Developing effective communication in health and social care Essay

To make my communication interactions with the service user’s in one-to one interaction and group interactions effective I did not use any slang or jargon with the service user’s because we were having a formal interaction therefore the use or jargon or slang was not suitable there. I had to use good communication skills to get my point across clearly and effectively just to make sure that each of them understood what I was talking about. I feel that there should always be a care worker-service user relationship between people in day care centre’s. Effective communications with the service users is related to positive outcomes. Tone of voice is a type of verbal communication. I had to have an appropriate tone of voice as this would enable the service user to feel comfortable with me while the task was proceeding. I used a clear and calm tone of voice as this helps create a positive atmosphere and assists the service user’s to ask each other or me any questions they have and it helps them to understand what to do, whereas if my tone of voice was loud and aggressive then the service user’s would not felt comfortable with me and they would got scared of me, this may well have led them to getting upset and having to leave the interaction as soon as possible. My tone of voice was normal because I could not speak quietly and slow because the service users would not have got the message but it was not loud either. My tone of voice was very clear and the students who participated in the interaction heard my voice clearly. This tone of voice enabled the interaction between me and the three other service user’s to flow nicely and the message that I was trying to put across was interpreted by the service users in a positive way. I knew that they had received the message of what to do as they began to paint straight after my instruction before they had started the task. I was also being very talkative as when the service users would stop I would just talk to them during each stage of their painting and ask them how they are doing whether or not they are finding the task difficult, I was also making it fun and enjoyable for them to do because I was complementing their hard work and effort which they put in their paintings. Therefore their confidence would have increased enabling them in join in the interaction. If they were having any problems I would help them solve them. If I had not done that then questions may have not been invited, some of the service user’s may not be able to interpret the information and some may not have heard or understood the messages clearly. I encouraged the students to use more eye-contact because when some of the students were talking, they were looking at other distractions like their peers playing or talking. The messages that I gave to the service users in my group were all given objectively and they were factual and informative. I used signs such as thumbs up (meaning good) and open palm (meaning stop) during the interaction, as signs can often promote effective communication and reduce barriers to interactions. One-to-one communication- Reading a book with a service user With the one-to one and communication interaction that I had with Nicky out chairs were put opposite one another so that we were able to see and hear each other clearly. This enabled myself and Nicky to feel comfortable around each other has we had didn’t no each other well enough. If we were to close to one another we may have felt uncomfortable or shy with each other which then would have led to Nicky having a negative experience with me. I used verbal communication when I explained to Nicky what he had to do for the task. There should also be a little proximity between us because if there was not much space between each other, then the atmosphere might have become too hot and unbearable which might have caused Nicky to get bored and tired easily with the reading. Leaving enough proximity, between the both of us allowed us to sit and feel comfortable; this led us to talk properly to each other without anyone interrupting or distracting our conversation as we our personal space. I used good facial expressions and body language with Nicky so that he thinks I am a friendly person and so he becomes more comfortable with me. Most of the time, Each time he read correctly I would complement him on well he was doing and I also would put my thumb put and say â€Å"excellent† to boost his confidence a little more. This helped create more of a positive atmosphere to be in. his tone on voice when he was reading showed me that he was trying his best and was really enjoying it. I used a lot of eye contact which actually showed Nicky that I was listening to him and that I understood what he was reading to me. I used appropriate eye-contact to enable him to listen and understand me properly. Eye-contact help a lot in a one-to-one basis because when listening to someone expressing their point of view, eye-contact is very essential and shows that the listener is listening and understanding what person actually speaking is saying. At the end of the reading session I spoke to Nicky about the level of reading ability he is on and I also asked him to speak to me about any difficulties and anything he is uncertain about in the book, this helped me to him more confidence to speak up loud and it also empowered him. I had to use interpersonal skills when I was telling Nicky he had made a few mistakes during his reading time which is why it lead to him ignoring that and getting embarrassed and wrong -footed. Interpersonal skills are people interacting with each other. Interpersonal skills involve the ability to work with others around.

