Effect of Dispossession on Aboriginal Spirituality

Effect of Dispossession on Aboriginal Spirituality There remains a continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spirituality in relation to the stolen generations. Aboriginal spirituality is based on the encompassment of the Dreaming, the inextricable link with the land, totems and sacred sites and involves ceremonies, story-telling, kinship roles and responsibilities and a strong sense of cultural identity. The stolen generations involved children being forcibly removed from their families and communities and put into institutionalised missions and camps run by both the state government and the Christian Church. It was the cause of dispossession that involved colonisation, missionisation, segregation, assimilation and self-determination policies which significantly impacted Aboriginal spirituality; past, present and future. These were deliberate, calculated policies of the state and are evident in the first YouTube video, Rabbit Proof Fence Stolen Generations (March 24, 2009), where the white official points to the authorisatio n paper, this is the law, and physically removes the three native Aboriginal girls from their mother showing signs of inhumane brutality. Through these policies, Aboriginal land, spirituality, culture and Dreaming were lost never mention Aboriginality. This, along with the crying scenes in video two, Rabbit Proof Fence Documentary forced removal scene, shows the emotional impact that it had on the actors as well as on all the victims of the Stolen Generation. This video depicts the traumatic psychological effects the stolen generation era had on the actors themselves, who emotionally broke down into tears having to act in these roles. This illustrates how the loss of family and spiritual ties caused such devastation. This disconnection from the families, communities and thus, from the elders resulted in the inability to pass down necessary knowledge to the next generation that is needed to keep Aboriginal spirituality holistic, living and dynamic as there is a strong need for oral teaching and learning. The prohibition of practicing Aboriginal spirituality led to the loss of religious traditions, culture, language, ceremonies and identity, was also evident in video three, History in the making: Pain of Stolen Generation lives on, at the age of three, Helen Moran was given a new identity and a new family. Since these children were physically separated from their elders who held their spiritual knowledge along with being physically separated from the land and their sacred sites, there was a loss of identity, from their Aboriginal gender and kinship roles and responsibilities, totemic connection to sacred sites and the inability to perform ceremonies. Helen Moran states, we lost everybody, we lost each other, we lost our grandparents, we lost our whole family, they changed our names, they changed our whole heritage, our identity. This had a continuing effect on Aboriginal spirituality as it broke up families, communities and led to many social and emotional problems. As a result of the continuing effect of dispossession, Aboriginal spirituality has been destroyed overtime, driving them to negative, on-going, long-term problems such as alcoholism, drug abuse, lack of educational achievement, economic opportunity, lowered living standards,; lowered life expectancy, and higher infant mortality rate. Helen Morans personal experience epitomises her emotional trauma the worst thing for me is the idea that this man (Helen Morans biological father) died with his children hating him and blaming him, you lose your children, you struggle through life, mental illness, addiction and you die a lonely sad death with nobody around you. Helen concluded, I wish I had the chance to learn the truth which exhibits how the loss of truth and Aboriginal spirituality had a continuous, effect as Aboriginal family members, victims of the Stolen Generation, still search for their true cultural identity and heritage in the quest to find their spirituality. In summation, such dispossession, violent and physical removal of native Aboriginal children from their parents demolished Aboriginal spirituality since the Dreaming, kinship roles and responsibilities, cultural identity, heritage, language and traditions were lost with disconnection from their elder generations. This drove modern Aboriginals to overwhelming social and emotional problems. The relationship between Aboriginal spirituality and religious traditions require the process of reconciliation. There is a strong need for reconciliation between Aboriginal spirituality and Christians due to the initial contact between the two; full of racism, classism, oppression, inequality, injustice, hate, fear and division. Aboriginal people initially beared the brunt of violence, where they were forced and threatened violently to forget their aboriginal culture, traditions and language. Instead they forcibly were made to integrate into nominal Christianity attending Church services, Sunday school and singing hymns. Western Christianity had a negative impact where falsehoods and heresies were taught to Aboriginal people, for example, The Hamitic Curse, condemning all dark-skinned humans to eternal inferiority. These falsehoods had such an immense impact that most Aboriginals voluntarily denied their Aboriginal heritage, identity, culture, traditions and language because they we re forced to believe in the falsehoods and were concerned with their personal sins rather than the institutionalised sin conducted against them. The awareness that these negative experiences were immoral was the catalyst for the process of reconciliation. A step towards hope for Aboriginal victims to restore their spirituality can be seen in the source, taken from the Lutheran Church of Australia. Aboriginal artwork in the form of a circle is positioned in the centre of the cross to illustrate the continuous existence of Aboriginal spirituality in the heart of those who converted to Lutheranism. If reconciliation is achieved, the future encompasses more hope for these victims. The source is an expression of Aboriginal theology which is the reconciled relationship between Aboriginal spirituality and modern Christianity. The sun rays in the image symbolises the cross significance and how it permeates throughout Aboriginal spirituality and emphasises the