Teen Smoking free essay sample

Although many things that kids do can be seen as unwise or unhealthy, there are a few things worse than when a teenager smokes. However, many teens smoke regularly, despite the risks and dangers of smoking. This has been an ongoing problem for many years now, and effects many people, even kids in our own school. Stronger steps need to be taken to ensure that kids who smoke receive a stronger understanding of the risks involved with smoking, programs should be set up to help teenagers quit smoking, and more effort should be put into keeping the school clean and smoke-free. Underage smoking is a problem in our community, and young lives start down a path that leads to disease and cancer. In this day of age of cigarettes warning labels, anti-smoking campaigns, and one has to wonder why people start smoking in the first place. There are many different reasons why a person begins to smoke, however there are even more reasons why a person should not smoke. We will write a custom essay sample on Teen Smoking or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page So why is the youth of America taking such a big health risk that could end there lives? What is giving these teens the idea that smoking is a positive thing to bring into their lives? Tobacco has been around society since Columbus discovered America and the Indians gave him some tobacco as a present. Believed to have special healing powers this wild plant will soon reached all parts the world. Tobacco rapid and wild growth came during world war one, where the cigarette was called â€Å"soldiers smoke†. During World War II cigarettes reach an all new hey that people thought it would never be a will to reach, everybody wanted a cigarette pushing the sales through the roof. Cigarettes were included in the soldier’s rations, just like they would have food. Tobacco companies sent millions of cigarettes to soldiers for free. Now all the soldiers were hooked on this deadly cigarette, so when they came home from the war, the tobacco companies all have dedicated customers to whom they could sell their products (Randall). At this point in tobaccos history, the health risks of smoking have not been made public knowledge and the effects of smoking were not well known. For those born prior to the passage of the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act in 1970, there was an overwhelming amount of false information, and false ads, telling people that cigarettes were good for them. The act was the first major government action in the U. S. to regulate tobacco, and marked the start of the era of negative public opinion of tobacco use. It banned cigarette advertising on radio and television. It also added the now famous warning label saying that smoking was bad it kills people to cigarette packaging and any print advertisements for cigarettes. With all of this going on, how are the kids on the block still starting to smoke cigarettes. There are many different reasons as to why kids are starting to smoke at such young ages. It’s almost impossible to put a finger on what the root cause of teenage smoking is because there are so many, and none of them are definite. The most common reason that kids and teens smoke is peer pressure. Kids whose friends smoke are more likely to start smoking, as it gives them a sense of belonging. Another major reason why kids smoke is because of adult smoking. When kids and teens see adults, especially their parents or other family members smoke, they will be more likely to smoke because they will perceive smoking as normal behavior and something that is grown-up and mature. Coping with stress Just like adults, kids and teens can use smoking to relieve stress. Nicotine inhaled by cigarettes rapidly activates the reward and pleasures areas of the brain, creating positive feelings and relieving stress. Unfortunately advertising can be another variable in fight against teen smoking, tobacco companies often gear marketing towards teens and children. They are a key demographic. Most people who become regular smokers start smoking in their teens. Media,  when kids and teens see movies and television shows were actors smoke, they are more likely to try smoking since they often look up to actors and want to want to be the same as their favorite actors so they mimics their behavior. Another reason why young girls are getting into this nasty habit is because smoking helps you lose weight. The main chemical in tobacco is nicotine, a stimulant which causes your heart to beat more rapidly. This causes weight loss and cigarettes also may cause a decrease in appetite. Therefor many female teens smoke because they feel it will help them lose weight, and often they do not consider the harm they are doing to their bodies. Although smoking at a young age is such a negative thing and so many kids are doing it the trends are starting to improve slowly over time. It has been a goal for a long time to cut back the amount of teenage smoking. There are many anti-smoking campaigns. Are these campaigns doing anything good for the youth of America? Yes, centers for disease control and prevention says that in 1991 of high school students who smoked cigarettes on 1 or more of the 30 days preceding the survey is 27. 5%. Reaching its peak in 1999 was 36. 