Youth and their problems: (from discussion to decision)

Formation of the communicative and social competence at students with a basic knowledge of English. Information about the life and problems of youth. Actual problems of society. Еxercises for future social workers, analysis of specific situations.

Рубрика Иностранные языки и языкознание
Вид учебное пособие
Язык английский
Дата добавления 06.04.2016
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be sick knock smb's socks off

blackout make home by walking

booze (n,v) plastered

dig (n, v) prat

dumb (n,v) shame (n,v)

face down (n,v) wallet

get one's bearings to slip off wander (n,v)

get used to wipe off

handstand wrap (n,v)

UNIT VI. TEENAGE PREGNANCY

When people think about Britain today, very few imagine puritan Victorian Britain where any discussion of sex and sexuality were strictly prohibited and considered immoral. Since then, Britain has seen the crazy sixties with their new ideas of “free love” and “sexual revolution”. It has also seen the seventies, when British women finally began to see themselves as career-makers as well as mothers and wives. In the eighties, it became normal to see nude images on TV and in the nineties, nobody was any longer surprised at the increasing number of sexual images in the media.

So have these entire social changes forever changed the British attitude to sex and given Victorian Puritanism a well-deserved place in long-forgotten history?

Unfortunately not. It appears that Britons are still uneasy about discussing sex. The UK has the highest proportion of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe. Each year in England 90000 girls get pregnant. 2200 of these are under 14, and 7700 are under 16 years old. The British figure for the first, younger group is 10 times higher than in Sweden and the Netherlands, where attitudes to sex are more open.

According to the United Nations, the dramatic situation with teenage pregnancies in the UK is largely due to the lack of sex education. Another factor is lack of general education and appropriate family support, as most teenage mothers come from poorly educated and deprived families. Unfortunately, Britain is still very class-oriented and the difference between life opportunities given to different classes is still significant.

Being a teenage mother is not easy. Some pregnant teenage girls decide to have an abortion or give their babies up for adoption. However, some decide to go all the way. Quite often, keeping the baby means never continuing education and ending up unemployed, living on scarce benefits from the state. Also, recent research conducted by Essex University has shown that British women, who had their first child before 20, were twice as likely to be without a partner in their 30s as women who had their first baby in their 20s.

So what is to be done in order to improve the situation?

It seems obvious that prevention of teenage pregnancies lies in better and more open sex education, as demonstrated by Sweden and the Netherlands, and easy availability and awareness of contraception. Although contraceptive advice and services are available in Britain, teenagers are still scared of seeking help and advice in fear of blame for their sexual behavior.

There have also been steps to improve the life of existing teenage mothers through creating support schools with a crиche, where school-age mothers can combine school education with looking after the babies. This gives the young mothers a chance to make their way in the world and not depend on state benefits.

16-year-old Jane Taylor tells her story

“Before I got pregnant I hated school and didn't do much work there, concentrating on my social life instead. Every night I would go out drinking and clubbing. Since the birth of my son, Tom, my life has changed. I have realised that having a baby means a lot of responsibility and I now want to do well at school and maybe go to college or university afterwards. However, it is not easy to do with a baby, so I am lucky to have a local support school where I can attend lessons, get medical help and discuss baby problems in the company of other girls in my situation”

Although all's well that ends well, as in Jane's story, isn't having a baby at an early age a too high price to pay for learning to be responsible and mature? Is it wrong to have an abortion? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, so you need to find the answers yourself - what do you think?

In Florida, USA, single mothers are obliged by law to give the newspaper the most intimate details of their past if they want to give the baby up for adoption. The young women must give their name, height, weight and eye color, the names of their sexual partners and the estimated date of conception. This is done to give the baby's father, who may or may not know about the baby, a chance to claim responsibility for the child before it can be adopted.

Task 1. Transcribe the following words and word - combinations and learn

their pronunciation:

prohibit, sexual revolution, proportion, teenage pregnancies, appropriate, unfortunately, abortion, adoption, scarce, prevention, availability, mature, height, weight, puritan, obvious, awareness, figure, immoral.

Task 2. The text is divided into six parts. Read them and give the titles to each of them.

Task 3. Speak on the main points of the whole text.

Task 4. Try to make your own questionnaires and offer it to your groupmates.

Task 5. Match the following word-building suffixes to the words to make the other parts of speech. Translate them. Decide which parts of speech each suffix helps make:

-ure, -able, -ative, -ive, -al, -ic, -ment, -ent, -ly, -or -ion -ty -er -cy

To imagine, discussion, sex, final, scarce, to make, social, pregnant, drama, to abort, to adopt, to educate, to conduct, to improve, avail, to demonstrate, to behave, to combine, to depend, state, to concentrate, to realize, response, to attend, to estimate, to maturate.

Task 6. Make your own sentences with new words above.

Task 7. Translate the text in writing:

1. In the United States, 900,000 adolescents (fifteen-to nineteen-year-olds) became pregnant in 1996. While this was 15 percent lower than in 1994, it is still higher than any other developed country.

2.Other serious consequences include an increased likelihood of late or no prenatal care, unattended births, reduced educational attainment, and decreased employment opportunities. Infants of teenage mothers are at greater risk of low birth weight and increased infant mortality.

