Level of Awareness on Domestic Violence free essay sample

In the Republic Act 9262, the term domestic violence refers to violence between adult intimate partners. However, in this study, domestic violence may mean violence towards a child. It is the maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child (Republic Act 7610). It includes psychological, emotional, sexual and economic maltreatment. Accounts of domestic violence have increased in recent years. It can have different forms including physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect (Kozier, 2004). Today, the cost to children and to society of children’s exposure to domestic violence is enormous (Carter, 1999). Every child is exposed to a various degree of violence depending on its kind. Such children coming from the poor families are more likely to be affected. In fact, many families in which domestic violence are present suffer from lack of financial support to support to sustain them every day, thus provoking them to be stressed and cause trouble. We will write a custom essay sample on Level of Awareness on Domestic Violence or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Furthermore, it was postulated on Bowen’s concept of family emotional system that describes four basic relationship patterns that govern where problems develop in a family and the level of tension depends on the stress a family encounters, how a family adapts to the stress, and on a familys connection with extended family and social networks. Tension increases the activity of one or more of the four relationship patterns which are the marital conflict, dysfunction in one spouse, impairment of one or more children and lastly the motional distance. Our study was afflicted with the impairment of one or more children that when a mother or father gives more emphasis to the child then the child become more anxious to them thus aggravating the fair to communicate and the parents become vulnerable the do some negative actions towards the helpless child. The basic relationship patterns result in family tensions coming to rest in certain parts of the family. The more anxiety one person or one relationship absorbs, the less other people must absorb. This means that some family members maintain their functioning at the expense of others. People do not want to hurt each other, but when anxiety chronically dictates behavior, someone usually suffers for it. Moreover, children are survival-oriented and they model their surrounding behavior to learn the lessons of survival (Capello, 2005). Although some children who witness and experience community violence may be able to recover from the incident, many others are deeply scarred. Such chronically traumatized children often appear deadened to feelings and pain, and show guarded emotional development over time (Osofsky, 1999). They may feel helpless and see the world as fickle, unfriendly, and frightening whenever they witness and experience domestic violence. In addition, a child is faced with a crushing task of finding a sense of trust in an untrustworthy environment, safety in an unsafe situation and control in a terrifying and unpredictable environment. Overall, children’s responses to their experiences with domestic violence vary. Children may come back with any of an array of modification problems and psychopathology, or may take on from their experiences reasonably safe. Factors that appear to affect these responses include the child’s proximity to the violence, (That is what the child actually experienced, saw or heard), the child’s temperament, the age of the child at the time(s) of exposure, the severity and duration of the violence, and the availability of adults who can emotionally protect or sustain the child (Culross,1999). In addition, the existence of adult figures in children’s lives can mitigate the child’s experience of trauma and promote effective coping. Related Studies One of the problems that social scientists, researchers, doctors, and advocates have in documenting the numbers of victims of domestic violence is the shame attached to an act of violence between family members and intimate partners. Ones home is believed to be a place of safety and refuge, so when violence occurs in that refuge, the doers and victims are often unwilling and even fearful to report the incident to outside persons or agencies (Educational Encyclopedia, 2004). Berkovitz (1998), in his review noted that poverty, or a more complex variable of economic deprivation, was a good predicator of aggressive behavior. Anderson and Anderson’s (1998) model testing founded that socio-economic status was positively related to violent crime, independent of other factors. Furthermore, Jewkes’ (2002) postulated that there is a strong positive correlation between poverty and rates of violence. Moreover, this relationship may be reconciled through stress or a crisis in male role identity. Consequently, sociologists were able to postulate social-organization theories in trying to explain the greater amounts of domestic violence existing in our society. These theories claim causes of domestic violence which can be found in the structure of the society. Hence, its effect on how the family members relate to each other is also presented in the theories (Glass, Laughon, and Campbell, 2004). In addition, Levinson (1989) in his study, found more severe physical punishment of children in more complex societies and in societies with more single-parent families. Incidentally, researches have documented that age and gender are linked with domestic violence. Young children are at risk for domestic violence. Thus, with increasing age and increasing independence, the risk for domestic violence decreases (Gary, Campbell, Humphreys, 2004). The gender of the abused child is essential in establishing the degree of abuse. Male and female cope in a different way, depending on the societal culture and norms. Conversely, female are more vulnerable from the beginning. The burden of adversity falls heavily upon them: malnutrition, infection and illiteracy are more prevalent among them than among males, influencing how they perceive their experiences and life chances. On the other hand, a child’s age must be gathered upon the time of maltreatment and of disclosure. Their age at the time when the violence occurred measures the children’s ability to grasp the experience and therefore also determines the impact of abuse on them. The child’s age is vital in evaluating their ability to comprehend their situation and extract a meaning out of the experience. In addition, the child’s age is also important in measuring their ability to relate their experience. (Marcelino, et. al, 2000) Finally, efforts in trying to understand the fundamentals of domestic violence have been made through postulating theories. These theories serve as guide-lines that could aid the researchers in assessing the perception and level of awareness of the children towards domestic violence. One theory stated that children learn through modeling. Therefore, a child exposed in a violent community is subjected to acquiring violent behaviors. Hence, children who observe and participate in aggressive acts may continue to participate in them in their adult lives (Gary, Campbell, Humphreys, 2004) Synthesis Domestic Violence (sometimes refers to as domestic abuse or spousal abuse) occurs when a family member attempts to physically or psychologically dominate another. It is perpetrated by both men and women, occurring in both same-sex and opposite-sex relationships (Wikepedia, 2007). However, in this study, domestic violence may mean the kind of violence or abuse inflicted on children. Furthermore, it seriously threatens the health and emotional well-being of children (Fantuzzo Mohr, 1999). In the past decade, a growing body of empirical research has demonstrated that children who live in households affected by domestic violence experience a deleterious effect on their development. In addition, they may be unable to elicit or respond to disclosures about their situation. Data suggests that such exposure has long-term consequences for a child’s well being, ultimately affecting their adult functioning (Culross, 1999). Furthermore, exposure to domestic violence can now have serious effects on children. These effects may include behavioral problems such as aggressions, phobias, insomnia, low-self esteem, and depression (Groves, 1999). The study gives emphasis on the different forms of domestic violence that may define the level of awareness of the public high school students. In this study, the researchers include the variables such as age, sex, estimated monthly family income, and the children’s parent’s marital status. This is to find out if the level of awareness of the public highschool students toward domestic violence may be related to their profile.