What Every Leader Needs to Know

In the book Leadership 101` by John C. Maxwell he delivered his point of views on how to develop the intellectual insight regarding and spiritual beliefs. Based on his achievements as a leader himself, Maxwell points out that it is important to express leadership through the application of public education the true meaning of faith in leadership. He further notes the procedures behind how to become a more enlightened leader, by having a common purpose and common vision. Through the said book, he discussed his hopes and dreams for himself as well as for the public education, for the different leaders and for the world. His major goal is to build a strong public education that will help the children to easily enhance their skills, and to support the needs of the students primarily with regards the moral and spiritual values. Through public education, the different kinds of beliefs can easily be discussed in formal and legal ways, and public education is the best opportunity to build different essential concepts that will connect the people within the human society. Another goal of Maxwell is to frequently develop the â€Å"Dimension of Leadership†; though leadership is a great privilege to a person who has the chance in having the skills needed for it, the authors define the exact value of what are the valuable insights that a perfect leader should have. Also the responsibilities of the leader, which should always be his major priority for the benefits of his community; this will lead to a wellness and successful organization in the society that he serves. Wise leadership in spiritual, moral, and educational program is one of the major keys in a certain country’s future success; it is the best way to create a fruitful result that can give hope to the citizens of a particular society. Moreover, in order to build and have better leadership status in the future, the authors of book entitled â€Å"Spiritual Dimension of Leadership† provide some important guidelines that will fit to the prospective leaders. They offer the eight key principles that can lead to a prospective leader to become a valuable and enlightened leader, it is important to discussed this eight key principle in order to understand and enlightened the important point of views on how to become a better leader and spiritual adviser to the societies and communities. These are the following guidelines that a prospective leader should have to seriously apply and understand carefully in order to empower his leadership. Intention- In leadership it is important to know what is the real intention of the leader in his activities and programs, because all the related activities that are usually directed by the leader and provided by the members will always reflect his physical and moral values. Attention- A true leader must always visualize the needs and benefits of his team; in order to develop a progressive idea the leader should always give his full attention to the programs and activities that are very beneficial to the community. Unique Gifts and Talents- Special skills and talents are God given gifts to every individual; it is also temporarily stored to human body, by building and developing a set of better programs and activities, leaders are extending their best to use their skills and intellectual thinking to provide a humanistic and unbiased leadership to his community. Gratitude- Leadership is not all about the giving of commands and duties, in order to achieve the main goal; an acting leader should have an interpersonal emotion, greater acceptance, and dipper appreciation for handling a serious obligation, also by receiving a lively sense of favors grateful acceptance is also required in order to have a better leadership practice application. Unique life lessons- Though leadership is always creating some comparisons, developing uniqueness is a big factor to create a better relationship towards other members, by using personal experience to provide a useful knowledge, â€Å"Unique life lessons† is a big contribution in having an enlightened leader. Holistic Perspective- This kind of principle is also required to inspire the members to also achieve their goals. By emphasizing the importance of the members in the society, through the implementations of the holistic perspective true leadership will be more effective. Openness- To achieve a wise leadership especially in education, openness is a big impact to create a better leadership. Leaders should always be open-minded in terms of the ideas and theories that are represented by the members of the public constituents. Any problems should seriously be discussed properly. Trust- The most important things that the leaders in spiritual and educational area should apply is trust, leaders should always create their different perspectives as well as the progressive idea on how to lead a certain group; however, trust is the major factor in continuously aiming and becoming a leader. However, trust remains to be the core reason needed for the leadership skill applications to be successful enough for the organizations being served. If the insights written within the pages of the book being discussed in here will always prevail within the society’s leaders, it could be easily expected that better days are ready to come ahead as the future generation of human civilization sprouts out to serve the different countries around the globe. The book indeed provides the most necessary inspiration that leaders need to posses in leading the nation or any other social organization, trust and knowledge that would lead to a more successful future and a more effective leading procedure. Several Important Ideas of the Reading: Part I: The Development of a Leader 1. Why Should I Grow as a Leader? The McDonald brothers versus Ray Kroc in developing McDonalds. 2. How Can I Grow as a Leader? Teddy Roosevelt Part II: The Traits of a Leader 3. How Can I Become Disciplined? Jerry Rice 4. How Should I Prioritize My Life? Paul Tsongas 5. How Do I Develop Trust? Billy Graham 6. How Can I Effectively Cast Vision? Walt Disney Part III: The Impact of Leader 7. Why Is Influence Important? Princess Diana 8. How Does Influence Work? Robert Dilenschneider 9. How Can I Extend My Influence? His father 10. How Can I Make My Leadership Last? Roberto Goizueta Within the entire context of the reading, Maxwell intended to help everyone see the importance of leadership both to one’s self and towards the others. This is a particular fact that needs to be considered well by every individual wanting to become a leader of others towards the betterment of the system of any organizations or groups that they intend to work for. BIBLIOGRAPHY: John Maxwell. (2002). Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know. Thomas Nelson Press.

