Cross-Ethnic Friendships in Schools Make Youths Feel Less Vulnerable, Assignment

Cross-Ethnic Friendships in Schools Make Youths Feel Less Vulnerable, Safer - Assignment Example It is important in any age, but it is especially important for teens. The psychological problems a child may face can result in serious conflict that can influence student’s study progress. In this situation a person can become lonely and this loneliness can influence his life greatly. It is necessary this issue should be analyzed properly. In the modern world psychological problems are closely connected with multicultural relations. This problem was depicted in the article under consideration. Analyzing primary and secondary sources we will try to prove that cross-ethnic environment is very beneficial for children. The number of researches has been devoted to the issue of cross-ethnic friendship in schools. Schools are the places, where the identity is formed. Here the children learn the main principals they will follow in their life, they learn how to communicate and how to behave. The work that was conducted in the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Groningen in the Netherland has revealed the interdependence between the concepts of friendship and vulnerability. Researches state: â€Å"we propose that cross-ethnic friendships might partly account for the relation between classroom ethnic diversity and perceived vulnerability. Forming friendships with classmates from different ethnic groups as classroom diversity increases (greater availability) can help ward off potential harassers from those groups as well as buffer the negative effects of peer harassment† (Graham & Munniksma, 2013, p. 2). It can be easily explained that the representatives of different cultures try to unite and organize communities, where they may feel safe. The professors, who work in the abovementioned universities underlined such cross-ethnic communications and friendship can bring only advantages to students. However, it is essential to take into account a great number of peculiarities. The school program and other facilities should be formed cons idering special characteristics of every ethnic group in order to make the study comfortable for them. Such approach can solve many problems connected with the education itself as far as with the psychological issues. The researchers emphasize that the cross-ethnic friendship is not a rare phenomenon today. It is enough to visit an ordinary American middle-school class to see the diversity. The studies have shown that the more diverse the class, the more protected the children are. It means they do not feel themselves vulnerable. Real friendship is not temporary issue, and certainly it should not be considered such. People who have real friends are lucky ones. Those who have friends are psychologically stable. Friendship provides the emotional security and some kind of shelter. The study reveals that person who has at least one friend is not so helpless, is more self-assured and not psychologically vulnerable. The interesting question arises on the matter of similarity and dissimila rity between the students who study in semi diverse class and those who study in multi diverse one. In the most cases people choose friends considering their special characteristics, like gender, ethnicity, the color of skin etc. Actually, this is the main reason of discrimination which arises in our society today. The next important issue is propinquity. â€Å"

Oedipus the king Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oedipus the king - Essay Example It will also be argued in the essay that on many occasions in the tragedy, Oedipus and other characters make such comments which for them apply to some facts known to them but which in reality apply to a broad range of obscure yet critically important havoc-wreaking facts which they are not familiar with. Also, the status of women in Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King has been frequently debated among the critics and the growing integration of feminist criticism into critical analysis of drama and theatre reveals that women have nearly always been perpetually portrayed in an inferior way by the authors. Gender discrimination forms a patent factor in many classical masterpieces and almost every time women are shown inferior to men in some way. In ancient Greek times, women had no role because it was thought they had no brains. The Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, likewise, illuminates the inferiority of women to men and shows that inferiority of women to men dates back to 4th century B.C. The literary analysis will also contemplate the extent to which women are portrayed inferiorly in Oedipus Rex. Literary research claims that the repeated use of irony in Oedipus Rex basically highlights the intention of Sophocles to identify how limited human understanding can lead one to appalling and torturous consequences like the ones experienced by Oedipus himself. Irony definitely serves as an important tool for the author to develop a kind of plot which has a very unexpected ending (Woidke). The tale of Oedipus Rex contains many examples of irony like in the case of Oedipus Rex when he in the beginning unknowinlgy commits murder of his father and marries his mother. Later towards the end, he uses needles to gorge his eyes out as all the facts once unknown to him are at last revealed in an extremely tragic way. Irony in the story identifies how sometimes gross misunderstandings are created when people are not fully familiar with all the facts either due to fate or by personal mistake. One striking example of irony in Oedipus the King is evident from the event when Oedipus upon learning from Creon that the city of Thebes was exposed to plague because former King Laius's killer was still alive and the plague would not go away unless the killer be killed or exiled from Thebes, decides to reach Teiresias who is in fact the oracle of God Apollo. Now the irony is that while the audience is familiar with who actually murdered Laius and why the plague persisted in Thebes, Oedipus is sadly ignorant of this blood-curdling reality. This ignorance leads him to Teiresias to investigate into the matters. The dialogue of Teiresias reflects another example of irony. Though he knew the hidden secret of Oedipus’ parentage, he hesitated to voice his verdict in front of the crowd but the king made him speak up forcefully upon which, Teiresias revealed that Oedipus himself was Laius's murderer and his mother Jocasta's second husband. Having listened this, Oedipus got violent and told Teiresias that he was â€Å"blind in mind and ears/as well as in your eyes† to which he replied, â€Å"You are a poor wretch to taunt me with the very insults which everyone will soon heap upon yourself† (Sophocles and Grene). Irony is evident in this exchange of remarks