The Badge of Shame

â€Å"Woman, it is thy badge of shame! †. Governor Bellingham was describing the scarlet letter to Hester while they were discussing if the punishments that Hester had to go through were adequate enough for the crime. Hester was living in the outskirts of the city in a small abandoned cottage for several years with the only thing that had any monetary value in her life, her child and the product of committing adultery, Pearl. She and her little Pearl were shunned from the community for her acts. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is punished in more than one way, and she is able to deal with it openly so the community will, over time, forgive her. The most obvious subject of punishment that Hester had to cope with is wearing the scarlet letter. â€Å"By the point which drew all eyes and, as it were, transfigured the wearer†¦ was the scarlet letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom†. Hester wrought the scarlet letter before she stood on the scaffold. When Pearl asks her why she wears the letter she replies that she wears it for its gold thread. Hester wears the letter for many years, even after the people in the community care anymore, so that she will be fully forgiven for her sin. In the beginning of the story, Hester is faced with serving the temporary part of her sentence, standing on the scaffold in front of the whole town. â€Å"It was a circumstance to be noted, on the summer morning when our story begins its course, that the women of whom there were several in the crowd, appeared to take a peculiar interest in whatever penal infliction might be expected to ensue†. The citizens of the town had gathered to criticize Hester as she stood on the scaffold, and many of the town s women were discussing the simplicity of Hester s sentence, since the usual punishment for committing adultery is the death penalty. Although she had to put up with the remarks about her for three hours while she was standing on the scaffold, the ridicule followed for many years to come. Hester and her daughter were thought upon as sinners long after Hester had served her sentence. Hester was not accepted by the community because of her sins. She was forced to live in an abandoned cottage on the edge of the city. â€Å"Hester Prynne, therefore, did not flee. On the outskirts of town, within the verge of the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation, there was a small thatched cottage. It had been built by an earlier settler, and abandoned because the soil about it was too sterile for cultivation.. .†. Hester and her little Pearl not only lived in the little cottage, they spent most of their time there, only going into town for important things like food and supplies. The community basically shunned Hester and Pearl from the town and made it clear to them that they were not wanted inside the city. Hester went through a lot of punishment for her sins. She was able to deal with it openly, like wearing the scarlet letter and standing on the scaffold, and some she dealt with without showing any remorse. She was brave to live on the edge of the city and not to flee to another city or even another country. She also kept things inside, like the father of her child and her husband that seemingly deserted her. Overall, she is a brave soul and in some ways, is a role model to the rest of the people in the community.

Great Gatsby, Detailed Analysis, Passage Chapter 1 (p.13-15) Essay

In this passage Nick Carraway is visiting his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan, a former member of Nick’s social club at Yale University, on East Egg. Inside, Daisy lounges on a couch with her friend, Jordan Baker, a competitive golfer who yawns as though bored by her surroundings. As Nick enters he describes his two female companions in extreme detail. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses imagery on many occasions to aid the reader to picture the setting. He describes the women’s dresses fluttering in the wind as though they had â€Å"just been blown back in after a short flight around the house† (p.13). Fitzgerald also illustrates the women seeming to be â€Å"buoyed up..upon an anchored balloon† (p.13). He repeats the metaphor of balloons as he recounts that they seem to be â€Å"ballooning† to the ground as the wind calms. Nick, the narrator, goes on to describe his company. He does so in extreme detail. The author does this as to help us visualize Nick’s situation. The theme of white is inaugurated in this passage (â€Å"They were both in white†, p.13) emphasizing the innocence and pureness of Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker. Fitzgerald makes the visualization of the visitation very simple for his readers by using vivid examples (â€Å"her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on her chin†, p.14). He makes her appear almost statuesque. Jordan is portrayed as having a bored and apathetic attitude about everything, which is all part of her â€Å"I am too good for you† appearance. Jordan Baker seems to be ignoring Nick upon his entry (â€Å"If she saw me†¦she gave no hint of it-â€Å", p.14). This looks as though Jordan is playing hard to get. The mind games could be seen to be conveying that she is attracted to Nick. The narration stops and we hear Daisy’s voice for the first time (â€Å"I’m p-paralyzed with happiness†, p.14). Nick mentions her lightheartedness Daisy Buchanan’s illustration is very descriptive. She seems to have taken a greater deal of interest in Nick although there does appear to be a hint of awkwardness in the room, possibly due to the fact that the two have not seen each other in a lengthy period of time. She is not labeled beautiful, the reader does however get an inkling that she is, as there seems to be a sort of aura surrounding her (â€Å"That was a way she had.† p.14). The narrator tells the reader a little bit about himself and how he is not used to the posh lifestyle of the people of East Egg (â€Å"..any exhibition of complete self-sufficiency draws a stunned tribute from me†, p.14). This could mean that Nick is used to a more family orientated lifestyle were friends and family supported and trusted one another more. As the conversation between Daisy and Nick continues, Scott Fitzgerald decides to go into even more detail about Daisy. He catalogs her speech in extreme detail (â€Å"..in her low thrilling voice†¦the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down†¦as if each speech is an arrangement of notes.†, p.14). Nick does not only comment on Daisy’s voice but also her general appearance, her face, her eyes and even her mouth. The narrator’s portrayal of Daisy leads the reader to believe that she is a person of great beauty. A lady with whom one could easily fall in love with. Nick is almost obsessional about his cousin, Nick not being the only one in the course of the book. F. Scott Fitzgerald really triumphs in his use of language. His language is full of concrete verbal images which are incredibly appealing to the senses. Furthermore his descriptions of setting, characters and symbolism are in such sheer detail, it is impossible for the reader not to begin imagining what it, she, he or they must have looked or even sounded like. This passage introduces us to two of the novel’s major characters, Daisy and Jordan. It it also the first time we get a real taster of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s descriptive abilities.

A History of German Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A History of German - Essay Example Past events that occurred in Germany have affected the current political and economic status of Germany. The economy is still a boost and has been ranked fourth and the politics are still the same, with the country been headed by a president and a chancellor. Due to the effects of the cold war, Germany has improved and the current unification of the 1990 has boosted the status of the nation. As the oldest European nation, Germany has a history that began during the interplay between the German tribes and the Roman Empire. Modern Germany was formed in 1817, under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor. He tried to bring allies with Europe (Salmons, 2012). The industrial revolution modernized the German economy and this led to the rapid growth of cities and the emergence of the socialist movement in the nation. During the 1930s, Germany was hit hard by the great depression, which caused a lot of unemployment and the people lost confidence in the Government. The Nazi of Germany led by Adolf Hitler restored the economic prosperity and ended the mass unemployment using the military and suppressing labor unions and strikes. This act brought them fame and recognition. Nevertheless, the regimes were hostile to the Jews who became the main target to attacks. When the Nazi were defeated, this brought forth the cold war which divided Germany into two parts namely the democratic West Germany and the communist East Germany; during this time, many people fled from the communist area to the democratic area (Salmons, 2012). As a result of this division, NATO was formed, which later became the European Union and then the world’s largest economy. During this time, East Germany was a communist region and it was headed by dictators.

Quality management and frameworks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Quality management and frameworks - Essay Example Ensuring a clean environment is critical to sustainable economic growth in Abu Dhabi. The Environment Agency has historically worked with a range of government agencies to define and develop regulation and standards, as well as to enforce them. Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) is on of the key Abu Dhabi and federal entities concerned with health and safety (Umashev & Willett 2008). Introduction Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) was established in year 2005, as an independent food regulatory agency for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, with full financial and administrative capacity, administered by an independent Board of Directors. The establishment of the Food Control Authority reflects the Abu Dhabi Government's commitment to protecting the consumer by ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of food served to the public throughout the food chain. The Authority embodies the Abu Dhabi Government's commitment to protecting its consumers, particularly by ensuring the safety and q uality of food served throughout the public. It enforces policies and standards and conducts research and awareness campaigns to maintain a sustainable agriculture and food sector that delivers safe food to the public, protects the health of animals and plants, and adheres to sound environmental practices. The vision of the ADFCA is â€Å"An internationally recognized food and agriculture organization that contributes to the well-being of the community† (ADFCA). Its mission is â€Å"to develop a sustainable agriculture and food sector that ensures the delivery of safe food to the public and protects the health of animals and plants while promoting sound environmental practices through cohesive and effective policies and regulations, quality standards, research and education† (ADFCA). GIS profile GIS and mapping capacities at ADFCA are currently in the exploratory and planning stage phase, and there is interest in utilizing mapping applications to augment their current business processes. Once fully developed, GIS would enable ADFCA to map and understand the location and spatial distribution of food facilities, plan and conduct inspection operations (aided by PDAs and hand-held computers), respond to health alerts, identify suitable locations for new food facilities, and monitor food transport vehicle movements (Geuser, Mooraj, & Oyon, 2009). ASDI involvement ADFCA became a member entity in the SDI community in September 2009. IT & Field Operations is cooperating closely with the ADSIC team in accessing and using ADFCA’s database to map the food establishments with building Geocode and creating a linkage to the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure (AD-SDI) initiative. Some of the activities that ADFCA has participated in include: Pilot Project, With the help of ADSIC team, a pilot area and a food inspector was identified, with a view to mapping the food establishment (Groceries & Supermarkets) of that area with the building Geocodes (made available by ADSIC); and Food Establishment Data, which were mapped with result of pilot project, with their respective information viz. Trade License Details, Activities, Risk Level, Contact Information, Owner Information, ADFCA Inspection Actions (Warnings & Violations) issued in the last one year (Geuser, Mooraj, & Oyon 2009). Participation of ADFCA in SIAL China The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority announced its participation in SIAL China 2012, which