3. Children of teenage mothers are more likely to perform poorly in school, more likely to drop out of school, and less likely to attend college.

4. Socioeconomic factors and limited life options, rather than ethnic or cultural background, place many youth at higher risk for unintended pregnancy. Early attempts at preventing teen pregnancies often ignored the complex relationship between development, environment, and behavior. Neither those programs that focus on increasing knowledge, nor abstinence-only programs have been effective in reducing the rate of unintended pregnancies.

5. Adolescent behaviors are shaped by the desire to broaden horizons, interact with peers, or try out adult roles and behaviors. If early sexual behavior is the only perceived option to achieve these objectives, teens may well choose it.

6. A more comprehensive approach to reducing adolescent pregnancy is needed. Many risk behaviors, including early and unprotected intercourse, are linked and share common motivations. Programs designed to prevent pregnancy need to address these other behaviors as well.

7. Finances are affected by the person who is paying for the pregnancy. The teen father of the baby may have to quit school and get a full time job to support the baby. If the teen has no money then it will affect the parents, who may have to take the mother and baby into their home and pay all the expenses.

8. There are the expenses of pregnancy to be sure, doctor visits, prenatal vitamins, maternity clothes but the real expenses come after the baby is born: food, clothing, diapers, car seats, strollers and so much more. If a teen doesn't have the financial means to care for the baby for 20 years, then it would be a wise idea to consider adoption.

Task 8. Make up the statistics on teenage pregnancy in the world.

Task 9. Discuss the following questions:

1. Why is teenage pregnancy bad for you?

2. How much teenage pregnancy is there in school?

3. How does pregnancy affect the finances of teenage pregnancy?

4. What are Laws on teenage pregnancy in the UK and в in Russia?

5. What can one do to prevent teenage pregnancy?

6. What is the percentage of teenage pregnancies in the world?

7. What are your thoughts on teenage pregnancy

Task 10. Memorize the following words and word-combinations:

abortion conception

adoption deprived family

appropriate give babies up for adoption

attitude make one's way in the world

availability mature

awareness prevention

blame (n, v) pregnancy

club (n, v) prohibit

claim responsibility for scarce benefit

contraception support schools

UNIT VII. SAY “NO” TO DRUGS

There is no need mentioning that drug addiction is one of the most dreadful illnesses in our country. Our government takes measures to solve this problem: it punishes pushers and makes drug addicts get treatment; it discusses new methods of fighting it (for example, the legalization of drugs). On the evening news you often hear how a plan for seizing a big shipment of drugs was perfectly carried out by the police. But the results are sad, as usual. According to experts, 3-5 million Russian people have tried illegal drugs. Every year (during the last 11 years) this number has increased by 66 thousand people (source: ITAR TASS). Moreover, RIA News says the real number is 7-8 times larger than officially reported. When money is being spoken of, nothing is of importance, not even human lives.

During recent years self-help programs have been organized. Groups of Alco- nons, Narconons and their relatives have spread throughout the whole country. The patients get psychological support and medical help. There are also many good private clinics, where well-paid doctors will do everything in their power to save a patient. But even if the relatives of a drug addict have a lot of money, it doesn't mean that they will be able to save him/her. The road of drug addiction is the road to nowhere. There is no alternative end result. And there is one single method of fighting it. It is abstention.

Seventy percent of drug addicts are people under 25 years. Most of them began to take drugs at the ages of 14-16. That is why it's necessary to instill the ideas of healthy living and disdain for drugs among young people. They must know everything about dangers which are waiting for them. The organizers of the IKEA exhibition for pupils, which travelled to different Russian cities, probably had this goal. Remember how you walk there and look at comfortably decorated rooms. But in this case these rooms have inhabitants - mannequins. For example, a man who sits on a chair with arms covered with needle pricks. The guide explains: this drug addict died of an overdose. I think that this exhibition gave an indelible impression to teenagers. But it often turned out that they had already been an eye-witness of such monstrous pictures in real life. My own memory holds many tragic stories. A girl went to the same school where I went. She wasn't moved to the 11th form; she died in her bath from overdose. When there was a party in the school (we celebrated the end of our study in the school), a boy from the parallel form felt very badly. He takes drugs. My friend lost his best friend about year ago - he committed suicide, because he couldn't fight against his dependence on drugs. On the wall he wrote with his own blood: “Forgive me”. (This doesn't mean that I am surrounded with shady people.) Unfortunately, these occurrences are spreading.

Despite well-known risks, people continue to abuse drugs, and such abuse continues to destroy lives. Drug abuse costs the US an estimated 100 billion dollars a year in health care, reduced job productivity, lots earnings, and crime. But perhaps it is young ones - children - who pay the highest price. According to a Brazilian study reported on in Jornal da Tarde, 24.7 per cent of youths between 10 and 17 years of age have already tried some kind of drug.

While teenage drug use in the United States may have declined somewhat in recent years, alarming numbers of young ones there are addicted. Consider seniors in high school. According to one study, 37 per cent had at least tried marihuana in the previous year. One out of 5 had used it in the past month. Almost 1 out of 10 had tried the drug ecstasy in the past year. Over 6 percent had tried LSD.

