final thoughts

T his module was a blast i really enjoyed every lecture i learnt so much, the experience was invaluable and id reccoment this module to everyone it was really nice to discuss these topics openly in such a big and diverse group and to share experiences and gain insight int so many topics. The best topic ive ever studied thankyou!!

Gun and Gangs the birmingham postcode war!

Guns and gangs are a major issue in britain today especially in birmingham many young men and women have lost their lives to guns and knifes over the past twenty years but the gang culture has is now rife,gangs are now dividing certain areas of birmingham calling it there territory and will attack or harrass anybody affiliated with the opposing gang who dares tresspass on what they call there territory, gangs are made up of young men and women but mainly men ages ranging from 15-34 there are two major gangs in birmingham and it was beleived that the film 1 day was based on the two birmingham gangs, this film that casted all birmingham actors received a lot of bad press and caused major controversy the government and critics saying that the film was glorifying the gang culture and shouldnt be shown in any birmingham cinemas . I felt differently the film showed the reality of what life is like on the streets for young people, the peer pressure, and many other issues the film ended with all of he main character minus 2 being killed in a horrible gory way if anything this film should provide a wake up call for any body involved inthis lifestyle or for younger boys who see the gang lifestyle appelling, but maybe im naive and a little optimistic, but if that film touched ten people in birmingham who are involved in gangs then i beleive the film made a difference any progress is still progress. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHGq8sYHWBC

http://craftyrazor-bad.blogspot.com/2010/05/copy-paste-plagarism-see-i-can-do-maths.html#comments

in responce to the above persons blog:

nope your definetly right its not worth it at all, i knew a boy once who copied and pasted all his assighnments on our access course and the tutors did not pick up on it he went on to uni i really hope hes dropped that habbit loool.

http://gingermogg1.blogspot.com/2010/04/bullying.html#comments

in response to the above persons blog on bullying:

i hear you bullying is such a nasty issue and it says a lot about the bully they obviously lack many things one of which being self esteem and they tend to be insecure, people who want people to feel as low as them, its really sad ive experienced bullying first hand also and its so horrible when your in that suituation and it did affect my self esteem, but as i grew up and learnt to love who i was it made me pitty these bullies and they did not love themselves and they helped me to discover what they were lacking self love

http://hrees.blogspot.com/

in response to harriets blog- i beleive there are two types of gamblers - addicts and people who do it for fun and as long as you are not weak minded and do not have an addictive personality and see gambling as just fun and games then it isnt harmfull

http://sophiesblogjls.blogspot.com/2010/05/emilys-blog-about-incest.html#comments

i completely agree with you sophie incest is vile, and there is no justifiable reason for it. 51% of children born from incest are likely to have birth defects imagine isnt that agood enough reason not to have sex with relative? the world is a bigger place to find a partner without having to resort to sleeping with a family member its sick!!

http://jamiebeingbad.blogspot.com/

in response to jamies blogg on infedelity- i have never been unfaithfull neither, and i beleive that if your in a relationship especially marriage u shouldnt commit if you know there is a possibility u might cheat. it causes more bad than good!

my veiws on tattos and body modification

I am a fine one to talk about this topic as i have two tattoo's id like to think they wer tastefully done but people who dont like body art may tend to dissagree, i have a tattoo of a butterfly on my ankle and one of cupid shoting a bow and arrow with hearts on my back with my date of birth 14th feb obviously this tatoo was to symbolise my birthday and the butterfly eas to symbolise freedom and natures beauty.. i also have a peircing under my lip which is purly for reasons of vanity i like the look of it i dont agree or dissagree with body modification as i beleive we are all free to do as we please with our body its just a shell, although i do think some people take it to far in terms of covering the whole body in art or as u can see in the image turning your back into a human corset but it doesnt make it wrong because i dont like the look or idea of it were all unique and express ourself in different ways and i beleive that is what makes us interesting if we were all the same, shared the same beleifs, dressed the same shared the same likes and dislikes the world would be a very boring place!

http://news.bmezine.com/category/modblog/

infedelity why do people cheat?