Lenin and the Revolution essays

Lenin and the Revolution essays Lenin said that it's possible to talk about creation of a Soviet Union (i.e. import of socialism) only when we are absolutely sure of socialism in our own country. Those who talk about restoration of the Soviet Union without having yet Soviet power in Russia itself, are not only being stupid, but criminal, because such a notion justified the colonial politics of Russian imperialism. We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or we shall be crushed. "You are poor and abundant, mighty and impotent, Mother Russia." The Bolsheviks policy concentration more on the Russian people, whereas Stalin cared more about Russias economy and agriculture The Bolsheviks were also against autocracy and hierarchy, and Stalin was an autocratic leader Note that nationalization and collectivization was not only Stalins idea, but the party altogether ... Stalin's "revolution from above" sought to build socialism by means of forced collectivization and industrialization, programs that entailed tremendous human suffering and loss of life. Bolsheviks wanted world socialism whereas Stalin focus socialism in one country Trotsky communist international Russias agriculture was at the same level in 1939 as in 1928 with a 40 million increased population. Stalin had man himself god like a personality cult witch was against the Bolshevik system seeing as they were against autocracy The state and media controlled everything the Russian watch heard of or read! This practice was going against Marxist ideology, Marx had written that slavery was uneconomic, because slaves had to be fed whether they worked or not and had no incentive to work. In this case how ever the cost of acquiring slaves was low and the supply was limitless and little money was spent on keeping them alive. The use of slave labor was extensive, because no ...