Reports from all over the world are grim. The British Office for National Statistics reports that “12 per cent of pupils aged 11-15 had used drugs”… Cannabis (marihuana) was by far the most likely drug to have been used”. Particularly alarming was the fact that “more than one third (35 per cent) had been offered one or more drugs”.

A report sponsored by the EU likewise reveals that among young people, “drinking to inebriation has become increasingly common”. The report also says that such ”alcohol abuse is associated with various adverse effects such as accidents, violence and poisoning, as well as with developmental and social problems”. From Japan come reports that ”drugs most often used by teenagers as organic solvents, can lead to other drug use”.

Little wonder, that the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: “Drugs are tearing apart our societies, spawning crime, spreading diseases such as AIDS, and killing our youth and our future”. Often people involved with drugs are responsible for crimes such as drug trafficking and drug-related homicides. In addition, because of abusing drugs, many people become victims of violence, they are injured, or engage in risky, unplanned sex. And if you think that your family is immune, think again! One U.S. government report said: “Drugs are not a problem only of the poor, minorities, or inner city residents… drug users come from all walks of life and from all parts of the country. The drug problem affects everyone”.

Yet, parents often do not sense the danger until it is too late. Consider the case of a young Brazilian girl. “She was drinking alcoholic beverages”, explains her sister. “The family thought it was cute. But this led to her experimenting with drugs with her boyfriends. Since my parents always treated her as if the problems she caused were of no consequence, her behavior got out of control. Several times she disappeared. And every time a young woman was found dead, the police called my father to see if she was one! This caused my family great distress”.

The WHO presents five basic reasons why young ones might be drawn to drugs:

· They want to feel grown-up and make their own decisions.

· They want to fit in.

· They want to relax and feel good.

· They want to take risks and rebel.

· They want to satisfy their curiosity.

Drug availability and pressure also increase the likelihood that a youth will begin this self-destructive course.

Every man has a choice.

Task 1. Transcribe the following words and word-combinations and learn

their pronunciation:

drug, addiction, government, punish, legalization, officially, patients, clinics, abstention, percent, exhibition, indelible, eye-witness, monstrous, inhabitants, mannequin, disdain.

Task 2. Match the following word-building suffixes to the words to make the other parts of speech. Translate them. Decide which parts of speech each suffix helps make:

-ure, -al, -ic, -ment, -ent, -ly, -or, -ion, -ty, -er, -ness, -ful, -ce, -ship

Dread, ill, treat, to legalize, ship, perfect, important, addict, to abstain, friend, to depend, to fight, to organize, to abuse, product, to inebriate, alcohol, to press

Task 3. What do the following abbreviations mean?

ITAR TASS, RIA News, Alconons , Narconons, IKEA, US, LSD, EU, UN AIDS, WHO.

Task 4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is one of the most dreadful illnesses in the world?

2. What is done to improve the situation ?

3. What is the average age of drug addicts? Is it becoming younger and younger?

4. Which dangers are waiting for them?

5. Why do people continue to abuse drugs despite risks?

6. Are they responsible for crimes?

7. What levels of the society are involved into drug abusing?

8. Who suffers from it?

9. Which are basic reasons why young ones might be drawn to drugs?

10. Is there a chance to get rid of this dependence?

Task. 5. Summarize the text in 10 sentences.

Task 6. Give the text a headline, explain your choice. Speak on the message of the text.

Caffeine is one of the most popular drugs in the world. It is particularly in the United States. Ninety percent of Americans consume it every day. Over half consume more than 300 milligrams (mg) of caffeine every day. It is found in coffee, tea, cola, chocolate and variety of other things.

Most people don't know how much caffeine they take in. They also do not realize it is an addictive drug. It stimulates the brain in the same way as illegal drugs such as cocaine or heroin do. Although caffeine is not as strong as these drugs, it is still addictive. If you must have caffeine every day, you are addicted.

Caffeine doesn't have the same effect on everyone. While some people can have three caffeine drinks in an hour and be fine, others may feel nervous and jumpy after just one drink. “Usually a safe amount is no more than three eight-ounce cups, 250 mg, a day.” says one nutrition expert. She explains that when people have more caffeine than this, they start to have problems. An ounce of chocolate and the average eight-ounce soft drink both have about 25 mg of caffeine, much less than coffee.

Caffeine has some medical uses. Doctors use it as a heart stimulant. But most people take it when they feel tired and need energy. They don't realize that they are hurting themselves. When the body is tired, it needs rest.

Task 7. Translate the text in writing:

1. Cocaine immediately became very popular. People thought it was a wonder drug. You could buy products with cocaine everywhere. Until 1912 you could buy it at a department store in the United States. There were cocaine medicines and even chocolate cocaine tablets. One popular drink was Vin Coca - coca wine. It contained 7,2 mg of cocaine per ounce of wine. In the 1880s, the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud said that cocaine was useful. He believed it cured depression and alcoholism.

