Reader Response Final

Reader Response Draft #4

In the article “Writing Your Way to Happiness”, Parker-Pope (2015) claims that expressive writing can make one happier. Expressive writing is both physically and mentally beneficial. The writer mentions that writing and rewriting one’s stories “can lead to behavioural changes” and it can help change people’s views of themselves. Studies conducted in America, as mentioned in the article, suggested that students who edited their own narrative about college, as compared to those who did not, turned out to be more successful in their academics. Writing enables people to reconstruct and redefine their problems which enables them to face their problems, leading to a “life course correction”. A “life course correction” refers to a change of lifestyle and change of outlook on life. Writing can help a person recognize what is more important to them.

Parker Pope supports that idea that expressive writing can lead to people becoming happier because expressive writing can be seen as a “life course correction”. The main benefits of writing, like health benefits, enabling people to solve their problems and changing their perception allows them to change their lifestyle, which will make them happier. The health benefits from expressive writing can prolong people’s life, enabling them to spend more quality time with their loved ones. I agree on Parker Pope’s suggestion that expressive writing changes people’s perspective on life and it helps them to face and solve problems.

Expressive writing can provide people with health benefits. It is beneficial especially to those who are suffering from anxiety related sickness like asthma.  Experiments have shown that asthma patients who wrote daily about their experiences got better and this approach prevented their conditions from deteriorating (Miller, 2014). Expressive writing also helps to reduce stress, as shown in research on HIV- related anxiety, “By writing, you put some structure and organization to those anxious feelings. It helps you to get past them” (Murray, 2002). These health benefits can help to improve the patients’ medical conditions, which might increase their comfort in their lives. They would not have to suffer as much as they did in the past and this will probably make them happier. Slowly, their life course may be corrected as their conditions improve. Parker- Pope has also stated that expressive writing can improve mood disorder. The improvement in mood disorder helps to improve the patients’ well- beings and it changes their lifestyle as they are no longer restricted by sickness or disorders. Expressive writing brings about health benefits which improves and corrects people’s life, enabling them to become happier as they are able to enjoy more quality time with their loved ones.

Expressive writing provides the opportunity for people to face their problems. Writing down one’s problems and conflicts enables the person to redefine and reconstruct them. Instead of the endless regurgitating of the problem in a person’s head, writing it down allows them to accurately identify what is going wrong. Also, people may then have sufficient time to stop and think about how the issue has broader implications, which highlights solving the problems to prevent any bad things to happen. People suffer psychologically when they have a problem. The cultivation of a habit of facing problems readily from expressive writing allows one to identify that he or she has made a mistake and to correct it, “to change course and move forward a better person” (Millburn & Nicodemus). Expressive writing helps people to face their long term problems, problems which have been hindering them for a long time. Solving these problems will enable them to live life differently as they are no longer restricted by the problems they were facing. Their life course will be corrected and they will become happier.

Expressive writing changes a person’s perspective in life. Expressive writing allows people to write and re-write their life experiences. This enables people to have a more thorough thinking of the events or experiences. It offers another viewpoint on a certain matter and it makes the cause and effect more obvious, allowing people to identify what they did right or wrong  (Friedman and Silver, 2006). Expressive writing allows people to assess where they are and where they are heading, and it allows people to do the things needed to continue moving towards their goals in life. People will be clear and know that they should not be making the past same mistakes (Millburn & Nicodemus, n.d.).

In my opinion, expressive writing really does help in changing our lifestyle and how people look at life. Writing enables people to get a clearer view of what they are experiencing and it helps them better visualize their situation. This creates more awareness and it provides people with a clearer direction in their life course. We will be able to suffer from lesser worries and problems and we will be happier because of our more positive outlook in life.

In conclusion, expressive writing allows people to be healthier and have a different perspective in life.  Expressive writing makes people more optimistic as they are able to solve their problems and their life is always changing because they “write” who they are. This will definitely change people’s life courses as they will start to have a more positive outlook in life. They will become happier as they will believe that things will turn out well. They will believe that they can solve the problems that have been standing in their way. As stated by Revich, (2010) “Optimism is a key ingredient to happiness.” Therefore, it is recommended for people to start writing their way to happiness as there are so many benefits to it and they will be able to correct their life courses, making them happier people.