need of reconciliation. The symbol of symmetry epitomises the reconciled coexistence of the two religions and the hope for continuous reconciliation. There are some Aboriginal theologians that are part of the liberal tradition. Rev. Dijimiyini Gordarra and Pastor Cecil Grant from Churches of Christ individually helped reconcile Aboriginal spirituality with the Uniting Church in 1970 by contextualising the gospel for Aboriginal people. In 1985, Rev. Arthur Malcolm, the first Aboriginal Anglican Assistant Bishop in Australia was deeply committed to reconciliation and thus, counselled and nurtured Aboriginal people throughout their painful experiences, hopes and visions. The Catholic Church attempted acts of rec onciliation when Pope John Paul II visited Alice Springs in 1986 and stated There is the need for just and proper settlement that lies unachieved in Australia. Aboriginal story-telling theology is another pathway to allow Aboriginal victims to remember their Aboriginal spirituality as well as embrace their Christianity. In this way, Aboriginal people reconcile their heritage with their Christianity as they are taught Biblical scriptures through Dreaming Stories which makes the gospels more meaningful and relevant to the Aboriginal way of life. The reconciliation and unity between Christianity and Aboriginal spirituality can be seen in the source where the cross is made using traditional Aboriginal witchetty grubs. There have been many other movements towards reconciliation. The Uniting Church and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Congress organised an exchange program called About Face, where 150 non-Indigenous people aged from 18 to 30 lived in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. As a sign of reconciliation, a friendship was built when Aboriginal Pastor Ricky Manton and his wife Kayleen were invited to St. Augustines Anglican Church to perform a service. Leaders from many religious traditions gathered in order to fight against Howard Governments attack on the Wik legislation. Other religious traditions, like Judaism and Islam, have assisted in the reconciliation process. A Jewish couple, Tom and Eva Rona, funded the Rona-Tranby project that recorded oral history with the help of Aboriginal Elder Eliza Kennedy. The Muslim community in Australia is most supportive of Aboriginal reconciliation on spiritual, moral, humanitarian and prudential pragmatic ground  [ 1]  is a claim of Islamic assistance in the process of reconciliation. Many faiths like Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism have also assisted in the process of reconciliation. This is evident in The Week Of Prayer For Reconciliation that began in 1993 where they shared the same goal of reconciliation exhibited through dedication to prayer, thought and reflection on acts of unity. In conclusion, there have been many efforts to encourage the process of reconciliation between Aboriginal spirituality and religious traditions and there needs to be continuous support in this subject. The symmetrical elements in the source, taken from the Lutheran Church of Australia, are powerful examples of how artwork has symbolised the co-existence of both traditions. Steps towards reconciliation in the form of proactive movements also provide hope for the victims who had suffered the horrendous effects of spiritual deprivation. Ecumenical developments and interfaith dialogue are of immense significance in Australia. Ecumenical developments are movements that promote cooperation, discussion and unity between different Christian denominations, focusing on what brings sects together, rather than what pulls them apart. Such movements are important to Australia as different Christian denominations unite to solve Australian youth, spiritual, environmental, social and justice issues, spreading peace and harmony. Interfaith dialogue is the cooperative communication between different religious traditions and their adherents. These promoted understanding, peace and a strong sense of belonging between many religious traditions. Non-denominational approach is a method of ecumenical development where it focuses on ignoring differences between different Christian denominations. Such movements can be of great importance to Australia. For example, the Australian college of Theology (ACT) strengthens Australias education system. ACT began in 1898 when Anglicans within Australia gathered resources to produce tertiary courses and exams at every Anglican college. It was linked to universities across Australia and was credited by the NSW Higher Education Board. It became non-denominational when there was more non-Anglican than Anglican students. It was a strong organisation due to the ecumenical movement which increased its efficiency and offered a common program amongst people. Other examples of a non-denominational approach towards ecumenical developments include youth associations such as Girls Brigade and Young Mens Christian Association. Such organisations builds trust between the different denominations involve d. This trust would result in a community that is based on trust, kindness and friendship, creating a stronger witness to the community. Ecumenical developments, in the form of interdenominational approaches, are increasingly evident and significant in Australian culture. Such approaches are those that are collaborative and the goal is to provide opportunities for negotiation between different Christian denominations. This is important to Australia as it creates a sense of unity, belonging, commonality and acceptance on many levels. It begins when Christians from different denominations interact with each other and, hence, leading to communal discussion. An example of this is the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Reconciliation. This is conducted with a united goal to reach a state of complete reconciliation, relieving many denominations from tension, violence and unnecessary conflict. Many denominations hope for denominational dialogue to act as a facilitator to develop new relationships by exchanging ministers to perform services. Such exchanges are known as pulpit exchanges. Christmas Bowl Appeal, Force TEN and the House Of Welcome are other instances of ecumenical movements where many denominations unite to build fundraising programs. These assist Australia by providing it with a positive reputation in charitable