2. One hundred years ago cocaine was also an ingredient in the world's most famous soft drink - Coca Cola. At that time, it was a medicinal drink. It was named for its two main ingredients - coca leaves and cola nuts. People believed that Coca Cola was beneficial; it made them feel better and more awake. That's not surprising. It contained cocaine from coca leaves and caffeine from kola nuts. Coca-Cola hasn't been made with cocaine for over 75 years.

3. Despite its benefits, cocaine wasn't popular for very long. People soon discovered that it wasn't really wonderful. Doctors saw that people quickly became dependent on the drug; they couldn't live without it. It also made too much of it. By the beginning of the twentieth century, companies were taking cocaine out of their products. Soon governments around the world made it illegal. Today cocaine is considered one of the most dangerous drugs.

4. A drug is any substance that changes the way the mind and body work. Some drugs - such as alcohol - are legal, while others - such as heroin, ecstasy, cannabis, cocaine, and LSD - are illegal. Still others - such as inhalants - have both legal and illegal uses.

5. Tobacco is the most common and dangerous legal drug. Long-term use causes serious diseases such as emphysema, heart disease, and lung cancer. In most places in the United States, you must be 18 to buy tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco. However, statistics show that almost 25 percent of young teenagers smoke regularly. In addition, 85 percent of teenagers who smoke become addicted.

6. Alcohol is a depressant that can affect people in many different ways. Some people are relaxed by the drug. Others lose their inhibitions completely so they do stupid and sometimes dangerous things. Some people became alcoholics. Alcoholics are people who are addicted to alcohol.

7. Alcohol addiction destroys the lives of millions of people every year. Even though alcohol is legal for adults, it is illegal for teenagers. However, teenagers are drinking more than ever. Studies show drink at least once a week that a third of American teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17. Many of them drink alcoholic fruit drinks. These sweet drinks often have more alcohol than beer or wine.

8. Inhalants are drugs that you can inhale or breathe in and get big. Inhaling, or sniffing, is very popular with very young teenagers because the products are easy to find. They are also inexpensive. Common household products such as glues, nail polish remover, lighter fluid, spray paints, deodorant, hair sprays, and cleaning fluids are sniffable. Most sniffers give up inhalants and start using alcohol or other drugs when they have more money. Inhalants can cause brain damage and even death.

Task 8. Arrange the following in order: risky-riskier - the riskiest. Explain your ranking.

a) alcohol drinking;

b) starting smoking at the age of 13;

c) parachute jumping;

d) crossing the road in front of the car running at a speed of 120 kmh;

e) being drug-addicted;

f) being a firefighter;

g) overeating.

Task 9. Look through social advertisements. Choose one of them directing to the fight with drugs. Describe it and name its advantages and disadvantages.

Task 10. Discuss the following questions:

1. What comes to mind when you hear the word “drugs”?

2. What do you know about illegal drugs?

3. Are there strong laws in your country to prevent the use of drugs?

4. Do you think alcohol is a dangerous drug?

5. Why do you think people take drugs?

6. Do you know AIDS statistics in your country? Is AIDS a serious problem in Russia?

7. Do you believe that only high-risk groups are susceptible to the disease? Or is it a growing threat to everyone?

8. Are AIDS patients discriminated against in Russia? If so, in what ways?

9. How would you react if someone you knew were AIDS-infected? Would you be afraid to continue to have contact with him or her?

Task 11. Memorize the following words and word-combinations:

abuse (v) cute

addicted decline

adverse drug trafficking

alarming earning

alcoholic beverage fit in

be spurred on inebriation

be of no consequence injured

be spurred on involved with

cannabis minorities

consider walk of like

UNIT VIII. SUBCULTURES

All the peculiarities and specialties the youth has, permitted the scientist to single out it as a youth subculture. For many years the youth in Russia was suppressed and its ideas and thoughts were not taken into consideration. Nowadays it has more rights than before and is free to demonstrate itself as it wants but in the rules of a law, of course. The youth has a lot of problems. On the one hand it is the problem of education - how to get a good one and that which will be necessary in the future. Many institutions nowadays are not free of charge and one must pay studying in them. The other problem is the problem of a good job with a good salary. It is not an easy thing to find one now. One should be a very good specialist for that. One more problem exists as far as teenagers go because they also belong to the youth. It is the problem of communication with right people and companies. Teenagers are often influenced by so-called “bad guys” and begin to smoke, take drugs and drink. They do not listen to their parents. But this problem is solvable and parents should be a little more attentive to their children and correct their behavior where possible. But one more thing nowadays has one positive aspect. Young people can realize themselves. But some of them try to realize themselves in different ways including subcultures.

In sociology, a subculture is a culture or set of people with distinct behavior and beliefs within a larger culture. The essence of a subculture, that distinguishes it from other social groupings, is awareness of style and differences in style, in clothing, music or other interests. As early as 1950 David Riesman distinguished between a majority, “which passively accepted commercially provided styles and meanings, and a 'subculture' which actively sought a minority style (hot jazz at the time) and interpreted it in accordance with subversive values. Thus 'the audience...manipulates the product (and hence the producer), no less than the other way round'”

Thus when a member of a subculture "listens to music, even if no-one else is around, he listens in a context of imaginary 'others' - his listening is indeed often an effort to establish connection with them. In general what he perceives in the mass media is framed by his perception of the peer-groups to which he belongs. These groups not only rate the tunes but select for their members in more subtle ways what is to be 'heard' in each tune."

