ESSAY: RIGHTS OF THE BULLY

Nowadays, when people hear about bully cases they will fully blame it on the bullies but do they know what is actually happening especially from the bullies? We agree that the bullies should get the same attention as the victim in term of justice, safety and psychological treatment.

MAIN POINT 1: JUSTICE

Investigate

According to Lynn Zammit (2012), the Ministry of Educations should make the schools act for the bullies who are still students. This way they can investigate whether the bullies is convicted or not. By having this act, they can defend themselves because they also have the rights to defend themselves as well as the victims.

Fairness

According to Lynn Zammit (2012), by being fair can soften the bullies’ heart to be nice and easier for them to listen advices. If they were given punishment without fairness, the feeling of grudge and revenge will exist in them.

MAIN POINT 2: SAFETY

Human Rights

Human rights are to get protected regardless of whether he is a criminal or criminal victim. According to Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 3, "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person". We all have the right to live in freedom and safety. No one should be arbitrarily killed, or deprived of their liberty without good reason. For example in 2017 reported by Bernama, the mother of a bullying victim at an MRSM school has agreed to terminate the ten bully convicted of her child's bully. This has endangered the safety and future of bully. People will beat this bully and potentially be harmed by the public for their actions.

Information Privacy

In addition, the media should protect personal information about the bully from society. This affects their name and safety. According to Lord Justice Leveson, UK (2017), the names or identifying details of those who are arrested or suspected of a crime should not be released to the press nor the public. As example, has been stated at an article from The Korean Herald webpage, South Korean law and media convention in many cases protect the identities of criminal suspects. In accordance with the criminal code and Korean National Police Agency guidelines, it is typical for a suspect’s face to be covered and for only their surname to be used when they appear in the media. This is to ensure the safety of bullets is guaranteed any possibility.

MAIN POINT 3: PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT

Recovery Session

Frequent therapy bullies according to the Lohmann (2013) One of the most effective therapies in addressing the emotional distress caused by bullying is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).  Bullying has been correlated with anxiety, depression, poor self-image, substance abuse and suicide.  CBT is the most widely acclaimed, trusted and research-supported treatment method for these issues.  CBT teaches individuals to better understand their thoughts and feelings in relation to the situation.

Psychiatrist Expert

When bullies and victims go to see Psychiatrist expert. They will help the bullies and victims to manage complex emotions of anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness, or shame and mend deep wellsprings of psychological hurt stated by Courtny 2018. Besides, the psychiatrist know the best way to treat them and can break the the victimization cycle of learned helplessness.

Free Psychotherapy

Ministry of education need to give free psychotherapy to the bullies to help them to fix their attitude and make them reflex on what they do toward the victims. For example, according Rebecca 2017, the deputy education ministry Datuk P Kamalanathan colloborate with other agencies through “pembibimbing rakan sebaya “ programme to combat bullying through the visionary programmes (program remaja berwawasan)

In conclusion, the bullies should get the same attention as the victim in term of justice, safety and psychological treatment. People should understand the bullies same like the victims.

EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY 6 - STAY-AT-HOME MOTHERS

1.0  INTRODUCTION

The article illustrates the importance of stay-at-home mothers in order help to improve the society. The author is optimistic and advocates its important because only the stay-at-home mother can educate a child well and be able to contribute to society.

2.0 EVALUATION

Main Point: A mother’s love towards their children is irreplaceable.

Supporting detail: A mother’s care is precious and incomparable to others because she know what is best for her child.

Evidence: Statistics shows that 80% of parents trust that stay-at-home mothers are the best in providing affection and attention to their children thus, making the children totally safe in their environment.

Main Point: The decline of stay-at-home mothers these days affects the family unit and society.

Supporting detail: Absence of mothers from home has made them unable to provide these ethical standards in their children.

Evidence: This has created a generation who see social morals and values are no longer necessary.

Main Point: Lack of mother’s affection can lead to aggression towards children in day care.

Supporting detail: This is because of the regulated strict rules which prevent disciplining children the way a mother can do at home.