Carr assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Carr assignment - Essay Example Applying this principle on successful companies like Boeing, Toyota, Pfizer etc., they have established their name not by magically injecting efficiency in their system, but by providing better products (capturing market share, non-IT competitive edges, price strategies etc.). Workers must constantly learn new skills to keep up to date with changing technology (Morley 296). IT gadgets have been transformed from strategic resource to commodity products. At one time a company is proud of a IT innovation, and after a few time, it found being ruined by lower middle class of the society, meaning it is no longer expensive unique or unavailable. Technology is always taken up by firms. A lot of investment is ready for a new technology. Industries acquire technology but there is very little research as to how technology actually provided a competitive advantage to a certain firm. The argument that technology gives a competitive edge to a firm is valid. Electricity is a classic example. However the fact ignored is indefinite reliability on a piece of technology is fatal for the corporate

Trade mark and Copy right Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Trade mark and Copy right - Essay Example Trade marks are registrable at state level and federal level in the U.S. Whenever any one wants to claim some thing as a trademark, he can use the words" TM" next to the trade mark to serve public or competitor as notice of his right over the same whether registered or not. Unregistered trademark is called common law trade mark giving right to the user who is manufacturer or seller by virtue of its use. If it is registered with the U.S. patent and Trademark Office, the symbol can be used beside the trademark and not while the application for trade mark reiteration is pending. Benefits of registering with federal agency are 1) it serves as a constructive notice throughout the country, 2) evidence that it is owned by the user, 3) invocation of federal courts jurisdictions, 4) it can be used for registration in foreign countries, and 5) if registration is field with U.S.customs which will be used for preventing entry of foreign goods infringing trademarks. (FindLaw) The legal basis of Tempur-Basic is that ComfortStep used by Real Man Boot Company is similar to their brand name 'Comfort-step' in their goods. Though it is not registered, they are alleged to be the first ever users of the said name. However close scrutiny of the names reveals that they are not similar. There is a hyphen between the word comfort and step in the claimant's trade mark where as there is no hyphen in the defendant's trade mark. More over goods are also not the same. Whereas the claimant is using it on casual wears, defendants are using it on work boots though both are foot wears. Position would be different had the claimant registered the trade mark stating that they are using in all their goods including boots. The right over the trade mark registered or not is perpetual. Hence claimant can not succeed in their claim. Question 2 A Describe the general duties of a director of a corporation, and the standards that a director is expected to meet in fulfilling those duties. Also describe what factors or interests you can consider in making decisions as a director. Originally, a director was expected to act only in the interest of share holders of the corporation. But of late, it is the acting in the best interest of the corporation that has to be taken into account before considering interest of the share holders. By virtue of section 302 A.251, subd 5, other stake holders' interests have also to be kept in mind by the director. The other stake holders are corporation's bankers, creditors, Government bodies, employees, and environment. The director should be loyal to the corporation by not competing with the corporation's business. Any thing that the director is accessible to in the affairs of the corporation should not be used by the director for self-serving personal enrichment. He is expected neither to use for personal gain nor disclose matters that are confidential to outsiders and rivals. The director must notify any conflicting interest he may be involved on which the company board must decide for the director to continue with or drop i t before taking director ship or before assuming any new role during his directorship. The director has the power to appoint or dismiss the CEO of the corporation and also decide his salaries. The director is responsible to declare dividends, work out strategies, and can restructure corporation's capital structure including class of share

The Lack of a Plan for New Business and Design Case Study

The Lack of a Plan for New Business and Design - Case Study Example She believes that Kelly is being an obstructionist, and not allowing the project enough of the programmers time, dooming the project to failure. She believes that it is worth extending the companies budget to bring in outside programmers to ensure the project's success. Kelly Thomas believes that this project is unreasonable. Without a set plan for developing new projects, there is no way to ensure enough quality control testing. She also believes that what Pat is asking is unreasonable, and is not possible in the time frame that Pat Lambert has asked for. She recognizes that an increased budget still does not speed up development time. Chris Martinas believes that this project is integral to the success of the company. At the same time, he shows some ambivalence as to whether this program is actually what they need, especially considering the increase in budget Pat is asking for. Chris would like the project to succeed, but also recognizes that it needs to be kept within the company, and not done by hiring other programmers. Cliff's arguments are reasonable; he recognizes that with a broadening market that his company needs to expand to remain competitive. His recognition that older customers should not be ignored and that the budget for the new project needs to remain low is also very reasonable. He recognizes that change is necessary, but that it should only be good for the company.