work, These projects show how the kindness of Australians can make a practical difference in the lives of people very far from our shores  [2]  Some of these projects, like House of Welcome, are vital in Australia as they support refugees that have been newly released in Australia by providing them with accommodation and employment. Through these charitable organisations, different denominations bond together and form strong relationships. Ecumenism is important in Australia at a family level. It promotes family through interchurch marriages. This is seen when both the Catholic and Uniting Church composed an agreement on interchurch marriages as a gift to the church. Ecumenism is also helpful in reducing duplication of material, which in turn increases efficiency. This is seen in The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), where the Catholic and Anglicans prepared doctrine works on common beliefs of the faith. In 2001, the Catholic and Protestant churches united in Australia for the National Church Life Survey where 500,000 adherents from 20 different denominations actively participated in. Such union encourages tolerance and reduces aggression and violence. It in the larger scheme of things reduces racial and spiritual discrimination and attack. Australia is a multicultural and multifaith country and, hence, would benefit from embracing unity of different denominations within Christianity. Deeper ecumenical developments are those that embrace differences. With these movements, comes appreciation and recognition of uniqueness in order to enrich the relationship and focus on commonalities, like the common belief in one supreme God. The deepest level of ecumenism involves overcoming differences and primarily aiming for unity between different denominations. These achievements ultimately bring social justice, peace, harmony and understanding in Australia. The common need and view of religion around the world has resulted to an increase in the search for cooperation and unity since 1945 in Australia. Interfaith dialogue is even more important than ecumenism since the people uniting are separated by greater differences. Since WWII, interfaith dialogue has allowed Australia as a whole to change its attitude towards other religious traditions other than Christianity. It has allowed Christianity and its adherents to recognise their faults and mistreatment against other religious traditions errors at best and works of devils at worst. Interfaith dialogue assists in opening interaction between different people and maintains a multicultural Australian society. It also builds harmony in Australian context as it aims to achieve common goals between religious groups. Interfaith dialogue also addresses division, concern and any ongoing religious conflict such as the Cronulla Riots. It supports and embraces differences. Interfaith dialogue depicts the desire of Australias religious traditions to engage with each other and with the world as it is extremely important to do so in the 21st century. There is strong evidence of interfaith dialogue in Australia and this has been depicted in acts of cooperation between religious traditions in Australia. In 2001, Anzac Day, Christian ministers and Buddhist monks both took part in the services at St. Marys Cathedral. This encouraged unity among Australians as they honoured soldiers in the heart of Sydneys CBD. The Victorian Jewish-Christian Dialogue Committee, The Muslim-Christian Council which together prayed for peace in Ambon, Indonesia and the Multifaith Religious Services Centre which ran at the Sydney Olympics are other examples of interfaith dialogue. Leaders of Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and other communities together assisted with the $2 million Grifith University Multi-faith Centre showing how unity expresses great strengths and benefits to the Australian community. It brought peace in Sydney 2001, after the terrorist attack, where Muslim, Hindu, Buddhists and many denominations of Christians united at a multifaith prayer vigil.

Harry Potter Influenced By Classical Hero Adventures English Literature Essay

Harry Potter Influenced By Classical Hero Adventures English Literature Essay Classical mythology stories together with the hero adventures are very subtle. Greek mythology culture and religion identifies the origin of the world, gods, and humans and how that society has influence the present society today. They also happen to reveal many relevant motifs that are being used in this contemporary culture. The Joseph Campbell theory portrays a depiction of the differences and similarities in a modern twenty-first century film like, Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban. Some of the recurrent motifs that are conveyed in both the great classical myth of hero adventures and in the Joseph Campbell theory are implicated into Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban film, these motifs are transformation of appearances, call to adventures and Threshold of Adventures, helpers, death, resurrection and award. Joseph Campbell theory suggests that the same heroic ideas that have been used in the Greek mythology stories it is also being used in the modern fictional hero story today. For example, The Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie has conformed the same ideas and motifs by the main character, Harry Potter, first starting off to the struggle and unwanted refrain of living in his uncles house. As he rebels against his intolerable aunt who says horrible things to him of his parents and mistreat him, he uses forbidden magic against her which causes her to blow up. Luckily for him he does not get into trouble. After this whole misfortunate visit, Harry is disappointed and decides to pick up and leave, out of sight a bus appears and picks him up. Harry then sees the front of a newspaper with the breaking news that Sirius Black has escaped the Azkaban Prison. After Harry returns to Hogwarts School, everyone is afraid of Sirius Black. Meanwhile, Harry has bad encounters with Dementors who are dark shadows that kill you by feeding off your happy memories. In addition, Harry thinks that Sirius Black is interested in killing him. This is when Harry goes into an adventure and finds out that Sirius Black is his godfather and was an ally with the evil Voldemort who was also responsible to his parents death. During this