Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in an Urban Context

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When you are born you have certain biological inheritance. The transmission of bioligical characteristics from one generation to another is heridity and the actual units of heridity are genes. Genes are physical traits, as well as behavorial and psychological. Our genetic makeup comes from genotypes while our physical distinctions come from phenotypes. There is a lot of controversy about stem cell research. They offer much hope for medical advancement because of their ability to grow into almost any type of cell. With stem cell research, dead or damaged cells can be replaced with newly healthy cells and billions of dollars is used toward this research. By nature, individuals inherit certain traits while nurture are influences of the social and cultural environment. Somtimes you are born with certain defeciencies, diseases, or any other various illnesses. Stem cell research is a great way to help people who are sufferingand dealing with unfortunate circumstances. The three main sources of obtaining stem cell is adult cells, cord cells, embryonic cells. Adult cells are extracted from bone marrow, and although this is a rich source of stem cells it is also a very painful procedure. Individual differences come from the nature of development because certain characteristics can always change due to the environment but certain inherited traits can not be changed if it has to do with their body not personality. Of course the way society, family, and friends help one adjust to life with a certain sickness or defiency helps them live a normal life as well. From the embryonic cell point of view, this is where the controversy comes from because some people start to value life from the point of conception. Under embryonic cell research, the extraction of stem cells from this type of embryo requires its destruction. Although I believe that stem cell research can help many people either fighting cancer or possibly any other disease, I oppose the embryonic stem cell research. It is not right to kill a possible future embryo to save the life of another. Two rights don’t make a right and we should look to find a cure or another way to help those less fortunate without sacrificing something that may be important to another. The laws of genetic inheritence describes several ways in which genetic material transmitted by children can be expressed  in the child. This is a reason how children inherit certain traits or recessive disorders such as sickle cell anemia. When children inherit traits that are more dominant than others than this may result from it.

On thanksgiving day 2010, my brothers and I ( Alpha Phi Delta ) volunteered at a soup kitchen on 83rd street. That morning we mae our way uptown with the intention to make the day more pleasant for those who were going through a rough patch, or difficult unrelateable times. For the most part the day ran rather smoothly but there dome moments where altercations broke out over food distribution and portioning. At that very moment I realized as philanthropic chairman, that although our gesture was. Kind, it only provided these individuals with a one day fix. The following monday I asked my brothers to bring in canned goods because although we couldn’t stop hunger on a national level, the best place to start was where we reside. At the end of that week we collecte canne goods that were value up to $5000 collectively.

7 years ago during my days as a member of the youth group at St. Boniface church, I remember one of our many ventures to a nursing home. This nursing home was located on long island. As part of our obligations as members of the youth group, we had to sing every fourth sunday of the month. Our youth leaders at the time thought of an idea where we’d take our singing talents and use them in a different environment. What better environment than a nursing home? We arrived at the nursing home and found a rather large congregration of elderly people who were eager to hear us sing. Since our visit was during the Christmas season, we sung countless holiay jingles that got everyone in the spirit of the season. As we concluded our performance, we received a standing ovation. One lady approached us and said if it weren’t for us, she never would’ve opened up to the idea of celebrating christmas after a ten year absense of the holiday from her life.

The summer before my senior year of high school I volunteered at Forest Hills hospital. I felt that this experience would give me an opportunity to see if the medical field was my calling. I began the volunteering period doing filing and paper work for the most part. It was until about a month into the whole process when I was switched from filing/paper work to the front desk at the emergency room. I felt that this change in scenery gave me a better feel of what the medical field was all about. Some of the things I witnessed were heart wrenching. One day a mother brought in her daughter who was completely unresponsive due to a drug overdose. I watche in horror as her mother was screaming at the top of her lungs praying that her daughter would leave this ordeal in one piece. With the bad I also experienced the good. I remember one afternoon in particular where a a pair of newly weds entered the ER because the wife was in labor. Although she seemed distraught, the love and support from her husband caused her to smile despite the pain. Although medicine wasn’t the path for me, I’m glad I had that experience, so I can now encourage my sister to follow her dreams of becoming a doctor.