4% of students in high school smoked. With the trend starting to hit a small decline, the peoples goals is by 2020 is to reach 16%, which is a reachable goal because in 2011 the percent of high school students who had smoked within 30 days of taking the survey is 18. %. a decline in teenage smoking is attributable to programs like TRU, a program that helps kids and adults quit smoking all around the world. There was also a decline in teenage smoking because of higher taxes on tobacco products, advertising restrictions and smoke-free air laws. Smoking cigarettes is a huge trend in the teenage world, however there are many other forms of tobacco such as chew, cigars, dip, hookah, kreteks, and snus, and other forms of tobacco. Since 1970, smokeless tobacco has gone from a product used primarily by older men to being used predominantly by young men and boys. This trend has occurred as smokeless tobacco promotions have increased dramatically and a new generation of smokeless tobacco products has hit the market. Far from being a safe alternative to cigarette smoking, smokeless tobacco use increases the risk of developing many health problems. Furthermore, evidence shows that young boys who use smokeless tobacco products have a higher risk of becoming cigarette smokers within four years. Although there has been a decline in the amount of teenage smokers in the past 20 years, the trend is not gaining as much progress as it used to. The youth of America is something to protect, and with this highly addictive, disease-causing cigarette out on the market, the youth of America will be tempted by the false rumors that have been spread over time by our culture. Tobacco is something thats been in around our culture for a long time and is not going anywhere soon. Even though there are no positive reasons to smoke a cigarette, the youth of America is giving up their health. At a young age, your body is trying to grow big and strong, but by smoking cigarettes they are giving up their opportunity to grow big and healthy. Smoking a cigarette is never a good idea, and the youth of America needs to steer away from the temptation of this dangerous little thing.

10 Career Lessons You Should Learn in Your 20s

10 Career Lessons You Should Learn in Your 20s Every hiring manager is looking for something different- a unique combination of experience and skills. But there are also a few universal skills and values you should always work to keep sharp. Everyone, no matter what place on the job hierarchy, should check in once in a while to  dig deep and  ask yourself  if you’re working at the top of your personal game.Here are 10 of the top lessons working in the current landscape should teach you. Learn them now, and use them to keep your skills sharp and updated.1. Networking MattersYou may hate social media- and hate small talk even more- but social networks are proven to be a crucial factor in professional success. Put some time and effort into broadening yours. Stand by the proverbial water cooler, even if you hate it. And cultivate as wide and diverse a network as you can.2. Keep LearningThe second you decide you’re done learning, or know enough, is probably the second you become obsolete in your industry and in tod ay’s economy. Don’t be left behind. Be the old dog that learns new tricks, acquires new skills, reads up on all the current trends. Even if it weren’t important for success, your life will still be richer for it.3. Failure is ProductiveDon’t give up next time you fail. Think of each failure as an opportunity, or a beginning. What can you learn or improve for next time. What can you try differently? Build up the dusting-yourself-off muscle.4. Teamwork is DreamworkMost potential bosses are going to want you to demonstrate that you can be a team player. Make sure to build the ability to manage others, to delegate, and to build positive working relationships with your colleagues that help you all do your best work and achieve your loftiest goals.5. Organization  is KeyYou won’t get very far if your desk is buried under a pile of messy papers and your time management skills are nonexistent. Start working on prioritizing, systematizing, and setting you rself up to get things done in a timely and tidy fashion. Demonstrate that you can meet deadlines without sacrificing the quality of your work.6. Practice Awareness/AcumenThis is something you can beef up anytime, and might just prove invaluable. Learn what makes a company or industry tick, what works and doesn’t. What are the newest trends, the deepest seated problems? If you can show that you really get what a company is trying to do and achieve, then you’re halfway to getting hired.7. Cultivate IntegrityDon’t be petty or dishonest. Be fair and responsible in all of your dealings and activities. This is seen as a sign of maturity, self-confidence, and trustworthiness and that’s worth a lot in the hiring process.8. Problem SolveYou’ll need this skill throughout your life, not just on the job. But do find a way to demonstrate to hirers that you can attack a problem, find a solution, and get it done. Prove that you can go the extra distance, every t ime.9. Be AwareDiversity is a hugely important issue in the workplace. You should be as sensitive as possible and as aware as possible of other people and other cultures- and be prepared to demonstrate this in your job search. No excuses for ignorance or intolerance.10. Be Open to Trying New ThingsMake sure you have a willingness to try things different ways, to work alone or on a team, to work remotely, work in an office, to work on multiple things at once. Adaptability is a valuable skill that will serve you both on the job and in your life.