Online courses and traditional courses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Online courses and traditional courses - Essay Example Ideally, there are various online educational methods, which are relevantly effective to well-organized, mature, motivated, and self-disciplined students with perfect time management skills. This is an argumentative essay on online courses and traditional courses. Body Merits and Demerits of Traditional Courses The traditional courses have various merits that include the presence of networking opportunities. Indeed, as students meet face-to-face, they develop contacts that will lead to more networking opportunities. Moreover, students in traditional universities have the opportunity of using the campus facilities that may include libraries, stadiums, gyms, student’s unions that work to the benefit of the student. In addition, this form of education creates a discovery experience where international students mature, embrace diversity, and grow socially. Most, assuredly, the direct interaction with lecturers and fellow students ensures that the student gets quality education thr ough discussions and availability of instructions (Sorrentino, 2011). Furthermore, traditional education compels students to abide with the set rules and regulations as well as following timetables. This has long-term benefits where such students become organized, law-abiding citizens, and creates a rational society. However, there are many demerits attached to traditional a course that makes one to reconsider the idea of enrolling in traditional university. For instance, traditional courses are very expensive as compared to online courses. Indeed, traditional course will require a student to pay tuition fees and other additional fees that may include transport fees, accommodation fees, costs for food, and recreational fees. As such, for poor families, affording quality traditional education becomes a huge challenge especially where there are no government subsidies or social welfare assistance. Indeed, there is a high likelihood of schooling abandonment due to lack of fees to tradi tional courses. At the same time, traditional courses are so stationary and immobile since students follow a set program, assessment measures, set timetables, and set rules and regulations that are not flexible (Sorrentino, 2011). This inflexibility sometimes annoys and stresses students leading to poor performance and school abandonment. As such, this may lead to serious scheduling challenges where students must travel and attend classes despite transport problems or commitments to other activities. Indeed, for students pursuing higher education and working at the same time, traditional courses may limit their success. Additionally, the immobility requires all resources and activities to congest in one room. At the same time, traditional courses may bear aspects of limited personal attention especially where colleges and universities admit so many students in one program. This leads to poor quality of education as the lecturer-student interaction becomes ineffective. With this, we can argue that traditional courses are not entirely effective. Indeed, if we consider the merits of online courses, we would seemingly prefer the latter. Effectiveness of Online courses Actually, there is rampant growth of online enrollment in the modern education system. This resulted from the global recession that led to poor economic status leading to inability to further education in traditional courses. In addition, the growth in technology and flexibility of

Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nursing - Essay Example Nevertheless, nursing has much more as a whole that what it appears to be to the ordinary citizens. I will be exploring throughout this paper my nursing philosophy, which pertains to what I believe to be the principal feature of nursing. In so doing, I will explore how I view my role, responsibilities, as well as how I plan to deliver care to patients. To begin with, my nursing philosophy and beliefs are based on the following premises: knowledge, compassion/caring, time management, respect, privacy of patients and honesty. My motive of pursuing a nursing as a career is based on the seven-value system. Nursing, unlike other careers, is pursued with the aim of helping and caring for others. I strongly believe that the success of a nurse depends hugely on the knowledge and the ability to use the knowledge in the health care setting. Polifroni and Welch (1999) argue that a good nurse must know the diseases, as well as the disease processes. This implies that a nurse must be able to appl y the knowledge and skills gained from class to the place of work to ensure effectiveness. However, it is worth noting that merely passing exams does not mean that the nursing student will be able to apply the knowledge in the healthcare setting. ... According to Dahnke and Dreher (2011), a dutiful nurse must also be able to think holistically in anticipation of the needs of his or her patients. To do this, a nurse must be able to prioritize health care concerns within the patient’s personal diagnosis and the entire patients that the nurse is taking care of. Time management is highly critical since it ensures that all the pressing needs are attended to on time. A nurse who is poor in time management and organization cannot succeed in providing quality health care expected on time given the daily responsibilities and shifts. I also strongly believe that to be a successful nurse, one needs to be compassionate and caring. These are values, which were instilled in me during my upbringing as a child by my parents and relatives. In the nursing profession, one needs to have a sense of compassion and care for patients and their families. As I earlier indicated, nursing is a calling and entails caring and providing treatments to pa tients and their family members. As a nurse, one must have a sense of compassion and be caring because patients come with different complications and needs - some emotional while others are physical. Therefore, a nurse must be prepared to handle both the physical and emotional needs of patients, according to Dahnke and Dreher (2011). In fact, most nurses fear working with patients with complicated emotional needs. However, I came to discover that these patients are easy to work with as long as a nurse has the sense of compassion and care. It became apparent that once a close relationship and trust is built between the nurse and the patients such patients become very humble and easy to work with. This indicates the importance of empathy and compassion in nursing

How does the woman consumer get affected by the fashion inner store Essay

How does the woman consumer get affected by the fashion inner store environment - Essay Example Women take pride in their ability to shop prudently and well. They are still the primary buyer in the American market place.(41) Unlike their male counterparts, women make purchasing decisions in a more complex, roundabout way. The fashion store’s stand is to help women consumers when they need help, and lay low when they don’t; to let their buying minds complete the sale by giving them space and information to match the beautiful design of the products in the store.(25) Given the above background, let us examine the various factors that affect women consumers in the fashion store’s inner environment. Atmospherics The fashion store’s layout is normally innovative. Victor Gruen is accredited with conceiving an ideal environment for shopping. (Rifkin, 1996, pg 263).(1) Rather than employing straight lines, as would seem the obvious choice, subtle gradients of angling veer women consumers down the pathways, especially in the fast selling items areas. Along with climate control, a lack of clocks, and centrally controlled lighting, the consumer loses all sense of direction, time of day and duration of her stay.

Frederick Douglass and His Activism Research Paper

Frederick Douglass and His Activism - Research Paper Example At the age of six, he witnessed the cruelty of masters to slaves. Being a black child, the law required him to become a slave just like his mother. Frederick did not have a chance to attend school except for a little guidance from the wife of his master (Schmitt 6). However, this opportunity did not last long. Frederick took every opportunity to learn and his efforts made him a good orator. He used this skill to create a positive impact in society. Frederick spent his life advocating for justice in society. He was a vessel of justice in society. Frederick adopted principles that guided his life and actions (Reed 4). Despite his status as a slave, he believed in himself, and was always confident that one time he shall achieve what he believed. He did not let the determination to change his situation and that of others die. Although slavery shattered his ego and value as a man, he fought tirelessly and eventually rose above this. Contrary to what others could do or did, Frederick start ed the fight against the horrors of slavery when he was still a slave. He opposed the serious whipping that slaves received from their masters. With the little knowledge of formal education that he received from his master’s wife, he opened a school for slave children. ... Because of his skills as an orator, he created an impact among people. However, he could not disclose specific information for fear of recapture back to slavery (10). The abolitionists promoted him to an antislavery agent because of his intriguing speeches on the suffering if slaves. This promotion granted him an opportunity to lobby for end to slavery. He used this opportunity well as he traversed different cities making speeches at different campaigns. Out of faith in himself, he had learnt how to write and in 1845, he released his first autobiography. This autobiography carried the story of plight in a slave home and his experiences as a slave. From the story of his life, he painted a picture of the real sate of a slave in the minds of many. The autobiography, a narrative of his life preached his message everywhere as it sold as far as Britain. However, publishing the narrative increased the risk of recapture back into slavery. Therefore, he left for Europe. Being in a foreign lan d did stop him from delivering speeches advocating for the end of slavery. Having gained experience in lecturing, he continued doing that in Britain, Ireland, and Scotland. The commitment to fight for the freedom of fellow man earned him fame. Advocates in England helped him buy his freedom from slavery. Now a free man, he was determined to do much more to end slavery, which denied human beings basic rights. Frederick returned to United States with a new strategy in his mind. He ventured into journalism for the sole purpose of being the voice of the oppressed in society. He launched the North Star, a paper expressing his views on slavery. In a short time, he wrote different papers supporting his activism in

Strategic Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategic Marketing - Research Paper Example Before getting into the issue of knowing whether marketing is a constraint on innovation, we should first get to know and evaluate the basic purpose of strategic marketing. So starting with strategic marketing, it is that sort of marketing which the organizations and companies use in order to create such plans for the company which should not only be able to satisfy the customers’ needs and demands but also increase the productivity and profitability of the company. Now here it should be noted that productivity depends on the satisfaction and retention of customers of the company. When the customers will be satisfied from the products of the company, they will work as a source to attract more customers for the company and as a result, the productivity and the profitability of the company will increase. As we know that when we get a customer, we get one customer, but when we loose that customer, we loose a hundred customers. So, such a marketing plan should be implemented which should not only retain old customers but also should be able to attract more customers. All these methods have a significant importance in marketing of a company’s strategic plans. And they have really proved to be successful for various organizations for the purposes of customer retention and increased productivity and profitability. Tybout and Calkins (2005) found that every organization should typically create and develop a well written strategic marketing plan which should be able to promote the innovative products of any organization. Not only that, it should also be able to relate the implementation strategies regarding those plans. Scott (2007) found that innovation helps an organization in achieving dominance in a competitive market and suitable marketing strategy is always a key towards a successful innovation. Shilbury, et al., (2003) found