References:

Miller, C. (2014). The Mental Health Benefits of Expressive Writing. Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Retrieved from http://www.intelihealth.com/article/the-mental-health-benefits-of-expressive-writing?hd=Minding

Friedman, R. H. S & Silver, I. R. C, (2006). Foundations of Health Psychology. Oxford University Press. Pg. 277, 278. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=AX3Gc2C_vGEC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=expressive+writing+as+a+life+course+correction&source=bl&ots=shQBHfrYhT&sig=gyEtDrofmQIhYRIzoOiYU1E0HJM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jzjWVP2lIZSsuQTg5oD4Dw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Millburn, J. F. & Nicodemus. (n.d.). Course Correction. [Weblog post]. Retrieved from http://www.theminimalists.com/correction/

Murray, B. (2002). Writing to heal. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun02/writing.aspx

Reivich, K. (2010). Optimism: A Key Ingredient to Happiness. Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/publications/cq/pdf/v38n7_ft_optimism.pdf

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Problem Essay Final Draft

Essay Draft 4

The increasing use of social media has brought about many problems, one of them being cyberbullying. Singapore is ranked second amongst nations of cyberbullies (Family & Life, 2014). It is reported that one out of four secondary school students has admitted to bullying their friends and one out of five primary school students has been bullied online (Tan, 2014).Through the use of social media, there is an increasing number of cyber bullying cases among youth aged between 8 and 17 in Singapore. This is extremely detrimental to the Singaporean youth’s development due to the psychological effects that are brought about from cyberbullying. While the Media Literacy Council (MLC) and SingTel have both launched cyber wellness programmes to combat cyberbullying among youths in Singapore, this issue has to be solved through a collaboration between them, Touch organization and the Singapore legal system, which is the passing of the anti- harassment law in Singapore.

Cyberbullying includes sending unpleasant photographs and messages by mobile phone or online messaging. Deleting a person’s name from a group or not replying to that person’s messages on social networking sites can (also?) be a form of bullying as it can be seen as ostracization (MLC,2015). It is important to combat cyberbullying as youths who are cyber bullied often suffer mentally. They will face lasting emotional damages like depression, loneliness, unhappiness and poor sleep (Caudle, 2015). These problems could disrupt youths’ daily lives, causing them to grow up to be people who shun   interaction with others, and this might greatly affect their school lives, academics and future career. To make matters worse, the adverse effects from cyberbullying are often not shown explicitly by the victims. For the bullies, the continuous abuse on others could lead to them to become more aggressive and more narcissistic. This might also hinder the development of these perpetrators as they are growing up to becoming people who are not appreciative of others.

One solution that organizations in Singapore have implemented is the use of cyber wellness programmes to educate both youths and their parents about the harmful effects of cyber bullying. MLC has launched a site together with Facebook called the Bullying Prevention Centre (Asiaone, 2015), which offers guidance to the bullies and the bullied. The aim is to ensure that interactions online are relevant and user-friendly for the youths. School students will be able to report suspected cases of bullying online and learn how to differentiate signs of cyber bullying. Also, SingTel has come together with TOUCH to create an application called “notAnoobie”. It allows parents to keep track of their children activities on the internet and to protect their children from online risks. There are also stories of victims from cyber bullying on the website. “NotAnoobie” aims to educate and empower parents with information on what their children are doing. This is important as parents play a huge role in the upbringing of their children.

The two examples mentioned are both cyber wellness programmes organized by the relevant organizations. Cyber wellness programmes are effective in combating cyber bullying as they empower netizens with information that they may not have known previously. The cyber wellness programmes heighten the awareness of people and allow them to identify, prevent and report possible cases of cyberbullying. This is effective as people learn about the consequences of their actions and encourages them to reconsider their actions. People may be able to prevent themselves from getting bullied as they are able to recognize signs of cyberbullying and then stopping it themselves. However, due to the anonymity of the users on social networks, bullies are able to repeatedly post harsh and cruel comments or even cyberbully without being caught if they are not reported. It is difficult for social media platforms to constantly monitor their users and it is difficult to establish a common standard to distinguish between what cyber bullying is and what it is not. The programmes may be effective to some degree, but different bullies have different motivations to cyberbully (Varjas, Talley, Meryers, Parris & Cutts, 2010). The bullies may be motivated by anger or entertainment. They may even do it to enhance their social status in school. Educating netizens on cyber bulling may not be the solution as cyber bullies have different types of motivations. Cyber wellness programmes only help to curb cyberbullying of certain type of motivations.