mission, Harry fight against a werewolf, which is his Professor Lubin and against the Dementors. During this whole dilemma, Harry discovers how his godfather escaped and all the revelations of truth come out. However, at the end of the story Harry finds out that his godfather was always innocent and that his parents traitor turned out to be Peter Pettigrew who was transformed all the time as , Harry best friend; Ron pet rat. With great success Harry saves his godfathers life and an innocent animal; half eagle and half horse name Buckbeak who if it wasnt for Harry and Hermione; Harry other, best friend Buckbeak would have died. Harry and Hermione are adv ised by their superior Dumbledore to change the past. Due to this they both go on another adventure by going back into time to see how they can prevent Harrys and Buckbeak death from occurring and prevent any further catastrophe (like Harrys godfathers death). One impressive characteristic that the Harry Potter movie along with the classical myths hero adventures share is the transformations of their appearance. For example, in the classical myth the gods and goddess transform themselves into different figures all the time. In the legend of Perseus, for instance, after an oracle told his grandfather Acrisius that a son of his daughter Danae was going to kill him, Acrisius immediately afraid of this locked his daughter under the castles chamber. Nevertheless, Zeus, the god of all the gods lay with Danae by transforming himself into the shower of gold and gets Danae pregnant with Perseus. There are more situations in the classical mythology where these transformations reoccurred various times, for example, Zeus once transformed himself as his daughter Artemis to have sex with Callisto; a female huntress who is Artemis follower, and the goddess Hera; Zeus wife, also transforms herself as an old lady in the myth of Jason, where Jason himself h elps her by carrying her across a river. These stories have had a great influence in the modern fictional stories today like Harry Potters. In Harry Potters, the prisoner (Sirius Black)that escaped the prison of Azkaban, accomplished this by disguising himself into a dog. In addition to this, some of Harrys professors transform themselves into animals and other people too. The Threshold of Adventures is another motif that have influenced in both society (of ancient and modern stories). In the beginning of Harry Potters movie Harry is on vacation at his uncles house, the only family he has. In this world no one is allow to practice magic and their life is more ordinary than when Harry goes back to school. When Harry goes back to school this is where the The Threshold of Adventures is divided between his two worlds. The wizardry world and the normal life back home. This is similar to Heracles and many other heros when they are at their city and home is different from when they go on their adventures, for instances, like the Argonauts or Heracles twelve labors. Moving on, Harry starts the call to adventure when he is first told by Mr. Weasley, Rons father that Sirius Black is after him, Harry from here on knows that he has an enemy to be attentive of. Like in many other ancient heroes stories Harry faces obstacles that try to stop him from continuing to finish his conquest. For example, when Harry is on the train on his way to the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a Dementor figure, appears on the train to kill harry, lucky for him that he was accompanied by one of the new professors that was going to be teaching in the school of magic. This call to adventure reflects to the hero Heracles, When Heracles is on his twelve labor adventures and even before then, Heracles faces many obstacles that are mostly caused by the goddess Hera. For instance, one of these obstacles is the madness of Heracles, Hera had caused Heracles to go into a fit of insanity causing a lapse of judgment on his part that made him kill his wife and three kids. Although , this tragedy causes Heracles pain, he is still able to overcome this and to continue to keep going forward. On the eleventh labor Heracles is sent to get the apples of the Hesperides during this labor Heracles comes across two impediments, one the sea-god Nereus and the other the serpent Ladon. Fortunately Heracles gets rid of these two barriers. Furthermore, like Harry, Heracles, with the help of supernatural figures and friends is able to rely on someone to help him complete his task, like in Heracles, the goddess Athena and Atlas, Heracles conquest this labor with victory. Harry most dangerous quest is when he has to fight against the Dementors and the werewolf. This is when the helper motif takes place. When Harrys intentions are to fight the werewolf, the dog which is his (godfather) fights for him. Severus Snape one of Harrys Professor is also in the fight and because of the enragement back and forth its that the truth reveals about Sirius Black innocence. Hermione and Ron help Harry runaway first from the Werewolf and then Hermione uses her voice to make a sound to distract the werewolf from hurting Harry. After the werewolf leaves Harry, he is then tormented by the Dementors and a figure that appears in the light rescues him. Due to all this Harry then realizes that he wakes up in a hospital, this is when Dumbledore indirectly advices them to go back into time. Hermione uses her tool, a Time-Turner which is a time travel device that helps them go back in time and prevent Macnair, an executor from killing Buckbeak, and the Dementors from Killing Ha rry and Sirius Black. With the time travelling help Harry goes back and defeats the Dementors by casting a spell from the other side to stop them from killing himself and his godfather. In this movie Harry is being helped by a ghost like entity that enters a female professors body. Which assist him with a message for the upcoming future. Harry also receives the help from professors by being trained to become strong enough to get rid of the Dementors. In the classical myths hero adventures of Heracles and Perseus they receive the help from both supernatural figures and mortals. For example, the goddess Athena and the god Hermes helped these heros with their tasks. These gods also provided them with the tools to facilitate them in conquering their missions. In the myth of the hero Perseus, Athena and Hermes advised Perseus to go to the three