Stand Up!

Journal 3-4

I.
               Last week I was very curious about the results of Bystander Experiments. I was curious as to what the statistics were? After much research, the answer has been found!
               Many similar "Bystander Effect" Experiments have been conducted over history. They all received a variety of specific number results, but the trends in the numbers were similar. It has been found that  
greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress. When an emergency situation occurs, observers are more likely to take action if there are few or no other witnesses. If someone sees a large amount of people not helping, they will be more likely to move on and assume that nothing is wrong. They pass on the blame to the others in the crowd.

II.
               This past week in class, we continued our discussion of the Bystander Effect. We studied more real life examples, as well as some more experimental results. All in all it was a very interesting and informative week!

               This week, I was actually able to speak up and take action during an event instead of becoming a bystander. It sounds like a very generic event, but it actually did happen. During one of my classes, there was a group of students talking about and making fun of some other students in the same grade. They were saying how bad their new haircut looked, or how horribly they dresses, and began to make up rude nick-names for them. Even though they were not talking about me, it still hurt me. I have been bullied before in my life, and I know how awful it feels. After I heard these students say those rude comments, I stood my ground and told them to stop. I said," Stop it. You are being so rude and immature. It is horrible to talk about other people that way, so stop." Then I walked away, and I have not heard them make any comments since then. Through this experience, I have learned that it is a good thing to stand up for what is right, even if the majority is not. I am very happy that I made the decision to stand up. I know it was the right thing to do, and I am very proud of myself. I also know that the others students whom the students were teasing are very glad too.

                The University of Arizona created a program called "Step Up" in order to train it's students to develop the skills to stand up for what is right. The basic goals of STEP UP! are to: raise awareness of helping behaviors, increase motivation to help, develop skills and confidence when responding to threatening behaviors, and ensure the safety and well-being of others. It also lists the Five Steps to take when making a decision: notice the event, interpret the event as a problem/emergency, assume personal responsibility, know how to help, and implement the help (Step Up!). Personally I feel that this is a great program, and JRHS could use on like it. I think it has great intentions and has the potential for success. I do feel though that all JRHS students may not appreciate the program as much as they should. I think that they might just brush it off and not pay any attention to it. I do think that it could maybe be worked into the Leadership Center, and then be expanded into the school from there. If the general public sees others following the program, then hopefully they will too! Just as the Step Up motto says, we would be true leaders and be making a difference!

III.
               After witnessing a form of bullying, I am very curious as to how many people are still bullied in High School, and even Middle and Elementary as well. What is the average number? Also, how many people stand up for others, or do they just become bystanders?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources

Cherry, K. (2011, February 21). The bystander effect: what is the bystander effect?. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/a/bystandereffect.htm

Hosick, M. (2010, December 10). Arizona stands out to step up. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/Resources/Latest+News/2010+news+stories/December/Arizona+stands+out+to+Step+Up 

LATANÉ, J. (2011, February 21). Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility . Retrieved from http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/0155060678_rathus/ps/ps19.html 

Scarsbrook, K. (2010, February 24). Anti-bullying day. Retrieved from http://www.thestayathomemother.com/archive/200902
Step up! be a leader. make a difference.. (2011, February 21). Retrieved from http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/0155060678_rathus

 Students. (2011, February 21). Retrieved from http://www.stepupprogram.org/students/

Bypassing Bystanders

Journal 3-3

I.
                Last week I was very interested in the crisis in Egypt. I was wondering how everything would turn out, and if anything would be solved. As the week has past, there are new developments in Egypt!

               On Friday, President Mubarak resigned from office after previously making statements that he would not. Currently Egypt's military has dissolved the country's parliament and will run the country for six months, or until elections are held. Also the military suspended the constitution and will appoint a committee to propose changes to it. Then, the public will be able to add to it and then get to vote on the amended constitution. Egypt will be undergoing some extreme changes, it's government will have some major "renovations". Only time will tell if these changes will be for the good or for the worse.

II.
               This past week in Ethic's Class, we continued our discussions of the Milgram and Asch experiments, as well as the Stanford Prison Experiment. We discussed the "Bystander Effect", and it's applications on everyday life. All in all, it was a very interesting week in calss!

