ES1102: 2015

Sunday 12 April 2015

Critical Reflection Draft 2

Having learnt English for more than 19 years, I had always thought that it is a subject that only people who have a natural flare in it will do well. I came to this conclusion after I saw some of my classmates who did well for English right from the start and continue doing well in the following semesters. However, I was wrong. There are others who are not doing well due to the lack of practice. Therefore, just like any other subjects, practice is the key to master them.

Since I come from a Chinese-speaking family, I rarely converse in English with the people around me except in school. My results for English were not particularly bad nor were it good, therefore, it was never a concern to me until I reached secondary school. I realised that my foundation for English was not good. It was reflected by the lack of variety in vocabulary and the numerous grammatical mistakes committed in the essays I wrote. Subsequently, I tried to do plenty of vocabulary and grammar exercises and indeed, it helped to improve my writing skills. However, I still have difficulties framing my sentences well, which makes it a problem for readers to understand what kind of ideas I am trying to illustrate.

In the module ES1102, we are expected to write a few essays and to give feedback to the essays that our peers have written. I find that the feedback I have gotten from my peers helped me tremendously in the problems I faced. Their comments usually point out some of the grammatical errors I have made and also identify the sentences I wrote that are not well explained. Most importantly, what I love about this module is that, it gives me opportunities to improve my writing that my other modules do not have. Practice is important in improving writing skills because I am actually applying what I have learnt from the module to my essay. During this module, we also learnt research skills that were not taught back in junior colleges that are crucial for university education. Thus, I am glad that I have taken this module, not just because it is compulsory but also because I have truly benefited from what I have learnt here.

After this module, I would continue my writing journey by posting more responses to articles or subjects that I am interested in on my own personal blog. Quoting from Gandhi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” This journey does not simply end just because the module concluded. Learning should always be an essential part of us even until we grow old.

Sunday 5 April 2015

Critical Reflection Draft 1

Having learnt English for more than 19 years, I always thought that it is a subject that only people who have a natural flare in it will do well. However, I was wrong. Just like any other subjects, practice is the key to master them well.

Since I come from a Chinese-speaking family, I rarely converse in English with the people around me except in school. My results for English were not particularly bad nor were it good, therefore, it was never a concern to me until I reach secondary school. I realised that my foundation for English was not good. It is reflected by the lack of variety in vocabulary and the numerous grammatical mistakes committed in the essays I wrote. Subsequently, I tried to do plenty of vocabulary and grammar exercises and indeed, it helped to improve my writing skills. However, I still have difficulties framing my sentences well, which makes it a problem for readers to understand what kind of ideas I am trying to illustrate.

In the module ES1102, we are expected to write a few essays and to give feedback to the essays that our peers have wrote. I find that the feedback I have gotten from my peers helped me tremendously in the problem I faced. Their comments usually point out some of the grammatical errors I have made and also identify the sentences I wrote that are not well explained. Most importantly, what I love about this module is that, it gives me opportunities to improve my writing that my other modules do not have. Practice is important in improving writing skills because I am actually applying what I have learnt from the module to my essay. During this module, we also learnt research skills that were not taught back in junior colleges, which is crucial for university education. Thus, I am glad that I have taken this module, not just because it is compulsory but it is because I have truly benefited from what I learnt here.

Social Media and Cyberbullying (Problem-solution Essay Draft 3)

The use of social media has entrenched itself deep into people’s daily lives that it has become the cause of many social problems in recent years. According to Chua (2012), Singapore has the second highest level of cyberbullying in Asia, which raises the concerns of many Singaporeans. Bullying can be defined as the use of electronic media to intentionally spread negative connotations about a person (Media Literacy Council, 2013). Currently, there are laws implemented to deter cyberbullying and people are educated since young about the consequences. However, it is the combination of the parent’s support, laws and education altogether that is effective in reducing the level of cyberbullying.

Cyber bullying can diminish a person’s self-worth and inject negative feelings to a person. The negative remarks posted online usually condemn a person for not conforming to a social norm in order to make one feel out-casted by the society. These can cause the victims to show symptoms of depression, exhibit abnormal behaviors or become suicidal. Since Singapore is ranked second highest in terms of cyberbullying, many users online are at risks of being cyberbullied. Also, statistics from Baig (2014) shows that 1 in 3 students had been cyberbullied before and it seems that younger users are also now becoming a target for cyberbullying.