Graeae and to force them into telling him the way to the unnamed nymphs Perseus there obtains the cap of invisibility, a pair of winged sandals, and a bag to safely carry Medusas head. Hermes also gave him a scimitar. In Heracles adventures he himself is helped by Athena as previously mentioned. Nonetheless, he is also helped by his human nephew Iolaos in the second labor that he has to perform, The Lernaean Hydra where his nephew helps kill the nine headed serpent. As a result, a new correlation can be made from the ancient times myths and from Harry Potters movie. For instance, in the Perseus legend, Perseus is told that in order for him to get the truth he needs to force the Graeaes by removing their one tooth and eye; this forces them to tell him how to locate the nymphs. Similar to this, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban the professor Lupin forcefully transformed Pettigrew from a rat to a human, to prove to Harry that it was Pettigrew after all disguised as a rat, that was responsible for betraying Harry parents and turning them over to the evil Voldermort. These two correlations depict how the same idea of forcing someone out of their will can help the hero achieve what they want. In both these cases Harrys was seeking the truth and in Perseus was to defeat the Gordon. Next the motif of death is used in many ancient hero stories, for example, in Heracles, Deianeira, Heracles wife, had sent him a robe thinking it was going to make him fall love only with her. Unknowingly she didnt know the robe was going to cause him to burn, since the arrow that Heracles had killed the centaur with was poisoned with the hydra he had killed in earlier labors. He was in such agonizing pain that he wanted to die and so he killed himself by mounting his own funeral pyre and had it lit. This is the death of one of the heros. Furthermore, in Harry Potters movie death among the hero is also installed. For instance, when all the Dementors attack Harry and his godfather, his godfather dies and Harry dimly dies too. If it wasnt for the Harry from the future, Harry together with Sirius Black would have both deceased. The theme of death is commonly use in the modern stories today just as it was represented back in antiquity times. The motif of resurrection it is cleverly used in this recent movie just as it was used in many other classical myths. When the Dementors attacked both Harry and the Sirius Black, Sirius died, and since time is stopped there and Hermione and Harry use the time travel device, its the reason that Harry was able to go back and save his godfather and himself. In the legend of Heracles, after Heracles perished, since he had completed all twelve of his labor he received the price of immortality, Heracles father Zeus converted him into an immortal god, where he reconciled with Hera and married her daughter Hebe. Lastly, one of the most frequent motifs is price at the end of each story. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry has the price of knowing the truth of his godfather and saving three lives, Sirius Black, Buckbeak and including the evil Pettigrew, which he didnt allow the werewolf to kill. Harrys life goes back to normal with no fear of having the thought of having someone after him to kill him. Pettigrew now owes his life to Harry. In most of the classical hero adventures, the heros have a happy ending. One illustration is when, Perseus becomes king of Tiryns and lives with his beautiful wife Andromeda. Like mention before, Heracles become an immortal god and marries the goddess of youth, Hebe. In summary, most of the modern stories today are based on the Joseph Campbell theory and the ancient classical mythologies. It gives a great depiction of how the myths of this ancient society have influence and is very relevant to the stories of this current society. The five recurrent motifs give a great exemplification of how contemporary authors and directors rely on these types of foundation to create a successful prolonged novel or movie.

The Dual Meaning of Meaning :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

A central problem in the philosophy of language has been to find a way to reconcile first person authority about meaning with externalist theories of meaning. In other words, if meanings aren't wholly in the head (the externalist thesis), then how do we explain the apparent authority we have about what our own utterances mean? In this paper, I will present one possible and, I believe, highly plausible solution which will allow us to maintain that we do have first person authority with regard to the meanings of our utterances while still accepting the lessons that Twin Earth has taught us (that meanings are, at least in part, determined by the external world). Moreover, it is, I believe, a virtue of any philosophical theory that it remain as close to common sense as analytical rigour will allow. Thus, it is advisable that one try to approach philosophical questions as the layman — still 'untainted' by philosophy — would approach them. This brand of 'common sense phi losophy' is what I shall attempt to use in providing an account of meaning. Let us begin, then, by examining first person authority. It seems quite obvious to me that, should there be no successful reconciliation of first person authority with externalism, the former would defeat the latter in any theory of meaning. I do not say this just because it is highly counter-intuitive to think that we don't generally know what we mean when we speak, rather it seems to me to be impossible to deny that we have this knowledge: not only do we know what we mean, but we know that we know what we mean. Though most philosophers recognise the obviousness of this fact, some11 maintain that it is in need of an explanation. This, I believe, is because they take externalism as more 'primitive' than first person authority. What I mean is that these philosophers approach first person authority from the viewpoint of an already developed externalist theory. I suggest that, instead, we take the undeniability of first person authority as given and then attempt to provide a theory of meaning that preserves first person authority while accounting for the role of the external world in determining meaning. What exactly is it, then, of which we have this direct authoritative knowledge? And how, if at all, does it relate to the external world?