               My favorite part of this week was learning about the Bystander Effect. I felt that it was very interesting as well as very shocking! Seeing people just walk by others who were in danger or trouble made me very uncomfortable.It made me wonder how many people would pass by me if I needed help? Would I pass by someone else if they needed help? Have I? These questions bothered me a lot. Thinking about it now, I would assume that I would definitely help out someone if I could see that they were in danger. I think that I would be more prone to help others if I could see that they were actually in some sort of medical danger, such as someone laying on the ground or bleeding. I do think that I would question taking action if a child were just having a temper tantrum. Children do that all the time, so it is hard sometimes to judge what is really going on. Hopefully in the right situation, I would take action and save someone's life.

               In class we discussed the Stanford Prison Experiment, but everyone did not get  a chance to talk about their views. After learning about this experiment, I have come to the conclusion that it was very very wrong. I know the experiment was to determine the impact of power and superiority on people, but I think that was lost in this experiment. The subjects became too consumed into their roles and arguably became insane. I feel that the experimenter should have stopped the experiment after witnessing this. If I were put in the experimenter's position, I am 100%sure that I would have called off the experiment, if I even started it in the first place. If I were in the experiment, I do not think that I would  responded in the way that the subjects did. I feel that I could have kept myself together to remember that it is an experiment, and not real.

III.
               After talking about the Bystander Effect, i am very curious as to what the statistics are behind it. In other studies, how many people passed by someone in danger? What is the average?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!
Sources

Bourke, T. (2008, September 21). The lucifer effect - beyond good and evil . Retrieved from http://www.philosophyoffreedom.com/node/2416
CNN Wire Staff, Initials. (2011, February 13). Egypt's military dissolves parliament, suspends constitution. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/13/egypt.revolution/index.html?hpt=T1

Garcia, T. (2011, February 11). News about the egyptian revolution came from across the media spectrum. Retrieved from http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/news-about-the-egyptian-revolution-came-from-across-the-media-spectrum_b15070
The bystander effect. (2010, June 8). Retrieved from http://kalldoro.wordpress.com/tag/bystander-effect/

Tiku, N. (2011, January 28). Egypt’s mubarak defies calls to resign. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/01/egypts_mubarak_defies_calls_to_1.html

Conflict, conflict, and more conflict

Journal 3-2

I.
               Last week I was very interested in other people's results in "The Prisoner's Dilemma". I was curious about how others responded. After much research, I have discovered some more information, but was unfortunately unable to find a specific answer.

               During my research, I found that there were over 20 different versions and variations of this experiment. Every person that completes the experiment is different and comes from a variety of backgrounds and upbringings, so they will all make different choices. If these people were actually being interrogated by police, it is human nature to fend for themselves and to not think about others. In an experiment though, people are proven to be a little more risky and daring when there are no consequences to their actions. Because of this, people do not normally work together to achieve a tie.


II.
                This week in Ethic's Class, we spent a lot of time talking about the current conflict in Egypt. Also we briefly touched on some charities and the "greater good", as well as the Milgram and Asch Experiments. All in all, it was a very informative week.

                My favorite part of this week was learning about the conflict in Egypt. Before this week, I honestly had no idea as of what was going on in Egypt! I only knew that there was some anger going around but I had no idea as to how significant this issue was! I was very glad that I was able to research and learn more about it. Living in the sheltered world of the United States, it is easy sometimes to forget that there are places in the world with corrupt forms of government. We are so fortunate to live in a country where there are rules put into place to prevent severe forms of corruption that could tear the nation apart. I think it will be very interesting to see how this conflict turns out. Hopefully in the world's best interest, the Egyptian people will come to a compromise very soon!

                 At the very end of the week, we briefly touched on the Milgram and Asch Experiments in class. We did not get a lot of time to discuss this during class. I thought that the one word that could describe these experiments is : interesting (in both good and bad ways). I think that these experiments provided researchers with very valuable information, but I thought that the way they went about getting it was wrong. If I were in these experiments, I would want to know the real reason behind the test rather than a lie. I am kind of torn when trying to figure out if these experiments are ethical or not. I think I will have to learn more about these experiments to determine my final views. 