The Use of I in First Person Narration

The Use of I in First Person Narration The Use of â€Å"I† in First Person Narration The Use of â€Å"I† in First Person Narration By Maeve Maddox Graham Broadley wrote: If I am writing a short story in the first person are there any tips or tricks for avoiding the overuse of the word i? My usual writing style leans towards short sentences but this seems to increase the frequency of the word â€Å"I† popping up.   Are longer sentences a way round the problem? Also, Im trying to avoid sentences starting with â€Å"I†.   Do you have any advice, tips and tricks for writing in the first person? It is inevitable that writing in first person will require frequent use of I, me, and myespecially I. This should not present a problem. In a first person narration, the pronoun â€Å"I† is probably as invisible to the reader as the word â€Å"said.† Besides, the point of writing in first person is to establish an intimate bond with the reader. The reader becomes the â€Å"I† of the story. Listen to your own words and thoughts during the course of a day. The word â€Å"I† is probably the most frequent word that forms in your mind and comes from your mouth. Plenty of websites discuss the use of first person narration, but I think the best way to see what works and what doesn’t is to analyze a published work of fiction. You might want to analyze some of your favorite writers to see how they deal with the pronoun I. For example, in preparing this post I took a close look at the way Laurie R. King handles it. Laurie R. King is a prolific writer, averaging a book a year since the publication of her first novel in 1993. She has created not one, but two mystery series. One is set in contemporary California and features Inspector Kate Martinelli. The other is set in the era of Sherlock Holmes and features Mary Russell. King has also written several stand-alone novels. So far I’ve read only some of the Mary Russell books. I find them intelligent, entertaining, and unputdownable. I’ll analyze a few pages to see how King deals with the problems mentioned by our reader. In the first chapter of A Letter of Mary, about 2,000 words, the pronoun â€Å"I† appears 60 times. Note: All of these figures are approximate. Here’s the breakdown on how the pronoun I is distributed: Mary 39 Holmes 7 Dorothy Ruskin (in a letter) 14. The paragraph with the greatest number contains nine: †Megalomania, perhaps; senility, never.† I stood and watched a small fishing boat lying off shore, and I wondered what to do. The work was going slowly, and I could ill afford to take even half a day away from it. On the other hand, it would be a joy to spend some time with that peculiar old lady, whom I indeed remembered very well. Also, Holmes seemed interested. It would at least provide a distraction until I could decide what needed doing for him. â€Å"All right, we’ll have her here a day sooner, then, on the Wednesday. I’ll suggest the noon train. I’m certain Mrs Hudson can be persuaded to leave something for our tea, so we need not risk our visitor’s health. I also think I’ll go to Town tomorrow and drop by the British Museum for a while. Will you come?† Sentence length does not seem to have much to do with the frequency of I. King’s sentences tend to be long. Sentences that begin with the pronoun I don’t particularly jump out. In the analyzed passage, 14 of the narrator’s 39 subject pronouns begin sentences. Bottom line: Write your first person story without worrying about the pronouns. You can always see ways to reduce them in revision, if you think it’s necessary. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†The Possessive ApostropheMay Have vs. Might Have

Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Information Systems - Essay Example The researcher of this essay provides the reader with detailed explanation of Apple's company success. From the earliest government sponsored projects to produce computers based on vacuum tubes to today’s multi-core systems, the saga of computer technology has seen major players ousted and minor players become leaders. While many companies have come and gone over the past 40 years, Apple Computer comes across as one of the companies which has stood the test of time and has managed to turn out convincing products that have given it an image of innovation and being a radical organization. The essay describes that Apple is an American company and one of the front runners amongst computer hardware, software and allied equipment manufacturers. The company prides itself on creating innovative products for the consumer electronics and technology sectors. In 2005, it posted global sales of nearly 14 Billion dollars and had more than fourteen thousand people working for it around the w orld. The researcher then uses different analysis models, such as Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain, Competitive Advantage, Value Proposition, Revenue Model and Information System to describe and present Apple's corporative strengths and weaknesses in modern market. For example, the five forces model shows that Apple has a significantly strong position in the market for some of its products e.g. the iPod and the iTunes Music Store but for others it is positioned on rather weak footing e.g. personal computers.

Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Research Paper

Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus - Research Paper Example Since its earliest explanation many of years ago, diabetes has remained a chronic progressive illness (Rubino et al. 1). The illness now affects over 200 million individuals globally, and diabetes-associated death is anticipated to go up by 50% in the next decade. The occurrence of the disease, from 1994 to 2004, among elderly individuals, went up by 63% (Rubino et al. 1). Diabetes is, at the moment, ranked as the 6th leading cause of death in the United States (Rubino et al. 1). In many other nations, it ranks far higher due to their extremely poor techniques of dealing with the illness. In the United States Prospective Diabetes Study, people with diabetes were treated with insulin, diet modification, sulfonylurea and metformin in order to ease the illness (Sloan 194). Even with the innovative pharmacotherapies (drug therapies), diabetic patients still develop micro- and macro-vascular effects. Diabetes is associated with increased stroke- and cardiac-related deaths, blindness and k idney failure, as well as 69% of the non-trauma lower-limb amputations (Sloan 194). The illness as a preoperative risk element confers much better morbidity than a previous myocardial infarction in cardiac surgery. Whereas this numbers indicate to us that this disease will be a global health concern of the next generation, its actual pathophysiology is yet to be defined. Alternative treatments targeting diverse models of this disease need vigilant and responsible assessment. A tremendous body of proof now showcases that surgery for type 1 diabetes can achieve complete illness remission, an objective almost unprecedented in recent diabetes care (Perry 22; Montenero 98; Fox 1550). Data gathered over many years of surgery showcases the success and durability of diabetes management gained after the surgery. Metabolic surgery is, at the moment, emerging as a field devoted to the development of surgical processes, particularly intended to treat diabetes. However, what about non-surgical treatment? Type 1 is treated non-surgically with insulin replacement – normally through an insulin pump or insulin injection, along with dietary management, usually including vigilant monitoring of blood glucos e levels with the use of glucose meters and carbohydrate tracking (Fox 1545). This paper will center on whether one should consider surgical or non-surgical treatment for diabetes. It will discuss the many surgical and non-surgical options currently available, as well as those under study. Evidence In the early 80’s, medical surgeons identified that a lot of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who had undergone pancreas transplant and islet cell transplant for treatment of the disease experienced a complete diabetes remission (Fox 1546). This remission confirmed to be durable. Since then, numerous studies have come up confirming the efficiency of pancreas transplant and islet cell transplant in treating T1D. In the meta-analysis of 30,000 diabetic patients, Cremieux (590) found diabetes resolution in 97.6 percent of patients experiencing biliopancreatic change or duodenal exchange, 84.9 percent resolution after islet cell transplant, as well as 47.9 percent diet management. I n an American diabetes study, a probable case-matched study compared diabetic patients undergoing surgery (pancreas or islet cell) with medication or non-surgical procedures (Rubino et al. 1). The data was gathered from 4,000 diabetic patients, who were tracked for over two years and others tracked for over a decade. The occurrence of diabetes at two and 10 years was overwhelmingly lower in the group that underwent surgery compared to the individuals who went for conventional treatment (Rubino et al. 1). Diabetes reduction rates as two and 10 years were 80 percent and 30 percent respectively following surgery and 20 percent and 11 percent with medical therapy respectively. A lot of people have argued that the decade remission rate is much lower than expected due to the high percentage rate of

Feared Drowned :: essays research papers

Favorite Poem I picked the poem â€Å"Feared Drowned† by Sharon Olds as my favorite poem because it reminds me of a hard time that I had to overcome in my life. Once in my lifetime, I found this one perfect person who I fell in love with and lived happily ever after. Yeah, in reality this did not happen. Yes, we did have common interests and therefore developed romantic involvement. Real life relationships are more like "The Real World" rather than "Romeo and Juliet". It was a fact of life that couples do break up. In my freshman year of college I lost someone very special. My girlfriend at that time broke up with me but she still wanted to be friends. We had been in a relationship for about 4 years and all of a sudden everything started to fall apart. I could not figure out how that could be possible to be friends still. I always thought once you break up that’s it you go your way and I go my way. I didn’t really want to be friends with her. I was ready to move on with life but she kept coming back to me. Although, I didn’t look at her the same way I used to but she still wanted talk on the phone and go out. Growing apart was the reason for our break-up. This was an instance where we just did not feel attracted to each other anymore and that resulted in an end of relationship. She started talking to another guy and I started talking to this one girl and we came to the conclusion that we should break-up before anything bad happened such as losing trust in one another and this could hurt our relationships forever. Now I have overcame that tough time and I am still friends with my ex-girlfriend.