A culture often contains numerous subcultures. Subcultures incorporate large parts of their mother cultures, but in specifics they may differ radically. Some subcultures achieve such a status that they acquire a name of their own.

The main kinds of various subcultures are:

- drug subcultures - fandom - religious subcultures - bohemianism - hippies - new Age - youth movements - outsider - body modification - biker;

- musical subcultures: mods - punk - disco - hip-hop - rap - goths;

- sexual subcultures: queer culture - BDSM subculture - fetish subculture - nudism;

- 'criminal' subcultures: juvenile delinquents - pickpockets - thieves.

Subcultures often have their own slang and jargon. (Jargon is specialist technical terminology used by those who work in a particular profession. Calling something jargon may have mild pejorative connotations). Subcultures can be distinctive because of the age, ethnicity, class, location, and/or gender of the members. The qualities that determine a subculture as distinct may be linguistic, aesthetic, religious, political, sexual, geographical or a combination of factors. Members of a subculture often signal their membership through a distinctive and symbolic use of style, which includes fashions, mannerisms, and argot.

Task 1. Transcribe the following words and word - combinations and learn

their pronunciation:

peculiarities, subculture, salary, essence, distinguish, majority, minority, subtle, incorporate, aesthetic, religious, pejorative connotations.

Task 2. Match the following word-building suffixes to the words to make the other parts of speech. Translate them. Decide which parts of speech each suffix helps make:

-ure, -al, -ic, -ment, -ent, -ly, -or, -ion, -ty, -er, -ness, -ful, -ce, -ship , -able

to considerate, to demonstrate, to solve, to realize, distinct, aware, commercial, to manipulate, to imagine, to establish, to select, specific, to achieve, to acquire, technique, ethnic, politic, member, to symbolize, fashion, linguist.

Task 3. Make up 3 general, 3 special and 3 tag-questions to the text « Subcultures»

Task 4. Summarize the text in 10 sentences.

Task 5. Give the text a headline, explain your choice. Speak on the message of the text.

“Gothic” is a modern youth movement which appeared at the end of the 20th century and is becoming more and more popular. Gothic is the decadence of the 19th century; it includes the cult of death and depressed. I think being depressive is the main part of being a Goth, everything else is less important.

It's quite hard to describe gothic appearance, as there are a lot of kinds and types of goths. Anyway, the dominating color of their clothes and makeup is black; the most popular gothic haircut is a “ponytail”, with shaven temples, and the most gothic clothes are Victorian dresses and jackets, or latex clobber.

During the last two years being a Goth has become fashionable and mass media has begun to publish innumerable articles on goths. But most journalists do not know much about the subject, so they do not always write the truth. Therefore a lot of different preconceptions and fallacies have appeared.

First of all, gothic isn't a religion or a sect; Goths are not Satanists, either. Of course, a Goth may be a Satanist, one doesn't contradict the other, but a Goth may also be a Christian or an atheist.

Goths don't always wear black. As I have already said, black is the domination color of their clothes and makeup, but it isn't only one! For example, maroon is also very popular. A color is not a condition making you a Goth. Those who wear black are not always goths.

Goths are not boring, querulous people. They have a certain bend for depression and negativism, but not all of them are even pessimists! An overwhelming majority of them have a good sense of humor.

The existence of this gothic society isn't based on worshipping a musical style or a band, as happens with metalists. There are a lot of different gothic music styles, from dark folk to electro. What connects goths is their dark way of viewing this world.

So, Gothic isn't a religion, a color or a style of music. It is the condition of your soul.

Task 6. Describe in English pluses and minuses of some bright subcultures:

1. Байкеры

Байкеры - одни из немногих, для кого слова “один за всех, все за одного” - не пустой звук, а стиль жизни. Байкер - это водитель мотоцикла. Они прошли эволюцию от диких орд, рассекающих по сельским дорогам бескрайней Америки, до элитной, жесткой, имеющей дело с огромными деньгами организации, сетью окутавшей планету.

2. Рэперы и хип-хоперы

Плюсы: Человек-рэпер не только занимается спортом (что уже есть плюс), он проявляет себя творчески. А проявление таланта всегда приводит r росту личности. Это огромный плюс.

Минусы: Все вроде хорошо, но есть такое подтечение как “Ганста”. Вот именно здесь “в моде” агрессивный стиль поведения. Такие люди могут обладать огнестрельным оружием, так как считают, что мир жесток, и лишь они сами могут себя защитить. Они считают себя королями и не признают никого и нечего выше себя

3. Готы и сатанисты.

Плюсы: Как правило, готы, это люди, ищущие вдохновения, а значит творческие люди. И их увлечение данной субкультурой не что иное, как просто способ насытиться энергией. А их вид (пусть даже кого-то пугающий), это просто ответ, созданный в противовес ничего нестоящему гламуру, в котором за картинкой пустота.