III.
                  With the current conflict in Egypt, I am very curious as to how it will all turn out. I wonder what will happen this week? Will the conflict be solved?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources

Asch conformity psychology experiment. (2011, February 6). Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/asch-conformity.html

Cole, J. (2011, January 11). Why egypt's class conflict is boiling over. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/30/opinion/main20030008.shtml 


Milgram experiment. (2011, February 6). Retrieved from http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Milgram_experiment


Prisoner's dilemma definition. (2011, February 6). Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/prisoners-dilemma.asp 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Initials. (1997, September 4). Prisoner's dilemma. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prisoner-dilemma/
 

Compassion

Journal 3-1

I. 
               Last week I was very curious about the number of people who thought that cheating was ethical. I wondered if there were any surveys or statistics to prove it? After much research, the answers have been found!

               According to a Washington Post survey, 64% of high school students said they cheated, and  93% of these said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character. A Rutgers University found in a survey of 4,500 high school students that more than half of students admitted to plagiarizing materials from the internet, 74% admitted they had cheated on exams or tests, and 97 % admitted to cheating on homework. In surveying faculty, they found almost 90 percent reported being aware of cheating occurring in their classroom, but almost one-third said they did nothing about it.

II. 
                This week in Ethic's Class, we discussed a variety of topics surrounding the "greater good". We spent some time studying the ethics of compassion, and we saw two different view points on the subject. Also, we learned about the "Prisoner's Dilemma" and played a game to showcase how events would turn out. All in all, it was a very interesting week.

                For the majority of the week, we talked about compassion. Compassion can be defined as a deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. We viewed two different TED talks this week discussing this, and I thought they were both very interesting. One idea that was proposed was a "Charter for Compassion". The Charter has very good intentions; it tries to achieve peace for all people and between all religions. I do feel that it is a little unrealistic. It would be very near impossible to get all people to sign it and agree to admit wrong and promise to obey the Charter. Also we talked about the evolution of compassion by watching another TED talk. Personally, I thought that this talk was very hard to absorb and understand. I do think that the views presented were different and interesting, but I agree more with the Charter than the science.

                At the end of this week we also dicussed the "Prisoner's Dilemma", but we didn't really get a chance to discuss it thoroughly. I thought it was very interesting how everyone answered their questions. In real life, if I was being questioned by police, I would definitely cooperate with them, probably because I would be scared out of my mind.  In the game though, I decided to stay true to my partner in crime. In the end, we actually had the highest scores out of the class! By sacrificing some points to allow both to prosper, we both ended up winning in the end. I think that this situation would not work out in real life, because when criminal's lives are in danger, they do not think of others before themselves.

III. 
                 After talking about the "Prisoner's Dilemma" , I am very curious about the results. When it was studied, what were the results? Did people choose the same way that my group did?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources

Boenisch, D. (2008, December 1). Is cheating ethical?. Retrieved from http://schoolhousetalk.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/is-cheating-ethical/ 


Clowes, G. (2004, February 1). Survey results: student attitudes towards cheating. Retrieved from http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/14378/Survey_Results_Student_Attitudes_Towards_Cheating.html

Compassion. (2011, January 31). Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/compassion

King, M. (2010, October 5). Teachers, tests and cheating: where do we draw the line?. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200907/r399704_3044132.jpg 

The charter for compassion. (2011, January 31). Retrieved from http://signsofthelastdays.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/The-Charter-For-Compassion-One-World-Religion1.jpg

The structure of social networks. (2011, January 31). Retrieved from http://epress.anu.edu.au/cs/chap5Newth-final-10.jpg

To cheat, or not to cheat...

Journal 2-5

I. 
               Since last week's Blog did not have a question, there will not be an answer this week.

II. 
               This past week in Ethic's class, we continued our discussion of the new face of leadership. We also started our unit with case studies about cheating and rules. All in all, it was a very interesting, as well as enlightening, week!

