Extra Credit Bullying Event

--Original published at Emily's Blog

The event I attended was called Best Practices in Bully Prevention. It occurred in Gibble Auditorium at Elizabethtown College on February 28, 2018. The event was put on by the Psychology Department specifically by the Psi Chi Honor Society to raise awareness for bullying.

The woman who was the speaker at the event was from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. She has worked there for six years writing bills and fighting for Pennsylvania to implement more anti-bullying acts. She began her speech by sharing about her credentials and experiences working with bullying. The woman started as a school counselor and this helped her realize her passion for helping kids.

The speaker went on to talked about the definition of bullying. She quoted Dan Olweus and described bullying as, “a person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative action on the part of one or more other persons and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself.” She shared a list of words and phrases she thinks of when talking about bullying including, aggressive, antisocial, repeated over time, and one sided.

The next part of the presentation included a bullying simulation. I volunteered and went up to the front of the room. There were many roles to play such as, the bully, the person being bullied, and the bystanders. I was known as the follower of the bully. My role was to go along with what the bully said but not to initiate any of the bullying myself. The card explaining my character said I enjoyed the bullying and would take an active part. It was a powerful simulation as there were numerous roles I have seen myself take part in in the past. I did not realize there were so many people involved in bullying and how little people often chose to help.

The speaker went on to share history involving bullying and how we as part of the school system can help this problem going forward. I learned more about how serious bullying is and how many people are a part of it. I also saw how this could be applied to my life and my major as I go forward. This meaning making sure other students in my classes feel accepted and included. As an Occupational Therapist, I can inform the correct people if a client is struggling, provide emotional support, and encourage my colleagues to look out for bullies and people being bullied.

The target audience of this presentation was college age students. The speaker mentioned numerous times she was so excited to talk to all of us about this and how we are the most important audience she has ever spoken to. She believes this is because of all the recent experiences we have had of bullying and violence in the media.

This relates to psychology in the reasoning behind the bullying. A person may bully others because of the home situation they have grown up in, or they themselves have been bullied. Psychology gets to the root of the issues facing the people to understand why they do what they do and why it has affected them. We have not talked specifically about bullying in class, but we have addressed different parenting styles and how this will later affect the kids. We also talked about modeling as an example of how children learn. This is part of the reason why many children can follow in their parent’s footsteps if they are abusive bullies.

If I oversaw the event I would continue to raise awareness of bullying but gear it specifically towards college aged people. This presentation was great, but it was focused more about grade school aged children. I believe especially with such an emphasis on social media today, we should investigate cyberbullying as it is more common than “traditional”, face to face bullying today. Bullying can be applied to many areas of life even in the workplace as an adult and I believe our college and many others should be more informed about it. Conducting additional research could include taking surveys of those who have been bullied and see how it has affected their lives as adults. Also, following adolescents who are being bullied and see how they later adapt to different environments. The coordinators of this event did a good job, but I believe this could be added into more topics of discussion including orientation when the school talks about inclusion and diversity.

First Impression Post Week 7

--Original published at Emily's Blog

I have chosen the first prompt about marijuana to discuss this week. Marijuana use is a popular topic of discussion today because more people are gaining access to it and using it. A few states have already made it legal which causes some people to wonder why it is not legal throughout the whole country. Many feel as though it should be legal in every state while others are strongly opposed to the idea.

People who favor the use of marijuana would argue it is not as harmful as other substances and it is used to heal many medical issues. Others who do not agree with the legalization of marijuana believe it can be hurtful to the next generation and it is addictive.

Some also think, the legalization of marijuana will cause teenagers to use it more and more. The rate of teenagers using marijuana increases every year. Marijuana is dangerous for children because their brains are not fully developed at this stage of their life. The negative effects of marijuana use can include decreased concentration, difficulty problem solving, and a lack of attention in school. Though there are not enough research supporting these as facts.

On one hand, many believe marijuana is addictive. Even the smell of marijuana in the room can cause an addict to crave it. While it does take numerous uses over a large amount of time, people start to desire the “high” feeling they receive from it and it will soon become a part of their daily life.

This can of course be compared to other legal substances which have shown worse effects from being abused. On the contrary, marijuana is not as dangerous as tobacco or alcohol. There is not one reported case of death by overdose of marijuana. Many people have died from overusing alcohol and prescription drugs. It is also important to point out it is safer than most substances which are already legal. Marijuana has caused zero deaths and alcohol causes thousands a year.

Marijuana is also used to help with many mental and physical ailments. This would be the medical use of marijuana. People also wonder if it could be recreationally to treat people suffering from depression or anxiety. It has proven to help with these issues. This may only last for a short amount of time and using marijuana is not shown to completely treat these problems.

After thinking through and discussing the negative and positive impacts of marijuana, I believe that it should not be legalized. I think it is addictive and could be very harmful to an individual whether it be physically or emotionally. I also believe legalizing it would cause people to drive while under the influence. I think driving when high could cause some of the same issues as drunk driving. Both will cause the driver to be distracted and not in their right state of mind. It could also cause an innocent person to be killed. I believe it should not be legal, but I do see the possible benefits for medical use just not recreational use.

Spotlight Blog Post 1

--Original published at Emily's Blog

Divorce is defined as the legal dissolution of a marriage contract. Divorce has a negative connotation because it is two people separating. One of the most frequently asked questions after a couple announces their divorce is where will the children go? Will they be okay? This is because divorce in some form will have an impact on the children whether it be negative or positive. Some sources believe divorce has a negative affect on children because of increased levels of stress or the possibility of later problems they could potentially face. Other sources disagree and believe the divorce does not have a strong effect if the parent’s happiness would increase if they were apart.