Evidence: A study stated that children that are sent to day care centers tend to get involved in a lot of fights, develop explosive behaviors and demand more attention.

3.0  PERSONAL VIEW/ OPINION

We partially agree with the author that stay-at-home mothers is important to be restored so that they can help to improve the society because one of the greatest accomplishment in life is being a stay-at-home mother to teach and model good behavior and moral strength. However, We think that a mother also has the right to work. This is because they also study at universities and other institutions, why need to waste knowledge that has been learned by simply becoming a housewife and educating the child on morals alone. According to Debate.org (2016), they are more respected and deserve that respect more than a house wife House wife's are also respected but up to a certain level, like once the kids are in full time education there is no reason for her not to get a job unless she got to so used to being at home and not in the workforce and can't be bothered to work as it's more stressful and boring.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we reaffirm our stand that stay-at-home mothers are important and is a must in order to raise their children. Nonetheless, we strongly believe that the way a child is treated affects their growth in their life.

ESSAY: THE RISKS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

         There is no doubt social media has made the world a more connected place, but all those connections also create unprecedented access to people’s information. Back in 2012, Facebook said that around 8.7% of the accounts on their platform were fake, which, at that time, equated to around 83 million accounts. Social networking can be great experience for us but also has clear risk. Social media is harmful because it invades people’s privacy, causes addiction and affects social skills.

        Invasion of privacy is a serious issue concerning the Internet. It occurs when individuals cannot maintain a substantial degree of control over their personal information and it’s usage. The more personal and professional information you include on your public profile, the easier it is for a hacker to exploit that information to gain your trust. Hackers can use your information to pose as someone else.

          The number of human who are addicted to social media is increasing. They spent ample hours of looking at other people’s life when they could be doing other productive activity. When they are addicted to people’s life, they tend to become more competitive as they like to compare their lifestyle with other people that they saw on social media. This will lead into a negative addiction and it is not intellectual at all. People should be more infatuated with reading informational articles on the internet

          Apart from privacy invasion and addiction, poor social skills has also undoubtedly become one of the inevitable contributing risks of social media. Once they become totally absorbed in playing social media, they will give their utmost focus on it and have little time to make interactions with real friends. Hence, they prefer to stay in the shadows and be alone. This has truly become a setback for them and that they should be given extra attention in order to eliminate this risk.

          In conclusion, social media risks people’s privacy, cause addiction and results to poor social skills. There should be restrictions for certain people to access social media. This action will prevent people from watching inappropriate videos such as those that contain violence and sexual contents. Therefore, people will not be exposed to improper contents that lead to bad behavior.

- by The GoldenFive

EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY 5 - SMOKE-FREE HOMES

SMOKE-FREE HOMES AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS BANNING SMOKING IN VEHICLES CARRYING CHILDREN

The article wants us to study the engagement of population in Spain in determining the places where smoking should be banned. The author’s tone is curious to find out which places has the highest vote where smoking should be banned. Smoking has inevitably been a concern of governments around the globe considering how to manage and educate smokers. Even medical studies already show and explain to public that smoking deliver damage to people around the smokers, yet smokers are too stubborn to acknowledge that. There are few places that we can make smoking be prohibited such as smoking at home, smoking in an open area like elevated walkways, and smoking in the vehicle with the presence of children.

Firstly, according to the author, in Spain, there are more than half of all households have adopted a complete ban on smoking at home. As we know, smoker may have their favourite place to have a smoke and it depends on what the most discrete. We believe that having a good spot and position to have a smoke can give them comfort. It could be anywhere in home such as on a sofa, garage, and basement or even in the bathroom. The exact spot where they want to smoke probably depends on few factors such as how nosy their neighbours are or just how lazy the smoker tends to be. Smoker always thinks that smoking in peace gives them satisfaction. If people try to disturb them while smoking, they tend to express anger because it makes them feel like being discriminated by their bad habit. Furthermore, when smokers are in their comfort zone, there will be an increasing rate in smoking cigarette because they want to feel the pleasure more. This action surely increases the risk of the people of the surrounding to be affected as a second hand smoker. Even worse, the people whom might get affected are their own family members. This action is very inappropriate as it could harm the household.