Another solution is the passing of the anti- harassment law in Singapore by the parliament. The new law aims to protect the people in Singapore from the “social scourge” (Shanmugam, 2014). Harassment in the online sphere like cyberbullying is included in the anti- harassment law. This is effective as victims of cyber bullying now have legal protection. Moreover, potential bullies will be deterred from cyber bullying due to the possible implications of the law. This should lead to a reduction in cases of cyberbullying. However, as mentioned above, it is difficult to constantly monitor social media and the protectors of law are unable to cover the whole social media to keep track of these perpetrators.

Cyberbullying is an important issue that Singapore has to solve. The above solutions are effective only to a certain extent as both aim to educate and then deter people from cyberbullying. With the rise of the status of social media, there is an increase in the importance of handphones and computers to youths. It will be difficult to take these things away from them now. Therefore, it is important for parents to enforce rules at home. Meanwhile, policies by schools, the legal system and the organizations like MLC and Touch have to continue to aid in resolving cyberbullying effectively (Kraft & Wang, 2009).

Reference

Kraft, E.M. and Wang, J. (2009). Effectiveness of cyber bullying prevention strategies: A study on students’ perspectives. Cyber Crime Journal.com. Retrieved from http://www.cybercrimejournal.com/KraftwangJulyIJCC2009.pdf

Family and Life (2014). Singapore is the Second Highest Nation of Cyberbullies. Retrieved from http://familyandlife.sg/Nurture/2014/03/Singapore_Second_Highest_Nation_Cyberbullies

Facebook, Media Literacy Council launch site to combat bullying. (2015). Asiaone. Retrieved from http://news.asiaone.com/news/science-and-tech/facebook-media-literacy-council-launch-site-combat-cyber-bullying

Tan, J. (2014). 1 in 4 secondary students ‘admits to cyber bullying’. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/education/story/1-4-secondary-students-admits-cyber-bullying-20140714

Shanmugam, K. (2014). Anti- harassment laws to fight ‘social scourge’. Today Online. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/anti-harassment-laws-fight-social-scourge?page=1

Varjas, K., Talley, J., Meyers, J., Parris, L. & Cutts, H. (2010). High School Students’ Perceptions of Motivations of Cyberbullying: An exploratory study. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2941365/

Critical Reflection

Critical Reflection

The role of peer and tutor and feedback

In ES1102E, we were told to write a reader response essay on an article that we have read on. We posted our drafts on our blog so that our peers and tutor can give us feedback on our essays. Apart from that, we had to provide a peer review for one of our peers. I had my reservations when giving my feedback. Also, I was very conscious with the words that I used and the comments that I have given. I made sure that I gave equal amounts of positive and negative reviews.

Receiving and providing feedback on an academic essay is an experience which I have not experienced in a while. I do not like to re-read my essay. Therefore, I felt uncomfortable at the thought of my peers reading my "unfinished" essay. I did not like the idea of being reviewed because I am not strong in essay writing. After reading the feedback, some mistakes that I have made is the overusing of first person pronouns in my academic essays. Apart from that, I have a habit of having long sentences. At times, these sentences tend to confuse readers about the about the idea that I am trying to convey to them.  There were other minor grammatical and sentence structures problems.

I gave some thoughts on the mistakes that I have made in essay. I came to a realisation how these were mistakes that I have been making all along in my essays. It brought about a sense of urgency for me to get rid of these mistakes because being an Arts student in NUS, I will be required to write many essays. If the mistakes that I have made were to stay, it will greatly affect my academic performances. This experience of receiving feedback was a reality check for me. Feedback allows people to improve because it highlights the mistakes that writers cannot identify themselves.