About five years ago as a member of the youth group at St. Boniface church, I remember being involved in many different activities and projects. One project in particular was when we, as a group, hosted a “youth jam.” The basic idea of the youth jam was to bring youth from all over the nation to celebrate and worship the word of the lord. We volunteere our efforts in many ways. Some of us helped direct traffic in the parking lot as countless vehicles came in. Some people helped direct the chorus to their necessary seating areas, some people even helped serve lunch. Whatever any of us did that day we knew that it was recognized by God himself and that our hardwork to make sure the event was a success would not go unnoticed. Not only did we leave that day feeling proud of our efforts, but we left that day with a stronger relationship with God that no evil could break.

Back in October 2010, my fraternity (Alpha Phi Delta) hosted a Breast Cancer Awareness Party in the multi purpose room here at Baruch. During the time I was philanthropic chairman so I was one of the main event leaders who mae sure everything went accordingly. Essentially the idea of the entire function was to Auction off dates with brothers and take whatever money earned and put it toward a specific cancer research fund. The party itself was a success, due in part to the large turnout. Once the auction segment of the party commeneced, we all eagerly awaited to see how much we’d actually raised. When brother after brother went up and the minium bid was $20 we felt were in a great position to raise adequate funds. By the end oof the night our thinking proved valuable, as we ended up raising over $1000 that evening.

I agree with a lot of what Kilbourne is arguing for and that is an end to objectifying women and men as sex objects in all respects because it contributes to higher teen pregnancies and it blinds children from who they want to be.   Advertising creates such high standards for societies that it crushes the average plain jane.   Also, Kilbourne had mentioned that only about 5% of the world population can genetically fit the ideals of a supermodel.  Many girls need to starve themselves and/or get breast augmentations to fit that ideal.  For example, I used to love watching the Tyra banks show because she would always have talks on her show to empower young women/ men and children.  However, she also has a show for supermodels in which there are rarely any plus size models and many of these supermodels are incredibly thin.  Also, the slogan for her show America’s next top model is “Do you wanna be on top?”  Which part of the expression is hindering at sex and it sells.

A lot of what Kilbourne’s lecture refers to the textbook and our classroom discussions because we can see that women and men are given these ideals and values at the moment of birth.  We are told how we are supposed to act and qualities are attributed to women and what qualities are attributed to men.  As mentioned in class men try to spread themselves out in a meeting and women try to be as small as possible.  This example can be attributed on how advertisers make men and women feel.  In most ads women need to feel as quiet and as insignificant as possible, whereas men need to be heard and seen as tough.  This is because men are supposed to be associated with qualities such as toughness and violence, and if they seem any less than that they are devalued.  Nurturing and sensitivity are associated with women and if they are seen any more than that they are not feminine enough.

Nothing in our biological make up has grouped us with these emotions and personalities, yet it is society that makes everything more complicated.  (Advertising, mass media, peers, school, etc.)  Football Coaches tell their athletes crying is not manly at a very early age in a boy’s life time and it is rarely ever accepted if a girl were to enjoy playing football.

This also creates a huge problem gays and transsexuals, who know at a early age what they want , but they need to suppress these feelings so they won’t be out casted by society.  Society today still is unable to accept these types of people because they cover the line between the ideals of a man and a woman.  I believe that our society needs to draw that line between business and pleasure so that people can be less blind and more accepting.

During the winter break, my brothers and I (Alpha Phi Delta) went to the Bronx for a project where we’d help renovate a church. It was a brisk winter morning, and we all arrived at the church with the mentality that we must make sure this job gets done. Surprisingly enough, although brothers were present that morning, the job proved to be far greater than we imagined. We dId everything from moving trash, replacing seats, painting, unloading heavy objects and even installing new windows. After almost six hours of labor, we complete about 70 percent of the job. The next day we returned and decided that today we’d be more efficient and move quicker. After three hours we complete what was left of the job and our hard work spoke for itself. Not only did we serve the community, but we strengthened the common bond we all share as brothers of Alpha Phi Delta.