Current Issues in Visual Arts Education Essay Example for Free

Current Issues in Visual Arts Education Essay Reading has always been a part of my life. So do playing. Play in the sense of enjoying our life. What I hate most is formality, a life exist without freedom. Then I combined these two interests into one, to study about something fun, and can benefit others too. The study of literature has consumed most of my waking moments. Of course, I have done other things, but the more I have explored the more connections I see between the written page and the world in which I live in. How I realize I am the same with others, too. I think I am master enough naming and knowing the Malay traditional games that exist till now, but I am wrong. The daily games like ram-ram rip, rangkai-rangkai periuk, da da ko, cak lerang benang emas, tebang-tebang tebuk, ting-ting gula batu is already alien to me while I am searching the literature. However, the more I learn, the more I realize what I do not know. Actually, my thesis writing was under supervision of one kind-hearted professor of my school, which was under Research Methodology subject that I took last semester. She really influenced me in guiding the do and don’t in thesis writing. Her positive comments often play in my minds and always keep me awake. It is such a reflection to me. Although reflections are difficult to look into because we see what was lacking and what was missing, but I always feel relieved and more focused after seeking her advises. On the other hand, nothing could be more valuable. I have constructed this paper to reflect a dynamic process in writing my thesis. That is when I write a paper, it is not necessary I should be sitting in front of my computer, but rather I have to jot down what are appears in my mind on a piece of paper, otherwise it should left undone anywhere it could be. Hence, looking back at saved articles and references has often inspired me to expand upon an idea in completing the thesis writing. Thus, I have included list of articles for references, followed by the more polished works that have grown out them, with minimal faultlessly. I hope so. Statement of Research Problem and Research Objectives The reason why I as a researcher, trying to dig the problem of Malay traditional games because I realize that these games has been disappearing in our Malaysian community. As we know, Malaysian’s strong sense of community is reflected in many of their traditional games and pastimes. With the multicultural Malaysia, the traditional games especially among the Malays developed over a period of many centuries in the wake of important cultural influences. Some of the oldest surviving Malay traditional games like the real congkak and wau bulan still exist, but it is hardly to find one while newly developed games consoles explore brand new gaming style nowadays. Consciously or not, by the 80th era the existence of Malay traditional games is already faded out . For some concerns, traditional game augmentation aims at adding new value and playful features to a traditional game with keeping its original looks-and feel (Yamabe, Iwata, Shichinohe, and Nakajima) is the best way to keep the originality from disappear especially from the eyes of the new generation. I still remember my lists of childhood’s games. But have we ever thought that our children ever experience sitting in a circle on a wooden hut near paddy field to play batu seremban? Do they manage to collect every players shoe to build a cone-like shoe pyramid while playing tuju kasut? Or hiding under a huge tree near the bushes and get bitten by army of ants while playing aci sembunyi or hide and seek? Children are missing out of the benefits of traditional games that their parents and grandparents played in their childhood (Casbergue and Kieff ). More children are engaged in solitary games such as computer games, portable play station and other high-tech portable devices such as iPad. With the changes of time, many of the traditional games cherished by generations have their own history. Sometimes we are not even care where does it come from, including me. If I am not the researcher of this study, I think I don’t even bother about the history of congkak. The game of congkak, for example, is a mancala game of Malay origin where the oldest mancala game boards were found in a ruined fort of Roman Egypt and date back to the 4th century AD. There are frequent references to the game of marbles in Roman literature; precursors to modern-day marbles, spheres or flint, stone or baked clay have been found in archaeological sites around the world. Another popular traditional games, playing kites or ‘wau’ is believed to have been derived from the Arabic letter ‘wau’, because the shape of the wings resemble the outline of that particular Arabic letter. Of course as we played the traditional games, we were totally unaware of their long traditions. Especially for young children, they were simply having fun the same with generations before us without noticing the important part of inner value; preserving the games for the future. Traditional games are very significant in Malay cultural heritage. When we talk about something traditionally, at the same time it will reflect the culture. They reflect the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Malay forefathers in creating their own games by using inexpensive materials for their pastimes and recreations. These indigenous games are fun, and developing strong social skills among children. Lack of exposures from early ages of the children will affects the identity and originality of the traditional games. Nevertheless, future generation have no chances to explore the games if most of these traditional games faded out. According to (Akbari, Abdoli and Shafizadeh, pg. 123-129), traditional games have humanity and cultural values, beliefs translate by these from one lineage to other. These games were forgotten as a result of industrialization in recent years. As the thesis writing is upon completion of masters degree in education field, I tried to look at the issue from the angle of Malaysian education system. The implementation of traditional games into the syllabus is still lacking except for the Physical and Health Education subject specifically in primary schools. Furthermore, only a small part being inserted into the Preschool Curriculum under the thematic subject, Tunjang Kesihatan dan Kecergasan. These games, although simple, have cultural and social value and encourage children to exercise their ingenuity, especially in fostering team spirit in school and in the neighborhood. Three years back, I was a preschool teacher in my school. While doing this thesis, it jogs my memory when teaching the kids. Seriously, they were very excited at that time when I asked them to play galah panjang and baling getah. And as usual, they were asking me to play the same games the next day. Another interesting experience to share was during teacher’s day celebration in 2012. Both teachers and students were requested to compete in galah panjang games at that day. The best part was female need to wear kain batik while the male will wear kain pelekat. Everyone was having so much fun. Thus, I came out with the idea in order to preserving the true identity of Malay traditional games towards the students. I hereby conducted a case study research to implement the effects of applying Malay traditional games in the classroom for a group selection of primary school students. The application of these games wills actually results into the cognitive skills and the learning styles of students, also in teaching and learning environment in the classroom. As a result, I make the case that educational games can impact in the developing world. Significance and Limitation of the Study I am not suggesting that these games should replace existing explicit teaching strategies or supplant instructional time. My concerns are to improvise the teaching and learning style in our education by applying a new fun and interesting method while learning. The children are most likely to have peer interactions without teachers input by learning about the culture of childhood from their peers, not their parents or teachers. According to (Casbergue and Kieff), making traditional games available in the classroom could give children the opportunity to develop intellectual and physical skills within a supportive environment. An important void in the existing research literature would also be filled. This fact alone makes this research very significant. In addition, we have to remember that social skills are culturally based. Therefore, it is important for teachers to understand and be sensitive to the culturally based behaviors of students and use a variety of activities to foster acceptance of individual differences. They also can show students how to play ethnic games and encourage students to play in groups (Church, Gottschalk and Leddy). The study will then shows the importance of preserving the original identity of Malay traditional games from faded out. One of the goals of this both quantitative and qualitative research is to study the process of playing Malay traditional games and number of repetition within a certain period. I know that is important to note that the name and process may vary from one practices to another, as many version of games rules and how-to-play version, which could not be controlled by me. Sometimes, it may create confusedness among players. Brief Review on Malay Traditional Games People may see that traditional game is a simple thing, but actually traditional games are valuable elements of a culture. Their inventions show how creative the humans are, a combination with high imagination. It is such a precious heritage to be preserved and imply with the history of its creation. Furthermore, it is hard to find the true inventors of the games and how it is evolved. I have never thought who are the one created konda-kondi, tuju kasut and dam aji. This kind of heritage is a basis where a human group funds its identity, its projects for the future, its memory, its history, its fears, its desires. When people lose this untouchable, fragile fragment of their culture, then they will lose their reason for living, their past and their future (Civallero). Traditional games are a sort of intangible cultural heritage with its richness of Malay cultural values and ethics. Normally, the original version of traditional games had been manipulated by the oral from one to another. This effects the exaggeration of the true identity of traditional games itself. Traditional Malay games usually require craft skills and manual dexterity and can be traced their origins since the days of Melaka Sultanate. Sepak raga and kite flying are among traditional games that were mentioned in the Malay Annals being played by nobilities and royalties of the Malay Sultanate (Ooi). I