The rate of divorce has been increasing each year and now about one million children in the United States have divorced parents. Research has shown some children have increased stress due to their parents separating. This is due to any changes made to the home after the divorce meaning a new environment or less resources. The change may also have emotional stress put on the child. Often a child will “lose” a parent after a divorce because they may not see them regularly or one parent could have totally custody. The child may also be subject to arguments between the parents. If the adults do not get along, the child may feel caught in the middle of problems they face, or the child could constantly be hearing one parent degrade the other. The divorce may also place unnecessary pressure on the child as the parents could be fighting over custody thus causing the child to feel responsible for any conflict. Research has shown not only emotional issues during the divorce but also for the individual’s entire life. The rate of depression and behavioral problems increases significantly if the child has been through a parent’s divorce. The future relationships the individual may encounter is also a factor because it is shown children have lower self-esteem.The sources on the negative effects are credible because they provide little pathos when explaining the research conducted. Also, they show the counter argument because the research cannot apply to everyone involved in this situation. It is mentioned how the research was conducted and on what types of people though they could include more information about their statistics.

Though it is seen in some research, the negative effects outweigh the positive, this is not true for every situation. For many years before divorce has become popular, parents would stay together for the good of their children. This can be detrimental to the parents because they are miserable and the children because they are not experiencing their parents in a good state of mind. Abuse is also considered because it may not be safe for one parent to live with the other parent so if they stayed together this would put the child at higher risk for abuse. Also, according to the American Psychological Association, most children adjust to the separation within two years. This is not an extended amount of time. Although the children may suffer lower self-esteem as a result, only a small percentage of children with divorced parents also encounter marital conflicts in their personal lives. There is also research surrounding “The Good Divorce” which is a way for parents to meet all the needs for their children while not being married. In this, the parents put aside their personal feelings and focus on the well-being of the child. This theory works when the parents have good communication and a mutual understanding. These sources on the positive effects are credible because they provide the counter argument to a widely believed fact divorce is only harmful to children. It also provides many real problems including abusive situations.

I believe divorce is not good for any part of the family whether it be the parents or the children. It is a separation of the family unit and causes tension between family members. I do not have personal experience because my parents have been married for twenty-eight years but I have seen some of the effects it has had on my friends. Some of my friends have been through rehabilitation, counseling, and have suffered from depression stemming from their parent’s separation. They also suffer in their romantic relationships as they have not seen marriage play out well in their home. Others of my friends are thankful their parents have been divorced. Whether it be an abuse situation, absent parenthood, or general happiness that has been restored. They believe their parents are better off apart than together. Due to the situations I have walked through with my friends the research I have read has reaffirmed what I have known about divorce. Overall, I believe divorce is a sad thing but the effects of divorce on children depends on the individual and their situation.

Resources

First Impression Post Week 5

--Original published at Emily's Blog

First Impression Post #2

--Original published at Emily's Blog

I chose the first option for this week which was about different parenting styles. To provide some background, I grew up in a household with two loving parents and three older brothers. Growing up in my household, I was not raised by a tiger mom who only enforced strict rules, tough love, and discipline. On the contrary, my mother was tough but was sensitive to me when necessary. I also was not raised by a jellyfish dad; my father was compassionate but took discipline seriously. Today, I do not believe my parents are or were helicopter parents but some of my early journal entries would disagree. They were very invested in me, but overall, I think they were able to raise me to gain independence.

The purpose of these descriptions of my parents is because I think my parents were very effective in parenting my siblings and me. My childhood is evidence of what I believe to be the best way to parent. My parents made my brothers and me get up every weekend at eight in the morning. We then had about thirty minutes to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and go outside. My parents woke us up, so we could do yard work every weekend. Not only do I have a rather large yard to take care of, but my parents wanted to teach me and my siblings the value of hard work. I used to envy my friends who could sleep in and watch cartoons on Saturdays, but I know am thankful because I have the ability to work hard.

My parents also demanded respect from us. They made sure we were punished if we “talked back” to them. This was done so we would obey them and realize the world does not revolve around us. Although sometimes it was difficult to obey my parents because of my desire to rebel, they were always loving while being tough on me. I appreciate these parenting techniques which were used in my childhood. I was taught the value of hard work which will benefit me all my life. I was taught respect for authority which has humbled me and helped me in jobs I have had. I believe parents need to be loving but if they do not teach their kids hard work and respect at an early age, I think they will struggle as they get older.

Introduction

--Original published at Emily's Blog

My Background in Psychology

My name is Emily Spangler. I am a first year student and I am super excited for this class. I chose to take this class because I believe it would be helpful in my Occupational Therapy Major and also it will be beneficial if I decide to Minor in Psychology. I do not have an extensive background in Psychology but I enjoy reading about people’s thought processes and the human mind. When I think of Psychology, I think about how people think. The topics that I believe will interest me the most are how to get good sleep, coping with stress, and how to improve memory. These interest me because I suffer with sleeping well, handling stress, and also short-term memory loss. The topics I believe that will interest me the least are theories of intelligence and assessing intelligence. Simply because I believe people are all intelligent in different ways. I would like to understand why I feel tired after sleeping numerous hours in a night.

Adirondak Background