Infedelity , cheating, having an affair, creeping there all alternative terms for being unfaithfull, being in a relationship wether it being marriage or a longterm serious relationship. why do people cheat?? is it boredom??, bored of the se person and routine, is it because of lack of both sexual and emotional feelings, could it be fear of commitment feeling trapped. people cheat for many different reasons, i personally dissagree with it why make such a serious commitment if your unable to fullfill it, if your not the relationship type... 4 gods sake just stay single, think about the people potentialy end up getting hurt, the children, the other partner and with that hurt brings on a legacy of ditrust, insecurity, low self esteem and self worth. I beleive if there comes a stage in a relationship where being unfaithfull becomes a powerfull urge in your mind then you should be courageous enough to be honest with your partner and end it before any damage is caused, ive personally seen what damage can be caused from infedelity, in family and freinds and it causes so much pain beleive me.....

Some people say that infedelity is more prevalent in different cultures and that cheating is a culture thing!.. i beg to differ its nothing to do with our backgrounds in regards to culture, we are individuals with our own feelings. I beleive people cheat for a variation of reasons, none of which i agre with.

http://www.infedelity.com/

http://www.armchairadvice.co.uk/relationships/

Gambling is it harmfull?

I enjoy gambling whether it being scratch cards or the lottery, roulette machines, placing the occasional bet at the bookies or a bet amongt freinds, but i havent got an addictive nature, i wont keep gambling untill my pockets are bare because i have self control and know the worth of money, i do beleive that if u lack self controll an d find it hard to say no then gambling defenitly not for you because you will gamble your life away these machines and bookies are made to take your money and the are not fun for an addict. if you do consider yourself an addict and gambling is bleeding you dry the best thing to do is to seek help and there are gambling counsellors who u can contact and they will offer help.

http://gamblersanonymous.org.uk/

what being bad means to me

Today in society we are surrounded by rules and guidelines which are put in place to prevent or minimise antisocial behaviour, some people may beleive that these guidelines are effective and others beg to differ. I would call myself a "law abiding citizen" but does this mean that i dont partake in activities that some social groups would class as "bad" well my answer is no, were all individuals we all hold different veiwpoints in terms of what is appropriate behaviour and unappropriate behaviour some of our veiws may be influenced by our religous or non religous backgrounds, the area we have grown up in, the family values we have adopted.

I was raised with values in terms of working hard at school, college, university and the end result maintaining a good repitable career, i was told smoking was bad, as were drugs, and that i shouldnt have sex untill i was 18 lol and how much of that mapped out, i started smoking age 15 this i beleive was to follow and impress my peers i didnt feel pressured i just wanted to be accepted and in time i began to enjoy it and it became a part of me, i didnt work particuarly hard at school, i wagged throughout year 10 and 11 although i was in all the top sets in yr 7 and 8 and an a grade student by yr 9 i was almost a different child by the end of school i managed to scrape through with 5 a-c gcse's and i started college on a btec in social care course which i left shortly after, then it was job after job for a while in seedy call centres and the odd retail job in the xmas holiday during this time i fell pregnant had a son whose now 4 and started university as a mature student age 25 last september so as you can see the route my parents had planned for me didnt materialise and i formed my own future by mended mistakes

masturbration

I found the lecture of masturbation very interesting, it was good to observe the body language of my fellow students as we discussed this topic, some laughed, some cringed, some were very vocal and offered their opinion on the issue and others left the group lecture as they felt uncomfortable discussing a topic of sexual nature. my view on masturbation is short and simple we have all been given a body what we do with it is up to us, masturbation is not dirty, or demeaning, disrespectful or offensive its human nature and those of you who are comfortable with your body and not under any illusions will agree. what is wrong with enjoying your body and being intimate with yourself in the privacy of your home as and when you feel, i not saying it should be part of your weekly routine lol, but if that's what you enjoy then what the hell who am i to pas judgment do your thang! lol only god can judge you and i sure he wont :)