think we should discuss on few numbers of existing Malay traditional games surround us. Firstly is ‘Dam Impit’. The purpose of this game is for players to test their expertise and brains to collect as many as opponent’s dam and getting close to opponent side of the dam’s table. Playing Dam Impit helps the player to sharpen their thinking skills, capable to develop their patience and discipline among the players (Nasarah and Nasarah). Children can play this game on free time. Adults also make this game as their spare time hobby. Secondly is Cuit Bintik. It is a very fun game to play. In certain places they call this game as Orang Ganjil Kena Cuit. The rules of the game is whoever had been touched by others at certain part of the body need to become the ‘toucher’ while holding their particular part of body and chasing for the next victim (Nasarah and Nasarah). According to (Nasarah and Nasarah ), Jarum Mas is one type of recreational game, not in a form of competition. Players can enjoy the game with one of the main character in the game as the ghost or ‘hantu’. The role of ‘hantu’ is to look after the treasures in the drawn circle. Player who had been caught by ‘hantu’ will become the next ‘hantu’ and the game will be repeated over again. For me, this one is a very interesting game to play. The game represents the culture of sending kuih to neighbors that has always been a practice to Malay people since a very long time ago. Traditionally, the kuih was made by the mother or the family members during Ramadhan or fasting month for break fast. In the research by (Nasarah and Nasarah), there is a game called ‘hantar kuih’ , often play by the boys at night of the fasting month. The game is plays for the whole month, consisting two groups A and B. The group will send the kuih secretly with name taken and wrote in a piece of paper. Whoever had been caught by the opponent will lose. By the end of the month, all players will forgive one another during Hari Raya. This kind of game test the level of children’s speed from chasing by other players and how to avoid themselves from been caught by enemies. (Nasarah Nasarah) said players who had been touched by the chaser need to sit squat until just one player left. The sitting playing is considered as died, and the only one player left will be the winner. The Malays also have a variant of Mancala board games known as Congkak Lubang Sepuluh or Congkak Lubang Dua Puluh. The game is played by moving stones, marbles, beads or shells around a wooden board consisting of twelve or more holes. At my time, my friends and me often play using marbles. Traditionally, (Nasarah Nasarah) said the real ambience to play congkak is on the ground with players wearing sarungs. The function of wearing sarungs are much easier for the players to collect marbles to put in Rumah Ibu. Rumah Ibu is the two big holes dig on the ground with optional numbers of Lubang Rumah Anak. I ever had this kind of experiences during my childhood. The ambience playing under our wooden house was really incredible and amazing. At this time, I don’t know that congkak has a different name too. Historically, mancala or congkak is acknowledged as the oldest game in the world, with variety versions of playing rules depending on the culture of the player. Its origin is traced from Ancient Egypt. As the game dispersed around the globe, every culture has invented its own variation including the Malays. It is common to assume that digital games are something of a new phenomenon. In fact, historians on digs and discover of ancient records all over the world have been able to blow this assumption right out of the water. Many of the forms of traditional games that we see today have been around the centuries, even as earlier since ancient Egypt. Time passes as well as the traditional ways of gaming for the children. As they keep themselves entertained, the generation of video consoles and touch screen are now at the forefront (Boyajian). Nowadays, highly advanced gadgets packed the markets and as time goes by, they are becoming more and more advanced. If once upon a time, the traditional games still can easily be seen played by village boys and girls, in rural or sub urban area. Rarely now, the situation are not the same when the village boys and girls are exposed to technology, to suit with the changes of era. So, where are the traditional games for the Malays? I often asking myself about this, and sometimes I asked my circle of friends, family whereby why it is hard to find one now? Are they also aware of it? Are they realizing the disappearance of our one of the most valuable cultural values too? Just like ‘the evolution’ of society was imagined as a one-way transformation from tradition to modernity (Eichberg). Yes, we can’t deny modernization, but must the tradition being abandoned? Perhaps, not. Research Methodology and Analysis My real concern about the study is actually to investigate the Malay traditional games practices in classroom. The research methodology chosen for this study contain a number of selected gaming activities in classroom, loosely based on the research written by four researchers from different universities under the same disciplines. (1)Matthew Kam (Human-Computer interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, USA, (2) Akhil Mathur and (3) Anuj Kumar both from Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gujarat, India, and (4) John Canny (Computer Science Division and Berkeley Institute of Design, University of California, Berkeley, USA. The title of the study is ‘Designing Digital Games for Rural Children: A Study of Traditional Village Games in India. This is the best article I’ve found to assist me in writing this study, as it’s quite hard to find related scholarly articles or journals about the study. Again, I am not to design a game, but I am investigating the appropriateness either the implementation of Malay traditional games in classroom is suitable to be applied during teaching and learning or not, in any subjects not specifically in Visual Art Education subject. Conducting the study means that I am finding the best methods and relevant ideas for teachers to apply it in classrooms. Mixed method of quantitative and qualitative case study approach is used for the investigation. The intention of this study is to exemplary the research methodology adopted for the study, which is a case study design. According to Merriam states that case study is â€Å"often the best methodology when understanding is sought in order to improve practice† (as cited in Zeyad ). Case study investigations â€Å"can explain the reason for a problem, the background of a situation, what happened and why†. A case study designed is employed to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation and meaning for those involved. The interest is in discovery rather than confirmation (as cited in Zeyad ). At the first place, I thought descriptive design is the best and safer way for doing research, but after gone through few steps ahead my research, I found that case study is the best to carry mine. Besides exemplary the case research done by (Kam et. al ), I also had conducted a preliminary investigation called pilot study as well as the literature survey. The pilot study is pointed to the process of inducting theory using case studies- from specifying the research questions to reaching closure. Besides carried out as a trial study, this pilot study also assisted me in testing the feasibility, reliability and validity of the design. I then selected a number of samples to carry out the pre-test, or in easier words to play the Malay traditional games inside a classroom before the actual investigation is done. I then used the information gathered in pilot studies to refine or improve my research or evaluation procedure being piloted before it is used on a larger scale. This internal pilot study was established through a variety of ways (1) I had approached school directly via headmaster or teachers or management itself to seek permission on conducting the small scale research internally, (2)I had work ‘in partnership’ with the students and interested teachers in contributing to the research, and (3)I drew on personal and professional contacts to set up projects with colleagues who are already aware of game-based learning specifically in traditional and digital ways. Clearly, implementing a game in a teaching and learning session is risky. Either the learning objectives can be achieved or it can be left undone. To design a game that combining a traditional game and completely match the understanding of students while playing, good data collection methods will be more culturally meaningful to rural students. Although I am not designing the game, but at least I am already have in my mind that traditional games might not be playing in traditional ways only, but we can suit with the current modernization. It just how creative the teachers’ are, to add up some spice in their teaching methods. I conducted an initial focus group interview for the student during the pilot study. I asked the participants to recall the everyday games that they love to play for us to videotape. I got a tremendous response from the participants saying their favorite everyday games, including both traditional and digital games. From the feedback, I hypothesized that they still know the Malay traditional games is still exist. I then conducted four methods of data collections which are (1) combination of semi-structured and unstructured interviews, (2) participant observation, (3) follow-up questionnaires and (4) collection of documents with the participants. All gathered information will be recorded for transcribing in data analysis. By using the different methods of data collections, a cross check data will assist in interpretation of data gathered later. Generally for semi-structured and unstructured interview, close-ended and open-ended questions will be asked in order to allow the participants to create options for responding on the current research topic. Participants can also voice their experiences and perspectives on the research area without boundary. They are free to talk and voice out their opinion in order to make the session is more fun, interactive and meaningful. The participant observation will allow me to role as the participant observer during the activities being held. But the observational roles can be changed later to suit with the activities conducted. Additional data came from the participant’s responses to follow-up questionnaires developed specifically to obtain answers to new questions raised after the initial interview data had been analyzed. These follow-up questionnaires were also used to clarify initial answers and verify interview findings. Public and private records will be a good source of text data in assisting the study. Permission was obtained before using the documents.

