn to. Nazi Germany used censorship as a prime tool to keep the average people ignor ant and promote anti-Semitism. The United States Constitution says in the First Amendment, â€Å"Congress shall make no law†¦abridging the freedom of speech† (qtd. in Murphy) which means that any material in any medium; art, music, literature, spoken, cannot be altered by the government in any way. The people of the United States of America are free to express their opinion in any way, shape, or form without fear of repercussions from the government or others. Therefore, censorship is a violation of an American’s First Amendment rights. According to an article on Eric Nuzum’s website, after September 11th, a list of over 150 â€Å"lyrically questionable† songs was circulated to radio stations, urging restraint of these songs, â€Å"out of respect† for the dead. ( Nuzum). In the list, â€Å"all songs by Rage Against the Machine† was listed. Rage Against the Machine is a band famous for its controversial political views. Almost none of Rage’s songs bear reference to flying airplanes into buildings. There is no reason for all of their songs to be censored. This is an example of censorship. Silencing someone because of ideas that are different. Rage Against the Machine has a right to express their ideas without repercussions, and to censor all their songs from the radio is a violation of their right to free speech. According to an arti... ...any. It strips the common man of individualism, keeps him ignorant, and makes him a prime target for manipulation by malicious persons. Censorship has long been the tool of fascists, and totalitarian dictatorships who seek to use the common man for their own malicious intents. Censorship ensured that the Nazis had the German public in their grip as they bombarded them on a daily basis on how their lives had been improved from the day Hitler became Germany's leader. Nothing good has or will become of censorship. Murphy, Gerald. "Bill of Rights." Legal Information Institute. 14 Mar. 1993. Cornell U. 12 Feb. 2005 . Kingsbury, Alex. "A Windy War of Words." U.S News and World Report Feb. 2005: 16. Nuzum, Eric. "Sound Off: Our Attitudes Toward Music Parallel Our Belief in Freedom." Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America. 30 Oct. 2001. 12 Feb. 2005 . Rovers, Ronald. "The silencing of Theo van Gogh." Salon. 24 Nov. 2004. 9 May 2005 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/11/24/vangogh/index.html "Discriminate." Dictionary. 2000. 10 May 2005 . Alexander, Jeff. "Blue In The Face." Rock Out Censorship. 2003. 10 May 2005

Which Do You Prefer?

Every person has their own ways of living life. When an individual starts to make decisions, the quality of life is always considered. People resides in different parts of the world and the lifestyles varies from where they came from. Determining for the best place to live could give a greater impact in one's life as there are two options that are worthwhile to consider. For any reasons, an individual can freely choose the lifestyle of either in urban and rural living providing the advantages and disadvantages from both places. Urban and Rural settlements affects the lifestyle of a person as it differs from the kind of education, employment opportunities and the environment they live in. Education plays an important role to a successful career depending to the quality of education a person can acquire to learn. In rural areas, poverty is one of the main problems that affects the educational outcome of the students. This often leads to individuals dropping out school just to support and provide for their parents and to also help them manage the household. Moreover, not many children living in less developed villages have the opportunity to study, especially in college. Countless amounts of people may not have the opportunity to have the future they dreamed of due to the fact of where they grew up or certain circumstances in their life that disabled them from their goals. Distance is another problem have to face because of the lack of transportation. Although many struggle to get to places due to lack of transportation, those who live in the rural area struggle more. A teacher also faces many challenges in rural schools. Teachers in rural areas are paid with low salaries and the lack of teachers is another huge obstacle on the way to education. Teachers are extremely important because they give the students a foundation to work from and help the students build their way up in life. So the lack of teachers would make a huge impact on the students life and future. In urban areas, by contrast, an advantage manifested by urban students usually takes place in advanced country and economy. All of the students can get access of the wealth and social opportunities that big cities can offer. Urban schools are usually larger in size and they particularly have the resources and facilities that the rural area tends to lack. Most of the schools in the cities have advanced and qualified teachers as they get ahold of continuing trainings and workshops. The range of employment options must be considered when choosing a kind of job. In Urban areas where the population is high and extremely populated, most people intend to apply for jobs where they can get a good salary. According to the research from Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA), â€Å"the most high-skilled, high paying occupations tend to cluster in urban areas. Urban centers tend to specialize in knowledge-based work with high concerns of Technicians, Engineers, Scientist and Executives, while in rural areas have larger concentration of Machinist and Makers, which generally require less skill and receive lower salaries.† (Florida 2012).In rural areas, residents do not have enough employment options due to the lack of job opportunities and most people has an inverse relationship with agriculture. In contrary, urban areas are developed in an a planned and systematic way in terms of industrialisation. A division of labor is always present in the urban settlement for job allotment and because of the great opportunities for growth and the concentration of people, urban areas are preferred for developmental programs where the business are most likely invested. Environmental conditions gives an impact on an individual's quality of life. People living in remote places is usually described as a quiet and peaceful paradise which is a perfect place to unwind and escape from hustle and bustle of the city life. Besides rural areas are less crowded because there are not many people and cars. The scenery in rural areas are beautiful and well- conserved thus the people can enjoy the nature and have a peaceful mind. In contrast with the city dwellers, who lead a hectic life and often feel annoyed due to great stress in the daily life such as traffic, dealing with higher rates of crime and paying higher taxes. With regards to the nature, the trees are cut in urban areas for construction of roads and buildings that results to the lost of agricultural lands. The pollution and the deforestation has led to environmental imbalance and health problems, which shadow the future of urban living. Urban settlements are determined by the advanced conveniences, opportunities of education, facilities for transport, and business while the rural settlements are based more on natural resources and events. For a person who plans to reside on a specific place and get the kind of dream life however, will note the contrast between the settlement options along with how it differs in the quality of education, employment options, and the environment in both rural and urban areas.