History of Social Networking Websites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of Social Networking Websites - Essay Example Users who join Social networking websites are required to make a profile of themselves by filling up a form. After performing this task, users are supposed to give out information about their personality attributes and personal appearances. Some social networking websites require photos but almost all of them will give details about one's age, preference, likes and dislikes. Some social networking websites like Facebook allow users to customize their profiles by adding multimedia content. (Geroimenko & Chen, 2007) The first hint of social networking websites was witnessed in the year 1997 through formation of a company called Sixdegrees.com. This company was the first of its kind; it allowed users to list their profiles, provide a list of friends and then contact them. However, the Company did not do very well as it eventually closed three years later. The reason for this was that many people using the internet at that time had not formed many social networks hence there was little room for maneuver. It should be noted that there were also other elements that hinted at Social network websites prior to 1997. For instance, dating sites required users to give their profiles but they could not share other people's websites. Additionally, there were some websites that would link former school mates but the lists could not be shared with others. (Cassidy, 2006) Thereafter, there was... They included things like diaries and friends' lists. Additionally, Ryze.com also established itself in the market. It was created with the purpose of linking business men within San Francisco. The Company was under the management of Friendster, there were also LinkedIn, Tribe.net and Ryze. The latter company was the least successful among all others. Tribe.net specialized in the business world and Friendster initially did well; this did not last for long. (Story, 2008) The most significant companies in the history of social networking websites are as follows Facebook MySpace Friendster The rest of the essay shall examine how these particular companies were formed. Friendster Friendster began its operations in the year 2002. It was a brother company to Ryze but was designed to deal with the social aspect of their market. The company was like a dating service, although match making was not done in the typical way where strangers are introduced to one another. Instead, friends would propose other friends they felt were most compatible with one another. At first, the Company grew exponentially. This was especially after introduction of a network for gay men and an increase in the number of bloggers. The latter would usually tell their friends about the advantages of social networking through Friendster and this led to further expansion. However, Friendster had established a market base in one small community. After their subscribers reached overwhelming numbers, the company could no longer cope with the demand. There were numerous complaints about the way their servers were handled because subscribers would experience communication breakdowns. As if this was not enough, social networks in the real world were not

Implementating magnet environment in Riyadh Military Hospital ICU unit Essay

Implementating magnet environment in Riyadh Military Hospital ICU unit - Essay Example The process of magnet environment in magnet hospitals begins from the process of recruitment and continues with the process of retention. In the process of recruitment, a considerable number of measures are put in place and taken into account in order to ensure the attainment of recruitment objectives. In which candidates current and future expectations are taken into account. After recruiting, many efforts are consumed to retain the hired nurses. Needless to say, it is the ultimate objective of the recruitment of nurses to ensure their continual nursing services with a quite foreseeable future with the management of hospital. More significantly, numerous factors are taken into that require their attainment at recruitment and retention of nurses. However, Shortell & Kaluzny (2006) provide some fundamental elements essential to magnet environment within hospitals; they include, quality of nursing and leadership, organisational performance, motivation and worker autonomy, work design, effective groups and teams, coordination and communication, participative or decentralized management, and organizational change and organizational innovation. The nursing profession consists of three types of workers: registered nurses, nurse aides, and licensed practical nurses (General Accounting Office, 2001). Registered nurses, who are state-licensed and possess associate degrees (two-year community colleges), diplomas (three-year hospital programs), or baccalaureate degrees (four-year colleges), provide direct patient care besides managing nursing care (Keenan, & Kennedy, 2003). Nurse aides may provide their health care services in hospitals and home care settings as well, but... This paper talks also about a few things. One of them is attrition, which is not only a problem for hospitals but also for the managers, health policy makers, and managers relevant to the field of nursing. Besides increasing cost burden over the hospital management to renew the hiring process in order to fill the gap created by attrition of nurses. Interestingly, not only in the developed countries, where the health industry is considerably advanced and stable than health industry operating in the developing countries. Throughout the essay, we can see profound infromation on magnet environment and types of nurses, where it's discussed how important quality of nursing and leadership, organisational performance, motivation and worker autonomy, work design, effective groups and teams, coordination and communication, participative or decentralized management, and organizational change and organizational innovation are. Then the essay begins discussing the causes of nurse attrition, where the general perception of nurse is less positive. Afterwards, the paper talks about the effective strategies to increase nurse retention. This essay has a conclusion, which states that magnet environment holds a key to retain nurses. And, the magnet environment occurs when all the elements inside an organisation work in the required way; In which, organisational commitment, nurse leadership, recruitment policies and procedures, and enablement of nurses in the required level of decision making.