http://www.afraidtoask.com/masturbate/history/htm

The issues surrounding drugs

I found this lecture very easy as it explored the different types of drugs and their effects and the lecture oppened the session up to the students to allow feedback, it was interesting how open minded my fellow students were to the concept of drug taking, the most common drug that was discussed by the group was canabis and this is because i beleive canabis is becoming more and more socially accepted in society today. cannabis is the new tobacco, and although it is illegal and you can be arrested and charged for having it in your possesion people are quite open about smoking it, i dont cannabis but i have a lot of freinds and family who smoke it socially on a regular basis, some smoking daily in the evening or in the night to unwind before they go to sleep, and others who smoke on the weekend before they go out to the clubs, i asked one particullar freind why she smokes, and when she began smoking cannabis this is what she had to say
"ive smoked since i was 15, cant exactly remember what made me begin, to be honest but when i was younger we would go to the park across from school during lunchtime and it was like a regime (laughing) the spliffs we would build were massive and wed pass it around and play a game called 'puff puff give' wed all take a draw and pass it on and wed spoke about three between say about 5 of us during lunch wed go back to school and have the giggles and the munchies al through lesson i dont get that feeling anymore its more a relaxing feeling or the illusion that everything is alright" i spoke to various other people on my mission and got simmilar stories a few of these people having starting off smoking weed, had progressed onto drugs like ecstasy and speed even coccaine and the most common reason for this overall was curiosity and the fact that they had grown up bein told that class a drugs were bad and should never be touched, the fact that they were forbiden made it more apealing, another reason was that after smoking weed for many years they had started to get immune to the effects and needed something stronger.

http://talktofrank.com/

Smoking

This topic i find very interesting I'm going to write from a smokers perspective as to why i believe i smoke and what led me to begin. I began smoking age 15 year 11 of secondary school, when it was the latest big thing to be involved in, obviously i wasn't able to buy cigarettes legally but because i looked older than my age i would buy cigarettes from a corner shop near school, because it was a new thing back then and it was fascinating i would save my dinner money 4 2 days just to buy a twenty box of the cheapest cigarettes i could find at the time they were sovereigns.



I think part of the buzz of smoking for me was the fact i wasn't meant to be doing it and it made me feel older then i was, smoking whilst at home was a ritual, go down to the shed with a box of fags and a body spray of some sort smoke two cigarettes as quick as i could spray myself from head to toe with body spray and rush inside to wash my hands all this was done to disguise the cigarette smell from my parents and siblings as i knew if i was found out id be in a lot of trouble, obviously when i first started taking smoking seriously i wasn't nearly as addicted as i am now it was merely to blend in with my peers and to be involved in what everyone else was doing it was months before i stopped choking and actually began to enjoy the taste of the tobacco



as years went on smoking became an enjoyable habit, id reach out for a cigarette if i felt anxious, angry, hungry , bored smoking became my alternative for a lot of things and still is up to this day, i like the taste of the tobacco, and the feeling as the smoke is taken back for me drinking and smoking go hand in hand i can smoke without drink but find it hard to drink without smoking its almost therapeutic for me.

I'm quite aware of all the health risks of smoking and i do believe that smoking has probably affected me in a couple of ways i definitely do not feel as healthy as i should,but still i find it hard to give up even though it know that it has no benefits.... its hard to change learnt behaviour. as ernest ditcher said in 1947,
"Most of us are hungry for rewards. We want to be patted on the back. A cigarette is a reward that we can give ourselves as often as we wish. When we have done anything well, for instance, we can congratulate ourselves with a cigarette, which certifies, in effect, that we have been "good boys." We can promise ourselves: "When I have finished this piece of work, when I have written the last page of my report, I'll deserve a little fun. I'll have a cigarette."
The first and last cigarette in the day are especially significant rewards. The first one, smoked right after breakfast, is a sort of anticipated recompense. The smoker has work to do, and he eases himself into the day's activities as pleasantly as possible. He gives himself a little consolation prize in advance, and at the same time manages to postpone the evil hour when he must begin his hard day's work. The last cigarette of the day is like "closing a door." It is something quite definite. One smoker explained: "I nearly always smoke a cigarette before going to bed. That finishes the day. I usually turn the light out after I have smoked the last cigarette, and then turn over to sleep."
Smoking is often merely a conditioned reflex. Certain situations, such as coming out of the subway, beginning and ending work, voluntary and involuntary interruptions of work, feelings of hunger, and many others regulate the timetable of smoking. Often a smoker may not even want a cigarette particularly, but he will see someone else take one and then he feels that he must have one, too.
While to many people smoking is fun, and a reward in itself, it more often accompanies other pleasures. At meals, a cigarette is somewhat like another course. In general, smoking introduces a holiday spirit into everyday living. It rounds out other forms of enjoyment and makes them one hundred per cent satisfactory." there are many reasons as to why we smoke all different and varied in many ways each individual will have reasons unique to themselves in conclusion i believe smoking is a bad habit that isn't worth starting, the health risks can be detrimental to the body and because the tobacco is so addictive and therapeutic irrespective of us knowing its bad we still crave it http://smokefree.nhs.uk/whatsuitsme