One way to prevent a crime from happening is through the implementation of laws. In Singapore, a new ‘Protection from Harassment Bill’ (2014) has been passed to help combat cyberbullying. The Bill emphasizes cyberbullying as an offence and there would be penalties such as fines or imprisonment. This method is useful as seen from the conflict between one of Singapore’s bloggers, Xiaxue and the anonymous Facebook group named “SMRT (Ltd) Feedback”. SMRT defamed Xiaxue for bribery, insulted her chastity and her family members online. Eventually, Xiaxue (2015) applied for the bill against SMRT to prevent them from writing negative remarks against her and her family. The bill is effective because it immediately stops the bully from further actions and acts as a deterrence to prevent bullies from targeting more victims.

However, it does not mean that bullies like SMRT cannot prey on others instead. This bill can only work when victims decide to take legal actions. Legal fees can be very daunting for most victims because it is expensive and does not guarantee they would win the case. Therefore, relevant authorities such as TOUCH Cyber Wellness, can work together with the legal firms: whenever they receive a cyberbullying case, they can consult the firms for legal advice at a discounted price for the victims. Then again, it would be hard to get firms to work for a lower price and it depends on the number of victims who would approach the authorities when they are being cyberbullied.

The use of education to teach young students about cyber bullying is one of the methods to reduce cyberbullying in Singapore. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has implemented a series of curriculum that are incorporated into the Citizenship and Character Education (CCE) (Yang, 2014). This method attempts to raise awareness about cyberbullying among students and to prevent the likelihood of them committing cyberbullying. This method is effective as the students are now able to understand the consequences of cyberbullying. It would make them more empathetic towards those who are being bullied and less likely would they become cyberbullies. However, this method is only effective when students treat these lessons seriously. Some students feel that it is a waste of time because it is ungraded like their core subjects, which defeats the purpose of implementing it.

To improve this solution, the MOE can attempt to place greater emphasis on CCE by allowing schools to introduce events surrounding the theme of cyberbullying. The events can be organised in the form of a CCE day consisting of a carnival and a series of cyberbullying talks. Parents would be invited to join the students for the event. Important values and information can be incorporated to the games to attract students and parents to participate. Also, to make the talks more interesting, schools can invite speakers from organisations such as the Singapore’s Children Society. However, this method requires lots of planning and it would be hard for schools to set aside time for other events. Moreover, some parents have difficulties in finding time or have no interest in attending the events.

It is important for schools to encourage parents to participate because they play an important role in preventing cyberbullying. Parents are the ones who spend most of the time with the children; therefore, they are able to teach them about the problems of cyberbullying directly. Thus, these talks would come in handy to equip parents with the information about cyberbullying. In the process, if the parents noticed that their children are being cyberbullied, they are able take the necessary actions.

The problem of cyber bullying is not one that can be completely eradicated even in the long term especially when most of the victims do not voice out their problems. Therefore, it is important to have schools teach the students about the consequences of cyberbullying and parents to identify any weird behaviors in their children in the early stages. When the bullying gets out of control, then legal action can be taken. Overall, combined efforts from all three categories are needed to lower the amount of cyberbullying in Singapore.

References:

Chua, M. (2012, June 25). China, Singapore, top charts for cyberbullying among youths. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www.networksasia.net/article/china-singapore-top-charts-cyberbullying-among-youths-1340639968

Yang, C. (2014, September 20). Students in Singapore alerted to cyber bullying in revised cyber wellness curriculum. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/education/story/students-singapore-alerted-cyber-bullying-revised-cyber-wellness-curr

Protection Order Against SMRT Ltd (Feedback). (2015, February 6). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://xiaxue.blogspot.sg/2015/02/protection-order-against-smrt-ltd.html

A new Protection from Harassment Bill to be introduced to strengthen the laws against harassment. (2014, July 2). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/news/press-releases/a-new-protection-from-harassment-bill-to-be-introduced-to-streng.html

Cyber Bullying (2013). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://www.medialiteracycouncil.sg/online-safety/Pages/cyber-bullying.aspx

Hinduja, S. (2010). Cyber bullying and Self-Esteem. Cyber Bullying Summary. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.cyberbullying.us/cyberbullying_and_self_esteem_research_fact_sheet.pdf

Baig, N. (2014, August 15). 1 In 3 Students In Singapore Have Been Victims Of Cyberbullying. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-3-students-singapore-victims-070013753.html

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Social Media and Cyber Bullying (Problem-solution Essay Draft 2)

The use of social media has entrenched itself deep into people’s daily lives that it has become the cause of many social problems in recent years. According to the statistics (Chua, 2012), it shows that Singapore has the second highest level of cyberbullying in Asia. Cyber bullying can be defined as the use of electronic media to intentionally spread negative connotations about a person (Media Literacy Council). It can come in many forms such as posting negative remarks on social media, creating hate accounts or even sexually harassing someone online. Although there are laws implemented as deterrence and people are educated since young about cyberbullying, these solutions only target the surface of the issue. It requires the cooperation from the society as a whole to banish cyberbullying once and for all.