Individualized Education Program Essay

Introduction â€Å"Education is important for all children, but even more so for children with disabilities, whose social and economic opportunities may be limited (Aron & Loprest, 2012. ) Depending on the quality of education doors will open and the quality of life will all be determined by one’s education. Over the last decades children with disabilities have received many benefits under the education system. There is early identification of disabilities and greater inclusion. When educators intervene early, problems can be identified, and if a child is identified with a learning disability corrective measures can be taken. Although special education laws have come a long way, there are current and future challenges that have to be overcome. This area interests me because there are huge gaps educationally between disabled children and their non-disabled peers, and it is important that special education children achieve to their full potential. Historical Development and Current Legislation Within the last four decades legal changes have resulted in many major policies in the way of educating children with disabilities. Before the 1970s the children with disabilities had few educational rights. Many children with a disability were denied a public education. However, two federal laws that were enacted in 1975 would bring about changes. These laws were, â€Å"The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). The EHA establishes a right to public education for all children regardless of disability, while the IDEA requires schools provide individualized or special education for children with qualifying disabilities (Correspondent, 2012). In 1990, Public Law 101-476 was enacted which renamed EHA to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This law expanded the eligibility categories to include autism and traumatic brain injuries as well as defining assistive technology devices and services. In 1997, Public Law 105-17 often called IDEA 97 was enacted. This brought the transition plan of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) into effect. An IEP had to set out goals and indicators to fit the needs of a disabled child. â€Å"The IDEA also requires that education occur in the least restrictive environment and requires schools to take a child’s disability into account when enforcing discipline† (Correspondent, 2012). In 2001 and 2004, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) came into being. This act held schools accountable for the quality of special education provided. This act also added technology assistance and loan programs to help schools acquire needed special education resources. According to Aron & Loprest, (2012), â€Å"by the 2004–05 school – year, more than 6. 7 million children (13. 8 percent of all students nationally) were receiving special education services through the law. † The number of children served reached the highest in the middle of the decade. Since then the number of special education students has been gradually declining, and as of the 2009–10, school year, stood at 6. 5 million, or 13. 1 percent, of all students educated in the USA. Current Best Practices in Special Education Best practices in special education are linked to the child’s IEP. The No Child Left behind Act sets out guidelines for having each child achieve comparatively to other children without disabilities. Teachers need to follow through. Goals are set for each child and the curriculum is modified to meet each child’s individual needs. The teaching process is designed to be fluid, so lessons are adjusted, supplement materials are utilized and best practices that are supported by research are utilized. Students are taught in whole class, small group or on an individual basis as the need arises. Many special education students should be taught in inclusion classrooms. If the student has a special disability like Autism, the curriculum needs to be tailored to meet the needs of the student. Since there is network of persons responsible: teacher, counselor, IEP team, parents and so on, they all need to work together, and there are several accountability measures that need to be followed. In relation to associations, The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) is the only National Membership organization serving the needs of special education teachers. The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international organization for both the gifted and students with disabilities. The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) is an organization that provides a website with resources like certification, professional courses, e-journals and IEP issues and so on. There is also the National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education and the World associations of Persons with Disabilities. Special Technology and Future Trends Under IDEA, 2004, equal access to technology for all individuals irrespective of their abilities has been the focus. However, although technology in special education has improved within recent years with the focus being on assistive technology, more needs to be accomplished. An assistive service is defined as, â€Å"any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or uses of an assistive technology device† (Bausch & Ault, 2008). On the other hand an assistive technology according to Lee & Templeton is defined as â€Å"any item, piece of equipment, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability. † Service providers must understand the nature of the disability whether cognitive, physical or sensory impairments and recommend