Cocaine :: essays research papers

Cocaine is a drug extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs. Cocaine is distributed on the street in two main forms: cocaine hydrochloride is a white crystalline powder that can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected; and "crack" is cocaine hydrochloride that has been processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water into a freebase cocaine. These chips, chunks, or rocks can be smoked. Cocaine may be used occasionally, daily, or in a variety of compulsive, repeated-use "binges". Regardless of how it is used, cocaine is highly addictive. Crack cocaine and injected cocaine reach the brain quickly and bring an intense and immediate high. Snorted cocaine produces a high more slowly. Cocaine can produce a surge in energy, a feeling of intense pleasure, and increased confidence. The effects of powder cocaine last about 20 minutes, while the effects of "crack" last about 12 minutes. Heavy use of cocaine may produce hallucinations, paranoia, aggression, insomnia, and depression. Cocaine's effects are short lived, and once the drug leaves the brain, the user experiences a "coke crash" that includes depression, irritability, and fatigue. Many people ask is cocaine addictive? Yes. Cocaine can take over your life and cause you to lose interest in everything else. Studies in monkeys have shown that animals will work very hard (press a bar over 10,000 times) for a single injection of cocaine, choose cocaine over food and water, and take cocaine even when this behavior is punished. Animals must have their access to cocaine limited in order not to take toxic or even lethal doses. People addicted to cocaine behave similarly. They will go to great lengths to get cocaine and continue to take it even when it hurts their school or job performance and their relationships with loved ones. Do users develop a tolerance to crack or cocaine? Yes. Users may find they need more and more of the drug to get high. What are the effects of cocaine use? Cocaine stimulates the central nervous system. It acts on the "pleasure centers" of the brain, producing heightened pleasure and increased confidence. Other immediate effects include dilated pupils and elevated blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature. The pleasurable effects of powder cocaine last about 20 minutes. Occasional use can cause a stuffy or runny nose, and chronic use can ulcerate the mucous membrane of the nose. Injecting cocaine with contaminated equipment can cause AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases. Preparation of freebase cocaine, which involves the use of volatile solvents, can result in death or injury from fire or explosion.

Policies Affecting Indigenous Australians Essay -- Aboriginal, Australi

Indigenous Australians have faced many changes to their original life style, with numerous policies being brought in. These policies had an incredible affect on how the indigenous Australians lived. The policies inflicted on the indigenous Australians varied widely and had numerous impacts. The policies of assimilation, protection and integration had mainly negative impacts on the community, causing loss of identity, language and religion. The policies of self-determination and reconciliation, had mostly positive effects to the indigenous Australian community, creating a stronger bond between black and white Australians, encouraging the concept of closing the gap between indigenous Australians and non-indigenous Australians. These policies had an incredible influence on the indigenous Australians life, changing many ways they lived. The policies changed the path of history for all Australians. The protection policy the first policy and had serious affects on the aboriginals of Australia. Violence against aboriginal people had been at a high rate, the white Australians felt it their duty to protect the aboriginals, the policy aimed to separate aboriginals from white Australians. They were removed and put into government reserves and church missions, where they were forced to become Christians. The aim of the policy and missions was to eradicate all aboriginals’ languages, religions and spirituality, In 1883 a protection board was set up to run the missions. The missions and camps had a paternalistic approach, treating the aboriginals the way a parent would treat a small child. The impact from this policy was horrific, with the mission being similar to a prison. Aboriginals lost their independence and became extremely reliant o... ... community and live along side white Australians, while other aboriginals happily moved in to the community and came to live a more civilised life. The next policy brought in was the policy of self determination this, was very welcomed by the aboriginal community, as it gave the aboriginals back some of their rights. As the relationship between non-indigenous Australians and indigenous Australians improved, there was a high demand for reconciliation. With many opinions including why the people of today should say sorry for the past Australians injustices. The affects from reconciliation were caused by the controversial approach; there have been numerous speeches, activities and ‘sorry days’. The affects from all the policies varied greatly, due to the differences in the policies. The affects caused change the path of history and have gotten us where we are today.