Next, in Spain, smoking in cars is currently unregulated but the study shows that 90% of the population supports smoke free-laws in cars in the presence of children.  These results are relevant given that private settings such as vehicles are the largest source of second-hand smoke exposure by many people. Smoking while driving has been widely recognized as the most common cause of distraction while driving, yet, they still continue doing the same thing. Adults should know that children are more vulnerable to the effects of the second-hand smoke. Even being in a car with a smoker for short amounts of time can be bad for children’s health. Winding down the car window is not enough to stop tobacco smoke affecting children.  Their developing body is more susceptible to the toxins in cigarette smoke, and over time exposure may lead to respiratory problems, asthma and other illnesses. It can even increase an infant’s risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Therefore, smoke-free in public vehicles legislation has been introduced in Spain. The purpose of this legislation is to protect children from the harm to their health caused by the exposure to second hand smoke in vehicles.

Furthermore, like other countries, smoking is prohibited in open areas such as elevated walkways, buildings but not limited to hallways, stairways, decks, and patios. Spanish smoking legislation, Law42/2010, by Gobierno de España, which came into force in Spain in January 2011, prohibits smoking in common enclosed areas of building but leaves it to the community to decide to prohibit smoking in open spaces not designated as children’s areas. The study of second-hand smoke exposure after two smoking bans in Spain showed that overall exposure can be decreased across all settings by comprehensive legislative efforts. Thus, by providing smoke-free buildings from the outset, people can avoid problems like exposing themselves to smokers. In the meantime, by providing smoke-free buildings from the outset, people can also avoid cleaning walls and windows streaked with tar and replacing carpet. This is because, some of the irresponsible smokers tend to vandalise the areas with throwing ignited cigarette butt everywhere and this might defect the carpet inside a building or office and tar- streaked walls will be everywhere.

We are agreeing to the idea of banning smoking in Spain. Smokers tend to smoke every corner in the house where they do not feel comfortable to smoke but little did they know most people do not comfortable with such attitudes and agreed to completely ban smoking at home. The desire to smoke is unbearable as the smokers have the guts to smoke while driving. Much more worst is when there are children who breathe in as a second hand smoker. Smokers have the privileged to smoke in open areas but it is better to be restricted so that problem such as cleaning walls and replacing carpet due to tars can be eliminated. We personally think that forbidding such dangerous activity will be much beneficial that it can prevent others from having a vulnerable respiratory system. At the same time, we are partially disagreeing to banning this issue. People should be given the freedom to do anything that is a consequence only to them. Smoking directly affects the comfort, and more importantly, the well-being of everyone else unfortunate enough to be around. It should therefore be restricted to the confines of smokers’ own homes.

In a nutshell, smoking should really be banned in the house, driving with the children on board and in the open areas because it do more harms to the surrounding than do good to pleasure the smokers. Spain is on the right track on banning such a bad habit of their people just to promote a healthy lifestyle and towards a better country. Relating to Malaysia, we should enforce the law to ban smoking in the house, driving with children on board and in the open areas as to keep up with a developing country to create a healthy lifestyle surroundings. To achieve a more harmony and peaceful country, a minority such as smokers should respect and be tolerable when it comes to a situation involving the risk of one’s health. This is because; a good health is the best wealth.

- by Mirza & Wani

EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY 3 - CAN CELLPHONES BE EDUCATIONAL TOOLS?

CAN CELLPHONES BE EDUCATIONAL TOOLS?

BRIANNA MEDEL, OCTOBER 3, 2017

SOURCE:  https://highschool.latimes.com/east-los-angeles-renaissance-academy/can-cellphones-be-educational-tools/

            This article illustrates that cellphones can be an educational tool for students because nowadays people are focusing more on technology and cellphones are the main technology that we use. The author is very objective about the function of cellphones for educational purpose.

            For the start, cellphones can be educational tools because cellphones can add knowledge for students with many applications that can be installed to learn and they can look up to many sites in cellphones when doing a research. For instance, students use cellphones to look up to a definition of a word or use it as a simplest way to check an email because it is already installed to their phones.