the appropriate assistive technology. Once a student is in need of an assistive technology device as recommended in the IEP, the school must provide it at no cost to the parents. Lee & Templeton (2008), identify that â€Å"Four major models that have had significant contribution to the delivery of AT services are The SETT (Student, Environment, Tasks, & Tools) Framework (Zabala, Bowser, & Korsten, 2004), Tech Points (Bowser & Reed, 1995), Chamber’s Model (Chamber, 1997), and Unifying Functional Model (Melichar & Blackhurst, 1993) (Cited in Lee & Templeton, p. 213). However, the law related to assistive technology is vague and providers are challenged to develop effective AT services to meet needs. Many of the technological devices that have recently come on the market have been utilized successfully with special education students. For example, the communication challenges that many learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience have been resolved with newer technology like the iPad. Tools like the iPad can support learning for students with ASD. Children with autism have no control over the pace of information coming at them. Therefore in a regular classroom they would experience brain overload. However, with the iPad they can communicate about ideas, play games and even make puzzles. With the iPad children can utilize the interface unlike a laptop that uses a keyboard and a mouse. Many children with ASD cannot communicate or have limited communication skills therefore the iPad can serve as their voice and communication device. It can help the child to express his/her needs. All the child needs to do is touch a screen or point and sweep. The child touches a picture or words and it speaks out loud for them. There are thousands of APPs out there. For example, the emotion app uses diagrams and photographs and can help people with autism who often have a hard time talking to other people because they have difficulty reading someone’s facial cues. Improvements, Challenges, and Controversial Issues Educational Assessments as an Area of Improvement The passage of No Child Left Behind meant that students identified as disabled should be included in State testing and the standard used to measure how proficient they were performing should be the same as that used to measure progress of their non-disabled peers. However, although the results suggest some progress, there remain huge gaps between disabled and non-disabled peers. In the 2009 reading assessment for twelfth graders, 64 percent of students with disabilities but 24 percent of other students tested below basic proficiency; in math 76 percent of students with disabilities and 34 percent of other students fell below basic proficiency. (Aron, 2012:113). When other grade-levels are assessed they show similar gaps. There seems to be many different reasons for the lower scores among students with disabilities. The factors cited by one study were type of disability, cognitive ability, race, income, parental expectations, school absenteeism, and disciplinary problems. Grades, school mobility, and repeating a grade level were not significantly related to test scores (Aron, 2012:113). Quality of Service as Improvement IDEA and Section 504 are thought to have improved access to education for young people with disabilities. This is attested to be the millions of children who are receiving service. However, critics suggest that special education programs are not always serving the right students, and further many students are not being identified in a timely manner and given the most appropriate and effective services (Aron & Loprest, 2012). Since African Americans are over represented it seems as if some children may be misdiagnosed and inappropriately placed in special education, while others may go unidentified or not receive the services they require. Undoubtedly, many students who eventually receive special education did not receive the early intervention services to which they were entitled. Furthermore, transitions for young children from early childhood programs to preschool to school are not always smooth. When a child receiving Part C services reaches age two and a half, IDEA requires a meeting between the Part C service agency, parents, and the local education agency to determine continuing eligibility for special education services and to ensure a smooth effective transition to preschool. Critics opinion that this transition is not always timely. Funding as a Challenge Funding is a serious challenge. When IDEA was enacted, its intention was to help states provide special education by funding a portion of the additional, or â€Å"excess,† cost of special education over general education. The original legislation set the maximum federal contribution at 40 percent of the estimated excess cost of educating children with disabilities, but federal funding has never come close to this â€Å"full funding† cap. Resources are also limited. â€Å"For example, states are allowed to serve children who are at risk of a developmental delay, but only four states have opted to do so, in part because of funding concerns† (Aron & Loprest, 2012, p. 108). Parental Conflicts and Litigations as Controversial Issues Community Advocacy also seems also to present challenges. There seems to be a lot of parental conflict and confrontations since the inception of the IDEA. This is evident from the number of litigations involving parents of special education students. Schools should provide in-service sessions geared toward avoiding parental confrontation. Ballard and Hulett (2010) suggest that schools should reach out to a broader range