Study On The Financial Sources For SMEs

Study On The Financial Sources For SMEs Introduction SMEs are those industries, which are unquoted in a stock exchange, run by few individuals or a type of family businesses having connection with shareholders. According to South West Venture Fund, SME is a company or business that has less than 250 employees and has an annual turnover not exceeding approximately  £24 million. SME sector is very large in UK economy. There are 3.7 million businesses in UK according to the survey conducted in 2003 by Department of Trade and Industries (DTI) and 99% of those are small and medium sized and survey also suggested that UK gains 50% of its total turnover from SME sector. On the other hand according to the report of HM Treasury 2008 there are 4.7 million SMEs in the UK and are responsible for more than 52 per cent of total UK business turnover. Therefore it can be seen that SMEs have an important role to play to drive UK growth and the average productivity of SMEs has increased in the last ten years. On the other hand SMEs are struggling in accessing to finance whereas there are many sources of finance available in UK. The main problem with SMEs to obtain finance is that of uncertainty. Investors most of the time dont rely on SMEs in investing because SMEs does not have a long track record of success. Banks are quite nerves of SMEs to investment because SMEs represent high credit risk. The problem is, banks are not increasing the loan amount without increasing security given and most of the SME owners are unable to provide security. There are many SMEs without tangible assets to use as a security for all lenders. All the financial sources for SMEs are listed below with brief description. Business Angles Business angles are private individuals who invest their own assets in SME or start-up businesses. Business angles also share their personal business experience with other entrepreneurs. LBA (London Business Angles) provides great services to innovative starting-up businesses who seeks the capital more than  £100 k for their future growth. London Business Angle runs by Greater London Enterprise (GLE). The main reason behind investing by business angles is that they are very experienced and successful entrepreneurs and they not only provide finance they also train new business through sharing their experience. The fact on the other hand is only few companies can find business angles, LBA receive 1000 business plan and after the whole selection procedure only 42 business have been invited to invest with. Another group of business angles BBAA (British Business Angles Association) is also working to provide financial help to early stage businesses. Every year private individual or these business angles invest between  £800 million to  £1 billion in starting-up business and SMEs. Overdraft Financing Overdraft financing is another most popular way of accessing to finance for SMEs. In overdraft financing, payments are made from the current account of business when the amount exceeds the available balance. Through the overdraft facility business gets short-term funds whereas the amount which is loaned is repayable according to the bank demand. There are some benefits of overdraft facilities such as the borrowed amount can be changed within the limit and interest is only payable on the amount borrowed. The main disadvantages of overdrafts are, bank can ask to pay back the money very sooner than expected time, overdraft limit can be changed at any time by the bank, overdraft facility cannot be used if large amount is needed and the interest rate is higher than the bank loan. Some other factors must be considered when using overdraft facility to obtain finance. Such as the amount that is borrowed should not go beyond the given or agreed limit, interest also differs according to the am ount borrowed and the interest rate is higher than the bank base rate , sometime bank can charge the overdraft fee and finally overdraft cannot be obtained for long term. One more difficulty for SMEs to obtain finance through overdraft is SMEs can be asked to provide some kind of security depending on the size of overdraft facility. Security may be of any type for an example it can be tangible fixed assets or personal guarantees given by company directors. Venture Capital Venture capital provides long-term, committed share capital, to help unquoted companies grow and succeed. If an entrepreneur is looking to start-up, expand, buy-into a business, buy-out a business in which he works, turnaround or revitalise a company, venture capital could help do this. Obtaining venture capital is substantially different from raising debt or a loan from a lender. Lenders have a legal right to interest on a loan and repayment of the capital, irrespective of the success or failure of a business . Venture capital is invested in exchange for an equity stake in the business. As a shareholder, the venture capitalists return is dependent on the growth and profitability of the business. This return is generally earned when the venture capitalist exits by selling its shareholding when the business is sold to another owner. Venture capital in the UK originated in the late 18th century, when entrepreneurs found wealthy individuals to back their projects on an ad hoc basis. This informal method of financing became an industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s when a number of venture capital firms were founded. There are now over 100 active venture capital firms in the UK, which provide several billion pounds each year to unquoted companies mostly located in the UK. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction It being any country, small and medium enterprises has become an integral part of it and provides remarkable contribution to its economy. SMEs play a pivotal role in job creation and in progress of country. Like UK, many countries now understand the importance of small business and started to diversify it for job creation and also for the long term development of the countrys economy. . SMEs constitute the majority of economies around the world, these highly contribute in private sector and one of which seems to be growing in folds with time. According to the reports of Bank of England (2003), approximately 54% of the total value is added by small and medium firms in the UK. In fact, in some sectors SMEs have contributed more than larger firms Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship The word entrepreneur has been defined numerous times by the researchers in their research. There is no specific definition of entrepreneurship but there is a generally accepted definition which highlights its significant contribution in the growth of economy. An entrepreneur has the ability to provide momentum for the change, innovation in the traditional strategies and approach. They always try to introduce new ideas in the business market. Entrepreneur is someone who can gauge the financial risk during the business startup and has the ability to capitalize the opportunity of benefit of an enterprise. Besides, various researchers have determined different characteristics of an entrepreneur. For instance, according to Adler, 2002; Aldrich, 1989; Alstete, 2003; Anderson et al, 1992; Anna et al, 1999, an entrepreneur is very creative, skilful, innovative and always keen to explore new ideas and strategies. While, according to others the traits are Hunger for achievement Desire of total control Need of independence and leadership Low traditionalism Risk taker Dominance Moreover, Yonekura in 1984 suggested the characteristics like assertiveness, insistence, forward looking, critical thinking, creative, innovative, broad minded, creative etc. On the other hand, Burk (2002) proposed that optimistic, hard working and desire to achieve are the qualities which are common in entrepreneurs. There are various reasons for people to choose entrepreneurship and start their own business. This area has also been widely researched (Walker, 2004). Result of most of the studies done in this area show that people are motivated by personal and financial reasons like achievement need, independence, and the creation of wealth (Bird, 1989; Birley and Westhead, 1994; Burns, 1996; Hisrich, 1986; Kuratko et al., 1997). Generally, most of the studies suggest that personal internal reasons are more important motivations as compared to financial reasons in going into entrepreneurship (Gray, 1993). Despite of the above mentioned reasons, his/her present job situation also plays an important part and can influence them for business adoption. According to the Moore and Buttner (1997), unfavorable conditions experienced within the organization, for instance- lack of opportunities and less salary may also push them to start their own business. Furthermore, people who are jobless are also sometimes forced to become entrepreneurs (Still and Guerin, 1991), even though the clarity of the entry of business and its form are not that clear to them at the start (Praag, 2003; Vodopivec, 1998; Walker, 2004; Walker and Brown, 2004; Burke et al., 2002; Burns, 1996; Buttner Moore, 1997; - Process Involved in Business Start up Over the period of time remarkable changes have taken place in the work environment and culture of small and medium enterprises. The failure or the success of any organization depends upon the initial or the kick off stage of the business. The start up of any business activity depends upon the manner or the way in which the business makes arrangements or provisions of funds. The growth of the firm is the most important aspect and has to be done with taking care so that it can grow up to its full potential (Carter et. al., 1996; Carter Anderson, 2001; Carter Cannon, 1988; Chaganti Parasuraman, 1996; Cliff, 1998). Steps involved in the start up of any business activity can be classified as under:- Business Start up:- The theoretical aspects behind the set up or start up of any business are quite different from the practical ones which can be classified as under:- The creation of an idea Theory:- The start-up of the business by the entrepreneur begins with the setting of an idea. Idea is the stepping stone on which the business relies and most of the aspects of the business are considered in the initial idea itself. There are pros and corns to everything and in the business set-up the setting of idea itself leads to the same. Opportunity Recognition The recognition of the right opportunity at the right point in time is what the entrepreneur must be able do. The task of recognizing opportunity for the same is not an easy task at all. There may be loads of opportunities which arise in the market like they may be in the form of a new product or service that has to be offered to the customer (Kotler, 1972; Deshpande, 1983). Research of the market and forming of the Business plan Research plays a key role before the starting up any activity and business also demands for the same i.e. to conduct research and then formulate a business plan. The key role in set up of any business plan is by carrying out SWOT analysis of the same which means to recognize the Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threats that the organization has to offer (Kotler, 1990; Dyer, 1994). Finance Arrangement Finance is the blood stream of any organization and without the induction of finance no organization can operate. There are loads of sources available for the firms both small and medium sized. Basically for the small and medium enterprises there are mainly two sources of finance internal and external. The basic difference between the internal and external source is the element of interest. Internal sources as the name suggest is from friends family and the saving element and external is all that which leads to the payment of interest basically borrowed funds from sources such as banks, financial institutions etc. (Feldman Bolino, 2000; Fielden et al., 2003; Fitzgerald and Muske, 2002; Leazar, 2002). The small and medium firms in the initial stage cannot afford to bear any additional cost and the interest element also becomes a burden for them and they are mostly concerned with the internal sources of finance i.e. the money invested in the firms by family and friends (Lee Mathews, 1999; Hisrich, 1986). The other aspect of business is the big business houses which have their operation on a large scale and the finance is procured by them from banks and other leading financial institutions. Optimum Use of Resources Resources are the tools and materials which form the crux of any organization and making a proper use of the same plays a very important role in the growth and overall development of the organization. It is vital to make the best possible use of resources as in small towns the scope of business activities is limited as compared to big cities wherein the opportunities as well as the resources required are more and readily available Gimeno, 1997; Gray, 1993; Gatewood et al., 1995; Gundry Welsch, 2001) Resources are portrayed as being distanced from main markets and main centres of business activity, have lower and more dispersed population, a weaker infrastructure, local markets are limited due to lower population. Despite the apparent difficulties in starting up and running a business to towns, the number of businesses has grownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Anderson, 1997) Problems in Starting Up a Business When starting up a business, the owner is bound to face some problems. There are basic steps and procedures that should be followed by the entrepreneur, while starting a business. But the problem arises when the successful implementation of these steps becomes difficult, due to the problems in the market. Sometimes things do no happen in reality as they were expected and also it may take longer time than expected (Martins et al., 2002; Marschack, 1994; Morrison, 2000; Olson, 1992; Praag, 2003; Rainbird, 1991). Major problems in starting up a business can be classified as: Goodwill- When a business is new, it lacks good reputation in the market, which is called Goodwill. In business, it is very important to have goodwill. It means that the business has trustworthy image in the market. Sometimes, just because of lack of goodwill, customers dont trust the company (Reynolds, 2000; Robichaud et al., 2001). Market Prediction- It is essential for the entrepreneur to have the market predictions. The market trends keep on fluctuating. Thus the entrepreneur has to mould himself according to the market situations. If he does not maintain pace with the market trends it becomes very difficult to be in the race. This is not a very easy job (Robinson, 1994; Shane, 1995; Smith, 2000). Financial Gap- The existence of a financial gap arises because demand from small firms is greater than the willingness of financial institutions to supply the finance at current market conditions. For finance such as bank loans, these gaps may be termed as credit rationing (Stanworth Stanworth, 1997). Getting the premises in prime location- Getting a good location to set up the business is a very big issue. The entrepreneur should keep in mind to get the best location. If the location is good and is very close to all the available resources then he can grab the opportunities of using these resources (Taylor, 1980). Judging the customer expectations- It is very hard to match the ever changing expectation and demands of the customers. It is very difficult to have an exact idea about the choice of the customers. In this case it becomes very difficult for the new firms to have an idea about the customer expectations (Timmons et al., 1985). Small and Medium Enterprises in the United Kingdom Source: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/smestats2008-ukspr.pdf. According to the department for business innovation and skills the profile of the small and medium scale enterprises are as follows: As per to the reports there were approximately 4.81 million private sector enterprises in the UK during the starting of 2008, which showed the increase of 104,0003 (2.2 per cent) since the start of 2007. These are the highest levels after the time series began in 1994. Approximately, 23.1 million people were employed by these enterprises with an estimated combined annual turnover of  £3,000 billion. Moreover, 99.9 percent of all enterprises were together accounts by the Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 59.4 per cent of private sector employment and 50.1 percent of private sector turnover. Employment in SMEs is estimated at 13.7 million, 287,000 (2.1 per cent) higher than in 2007.Turnover in SMEs is estimated at  £1,500 billion,  £61 billion (4.2 per cent) higher than 2007.More industries experienced growth in the number of enterprises between the start of 2007 and the start of 2008, than experienced a fall. In percentage terms, the biggest increases were in the Mining and Quarrying; Electricity, Gas and Water Supply (19.3 per cent) and Financial Intermediation (10.2 per cent) sectors and the biggest falls in the number of enterprises were in the Manufacturing (- 6.9 per cent) and Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activities (-4.7per cent) sectors (http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/smestats2008-ukspr.pdf).