Resilience in Children Essay

Resilience is how a child can cope with the good and the bad things in their life and the ability to succeed and prosper even after facing set and hardships and is based on self-esteem. The more resilience a child is the better they are able to cope with real life situations in their life right up to adult hood and have a more positive attitude. In a paper by Action for Children, it states that resilience concerns the ability to ‘bounce back’. It involves doing well against the odds, coping, and recovering (Rutter, 1985; Stein, 2005). Masten et al (1990) define resilience as â€Å"the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances†. As a concept it appears to be cross-culturally recognised (Hunter, 2001). Masten et al (1990) have identified three kinds of resilience among groups of children. These are: †¢ Children who do not succumb to adversities, despite their high-risk status, for example babies of low birth-weight. †¢ Children who develop coping strategies in situations of chronic stress, for example the children of drug-using or alcoholic parents. †¢ Children who have suffered extreme trauma, for example through disasters, sudden loss of a close relative, or abuse, and who have recovered and prospered. Resilient children, therefore, are those who resist adversity, manage to cope with uncertainly and are able to recover successfully from trauma (Newman, 2004). Some of the processes that are thought to play a part in promoting resilience include managed exposure to risk, since this can provide an opportunity for coping mechanisms to be acquired; opportunities to exert agency and develop a sense of mastery; strong relationships with supportive parents or cares, or external mentors and other social networks; positive school experiences and extra-curricular activities; and capacity to ‘reframe’ adversities  (Newman, 2004). I ensure that in my setting the staff are given the skills necessary and the knowledge to promote resilience in the children we care for. Assertiveness is a healthy way of communicating. It’s the ability to speak up for ourselves in a way that is honest and respectful. We promote this in my setting as a child who demonstrates assertiveness will be more likely to ask for help only when they need it. e.g. if a child asked for help doing a jig-saw they know what exactly they want when asking for help. They are also more likely to get on with the task once the initial difficulty has been overcome and they have been successful and will learn from that. Healthy self-esteem is like a child’s armour against the challenges of the world. Kids who know their strengths and weaknesses and feel good about themselves seem to have an easier time handling conflicts and resisting negative pressures. If a child is self confident within themselves and doesn’t show fear when trying new things e.g. climbing up the steps of a slide. However, the staff need to be aware of risk and the child’s capabilities and be sure that they are not hampering the child’s confidence by perhaps refusing to allow them to take a risk due to age etc. Self-awareness and the ability to socialise and behave appropriately in different situations and is confident about themselves usually reveals a healthy well-being and resilience. Children with low self-esteem may not want to try new things and may speak negatively about themselves: â€Å"I’m stupid,† They may have a low tolerance for frustration, giving up easily or waiting for somebody else to take over. They tend to be overly critical of and easily disappointed in themselves. One example of an approach we use in my setting to help build resilience is based on the Attachment theory. John Bowlby emphasises the importance of early relationships and quality of care for laying the foundations for healthy relationships and self-esteem in adulthood. Interventions based around attachment theory help to develop parental awareness and sensitivity to their child. Sensitive, available and consistent child care practices  protect children by establishing positive expectations about future relationships and a positive view of self, which influence adaptive coping in later years (Sroufe et al, 1990). My setting provides this through a key-worker system, ensuring on-going and effective communication and working in partnership with the parents. Daniel and Wassell (2002). They describe resilience in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The intrinsic factors are seen as three building blocks that are necessary for resilience: †¢ A secure base – the child feels a sense of belonging and security †¢ Good self-esteem – an internal sense of worth and competence †¢ A sense of self-efficacy – a sense of mastery and control, along with an accurate understanding of personal strengths and limitations. The extrinsic factors are described as: †¢ At least one secure attachment relationship †¢ Access to wider supports such as extended family and friends †¢ Positive nursery, school and or community experiences This framework provides a useful basis for informing assessment of children, and planning and implementing interventions to promote resilience. In my setting I give the children lots of praise and encouragement throughout the day to encourage their confidence and self esteem. If I praise the children they feel good and happy about themselves, hence building their self esteem. I would give the children small challenges that I know that they can succeed in to help build their confidence and self esteem e.g. jigsaw puzzle then I would give them tasks that they will need a little help to complete the task but I will sit down beside them and help and encourage them to complete it. Once completed, the children feel very proud of themselves. Praise gives children confidence and self esteem and having good confidence and self esteem shows a child has good resilience. I would support and reassure a child when they feel scared e.g. starting in my room for their first time away from their parents. Would reassure then by  cuddling them, telling them its okay, distracting them with toys they enjoy playing with at home. If a child makes a bond and trusts the adults in the room they will feel more confident and comfortable. I let the children take risks as this teaches them their boundaries in what they can do and what they cant do. I also let the children play independently by letting them pick what they want to play with to build their interest and their own self-identity. If the