Минусы: Здесь также есть опасные подтечения. Существуют сатанисты. Их идеология - идеология эпатажа и бунт против церковно-традиционалистской системы. Именно люди из такой субкультуры могут пойти на осквернение церковных предметов, жертвоприношение и прочие действия, основанные на поклонении сатане.

4. Скинхэды

Плюсы: Конечно, основным плюсом это не назовешь, но идея скинхедов - только сильные могут жить. Следовательно, нужно быть сильным, не только телом, но и духом.

Минусы: Минусов намного больше. Свою идею они принимают слишком буквально. Именно за скинхедами очень часто замечаются приступы беспричинной агрессии по отношению к другим людям. Они совершенно не боятся убить “не своего”, даже в некоторой степени стремятся к этому.

5. Панки

Плюсы: Лично я как человек со стороны их не вижу.

Минусы: Там, где появляются панки, - драки, грабежи, насилие с целью надругательства над личностью.

6. Растаманы (растафари)

Плюсы: Довольно спокойная культура и безобидная для общества, как говориться “чем бы дитя не тешилось…”

Минусы: По сути, их занятие это безделье, такой человек вряд ли станет кем-то большим в социальной жизни.

7. Фрики

Плюсы: Нет никакого негативного отношения к миру и к “не своим”. Нет ничего такого, против чего они яростно выступают.

Минусы: Именно их свобода есть их главный минус. Она дает им все, в то время как на них самих невозможно повлиять извне, т.е. если пока это безобидно и весело, то кто знает, во что это выльется потом… И никто их не сможет остановить.

8. Граффиттеры

Граффити - итальянское слово, и изначально означает “нацарапанный”.

9. Ролевики

Плюсы: Только развитые в интеллектуальном плане люди становятся ролевиками. Они обязательно образованы, начитаны и весьма интеллигентны и миролюбивы.

Минусы: Есть опасность “заиграться” по тому или иному сценарию и уже не выйти из роли. При таких ситуациях человек просто выбивается из общества.

Task 7. Role-play the following situations:

1. The father and the mother of a sixteen-year-old girl discuss a new hobby of their daughter. She likes black clothes, dark make up and strange music. How to persuade her to change views?

2. You discuss with your friend the reasons of going to the “underground culture”. He/She doesn `t support you.

3. As you know, no one in the world looks exactly alike, even identical twins. People are different: color and sizes. What can people be different in? It may be appearance, personality, beliefs and opinions, education, tastes, language and culture, behavior and manners, skills and experience, dreams and plans for the future, characters. Discuss it with your friend.

Task 8. Arrange the kinds of subcultures in order: dangerous - less dangerous - the least dangerous. Explain your ranking. The expressions below will help you.

Aggressive/biker/conform to/distinct/goth/hacker/identity//liberal/option.

Make a statement/get one's message across/like-minded/narrow-minded/take one's beliefs to extremes/tension between/protest against/hurt people physically.

Is very good/approve/in favor of/I would rather not/actually.

Teddy boy/disaster/gig/incredible.

Task 9. Prove the statements of famous people:

“The youth is happy for having its future”. N.V. Gogol

“Beginning your field, don't lose oh, young fellow, precious time” Kozma Prutkov.

Task 10. Memorize the following words and word-combinations:

achieve incorporate

awareness juvenile delinquents

beliefs majority

clobber maroon

contradict minority

distinguish overwhelming

essence perceive

ethnicity ponytail

fallacy subversive

Goth worshipping

SUPPLEMENT

Teenagers: What Problem?

I travel quite a lot of my work and often meet young people. Recently I was in Belarus and talked to children and young people in school and pedagogical institutes and one question that always comes up is: “Are teenagers a problem in our country?”

Actually there are two questions. The second one is: “Do teenagers have problems in your country?” With both these question we have the familiar linking of the words “teenagers” and “problems” and this sets me thinking why the two words are so inextricably linked. Why, for instance, should teenagers be more of a problem than, say, middle-aged people or babies? And why should they have the prerogative on having problems? Let's see if we can come up with some answers and the best way to do that is to ask a question.

By Jeremy Castle

Bullying

Some causes and effects

What causes make a child begin bullying others? If you have ever been victimized by bullies you may be tempted to say, “There's no cause for that kind of behavior”. And you are probably right. But there is a big difference between a reason and an excuse. The reasons for a child to become a bully do not excuse the behavior, but they might help us understand it. Anger at the bully's conduct can blind us, filling us with frustration and even hatred. But insight into this behavior may help cool our anger, allowing us to see more clearly as we search for solutions.

Many bullies come from homes where the parents are cold and uninvolved or have, in effect, taught their children to use rage and violence to handle problems. Children raised in such an environment may not see their own verbal attacks and physical aggression as bullying.

One 16-year-old girl, bullied at home by her stepmother and at school by fellow students says that she became a bully herself in the seventh grade. She admits:”Basically it was a lot of anger building up inside of me; I just picked on anybody, feeling pain is a big thing. Once you feel the pain, you want to dish it out”. While such physical aggression may not be typical of girl bullies, the anger behind it is.

Many schools bring together large numbers of students from different backgrounds. Sadly, some children are aggressive because they have been taught at home that intimidating others and verbally abusing them are the best means of getting their own way.