            Other than that, cellphones can make students’ job easier by opening as many tasks as possible compared to computers. Opening tasks on cellphones are easier for the students, with the help of the available applications that are accessible on phones. Computers also might take time for students to open. Such as mathematical, English application or any other searches on google.

            Besides that, students would rather finish their assignments at home rather than in school. They prefer to go home and do their assignments with a fast connection Wi-Fi than be in school. It is said in the United States by “Young teens in U.S. use mobile devices for homework’’ article that they are using their cellphones to do homework.

            To all of that, we partially agree that cellphones can be a good educational tool for students because it will teach them how to be more creative with the technology nowadays and also increase their knowledge. However, having a cellphone for students will keep them distracted with social media that they have such as Twitter and Instagram. Students can also be distracted with their cellphones when they are searching for something on Google because of their past tasks in their phones.

            In conclusion, making cellphone as an educational tool is really a good thing like helping students to quickly searching up for words or a case study that they are unsure about but it also has its bad side. Students need to use it wisely in order to get a good result from the cellphone itself and if it is for educational purpose then make it as an educational purpose. Not to take advantage of it in school for entertainment.

- by Nadhirah & Tasya

EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY 2

The article illustrates the importance of a powerful command in the English language. The author is encouraging and advocates its importance because a powerful command of English ensures our career and the betterment of Malaysians.

Firstly, students are used to holding back their opinions. This was taught to us Malaysians from a very young age. Although it is honorable, it is a weakness for a progressing youth. In order to respect our elderlies and culture, communicating in English is looked down upon in the face of a culture-based country.

Moreover, many of our graduates fail to meet the expectations of their employer when it comes to the command of the English language. The youth needs multiple perspectives with high content information so that they will be ready to discuss about it. Simon Sin, the head of Jobstreet mentioned that our youth needs more exposure towards data and information to speak volumes with content.

Exercising what they learn will benefit them in the long term. Preparation is a must although it is for a simple question. In the end, all this will result in a more confident English user. Even if they attend many talks and seminars that teach them about job interviews, they would not succeed if they do not implement them as mentioned by Simon Si.

The author further highlights that it will improve our education system as a good foundation to produce more English speakers. A good amount of practice and exposure are all available in this platform. A statement from Tunku Dara Naquiah states that students practicing in various ways will help them break out from being timid and express themselves openly.

We partially agree with the author that a powerful command of English ensures our career and the betterment of Malaysians, especially among younger generation. Most of our careers today requires us to interact in English as it is an international language. However, we risk our command of our native tongue. This can be supported by Ibrahim Alfarhan (2016) in American Research Journals saying loss of cultural identity is one of the major effects from globalization of English.

In conclusion, we reaffirm our stand that the author is correct that students should have a good command in English for their future. Plus, we firmly believe that a good command of English will contribute to the development of our nation.

- by Sarah & Syafiq

EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY 1

The article illustrates the growing argument about banning homework. The author is objective and advocates the reason why we need to agree on banning homework because homework is a burden for students.

Firstly, children lack the time for other activities because the burden of homework. For children, it would be better to run around during recess and playing fun activities such as sports. Daniel Tasman, the father of a second- grader wants to transfer his daughter to another school, said that children should have homework because he wants his daughter to have discipline and fulfill her dreams.

Moreover, homework does not guarantee positive results. A committee concluded that there is no link between elementary school homework and success in school organized by a New York elementary school. One public school in Barrie even noticed that grades went up after homework was banned. This clearly states that banning homework will make the grades increase and not drastically drop.

The author further stresses that parents are also annoyed with their children’s unending homework.. Parents are frustrated helping their children completing mountains of homework. In the last several years, a movement has emerged in questioning homework. An elementary school in Quebec banned homework last year because homework gives a lot of pressure on students and their parents.