Cyber bullying can diminish a person’s self-worth and depriving one the environment to properly grow as a person. Very often, the remarks posted online condemn a person for not conforming into a social norm in order to make one feel out-casted by the society. Thus, the victim has to undergo changes in order to fit in, even though he may not be comfortable with it (Hinduja, 2010). This is because humans are social creatures and interacting with people around us is crucial (Vrticka, 2013). Without interaction, humans would feel lonely and in the case of the victim, it creates an environment of negativity. If it gets too overwhelming, some victims may resort to extreme measures that may have negative consequences. For instance, eating disorders is one of the many because of cyberbullying (McCarthy, 2013), and in severe cases - deaths.

The most common way to prevent a crime from happening is the implementation of laws. In Singapore, a new ‘Protection from Harassment Bill’ (2014) is passed to help combat cyberbullying. The Bill emphasizes that cyberbullying as an offence and there would be penalties for it. This method is useful as seen from the conflict between one of Singapore’s bloggers, Xiaxue and the anonymous Facebook group named “SMRT (Ltd) Feedback”. SMRT defamed Xiaxue for bribery, insulting her chastity and her family members. Eventually, Xiaxue (2015) applied for the ‘Protection from Harassment Act’ against SMRT to prevent them from writing any more negative remarks against her and her family. However, it does not mean that SMRT cannot prey on someone else instead. Does that mean that every time SMRT starts bullying another person online, he has to go through the same process to protect his interests? This bill would only work as a safety net to deter potential bullies from targeting more victims but it does not completely eradicate the issue of cyber bullying.

Another solution is the use of education to teach students from young about of cyber bullying. In Singapore, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has implemented a series of curriculums that are incorporated into the Citizenship and Character Education (CCE) (Yang, 2014). This method attempts to raise awareness about cyberbullying in students and also to prevent the likelihood of them committing cyberbullying. However, this method is only effective when students treat this type of lessons seriously. Some students feel that it is a waste of time attending because it is not graded like their core subjects. This defeats the purpose of implementing it and thus, it will not be helpful in preventing cyberbullying if students are not interested.

In order to eradicate cyberbullying, parents play an important role to teach their children about the effects of cyberbullying. Parents can first talk to their children about the possible dangers of using social media to protect their interests. Also, discuss if they have witnessed cyberbullying or experienced it to understand the situation. If their children are being bullied, they can take the necessary actions against the bully but if they witnessed it before, they can use it as a valuable lesson to teach their children not to become a cyberbully and the implications of being one. However, this method may not be completely effective because not all parents are able to spend the time to discuss with their children about cyberbullying because of their hectic schedule. This is where education in schools can come in to complement the parents. The MOE can emphasise the importance of CCE by encouraging schools to introduce more school events such as CCE day, cyberbullying talks. They can make it more interesting by introducing games about the important values or talks by relevant personnel in the specific area. However, this method requires a lot of planning and it would be hard for schools to set aside time for other events. Also, there would still be students who refuse to attend because they are not interested.

The problem of cyber bullying is not one that can be easily solved in the long term even with the use of laws and education. Support from parents and the participation of school events would improve the situation but these are not feasible if there are no victims speaking up about being cyberbullied. It is only when someone is being bullied, then actions would be taken. As cyberbullies tends to target people who do not fit into social norms: it is vital for people to understand that norms do not define who we are and it is time to redefine social norms because everyone is different in their own way. Only until norms have changed, cyber bullying would be eradicated.

References:

McCarty, T. (2013, June 5). Bullying and Body Image: How Bullying Leads to Eating Disorders. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tennie-mccarty/bullying-and-body-image_b_2812718.html

Vrticka, P. (2013, November 11). Evolution of the 'Social Brain' in Humans: What Are the Benefits and Costs of Belonging to a Social Species? Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pascal-vrticka/human-social-development_b_3921942.html

Protection Order Against SMRT Ltd (Feedback). (2015, February 6). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://xiaxue.blogspot.sg/2015/02/protection-order-against-smrt-ltd.html

Cyber Bullying. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://www.medialiteracycouncil.sg/online-safety/Pages/cyber-bullying.aspx