Unfortunately, such methods often seem to work. Shelly Hymel, educational psychologist, says:”Unfortunately, bullying works. Bullies get what they want: power, status, and attention”.

Another factor that helps bullying to thrive is a lack of supervision. Many victims feel that they have no place to turn, tragically, often they are right. Debra Pepler, researcher of violence has found that teachers detect and stop only about 4 per cent of bullying incidents.

Yet, Dr. Pepler believes that intervention is crucial. She says:”Children are incapable of solving the problem because it's about power. Each time a bully picks on someone, the bully's power is enforced”.

So, why aren't more cases of bullying reported? Because victims of bullying are convinced that if they report the problem, it will only get worse. Thus, to some extent, many young people spend their school years in a permanent state of anxiety and insecurity.

A report from National Association of School Psychologist in the USA says that every day more than 160,000 children miss school because they fear being bullied. Targets of bullying may stop talking about school. They may try to go to school late each day or miss school entirely. Children who are bullied may become moody, irritable, frustrated, or act tired and withdrawn. They may become aggressive with those at home or with peers and friends. Innocent bystanders who observe acts of bullying also suffer from consequences. The situation induces considerable fear in them, which detracts from their ability to learn.

The most extreme consequence of bullying for victims and society is violence, including suicide and murder. A professor of public health sciences expresses concern that “those who are involved in bullying are much more likely to experience emotional difficulties now and in future”. During the 2001 school year, more than 225,000 Ontario students were surveyed, and between one forth and one third of them were involved in some form of bullying, either as a target or as a perpetrator. In the same group, 1 in 10 had seriously contemplated suicide.

Persistent bullying may erode a victim's self-confidence, induce serious health problems, and even ruin a career. Bullied individuals may experience headaches, sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression. Whereas physical attacks may bring on an outpouring of sympathetic support for the victim, emotional attacks may not elicit the same response. The damage is far less apparent. So instead of sympathizing, friends and family may tire of hearing the victim's complaints.

Bullying also has bad effects on the bullies themselves. If it is not stopped in childhood, they will likely grow up to bully others in work-place. In fact, some studies reveal that those who had been bullies as children developed behavior patterns that endured into adult life. They were also more likely to have a criminal record than those who were not bullies. Workplace bullying affects domestic stability and tranquility. It can trigger an inexplicable urge for the target, or victim, to hurt loved ones at home. Furthermore, it can lead a spouse or family member to fight the bully in a misguided show of support for the victim. On the other hand, a spouse may blame his or her victimized mate for bringing on the trouble. In some instance bullying results in a loss of career and livelihood, in separation and divorce, or even in suicide.

Workplace bullying is also costly for employers. A workplace bully could be an acid-tongued boss or a scheming co-worker and is as likely to be a woman as a man. Such ones over control, micromanage, and put others down with negative remarks and constant criticism. Bullies rarely recognize their impoliteness or apologize for their behavior.

Workers who experience bullying tend to work less efficiently. The productivity of co-workers who witness bullying is also affected. Bullying can lead workers to feel less loyal to their employer and less committed to their work. One report claims that bullies cost industry in the United Kingdom an estimated two-milliard pounds each year. Clearly, bullying has an impact on society worldwide. The question is: “Can anything be done to curb the problem and eliminate it?”

Let's help, not hurt the homeless

The city of San Miguel.

Should be ashamed of itself. Police are now giving tickets for “illegal lodging” to people who sleep outside. Like most cities in the USA, San Miguel does not have enough affordable housing or homeless shelters. Today, the city only has 2.734 emergency and shelter beds. This number is not nearly enough for the 8.000 homeless who sleep outside every night.

City officials have created a different solution of the problem. They are punishing people for being homeless. They are giving them tickets that they can't pay. Sometimes they are even arrest them and take them to jail. They are actually criminalizing homelessness. In 2000, homeless people received 516 tickets in eight districts in the city. From January 2003 through March 2004, police gave out 2.641 tickets in just two districts. Interestingly, these are the two districts right next to the new baseball park.

These actions are not just an embarrassment; they are probably not legal. The United States signed the universal declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Perhaps the mayor and other city officials should read it. It says, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care, and necessary social service.”

No one likes to see the homeless on the street. However, we shouldn't punish people because they have no place to live. We should help them to find homes. We ask city officials to focus on positive solutions - increased housing and services that will help people to get off the street. These people need a helping hand, not a slap across the face.

The Daily Grind

Is it a good idea for a student to have a job? Why or why not?

I'm a junior in high school, and I have a part-time job in a restaurant. I bus dishes on Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 until 4:00. I learn $5.50 an hour. It isn't much money, but I save almost every penny! I want to go to a good university, and the cost goes up every year. Of course, I spend some money when I go out on Saturday nights.

Brandon Smith

I'm a senior in high school. I have a job as a cashier in a grocery store. The job pays well - about $6.75 an hour. I work every weeknight after school from 4:00 until 8:00. I don't have time for homework, and my grades aren't very good this year. But I have to work, or I can't buy nice clothes and I can't go out on Saturday nights. Also, a car costs a lot of money.