ECommerce Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

ECommerce - Dissertation Example The second part will develop e-marketing strategies for the organization illustrating the best fit and marketing mix for the organization. The third part would find solution projected at the problems faced and thereby design and develop the strategies highlighted. The next part of the report would consider the budget for the projects and subsequent allocations. Lastly, legal and ethical issues related to the projected are also required to be given importance. Identification of Problems and Prioritization This part of the report discussed the problems that are currently being faced by the company and that would be faced in the setup and implementation of the new center in Birmingham. The IT Academy in its new center intends to open systems wherein they could offer on-line course enrolment and the prospective students could pay the fees online. They need to develop and highly efficient enquiry and student query system that addresses the queries if the student and that had an in-build F AQ section to address frequently asked questions by the students. An uploading and downloading system needs to be developed online at the company website wherein teachers and staff could upload their notes and assignment and students could upload their papers and download notes uploaded. IT Academy for promoting its newly set campus also needs appropriate e-Marketing strategies to continuously promote the academy and the courses offered by it. The e-Marketing techniques when implemented should reflect the strong brand name of the academy and its fundamental power of delivering student courses. The company, at some point of time in future also intends to use advanced technology for delivering its courses to the students. It intends to deliver live lectures with the help of wireless networks so that it could deliver lectures globally at any point of time. This will help the academy to build its brand presence globally and irrespective of the location of the student. But as discussed e arlier, for all this to happen IT academy needs to revamp its network with the help of e-commerce technologies and advertise with the help of e-marketing strategies. For solving the problems and meeting the requirements intended by the academy a proper prioritization plan is required by the company. The prioritizations plan describes how the problem solving approach would be determined and which problem is primary and would be solved first. Prioritization of activities is done primarily on the basis of priority of requirements and linking of activities. In my report developing a proper ecommerce model which is linked to the business model of the IT academy is the prior activity. This is because every other activity is basically linked to the success of this activity. This would act as a base of offering on-line courses and also payment of feed online. This will also build an online system that could handle online queries of the student. Also, based on the effectiveness of ecommerce of IT Academy successful e-marketing strategies could be implemented. So revamping of the e-commerce technology in IT Academic will be priority in my report. E-marketing Strategies After