à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? As such, out of the 4.81 million private enterprises in the United Kingdom, 99.9 percent are classified as small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and they are responsible for 59.4 percent of employment in the country as well as 50.1 percent of private sector turnover. The sector also experienced growth from 2007 to 2008 (http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/smestats2008-ukspr.pdf). Most of these private enterprises are (see Table 1) small which is 99.3 percent of the total and they employ about 0 to 49 employees per enterprise while the medium enterprises is 0.6 percent which numbered at 27,000 enterprises and employs from 50 to 249 employees per firm. The large enterprises employs more than 250 employees per firm percent which numbered at 27,000 enterprises and employs from 50 to 249 employees per firm. ISSUES FOR SMEs AND ENTREPRENEURS According to Deakins and Freel (2003), small and medium sized firms do not easily get finance because of the restrictions imposed on them. Notably these SMEs have very less equity and very high risk is associated with them. As a result, most of the sources of finance are not accessible, for instance Stock Exchange. There are mainly two sources that entrepreneurs use that is Internal Source and External Source. Internal source includes personal equity, which are usually remortgages, savings and money taken from friends and family members. While external sources of finance comprises loan taken from bank, venture capitalist, formal investors. Few more sources include leasing, hire purchase and factoring. However, there are various sources of finance available for the SMEs; it is worth discussing the problems faced by the entrepreneurs and constraints of financing. Major issues for SMEs are Financial gap Getting finance from bank Role of security Credit scoring Financial Gap: It mainly occurs when the financial need of SMEs is not fulfilled by financial institutions because of the current market conditions the present situation (credit crunch) further adding problems to the same. It happens when the demand side of the curve exceeds the supply. However, it is still a debatable topic whether this gap is the result of information asymmetries or it is due to the reputational effects. Informational asymmetries are basically considered as the imperfect information provided to the financing institutions, which suggests that there will be insufficient funds available for the firms (Stiglits and Weiss, 1981). According to Shane and Cable (2008), it is likely that few firms specially manufacturing and technology based companies are often reluctant to give full information about their company to avoid the disclosure which can make it easier for others to use it. Moreover, there are few more categories which can face financial gap, such as young entrepreneurs and those who belong to remote areas. Young entrepreneurs mainly lack to provide the security, while for the entrepreneurs in the remote areas, it is quite difficult to get access with the banks (OCED, 2008) Getting finance from bank: However, banks are easily accessible; it is less likely that entrepreneurs get favourable offers from them. Short-term financing given by banks only looks theoretically attractive. Besides, banks also face issue in assessing the proposition from the borrower, which generally arises when both provider and borrower share different set of information. For banks, two main issues are: Adverse Selection Moral Hazard Adverse Selection: This arises when a bank is unable to assess a proposition correctly. For instance, when it refuses to provide for a proposition which could have been successful or when it accepts the position which results as failure. Moral Hazard: It causes more serious problem for banks and ultimately causes problems for the entrepreneurs having less/no security to offer. It can occur when a firm misuses the security-free financing from the banks, as there is no guarantee taken from the firm to repay the loan. This is a monitoring problem for banks and for comparatively smaller amount of loans; it is not economic to observe them closely. However, this creates problem for the entrepreneurs who lack sufficient equity and security. Role of security: This has now been widely used to overcome the shortcomings like moral hazard and adverse selection. However, bank officers can also choose to have frequent monitoring of the information to reduce the adverse selection, a cost minimisation approach (role of security) seems to be a better option. Furthermore, collateral seems to be a better option because it ensures commitment from the borrower and allows bank to make safer deal. It also enhances the chances of loss recovery in case of adverse selection. Credit Scoring:- Nowadays, this computerized technique has been widely used by banks. Credit scoring is based on considering various variables of the borrower such as, occupation, post code of home address, previous payment records and other commitments Taking all the above mentioned things into consideration, a computerized acceptance or rejection report is generated. Credit scoring has brought a remarkable reduction in decision making for the bank managers. In most of the leading banks of UK like NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds/TSB, Bank of Scotland, use different systems to measure credit of the loan applicant. Albeit, few above mentioned banks have adopted this technique completely, there are some banks still relying and using both methods (Credit scoring and decision making) However, credit scoring has proved to be a boon for the banks, it has some demerits as well. It only judges the applications on the basis of past records. This technique may reject the proposal which sounds beneficial and successful but dont have good credit history and past records. Study On The Financial Sources For SMEs Study On The Financial Sources For SMEs Introduction SMEs are those industries, which are unquoted in a stock exchange, run by few individuals or a type of family businesses having connection with shareholders. According to South West Venture Fund, SME is a company or business that has less than 250 employees and has an annual turnover not exceeding approximately  £24 million. SME sector is very large in UK economy. There are 3.7 million businesses in UK according to the survey conducted in 2003 by Department of Trade and Industries (DTI) and 99% of those are small and medium sized and survey also suggested that UK gains 50% of its total turnover from SME sector. On the other hand according to the report of HM Treasury 2008 there are 4.7 million SMEs in the UK and are responsible for more than 52 per cent of total UK business turnover. Therefore it can be seen that SMEs have an important role to play to drive UK growth and the average productivity of SMEs has increased in the last ten years. On the other hand SMEs are struggling in accessing to finance whereas there are many sources of finance available in UK. The main problem with SMEs to obtain finance is that of uncertainty. Investors most of the time dont rely on SMEs in investing because SMEs does not have a long track record of success. Banks are quite nerves of SMEs to investment because SMEs represent high credit risk. The problem is, banks are not increasing the loan amount without increasing security given and most of the SME owners are unable to provide security. There are many SMEs without tangible assets to use as a security for all lenders. All the financial sources for SMEs are listed below with brief description. Business Angles Business angles are private individuals who invest their own assets in SME or start-up businesses. Business angles also share their personal business experience with other entrepreneurs. LBA (London Business Angles) provides great services to innovative starting-up businesses who seeks the capital more than  £100 k for their future growth. London Business Angle runs by Greater London Enterprise (GLE). The main reason behind investing by business angles is that they are very experienced and successful entrepreneurs and they not only provide finance they also train new business through sharing their experience. The fact on the other hand is only few companies can find business angles, LBA receive 1000 business plan and after the whole selection procedure only 42 business have been invited to invest with. Another group of business angles BBAA (British Business Angles Association) is also working to provide financial help to early stage businesses. Every year private individual or these business angles invest between  £800 million to  £1 billion in starting-up business and SMEs. Overdraft Financing Overdraft financing is another most popular way of accessing to finance for SMEs. In overdraft financing, payments are made from the current account of business when the amount exceeds the available balance. Through the overdraft facility business gets short-term funds whereas the amount which is loaned is repayable according to the bank demand. There are some benefits of overdraft facilities such as the borrowed amount can be changed within the limit and interest is only payable on the amount borrowed. The main disadvantages of overdrafts are, bank can ask to pay back the money very sooner than expected time, overdraft limit can be changed at any time by the bank, overdraft facility cannot be used if large amount is needed and the interest rate is higher than the bank loan. Some other factors must be considered when using overdraft facility to obtain finance. Such as the amount that is borrowed should not go beyond the given or agreed limit, interest also differs according to the am ount borrowed and the interest rate is higher than the bank base rate , sometime bank can charge the overdraft fee and finally overdraft cannot be obtained for long term. One more difficulty for SMEs to obtain finance through overdraft is SMEs can be asked to provide some kind of security depending on the size of overdraft facility. Security may be of any type for an example it can be tangible fixed assets or personal guarantees given by company directors. Venture Capital Venture capital provides long-term, committed share capital, to help unquoted companies grow and succeed. If an entrepreneur is looking to start-up, expand, buy-into a business, buy-out a business in which he works, turnaround or revitalise a company, venture capital could help do this. Obtaining venture capital is substantially different from raising debt or a loan from a lender. Lenders have a legal right to interest on a loan and repayment of the capital, irrespective of the success or failure of a business . Venture capital is invested in exchange for an equity stake in the business. As a shareholder, the venture capitalists return is dependent on the growth and profitability of the business. This return is generally earned when the venture capitalist exits by selling its shareholding when the business is sold to another owner. Venture capital in the UK originated in the late 18th century, when entrepreneurs found wealthy individuals to back their projects on an ad hoc basis. This informal method of financing became an industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s when a number of venture capital firms were founded. There are now over 100 active venture capital firms in the UK, which provide several billion pounds each year to unquoted companies mostly located in the UK. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction It being any country, small and medium enterprises has become an integral part of it and provides remarkable contribution to its economy. SMEs play a pivotal role in job creation and in progress of country. Like UK, many countries now understand the importance of small business and started to diversify it for job creation and also for the long term development of the countrys economy. . SMEs constitute the majority of economies around the world, these highly contribute in private sector and one of which seems to be growing in folds with time. According to the reports of Bank of England (2003), approximately 54% of the total value is added by small and medium firms in the UK. In fact, in some sectors SMEs have contributed more than larger firms Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship The word entrepreneur has been defined numerous times by the researchers in their research. There is no specific definition of entrepreneurship but there is a generally accepted definition which highlights its significant contribution in the growth of economy. An entrepreneur has the ability to provide momentum for the change, innovation in the traditional strategies and approach. They always try to introduce new ideas in the business market. Entrepreneur is someone who can gauge the financial risk during the business startup and has the ability to capitalize the opportunity of benefit of an enterprise. Besides, various researchers have determined different characteristics of an entrepreneur. For instance, according to Adler, 2002; Aldrich, 1989; Alstete, 2003; Anderson et al, 1992; Anna et al, 1999, an entrepreneur is very creative, skilful, innovative and always keen to explore new ideas and strategies. While, according to others the traits are Hunger for achievement Desire of total control Need of independence and leadership Low traditionalism Risk taker Dominance Moreover, Yonekura in 1984 suggested the characteristics like assertiveness, insistence, forward looking, critical thinking, creative, innovative, broad minded, creative etc. On the other hand, Burk (2002) proposed that optimistic, hard working and desire to achieve are the qualities which are common in entrepreneurs. There are various reasons for people to choose entrepreneurship and start their own business. This area has also been widely researched (Walker, 2004). Result of most of the studies done in this area show that people are motivated by personal and financial reasons like achievement need, independence, and the creation of wealth (Bird, 1989; Birley and Westhead, 1994; Burns, 1996; Hisrich, 1986; Kuratko et al., 1997). Generally, most of the studies suggest that personal internal reasons are more important motivations as compared to financial reasons in going into entrepreneurship (Gray, 1993). Despite of the above mentioned reasons, his/her present job situation also plays an important part and can influence them for business adoption. According to the Moore and Buttner (1997), unfavorable conditions experienced within the organization, for instance- lack of opportunities and less salary may also push them to start their own business. Furthermore, people who are jobless are also sometimes forced to become entrepreneurs (Still and Guerin, 1991), even though the clarity of the entry of business and its form are not that clear to them at the start (Praag, 2003; Vodopivec, 1998; Walker, 2004; Walker and Brown, 2004; Burke et al., 2002; Burns, 1996; Buttner Moore, 1997; - Process Involved in Business Start up Over the period of time remarkable changes have taken place in the work environment and culture of small and medium enterprises. The failure or the success of any organization depends upon the initial or the kick off stage of the business. The start up of any business activity depends upon the manner or the way in which the business makes arrangements or provisions of funds. The growth of the firm is the most important aspect and has to be done with taking care so that it can grow up to its full potential (Carter et. al., 1996; Carter Anderson, 2001; Carter Cannon, 1988; Chaganti Parasuraman, 1996; Cliff, 1998). Steps involved in the start up of any business activity can be classified as under:- Business Start up:- The theoretical aspects behind the set up or start up of any business are quite different from the practical ones which can be classified as under:- The creation of an idea Theory:- The start-up of the business by the entrepreneur begins with the setting of an idea. Idea is the stepping stone on which the business relies and most of the aspects of the business are considered in the initial idea itself. There are pros and corns to everything and in the business set-up the setting of idea itself leads to the same. Opportunity Recognition The recognition of the right opportunity at the right point in time is what the entrepreneur must be able do. The task of recognizing opportunity for the same is not an easy task at all. There may be loads of opportunities which arise in the market like they may be in the form of a new product or service that has to be offered to the customer (Kotler, 1972; Deshpande, 1983). Research of the market and forming of the Business plan Research plays a key role before the starting up any activity and business also demands for the same i.e. to conduct research and then formulate a business plan. The key role in set up of any business plan is by carrying out SWOT analysis of the same which means to recognize the Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threats that the organization has to offer (Kotler, 1990; Dyer, 1994). Finance Arrangement Finance is the blood stream of any organization and without the induction of finance no organization can operate. There are loads of sources available for the firms both small and medium sized. Basically for the small and medium enterprises there are mainly two sources of finance internal and external. The basic difference between the internal and external source is the element of interest. Internal sources as the name suggest is from friends family and the saving element and external is all that which leads to the payment of interest basically borrowed funds from sources such as banks, financial institutions etc. (Feldman Bolino, 2000; Fielden et al., 2003; Fitzgerald and Muske, 2002; Leazar, 2002). The small and medium firms in the initial stage cannot afford to bear any additional cost and the interest element also becomes a burden for them and they are mostly concerned with the internal sources of finance i.e. the money invested in the firms by family and friends (Lee Mathews, 1999; Hisrich, 1986). The other aspect of business is the big business houses which have their operation on a large scale and the finance is procured by them from banks and other leading financial institutions. Optimum Use of Resources Resources are the tools and materials which form the crux of any organization and making a proper use of the same plays a very important role in the growth and overall development of the organization. It is vital to make the best possible use of resources as in small towns the scope of business activities is limited as compared to big cities wherein the opportunities as well as the resources required are more and readily available Gimeno, 1997; Gray, 1993; Gatewood et al., 1995; Gundry Welsch, 2001) Resources are portrayed as being distanced from main markets and main centres of business activity, have lower and more dispersed population, a weaker infrastructure, local markets are limited due to lower population. Despite the apparent difficulties in starting up and running a business to towns, the number of businesses has grownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Anderson, 1997) Problems in Starting Up a Business When starting up a business, the owner is bound to face some problems. There are basic steps and procedures that should be followed by the entrepreneur, while starting a business. But the problem arises when the successful implementation of these steps becomes difficult, due to the problems in the market. Sometimes things do no happen in reality as they were expected and also it may take longer time than expected (Martins et al., 2002; Marschack, 1994; Morrison, 2000; Olson, 1992; Praag, 2003; Rainbird, 1991). Major problems in starting up a business can be classified as: Goodwill- When a business is new, it lacks good reputation in the market, which is called Goodwill. In business, it is very important to have goodwill. It means that the business has trustworthy image in the market. Sometimes, just because of lack of goodwill, customers dont trust the company (Reynolds, 2000; Robichaud et al., 2001). Market Prediction- It is essential for the entrepreneur to have the market predictions. The market trends keep on fluctuating. Thus the entrepreneur has to mould himself according to the market situations. If he does not maintain pace with the market trends it becomes very difficult to be in the race. This is not a very easy job (Robinson, 1994; Shane, 1995; Smith, 2000). Financial Gap- The existence of a financial gap arises because demand from small firms is greater than the willingness of financial institutions to supply the finance at current market conditions. For finance such as bank loans, these gaps may be termed as credit rationing (Stanworth Stanworth, 1997). Getting the premises in prime location- Getting a good location to set up the business is a very big issue. The entrepreneur should keep in mind to get the best location. If the location is good and is very close to all the available resources then he can grab the opportunities of using these resources (Taylor, 1980). Judging the customer expectations- It is very hard to match the ever changing expectation and demands of the customers. It is very difficult to have an exact idea about the choice of the customers. In this case it becomes very difficult for the new firms to have an idea about the customer expectations (Timmons et al., 1985). Small and Medium Enterprises in the United Kingdom Source: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/smestats2008-ukspr.pdf. According to the department for business innovation and skills the profile of the small and medium scale enterprises are as follows: As per to the reports there were approximately 4.81 million private sector enterprises in the UK during the starting of 2008, which showed the increase of 104,0003 (2.2 per cent) since the start of 2007. These are the highest levels after the time series began in 1994. Approximately, 23.1 million people were employed by these enterprises with an estimated combined annual turnover of  £3,000 billion. Moreover, 99.9 percent of all enterprises were together accounts by the Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 59.4 per cent of private sector employment and 50.1 percent of private sector turnover. Employment in SMEs is estimated at 13.7 million, 287,000 (2.1 per cent) higher than in 2007.Turnover in SMEs is estimated at  £1,500 billion,  £61 billion (4.2 per cent) higher than 2007.More industries experienced growth in the number of enterprises between the start of 2007 and the start of 2008, than experienced a fall. In percentage terms, the biggest increases were in the Mining and Quarrying; Electricity, Gas and Water Supply (19.3 per cent) and Financial Intermediation (10.2 per cent) sectors and the biggest falls in the number of enterprises were in the Manufacturing (- 6.9 per cent) and Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activities (-4.7per cent) sectors (http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/smestats2008-ukspr.pdf).à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? As such, out of the 4.81 million private enterprises in the United Kingdom, 99.9 percent are classified as small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and they are responsible for 59.4 percent of employment in the country as well as 50.1 percent of private sector turnover. The sector also experienced growth from 2007 to 2008 (http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/smestats2008-ukspr.pdf). Most of these private enterprises are (see Table 1) small which is 99.3 percent of the total and they employ about 0 to 49 employees per enterprise while the medium enterprises is 0.6 percent which numbered at 27,000 enterprises and employs from 50 to 249 employees per firm. The large enterprises employs more than 250 employees per firm percent which numbered at 27,000 enterprises and employs from 50 to 249 employees per firm. ISSUES FOR SMEs AND ENTREPRENEURS According to Deakins and Freel (2003), small and medium sized firms do not easily get finance because of the restrictions imposed on them. Notably these SMEs have very less equity and very high risk is associated with them. As a result, most of the sources of finance are not accessible, for instance Stock Exchange. There are mainly two sources that entrepreneurs use that is Internal Source and External Source. Internal source includes personal equity, which are usually remortgages, savings and money taken from friends and family members. While external sources of finance comprises loan taken from bank, venture capitalist, formal investors. Few more sources include leasing, hire purchase and factoring. However, there are various sources of finance available for the SMEs; it is worth discussing the problems faced by the entrepreneurs and constraints of financing. Major issues for SMEs are Financial gap Getting finance from bank Role of security Credit scoring Financial Gap: It mainly occurs when the financial need of SMEs is not fulfilled by financial institutions because of the current market conditions the present situation (credit crunch) further adding problems to the same. It happens when the demand side of the curve exceeds the supply. However, it is still a debatable topic whether this gap is the result of information asymmetries or it is due to the reputational effects. Informational asymmetries are basically considered as the imperfect information provided to the financing institutions, which suggests that there will be insufficient funds available for the firms (Stiglits and Weiss, 1981). According to Shane and Cable (2008), it is likely that few firms specially manufacturing and technology based companies are often reluctant to give full information about their company to avoid the disclosure which can make it easier for others to use it. Moreover, there are few more categories which can face financial gap, such as young entrepreneurs and those who belong to remote areas. Young entrepreneurs mainly lack to provide the security, while for the entrepreneurs in the remote areas, it is quite difficult to get access with the banks (OCED, 2008) Getting finance from bank: However, banks are easily accessible; it is less likely that entrepreneurs get favourable offers from them. Short-term financing given by banks only looks theoretically attractive. Besides, banks also face issue in assessing the proposition from the borrower, which generally arises when both provider and borrower share different set of information. For banks, two main issues are: Adverse Selection Moral Hazard Adverse Selection: This arises when a bank is unable to assess a proposition correctly. For instance, when it refuses to provide for a proposition which could have been successful or when it accepts the position which results as failure. Moral Hazard: It causes more serious problem for banks and ultimately causes problems for the entrepreneurs having less/no security to offer. It can occur when a firm misuses the security-free financing from the banks, as there is no guarantee taken from the firm to repay the loan. This is a monitoring problem for banks and for comparatively smaller amount of loans; it is not economic to observe them closely. However, this creates problem for the entrepreneurs who lack sufficient equity and security. Role of security: This has now been widely used to overcome the shortcomings like moral hazard and adverse selection. However, bank officers can also choose to have frequent monitoring of the information to reduce the adverse selection, a cost minimisation approach (role of security) seems to be a better option. Furthermore, collateral seems to be a better option because it ensures commitment from the borrower and allows bank to make safer deal. It also enhances the chances of loss recovery in case of adverse selection. Credit Scoring:- Nowadays, this computerized technique has been widely used by banks. Credit scoring is based on considering various variables of the borrower such as, occupation, post code of home address, previous payment records and other commitments Taking all the above mentioned things into consideration, a computerized acceptance or rejection report is generated. Credit scoring has brought a remarkable reduction in decision making for the bank managers. In most of the leading banks of UK like NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds/TSB, Bank of Scotland, use different systems to measure credit of the loan applicant. Albeit, few above mentioned banks have adopted this technique completely, there are some banks still relying and using both methods (Credit scoring and decision making) However, credit scoring has proved to be a boon for the banks, it has some demerits as well. It only judges the applications on the basis of past records. This technique may reject the proposal which sounds beneficial and successful but dont have good credit history and past records.