children knows what they like and are interested in they will be very confident with themselves. During circle time is a great opportunity for helping children learn new ways of how to protect themselves. On activity we do is to get the children to make faces of happy or sad and ask them in circle time to pick a face and ask why or just discuss when they would be happy or sad and what they can do to change this. This also helps develop awareness of emotions and empathy for others. Helping children protect themselves from child abuse is easier when you begin teaching protection techniques at an early age. It is important to build effective forms of communication with the children by developing relationships and building trust. This circle time activity helps the children to feel comfortable about talking about feelings and emotions. This helps build trust between me and the child and a feeling of comfort in knowing I, or the staff are approachable if something is worrying them I am currently in the process of liaising with the NSPCC about the validity of using imaginative/role play as a forum for exploring what to do in certain situations – example – Run, Yell and tell or the Underwear Rule. I also think the Play Safe is a good simple approach for the older children in my setting, â€Å"Playing with friends is fun, but its no fun if you get hurt. I follow the Play Safe rules to make sure you have a good time†. This is good I think because there are set out specific rules and some of the older children enjoy understanding rules and realising right from wrong. This is a useful tool as it helps children protect themselves in the instance another child hitting or hurting them. They know to tell a member of staff  so that they can help deal with the situation. Teaching a child deal with conflict is vital in promoting resilience and independence. The NSPCC’s Underwear Rule scan support and assist staff to explain to children that where you wear your pants is a private place and no one should ask to see or touch that place. It also explains about good touch and bad touch; good touch is a cuddle or hug which make a child feel safe or comfortable; bad touch is something that feels unsafe or uneasy. Circle time is a good venue to also look at the issue of good secrets and bad secrets. (If an adult tells you a secret which makes you feel scared and anxious then this is a bad secret that you shouldn’t keep but if it is a good secret that you get excited about then its ok to keep the secret). I think it is so important for us to teach the children in the setting that they can trust us and tell us anything they feel scared or anxious about and that we can help them deal with this situation. Parents are fully supportive of this and participate by continuing this at home which supports any learning and confirms this for the child. Sources: NSPCC website. Bernardo’s. Action for Children.

Highschool Stereotypes Essay

When you first enter high school, you can face many different difficulties. (exams, new friends, drama etc. ) But one of the most stressful difficulties of all are stereotypes. ‘What is a stereotype? Where do I fit in? Do I Have to fit in? ’ are just some of the things you may be worrying about. There are three main stereotypes that I have come to recognize that are in almost every single school. The preps, the nerds, and the emos. I will help you classify which is which and understand the difference so that you can determine whether you want to fit in with these groups, or go your own way. The first main stereotype is the preps. They will usually be well talked about and you will hear their names often. They dress nice in expensive clothing, are usually wealthy and are sometimes in sports like football or cheerleading. This stereotype is usually filled with good-looking people and these types of kids are known to be meaner than average. There are advantages and disadvantages to being one of the preps. Some good things about being one is that you are well known, people envy you and want to be your friend. You usually have fun because you are invited to parties and everyone wants to be around you. A few disadvantages are that you’re expected to dress nicely at all times, you are also supposed to act accordingly even if that means being rude to someone else. The second stereotype is the nerds. These kids are the exceptionally smart ones. These are the people in your class that get straight A’s. They enjoy doing homework and extra credit and are usually known to be socially awkward. They often wear glasses or braces or breathe heavily and often get bullied. Just like every other stereotype I am talking about today, being a nerd also has it’s own ups and downs. Some advantages are that you get excellent grades, which makes teachers impressed, and parents proud. Also, since you’re academically higher you are more likely to get into a good college and get an excellent education, which will probably lead to a high paying job in the future. Some downsides are that you won’t be invited anywhere fun, probably won’t have many friends and might get picked on a lot by classmates or bullies. The third stereotype is the emos. This is probably the easiest stereotype to spot out. They dress in all black, very dark makeup, dyed black hair and are usually depressed and don’t speak to anyone outside their circle. They frown upon the normal members of society and think they are ‘different’. They are usually sad and their conversations revolve around how they want to die and how terrible life is. These kids despise the preppy kids and hate anything happy or cheery. They usually spend a lot of time skipping class together, and chatting online to each other. The upside to joining this stereotype is that they have an odd sense of community. They all stick together no matter what and listen to each other’s problems. Some of the downsides are that you are looked down upon by most people in society, and most people do not want to approach you or get to know you. It will be hard for you to get a decent job, and people will make bad assumptions about you. Well, now you know the 3 main high school stereotypes. The preps, the nerds, and the emos. You can be mean and popular with the preps, be geeky but have good grades with the nerds, or be depressed but have a sense of community with the emos. You can weigh out the positives and negatives for each and decide if one of these groups is right for you or you can decide to just be yourself and go your own path.