The Consequential Or Teleological Theories Philosophy Essay

The Consequential Or Teleological Theories Philosophy Essay Introduction This chapter presents an overview of the literature on the concept of ethics. First, we present the different definitions of ethics in the existing literature. An overview of the ethics current theoretical developments is then presented. Section 1: Concept of ethics Contrary to what one might think, ethics is not a new pheromone (Gà ©nard, 1992). It was originally identified by Greek and Roman philosophers. Inspired by the works of his predecessors Socrates and Plato, Aristotle is considered as the father of the ethics concept (Lavorata, 2004) which had been widely discussed over several decades by many philosophers who proposed several definitions to this concept. I. Ethics definitions The word Ethics is derived from the ancient Greek word Ethikos, which mean character (Reese, 1990). According to the Universal Philosophical Encyclopedia, ethics is the science of moral and human conduct. Nonetheless, many definitions of this concept had been suggested in the literature. For example, Taylor (1975, p.1) defined ethics as an: inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality, where morality means moral judgments, standards, and rules of conduct. Gove (1976, p.210) defines ethics as the study of what constitutes good and bad human conduct, including related actions and values. For Beauchamp and Bowie (1983, p.3), ethics is the inquiry into theories of what is good and evil and into what is right and wrong, and thus is inquiry into what we ought and ought not to do. As it could be noticed, in all the above definitions the term ethics refers to the study of moral conduct (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989). However, the boundaries between morality and ethics are sometimes blurred and they should be differentiated in order to clarify the concept of ethics (Shaw and Barry, 2001). 1. Ethics and morality The terms ethics and morality are derived from the same root which often causes confusion. Some authors consider that the distinction between the two concepts is unnecessary (Ricoeur, 1990; Even-Granboulan, 1998). However, others academicians make a distinction between them (Iannone, 1989; Boatright, 2000; Ferrell et al.; 2000; and Petrick and Quinn, 2001). For example, Grace and Cohen (1998, p.4) claim that there is no reason to make a distinction in meaning between ethical and moral. There is no difference in meaning which could be attributed to their etymological roots, while, Beauchamp and Bowie (2001) argued that morality is the principles of moral as defined by society, while ethics refers to individual rules. In fact, ethics concept had been also closely related to deontology. In the following, this relation is presented in more details. 2. Ethics and deontology Ricoeur (1990) identifies three components of ethics: a subjective component (life good for itself according to Aristotle), an interpersonal one (or the concern for others in reference to Kant) and a societal component (or the concern for the institution). The societal component refers to the concept of deontology. Thus, the definition of deontology is literally a set of codes of conduct specific to a profession. The following diagram summarizes the different concepts and relationships between ethics, morality and deontology. Figure 1: Definitions and relationships between Ethics, morality and deontology, (Lavorata, 2004, p.20) II. Ethics school of thoughts There are three approaches in the study of ethics: normative ethics, descriptive ethics, and meta-ethics (De George, 1982). Normative ethics Normative ethics is the study of how we should behave (Pascal, 1670; Spinoza, 1677; Kant, 1781). It attempts to justify the principles or the values of a moral system (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989). The normative ethical theories are classified into three groups: 1-Consequential or teleological theories; 2- Single rule non-consequential or deontological theories; and 3-Multiple rule non-consequential theories. Consequential or teleological theories These theories argue that the evaluation of the rightness of an action is determined by considering its consequences (Ferrell and Gresham, 1985). Researchers have demonstrated that teleological theories involve several constructs such as: (1) the individuals behavior and its effect on various stakeholder groups particularly customers and employers; (2) the estimate probability that the consequences will occur to the stakeholders;  (3) the evaluation of desirability or undesirability of each consequence; (4) the analysis of the importance of the stakeholder groups (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989). Moreover, according to these authors, when using teleological evaluation, the individual acts in a manner that produces at least as great a ratio of good to evil as any other course (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989, p.697). The two major consequential theories are egoism and utilitarianism. Egoism holds that individuals act in a way that creates the greatest gain for their self-interest (Hunt and Vitell, 1986). Contrary to ethical egoism, utilitarianism holds that the individual behaves in a manner that produces the greatest good for everyone (DeConinck and Lewis, 1997; Loo, 2004). These theories only look at the consequences of actions, not at its foundations (the end justifies the means) (Bougerra et al., 2011). Single rule non-consequential or deontological theories Some researchers contend that to determine the morality of an action, many other factors should be taken into account other than its consequences. These theories appeal to a single rule. The two main single rules non-consequential theories are: the golden rule: Do unto others as youd have them unto you. In other words, we have to treat individuals the way we want to be treated (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989). The other single-rule non-consequential theory is Kants categorical imperative (Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.). Multiple rule non-consequential theories These theories claim that the moral rightness or  wrongness is determined by moral rules that cant be reduced to a single moral rule. These theories are a mixture of teleological and deontological theories. 2. Descriptive ethics The second approach is descriptive ethics and it deals with the human behavior. This approach aims to study and describe what is moral and immoral, as well as the factors affecting the evolution of moral principles and values (Rich, 1994). According to Pera and Van Tonder (2005, p.7), descriptive ethics does not pass moral judgments on conduct or beliefs; it merely describes what certain people believe to be right or wrong without judging these beliefs. Desjardins and McCall (2000, p.5) noted that the distinction between descriptive and normative ethics is related to the difference between what is and what ought to be. In the same vein, Beauchamp and Bowie (2001, p.6-7) claimed that normative moral philosophy aims at determining what ought to be done, which needs to be distinguished from what is, in fact, practiced. 3. Meta-ethics The third approach was defined as the study of moral reasoning (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989). It analyzes ethical concepts, which explains why it is also called analytical ethics (Rich, 1994). Meta-ethics analyses questions about the meaning of right and wrong or good and bad (Pera and Van Tonder, 2005). According to Creasia and Parker (1991), meta-ethics is the linking between ethical beliefs and the real world. Section 2: Business ethics As we stated before, research on business ethics, and most importantly on marketing ethics has begun to expand since the publication of Bogarts article (1962) The Researchers Dilemma (Jones and Kavanagh, 1996; Rao and Singhapakdi, 1997; Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989). It has gained growing interest among marketing scholars in the 1980s (Hunt and Vitell, 1983; Chonko and Burnett, 1983; Gresham, 1985). Studies in this domain had taken two main orientations: normative one or positive one. Normative studies aimed to develop guidelines and rules for marketers. Positive studies, in particular, in the last three decades focus on the description and the development of models and theories (Chonko and Hunt, 2000). But, what are the reasons behind this interest to study ethics in marketing? I. Reasons of the growing interest in business ethics According to Lavorata (2004), this growing interest in business ethics can be explained by several reasons: 1- external reasons and 2- internal reasons. 1. External reasons The integration of ethics by organizations can be explained by external reasons such as consumers pressure (Mercier, 1999). According to a survey conducted by the Foundation of France in 1997, 63% of consumers claimed to be sensitive to firms supporting a humanitarian cause. Thus, Ethics becomes a way to retain consumers. In fact, competitive pressure incited firms to look for new positioning and for means of differentiation from their competitors. Implementing strategies based on social responsibility and ethical practices is considered as a means to achieve this objective. Indeed; this may boost one firms public image and contribute in building long-term relationships with clients (Schwepker and Hartline 2005; Thomas et al., 2004). Moreover, the awareness about ethics importance and consequences seems to be boosted by top managers as a result of many scandals that had shaken the business world: WorldCom, a huge accounting scandal estimated at $11 billion. Enron, fraud and conspiracy in January 2006. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, pharmaceutical companies, have had to retire drugs that have been considered unsafe for public use. Each new disgrace seemed to create a buzz for organizational change (Barnes, 2006). As a matter of fact, in 1920, Henry Ford wrote: A company must make profits otherwise it will die. But if we want the company to only run for profit, it will also die since it will have no reason for being. In 2001, the CEO of Lafarge B. Colomb has echoed these ethical concerns: Far from being expensive, ethics is a critical success factor. 2. Internal reasons The internationalization of organizations has led to a weakening of the corporate culture and in particular a loss of collective benchmarks (Lavorata, 2004). Moreover, individual ethics is the subject of an ongoing dilemma (Seidel, 1995). In fact, the organization must ensure its profitability and profit: its objective is then to reduce costs while boosting employee productivity (Mercier, 1999). Conclusion Despite its historical origins, ethics remains a subject matter of a special concern for contemporary academicians. In fact, it has been shown that ethics domain has undergone major changes in its foundations. This current widespread preoccupation among researchers about ethics led to an increased awareness about business ethics. The marketing is seemingly even more concerned. Indeed, the activities in this domain are often considered to be unethical (Baumhart, 1961; Brenner and Molander, 1977; Murphy and Lazcniak, 1981). According to Chonko et al. (1996), ethical abuse may take place as marketing professionals and particularly salespersons often face bothersome ethical problems in business. In fact, sales representatives are under great pressure and they are constant targets of ethical criticism (Mantel, 2005; Abratt and Penman, 2002). In this context, according to a survey of 1,324 workers including salespersons, managers, and executives conducted by USA Today, 48% of workers admit to do unethical or illegal acts (Jones 1997, p.1). In the same line, Jolson (1997) argued that for a long time, the sales representative was a person who put pressure on his customer by questionable techniques and whose only philosophy was increasing sales regardless the means used. The following chapter deals more in details with the (un)ethical behavior of sales representatives in marketing literature.