How does Elie Wiesel change in response to his concentration camp exper

Everyday, we go through situations and experiences that affect us in someway, perhaps even change us. Different situations have different effects. The more difficult the situation is, the more of an effect it has on us. Those hard times can be called adversity. How do we, as humans, react to adversity? What are the possible effects it may have?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An example of adversity is the Holocaust - Hitler‘s plan to exterminate the Jews. In the memoir, Night, we discover how Elie Wiesel changes in response to his concentration camp experiences. The separation from his loved ones and the horrible conditions of these camps affect Elie immensely. Elie is affected in the following ways: physically, emotionally and spiritually. The Holocaust had changed him into a completely different person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physically, Elie basically changes from a healthy human being into a walking skeleton. The Jews can be described as â€Å"skin and bones†. They were also extremely weak. Being forced to work at their labor camps must have been extremely difficult. The lack of food served at the camps, as well as the poor quality of what is being served made him that way. The Jews were only fed bread and soup. It gets to the point where everything revolves around food and each person’s own survival. For example, on page 104, Elie’s father claims that the other prisoners were beating him. Elie’s then says â€Å" I began to abuse his neighbors...

The All-American Injury :: Essays Papers

The All-American Injury "Alright now, I want you to practice hard tonight, go full tilt, and, maybe tomorrow, our pregame practice will be short." The voice seemed a bit edgy, but then again, why wouldn't it? Coach was a little upset that we had lost our season home opener by three points. We were all disappointed by that. Practice had been deadly so far; we were pushed to the limit. Our conditioning warm-up had lasted almost twice what it usually was, and we were all dragging our feet. We were barely a half-hour into the usual Wednesday night ritual. "I want linemen down in the end zone," a husky voice cried out from behind the coach. The man who had hand-picked the Varsity players from the rag-tag group of civilians at the beginning of the season, and had turned them into a finely tuned, well-oiled piece of machinery, was expecting us to break into a full sprint for the end zone at that moment. When no one started running, he hollered. To underline his desire, hemade a few remarkable promise sof pain and suffering if his orders were not obeyed. Being one of the slowest members of the team, I was the third to the last man to the end zone. Naturally, I was the third one to be chosen for the endurance test. "Pits," the large man trumpeted, being drowned out in volume by the hoots of nearly twenty linemen. We loved pits, the mere mention of the word pumped overdosing amounts of adrenaline into the blood system. In this series of pits, however, there were two men threatening to invade my corner of the world, instead of the usual one man. This made the odds a little more interesting... for both corners. It gave one man a chance to prove how tough he was, and how weak the other two were, and it gave us our chance to earn respect among our peers. Taunting began almost immediately. One man's comment about another's sister quickly brought a retort about their mother. The battle was on. The teams were predetermined according to strength, size, and skill level. Having the chance to catch our breaths, and get our blood flowing to the appropriate parts of the brain, we faced off with abundant energy, and it proved to be rather competitive. "Walterick, Setcavage, Curtis, here now," the booming voice echoed in my helmet. Trotting over to the designated area, much as a warhorse into battle, I found myself at the end of a few selective comments about jelly doughnuts, and dead animals.

Violence On Television Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The issue of television violence and its influence on children’s behavior troubles me. Television violence seems to be becoming abundant and violence seems to be increasing. This may be a dangerous form of entertainment, especially when young children become involved. The majority of television programs viewed by children contain large amounts of violence and inappropriate material. Children’s vulnerability poses as the main problem due to desensitization. Psychologists’ studies report that children become immune to television violence and adopt the behavior as a way of problem solving. Other people argue and say that television can not be blamed for the increase of violence among our society. They believe the increase comes from a lack of discipline and the large amounts of violence children view in their environments. Others feel that a large number of parents use television as a babysitter and do not spend enough quality time with their chi ldren. Children then begin to learn negative behavioral manners and begin idolizing inappropriate characters. ? I am uncertain about this issue and its effects on the way children behave. Is television teaching children violent behavior and leading them to become violent adults?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When children view substantial amounts of violence, I believe the possibility of desensitization becomes probable. Does desensitizing cause children to accept violent behavior as normal and aid them to mature to be violent adults? A study done by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reported that television does increase aggressiveness in children’s behavior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The majority of violence viewed by children contains a substantial amount of unrealistic violence. This type of violence commonly found in cartoons causes a considerable amount of concern. For example, when a character smacks another on the head with a hammer and the other character subdues no injuries from the hit. Children fail to see the consequences and imitate what they have seen. Thirty years of studies have documented that by the time a child reaches the age of 18 they will have seen 40,000 pretend murders and 200,000 dramatized acts of violence. (Report done by ABC news) Psychiatrists believe children view the behavior as normal and use it as a way of problem solving and... ... behavior. The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect reported that each year at least 350,000 teenagers and children have been victims of abuse, and the abuser averages to be thirty-two years of age. The violence increase occurs because of the abusive environments children grow up in. They become accustomed to this behavior, and they repeat this behavior when they become adults   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children do watch a lot of television and too much can be a problem. I found that by being aware of the programs your children watch, talking to your children about the violence they see, and not using television as a babysitter can reduce the amount of influence television may inflict. Parents also need to spend time with their children and use other means of entertainment to amuse children. Parents can read, do puzzles, or find a sport that interests their child. Through my research I found television does pose as a major influence among children and does cause them demonstrate violent behavior. Television holds some responsibility to the increase of violence among our society, but the problem can be addressed by monitoring and limiting children’s viewing habits.