Lauren Russell

I'm a freshman in college. College is very expensive, so I work in a law office for three hours every weekday afternoon. I make photocopies, file papers, and sort mail for $8.25 an hour. The job gives me good experience because I want to be a lawyer someday. But I don't want to work every semester. I need time to study.

Erica Davis

Children's labor

Children around the world work to help their families. Millions of them work in ways that are not harmful. But millions more are little more than slaves. Some of these children are only six or seven years old. Often they work 12 to 16 hours a day. They work in sweatshops, mines, garbage dumps, or on the street. These jobs are not only dull, repetitive, and dangerous; they often make normal physical and mental development impossible.

Many child laborers work in the export industries of developing countries. Their stories are often horrific. In one small carpet factory in Asia, children as young as five years old work from six in the morning until seven at night for less than 20cents a day. In a clothing factory, nine-years-olds have only two one-hour breaks when they are allowed to sleep next to their machines. Although the children pay a high price, child labor is incredibly cheap. A shirt that sells in the United States for 60 dollars can cost less than ten cents in labor.

Children pay in a number of different ways: they suffer from poor intellectual and physical development, lung diseases, bad eyesight, and bone problems. In the worst cases, they die. Those who survive often pass these problems onto their own children, connecting poverty and ignorance across the generations.

When Iqbal Masih was four years old, his desperately poor, uneducated parents sold him to a carpet maker for $200. For six years, Iqbal made carpets every day. He did not eat well and spent 14 hours a day bending over a carpet loom. As a result, he was tiny and his bones did not grow correctly. The dust in the air damaged his lungs.

When Iqbal was ten, Ehsan Ulla Khan, founder of the bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF), freed Iqbal. Khan founded BLLF in 1988 to fight against child labor in Pakistan. The organization has freed more than 30000 children and runs its own schools.

Iqbal went to school and then eventually joined the BLLF to work in support of Pakistan's twelve million child laborers. Although sickly and small, Iqbal was intelligent and brave. As a worker with BLLF, he spoke to children about their rights and worked to free as many as 3000 children. He also travelled to the United States and Europe as an international spokesman for the BLLF. On these trips he made speeches asking for an end to bond child labor. He also asked people not to buy Pakistani carpets because almost of them were made by children.

Iqbal became an international hero. In 1992, Pakistani carpet exports dropped for the first time in decades. Exports decreased further in 1993 and 1994. Although Iqbal was still a young child, he became the enemy of Pakistan's carpet makers.

On April 16, 1995, the carpet makers got their revenge. Iqbal was shot and killed while riding his bicycle with a friend. His killers have not yet been caught. However, the work of this brave young man continues and the outrage against child labor is growing all over the world.

The Day I Saved My Life

I saved myself from a terrible life the day I moved 2000 miles away from home. Had I stayed, I probably wouldn't be alive right now to tell you this.

It started in high school. I joined a gang because I wanted to be like my elder brother. Before my first fight, I was so nervous, I was shaking. From then on, it was violence and more violence. My “crew” became my life and I started to love it. Watching my back was something I got used to. Once, on the way home from school, I was jumped by seven girls who busted a bottle over my head and kicked me until they thought I was unconscious. Another day, I got punched and stomped on by 15 girls and guys on the bus. I was shot at too many times to count. Many nights, after driving in dangerous territory, we'd get out of the car to look at all of the bullet holes. It saddens me now to think about how many kids I know who've been thought about how many kids I know who've been killed. I look back and think, jeez, what if I'd been standing right there? Maybe it would have been me.

When I joined the crew, they asked if I wanted to try drugs. At first, it was like ”Nah”, but then they said, “Come on, try.” By the end of sophomore year, I was taking drugs in school. My grades dropped big time. We were basically at war with another gang and between classes and after school I usually had a fight to look forward to. At the end of my junior year, we had big, big fight. I kept hitting this girl in the year until she pulled a knife on me. The next day when I got to school, I found out she'd gone dead that year and I was arrested. Later, as I sat in the back of the cop car with my mom, I felt like a total disappointment. Getting arrested changed my life.

I quilted my crew and started at new school (because of my grades, I had to repeat a year), but that wasn't the end of my problems. I still hung with some gangbangers, and I became addicted to cocaine. Then one day I got greedy with the coke, sniffed too much and ended up on the floor, shaking and spitting. Even though I managed to graduate, I knew I really needed to start over. That's when I packed up and went to California to live with my sister. I got a job, opened a bank account and finally realised how much life had offer me. Friends would write me about who got shot. I didn't want to hear it. I wanted to leave it behind. Now I'm working and going to school. I have new friends, and I haven't touched coke in a couple of years, when I go back home, I see the old gang hanging on the corner and I wonder if I hadn't left, would I be there too? Would I even be alive? I thought I was so strong back then, but I was weak, a follower. Now I'm showing my parents that they raised a strong, intelligent woman who can overcome her wrong-doings and make something of her life.

Ann J., USA

My beloved punks

Who are they? People or monsters? Or someone else? Punks are always associated with rubbish and junk. People consider them to be narrow-minded, primitive and foolish, and believe that they are scum. But those who thing so are mistaken.


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