From this experience, I have learnt that everyone makes mistakes in their essay and these mistakes can be avoided by re-reading your essay. After receiving both formal and informal feedback, I have learnt that I am one who is able to provide content, but often, my ideas are not phrased properly and this affects readers’ understanding on my essay. In order to help others improve, we have to be frank and critical in our review. When writing my essays now, I am more conscious with my language use. I will constantly re- read what I have written and make a conscious effort to avoid using first person pronouns. I put in more effort in delivering short and concise sentences such that I will not confuse my readers about the ideas that I am trying to bring across. Most importantly, I have learnt about the importance of being confident in what you write and always be ready for feedback.

Reflection on Presentation

Overall, i felt that i had a good presentation. I knew my content well and i did not stuttered. However, some things that i have to take note of will be my body language. I need to realize that I tend to sway from side to side. This is will be distracting to the my target audience. It may be a good way to try to maintain eye contact with all of the them. However, I feel that it may be better if we focus on a few people instead of trying to focus on maintaining eye contact with everyone.
I appreciate the feedbacks as they can help me improve on my presentation skills and allow me to identify my strengths and weaknesses. This way, i will be able to give better presentations and also to help my teammates in future. One last thing that i have to take note of is the frequent use of fillers. This is something that i have to get rid of.

outline for critical relflection

The role of peer and tutor feedback.

What happened? Describe the experience

I wrote a reader response essay. I received both formal and informal comments on my writing blog. Apart from that, I had to comment on my group mate’s blog post too. This is something that I have not experienced in a while. I had my reservations and was very conscious when giving my feedback.

Why/ how did it happen? What factors contributed? How do you feel about it?

I had quite a few grammatical and format errors and there were certain unclear sentences. At times, my expression of certain ideas will be misunderstood.

I am personally one who do not like to re- read my essay. I felt uncomfortable on the thought that my peers are going to give feedback on what I wrote. 

What is your new interpretation of the experience? What is the significance?

This experience is somewhat like a reality check for me. In the past, I did not like peer feedback. However, this will help to improve my language and that is the purpose.

What did you learn about yourself and the others?

I learnt that everyone makes mistakes and this is something that can be avoided by re- reading your essay. I am one who is able to provide content but often, my points are not phrased properly and this affects reader’s understanding on my

It is easy to spot other people’s mistake. In order to improve, we have to be frank

What will you do as a result of this experience? How will you use it to inform your future?

I am more conscious when I write my essay now. I will re-read what I have wrote to check the flow of my essay. Also, I will check on my grammar in the essay.

When writing my essays now, i will always think about it as an academic writing. I will also make a conscious effort to avoid using 1st person

Problem Structured Essay Draft 3

The increasing use of social media has brought about many problems, one of them being cyberbullying. Singapore is ranked second amongst nations of cyberbullies (Family & Life, 2014). It is reported that one out of four secondary school students has admitted to bullying their friends and one out of five primary school students has been bullied online (Tan, 2014).Through the use of social media, there is an increasing number of cyber bullying cases among youth aged between 8 and 17 in Singapore. This is extremely detrimental to the Singaporean youth’s development due to the psychological effects that are brought about from cyberbullying. The Media Literacy Council (MLC) and SingTel have both launched cyber wellness programmes to combat cyberbullying. The issue on cyber bullying among youths in Singapore has to be solved to prevent more harm to the growth and mental health of the youth with the help of Singtel, Touch organization, MLC and the Singapore law.

Cyberbullying includes sending unpleasant photographs and messages by mobile phone or online messaging. Deleting a person’s name from a group or not replying to that person’s messages on social networking sites can (also?) be a form of bullying as it can be seen as ostracization (MLC,2015). It is important to combat cyberbullying as youths who are cyber bullied often suffer mentally. They will face lasting emotional damages like depression, loneliness, unhappiness and poor sleep (Caudle, 2015). These problems could disrupt youths’ daily lives, causing them to grow up to be people who shun   interaction with others, and this might greatly affect their school lives, academics and future career. To make matters worse, the adverse effects from cyberbullying are often not shown explicitly by the victims. For the bullies, the continuous abuse on others could lead to them to become more aggressive and more narcissistic. This might also hinder the development of these perpetrators as they are growing up to becoming people who are not appreciative of others.