Graduation Speech: A Poem for Graduation :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

As freshmen, life was overwhelmingly, exhaustingly demanding, Eat, sleep, and school. Don’t trip and fall in front of seniors, And don’t act like a fool. "Each floor is like a baseball field," The teachers all would tell. So why can’t I find room 222? Oh great, there goes the bell. No pressure from the sports team tryouts ‘Cause all we made was JV. While upperclassmen said, "thaz aight" We would yell, "yippee!" I know, how cool were we? But what amazing concepts to grasp Who knew bands could play real notes? And lunch could consist of nothing, but HoHo’s, And we could wear hats, and coats. Notes to make, tests to take, work to fake, There’s just not time enough. Can you believe papers have to be typed? Our lives were really tough.... OR NOT! Now we look at the freshies and think "We couldn’t’ve have been so annoyingly immature. I can’t be seen standing next to this beastie, Come on, let’s sneak out the door." As sophomores, slumped over with attitude and rights We were still a wee bit too callow. "What is she wearing... oh man, how grotesque!" How we wallowed in being so shallow. What an awkward year it was to endure, Not freshie, but still no respect. Some attracting significant others, While some had the opposite effect. We could be found playing or attending The football games, soccer, and track. Praying our moms’ wouldn’t be forced to drive us, Begging rides to and from, forth and back. As juniors, 9-11 united the school, Age does more than our years on earth. Concerned for loved ones, with more on our minds, Those that mattered, things that had greater worth. All too soon, junioritis infected one and all In not 2, not 5, but 7 classes. Who needed food, we saved homework for lunch, And more signatures on bathroom passes. With warm weather, like eggs, we were starting to crack, SATs, college visits, straight A‘s, Spring prom, spring break, and spring in our steps, Those minutes dragged on like days. As seniors, we’re awesome, there are none who compare, We have wit, humor, charm, looks, and class. Four years of work, winning, whining, and wrath, Are part of our glorious past! The snowball attacks, the Iraq war