of parent and professional education and human service clusters such as those representing all students, educationally disadvantaged students, English language learners, economically and socially disadvantaged students and students challenged in reading, math and science. Effort should also be made to bind the Internet in an effort to utilize this media of mass digital communication to further promote the objectives of the IDEA. In addition the authorities should pay attention to the statement made by Ballard & Hewlett (2010), â€Å"congress should order a national study and report. The charge: How and to what degree the IDEA principle of individualized education can be applied to all students in the nation toward the achievement of proficiency by the NCLB date of school year 2013–2014†. Why I Chose This Field and How It Relates To My Philosophy of Education and Future Professional Goals I chose this field because I believe that through teaching, I can transform students’ lives and help them to fulfill their goals and in so doing help they make the maximum contribution to developing their country and the world. All students could learn and achieve to their full potential if they are allowed to progress at their own pace in collaboration with a knowledgeable teacher or peer who can provide the needed support to allow them to grow cognitively. All students include students with disabilities who are often not encouraged and provided with the resources to achieve to their potential. As a â€Å"transformational teacher† (Stevenson, 2010) I can assist special education students to develop to their full potential through collaboration, questioning and scaffolding. As a program instructor at my previous place of employment, I noticed that there was a great deal of third graders that performed poorly on an IQ test and they were not expected to do well academically. However, there was a fourth grade teacher that I worked closely with and she convinced me that they had great potential and would provide extra support to ensure that they achieved. We placed them in the resource room to work in smaller groups until their levels in basic subjects had improved. This convinced me that students could learn if someone believed in them and provided the necessary support. I want to provide students with this â€Å"scaffold. † Scaffolding can be used as an umbrella metaphor to describe the way that â€Å"teachers or peers supply students with the tools they need in order to learn† (Jacobs, 2001, p.125). According to Vygotsky (1978) students teach through, â€Å"teacher – learner collaboration and negotiation† with teacher and peers. The teacher assists the student to reach the â€Å"zone of proximal development. † This zone is defined as the â€Å"distance between the actual development by independent problem solving and the level of potential development† (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86. Cited in S. A. McLeod 2010). Transformational teachers are conceptualized as change agents who engage students in active learning activities (reading, writing, discussions), and who develop critical thinking in students (Stevenson, 2010). Transformational teachers have mastered the art of classroom questioning. They therefore use inferential, interpretational, reflective, divergent, and transfer questions in the classroom and they teach students to ask questions (The Teaching Center, 2009). The gaps between what children with disabilities achieve in relation to their non-disabled peers need to be filled. All students could learn and achieve to their full potential if they are allowed to progress at their own pace in collaboration with a knowledgeable teacher who provides the needed support to allow them to grow cognitively. Through being a special education teacher I will make the above philosophy a reality. I aim to provide students with â€Å"scaffolding† or the support they need so they can realize their full potential. Furthermore, I aim to be a change agent in the classroom through utilizing active learning methods, encouraging questions and using technology and by being the catalyst that ignites a passion for learning in students. References Aron, L. & Loprest (2012). Disability and the Education System. Future of children. Vol. 22 (1). P. 97-122. Ballard, J. & Hulett, K. (2010). Future implications for Special Education Law. Council for Exceptional Children. Bausch, M. & Ault, M. (2008). Assistive Technology Implementation Plan. A Tool for Improving Outcomes. Council for Exceptional Children, 41(1) p. 6-14. (Correspondent, 2012) History of Special Education in the United States. Special Education News. Sept. 3rd, 2012. http://www. specialeducationnews. com Jacobs, G. (2001) Providing the Scaffold: A Model for Early Childhood/Primary Teacher Preparation. Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 29 (2), p. 125-130. Lee, H. & Templeton, R. (2008). Ensuring equal access to technology: Providing Assistive Technology for students with disabilities. Theory into Practice. 47, p. 212-219. McLeod, S. A. (2010). Zone of Proximal Development. Retrieved from http://www. simplypsychology. org/zone-of-Proximal-Development. html. Stevenson, J. R. (2010). Understanding the role of transformational teacher. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://Bethms. com/articles/pdf_articles/Stevenson_pdf/ The Teaching Center (2009). Washington University, Teaching Center. Wustl. edu Vygotsky, Lev S. (1978). Mind in society: Development of higher psychological processes. Edited by Cole, M. , John-Steiner, V. , Scribner, S. , Souberman, E. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.