               My favorite, and most interesting, part of the week was when we discussed the ethics of cheating. Ever since I was very young, I have had the ideas of "cheating is wrong" and "cheaters never win" permanently ingrained into my head. I still feel this way, but I was very interested to see that some people in the class did not! Some students were trying to justify it by saying that it was okay since everyone involved knew what they were getting in to. Personally, I do not feel that this is an excuse! Cheating is cheating is cheating. It does not matter whether it is a homework assignment, a quiz, a test, or exam; cheating is always wrong. It denies the leaner the chance to learn, and it mentally degrades them. It hurts the rest of the class and teacher as well. If there are any grade curves, the cheater's grades will throw them off. Also the teacher will get a false sense of how the class is doing. All in all, cheating has no benefits. It is bad for everyone!

               In class, someone mentioned that cheating was justified because the people involved knew the consequences and accepted them. We did not really get a chance to fully discuss this, and everyone did not get a chance to answer. As mentioned before, I feel that cheating is very wrong and unethical. If someone knows the consequences of their actions, they would realize that it is wrong! An example of this would be murder. Murderers know that it is wrong and understand the consequences, but these facts do not make it right! Another example would be the use of enhancing steroids in sports. The athletes know the numerous amount of consequences involved in their use, but this absolutely does not make it ethical! This list could go on and on! Just because someone knows the consequences of a horrible action does not justify it.

III.
               Since the ethics of cheating was a big part of last weeks class, I was wondering how many people actually think cheating is ethical? What are the statistics?


Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources:

A rule of thumb for scientific papers?. (2009, March 16). Retrieved from http://startswithabang.com/?p=1638
  
Cheating. (2011, January 22). Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/cheating.html 

Hoffman, Dave. (2010, July 21). Could you cheat on an open-book issue spotter?. Retrieved from http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2010/07/could-you-cheat-on-an-open-book-issue-spotter.html
 
What’s wrong with cheating?. (2008, March 12). Retrieved from http://grizzlymedia.wordpress.com/2008/03/12/whats-wrong-with-cheating/

Change

Journal 2-4
 
 I.
            Several weeks ago I was very curious about the effectiveness of commercials. Historically, the most effective commercials have been ones that are simple, straight forward, and either have a touch of humor or discuss making the world a better place. Despite the hundreds of commercials viewed everyday, a very small number actually cause consumers to buy their product.


II.
               This past week in Ethic's class, we have spent a lot of time watching the mid-term documentaries and discussing the techniques used in all of them. Also we have spent time talking about a "new face of Leadership", and what we would change in the future.

               Probably my favorite part of the week was watching the documentaries. I loved seeing all of the different topics and finished products. I thought it was every interesting to see the variety and similarity of the topics. I thought all of the documentaries could be divided up into two different kinds: either a tribute or informational. Within these two topics, the documentaries could be divided up between funny and serious, as well as ethical and unethical. I felt that the tributes tended to be the more ethical ones, and the funny ones tended to be more unethical. While watching the documentaries, I was actually surprised at how well made most of the documentaries were! Most of them, with a little more editing and a viewing audience, could actually be made into real documentaries. I also thought that you could see how much time and effort a group put into their documentary by viewing their finished product. There were some that the viewers could tell had been thrown together last minute, while others had taken hours upon hours creating their's. All in all, I thought that the documentaries were great learning experiences that have taught the class a lot.

               
               Toward the end of the week, the class discussed the "new face of leadership". I thought that our in- class discussion was very interesting. I felt that it was very good to get new ideas out, because no matter how wonderful something is, it has to change over time. I thought that the class brought up many great ideas that could make the Leadership Center stronger. I do think that our discussion got a little heated when the center of attention turned towards the Leadership Council. I thought that the Council got very defensive and tried to throw down anything said after that. This was very interesting to watch. I thought some people's true characters came out that day. In my personal opinion, I feel that two major things need to be changed. One being the Council. I feel that the Council should practice better communication skills and be less seclusive. I feel that students that are not in the Council see more flaws, or areas for improvement, in the Leadership Program, and I feel that it would be best to look toward the basic Leadership population to get new ideas. Another area for improvement, which I mentioned in class, would be to give the Leadership Center "more meaning". This may sound harsh, but I by this I mean the following: to give the center more name recognition, more "meaningful" community service, and to make it more of a powerful community force that changes lives.
All in all, I feel that right now, the Leadership Center provides many opportunities to many students. I do feel though that some changes could be made to enhance the Center.