One solution that organizations in Singapore have implemented is the use of cyber wellness programmes to educate both youths and their parents about the harmful effects of cyber bullying. MLC has launched a site together with Facebook called the Bullying Prevention Centre (Asiaone, 2015), which offers guidance to the bullies and the bullied. The aim is to ensure that interactions online are relevant and user-friendly for the youths. School students will be able to report suspected cases of bullying online and learn how to differentiate signs of cyber bullying. Also, SingTel has come together with TOUCH to create an application called “notAnoobie”. It allows parents to keep track of their children activities on the internet and to protect their children from online risks. There are also stories of victims from cyber bullying on the website. “NotAnoobie” aims to educate and empower parents with information on what their children are doing. This is important as parents play a huge role in the upbringing of their children.

The two examples mentioned are both cyber wellness programmes organized by the relevant organizations. Cyber wellness programmes are effective in combating cyber bullying as they empowers netizens with information that they may not have known previously. The cyber wellness programmes heightens the awareness of people and allows them to identify, prevent and report possible cases of cyberbullying. This is effective as people learn about the consequences of their actions and they will reconsider their actions. People may be able to prevent themselves from getting bullied as they are able to recognize signs of cyberbullying and then stopping it themselves. However, due to the anonymity of the users on social networks, bullies are able to repeatedly post harsh and cruel comments or even cyberbully without being caught if they are not reported. It is difficult for social media platforms to constantly monitor their users and it is difficult to establish a common standard to distinguish between what is cyber bullying and what is not. The programmes may be effective to some degree, but different bullies have different motivations to cyberbully (Varjas, Talley, Meryers, Parris & Cutts, 2010). The bullies may be motivated by anger or entertainment. They may even do it to enhance their social status in school. Educating netizens on cyber bulling may not be the solution as cyber bullies have different types of motivations. Cyber wellness programmes only help to curb cyberbullying of certain type of motivations.

Another solution is the passing of the anti- harassment law in Singapore by the parliament. The new law aims to protect the people in Singapore from the “social scourge” (Shanmugam, 2014). Harassment in the online sphere like cyberbullying is included in the anti- harassment law. This is effective as victims of cyber bullying now have legal protection. Moreover, people will be deterred from cyber bullying due to the possible implications of the law. This should lead to a reduction in cases of cyberbullying. However, as mentioned above, it is difficult to constantly monitor social media and the protectors of law are unable to cover the whole social media to keep track of these perpetrators.

Cyberbullying is an important issue that Singapore has to solve. The above solutions are effective only to a certain extent as both aim to educate and then deter people from cyberbullying. With the rise of the status of social media, there is an increase in the importance of handphones and computers to youths. It will be difficult to take these things away from them now. Therefore, it is important for parents to enforce rules at home. Meanwhile, policies by schools, Singapore law and the organizations like MLC and Touch has to continue to aid in resolving cyberbullying effectively (Kraft & Wang, 2009).

Reference

E. M. Kraft and J. Wang (2009). Effectiveness of cyber bullying prevention strategies: A study on students’ perspectives. Cyber Crime Journal.com. Retrieved from http://www.cybercrimejournal.com/KraftwangJulyIJCC2009.pdf

Family and Life (2014). Singapore is the Second Highest Nation of Cyberbullies. Retrieved from http://familyandlife.sg/Nurture/2014/03/Singapore_Second_Highest_Nation_Cyberbullies

Facebook, Media Literacy Council launch site to combat bullying. (2015). Asiaone. Retrieved from http://news.asiaone.com/news/science-and-tech/facebook-media-literacy-council-launch-site-combat-cyber-bullying

J. Tan (2014). 1 in 4 secondary students ‘admits to cyber bullying’. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/education/story/1-4-secondary-students-admits-cyber-bullying-20140714

K. Shanmugam (2014). Anti- harassment laws to fight ‘social scourge’. Today Online. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/anti-harassment-laws-fight-social-scourge?page=1

K. Varjas, J. Talley, J.Meyers, L. Parris and H. Cutts (2010). High School Students’ Perceptions of Motivations of Cyberbullying: An exploratory study. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2941365/