We partially agree with the author on homework from school should be banned, especially for elementary school. Most of the students that have a lot of homework will not be able to spend their quality times to release stress and not meeting their development needs. According to The Journal of Experimental Education in psychologist (2018), when it comes to stress, more

than 70 percent of students said they were often stressed over homework, 56 percent said homework as a primary stressor and less than 1 percent said homework was not a stressor. This statement proves that too much homework will lead to negative consequences in mental health which is stress.

In conclusion, we reaffirm our stand that we agree with the author for the banning of homework. Nevertheless, we firmly believe that homework should also be preserved but in their own limitation in order to stabilize the flexibility students time.

- by Khadijah & Puti Ilyia

ETIKA DALAM PROSES KOMUNIKASI DAN TABAYYUN

          Menurut S. Salahudin (2007), pengertian komunikasi menurut Islam ialah proses dalam menyampaikan utusan  kepada seseorang atau masyarakat untuk dijadikan milik bersama tentang maklumat, pengetahuan, kemahiran , sikap dan kepercayaan berlandaskan syariat Islam.  Asas-asas dan prinsip berkomunikasi yang ditunjukkan oleh Rasulullah SAW telah dijadikan sebagai panduan oleh para ilmuan dalam membentuk sebuah model komunikasi Islam yang berkesan.

          Antara etika yang penting dalam proses komunikasi berkesan menurut Islam adalah Qaulan Sadida. Qaulan Sadida bermaksud percakapan yang benar, jujur, lurus dan tidak menambah atau mengurangi isi berita. Ucapan yang benar ialah ucapan yang sesuai dengan al-Quran, al- Sunnah dan ilmu. Kehebatan baginda Rasulullah SAW berhujah dengan benar telah berjaya menyelesaikan pelbagai masalah ketika zaman pemerintahannya. Sebagai contoh, Nabi Muhammad juga digelar oleh masyarakat Arab sebagai Al-Amin yang bererti jujur dan amanat hingga beliau diberi tanggungjawab untuk menghakimi pertengkaran soal kelompok yang berhak meletakkan Hajar Aswad saat bangunan Ka’bah direnovasi akibat banjir besar. Dakwah yang dibawakan akan diterima orang ramai jika seseorang itu sentiasa berkata benar dalam pertuturan. Hal ini membolehkan komunikasi yang dijalankan berkesan.

          Pengertian tabayyun adalah melakukan penelitian atau siasatan dan merupakan salah satu prinsip dalam komunikasi islam. Yaitu suatu kegiatan yang berupaya mendalami dan memecahkan suatu persoalan dengan menggunakan metode ilmu pengetahuan. Menyiasat sesuatu perkara adalah amat penting bagi penghantar dan juga penerima sesuatu maklumat. Bagi seorang pemberitahu atau penghantar maklumat, mereka perlulah memastikan mesej yang ingin disampaikan adalah mematuhi syariah dan mengajak kepada kebaikan selari dengan konsep tabbayun dimana seseorang penghantar maklumat perlulah menyiasat dan meneliti kandungan maklumat yang ingin disampaikan, samada berfaedah ataupun tidak.

          Bagi seseorang penerima maklumat pula, mereka haruslah menyiasat dan meneliti semula kandungan maklumat yang diterima samada perlu untuk mereka ketahui ataupun menyiasat tentang kebenaran suatu maklumat tersebut. Hal ini adalah amat penting agar penerima tidak menerima maklumat yang tidak sahih dan tidak penting bagi mereka. Perkara ini dapat mencegah dari berlakunya fitnah dan mampu mengakibatkan suatu hubungan itu terputus.

          Sebagai kesimpulan, komunikasi menurut Islam adalah kaedah berkomunikasi yang paling berkesan dan memberi manfaat kepada kita. Bagi memastikan suatu komunikasi itu mencapai objektif , kita haruslah menuruti semua prinsip dan etika dalam berkomunikasi. Perkara ini haruslah dipraktikkan dari kecil lagi agar kita tidak melakukan atau mengatakan sesuatu yang tidak berfaedah dan mempu menyinggung perasaan orang lain. Tabbayyun juga amatlah penting bagi memelihara kebenaran sesuatu maklumat dan mengelakkan diri dari terjebak dalam fitnah.