Sources

Documentary guy. (2011, January 17). Retrieved from http://twitter.com 


Leadership and other ramblings. (2011, January 17). Retrieved from http://leadershipramblings.blogspot.com 


Tart, Nick. (2009, August 15). Top 5 most effective commercial series on tv in 2009. Retrieved from http://juniorbiz.com/effective-tv-commercials

The center for leadership and international relations. (2011, January 17). Retrieved from http://web.me.com/sarah_mansfield/Leadership/Welcome.html

Commercials, and brands, and billboards... Oh my!

I.
               Last week I was very curious about advertising on television and billboards. How much time and money do companies spend on making advertisements?  What is the average price of a commercial or billboard? After much research the answers have been found!
               Depending on the market, the average cost per TV spot ranges from $13 to $63. Companies can reach 80,000 households more than 200 times for less than $10,000. These numbers vary though by television station and amount of views per station. Also the show that is playing while the commercial is being shown changes the price too, a half-minute Super Bowl television commercial costs $2.4 million! National TV spots on the final summer "Survivor" episode sold for $1 million. National TV spots on "Millionaire" sold for $750,000. National TV spots on final "Seinfeld" sold for $2 million each. Also the average billboard costs from $500.00 to $8,000.00 per month depending on the amount of traffic on the road.

II.
               Last wek in Ethic's class, we spent a lot of time talking about advertising and brands. We finished watching The Persuaders  and talked about the hassels companies go through to reach consumers at home. Also we had to do a project on one of our favorite brands and do research to find out the history of that brand. All in all it was a pretty interesting week filled with lots of new interesting facts.

               I really enjoyed listening to the Brand Analysis Projects this week, and it was probably my favorite part. Hearing about the unique histories of some of my favorite brands was very enlightening, as well as entertaining! All of the commercials shown were very different, but they all had one mission: to get comsumers to buy their products. Some companies used entertaining, and some slightly creepy, characters to advertise their products. Others used bright colors and flashy words to sell their products. Despite these two, other companies showed their products in use, and they tried to make them look appealing. I see all of these forms of adertising daily on television, some beign more sucessful than others. Another intersting thing I saw in some of the projects was the amount of controversy certian companies had been involved in. I think the skill and strength of a company are shown best by how fast and easily they can get out of controversy. Smaller, less powerful companies would not recover as easily as some of the larger brands like Pop-tarts and Coco-cola.

               One thing that we did not really discuss in class was which style of advertising we thought was most effective. Personally, I think the companies/brands that do not bombard comsumers with outrageous amounts of commercials and billboards are more effective. Certain brands can actually get rather annoying if they can be seen everywhere one looks. Also I think commercials that are creative, but deliver a strong message are the strongest of commercials. I love seeing something new on a television commercial that I have never seen before. Also I think that the commercials that everyone can recognize have successfully won their audiences, such as the Coca-cola Santa, the Geico Lizard, and the dancing iPod users.

III.
               After all of this talk about advertising, I am very curious about the response people have to commercials. Which ones historically have been the most effective? Which ones do people respond to the best?

Please stay tuned for the answers next week!

Sources:

Billboard and outdoor advertising. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://billboard-outdoor.com/

Poptarts vs toaster strudel. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://www.sodahead.com/living/would-you-rather-have-a-poptart-or-toaster-strudel-for-breakfast/question-60830/?link=ibaf&imgurl=http://www.waterworldrec.com/Pop%2520Tarts%2520logo.jpg&q=poptart

The cost of advertising on television. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://www.gaebler.com/National-TV-Spot-Ad-Costs.htm

The cost of renting a billboard. (2010, December 5). Retrieved from http://askville.amazon.com/cost-rent-average-billboard-sign/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=12691479 http://www.gaebler.com/National-TV-Spot-Ad-Costs.htm

 

http://askville.amazon.com/cost-rent-average-billboard-sign/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=12691479

Shake up disappointment?. (2010, November 14). Retrieved from http://aemmp.org/