Total Quality Management Question#2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Total Quality Management Question#2 - Essay Example Oakland (2000) proposed that employees' participation helps in implementing the total quality management (TQM) strategy. For this to happen, employees must be made aware about the different aspects of quality and how they can be partners in implementing quality strategy. Such an arrangement, often termed as the participative form of management, is stated to help the subordinates in sharing the decision making power with their superiors. But the success of any strategy depends upon a number of factors, implementation policy and prevailing circumstances. Therefore the key elements for improving the levels of quality in the billing department include; In view of the evolving global economy, which demands appropriately skilled workforce, most of the governments around the world have started undertaking reforms of their education and training systems, with inclusion of the vocational streams into the system and by providing apprenticeship training to the students. Such training is often provided in technical skills. But the copier company has a mixed workforce which includes trained manpower for carrying out the technical work, maintenance etc. while the other category includes customer care executives and marketing people who require more of behavioural training. There's another category of employees belonging to the accounts and administration branch who might have undergone some training in their respective fields, but when it comes to live experience, their training might require some more polishing to mould them in sync with the company's principles and objectives. John Ruskin, an English critic of 19th century once said, "Qua lity is never an accident, it is always the result of intelligent effort". This statement sums up the kind of efforts required for deliver value to the customer and for producing a quality product and service. To start with, there must be a sincere effort on the part of the management to keep the communication channels working between workers and management. Interaction at regular intervals with the customer care executives, billing clerks, technicians, sales clerks etc. helps not only in gathering the feedback from them, but such interaction also helps in motivating the workers. Company officials must inform the workers in detail about company policies and objectives. The interactions at regular intervals must be used by the company managers to collect as much information as possible about the expectations of the employees from the company and their apprehensions/ doubts about handling some typical situations. An effort must be made by the company officials to solicit the opinions of the workers in resolving some of the testing situations. Such an exercise would no doubt encourage the workers to come out with innovative solutions, but it will also help in company preparing a detailed data base of its working style, working conditions etc., which in turn will help in preparing better customer handling policies. The workers must be trained in handling the customer

Technological change in organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Technological change in organizations - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the development of technology has changed the entire world of business. This change has encompassed activities from very basic level of idea generation such as through CAD (Computer Aided Design) to product or service production by CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) and post business activities.   From the computer revolution to the Internet and most recently and constantly growing Internet based applications such as trading on the Internet, social media, etc., have all forced businesses to harness their adaption to high-paced change by anticipating it rather than following the change merely for survival. Fast pace of technological change has also proved to be proportional to the benefits it brings to business. Immense literature has been developed based on studying various aspects of the technological change to business. ISACA, global nonprofit IT association, has predicted that the entire year 2012, IT departments of business will be collecting huge data from various sources. Growingly conducting a complex procedure to manage the bulk of zeros and ones in a way that benefits the firm with growing return on investment will remain a challenge for IT departments of businesses. This big handling of data constantly grows on the horizontal as well the vertical bases with more of 40 percent projected growth in global data generated in year 2010 while spending on IT has increased by only 5 percent. The rise in demand for people handling big data is so steep that availability of big data analytical talent in US in year 2018 is expected to override the supply (Manyika et al., 2011). (Manyika et al., 2011) Data sources range from consumer behavior at physical outlets to a large number of internet subsections. The emergence of a ubiquitous phenomenon in 2000 has changed the entire business model, constantly challenging IT department to increase capacity to manage (Kenney, and Marshall, 2000). (Kenney, and Marshall, 2000) For instance, technique in retail industry such as bar code, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and vendor-managed inventory (VMI),  etc. (Smaros, and Holmstrom, 2000), and similar techniques multiply pressure as retrieving and constantly updating data remains with the IT section. Similarly, Self Service Technologies (SST’s), mainly adopted in the financial sector with the Internet banking and ATM, etc., has already put extensive pressure on the IT section. Though these techniques have been developed in the past, constant efforts from the marketing side of business to offer various promotions and extracting information based on consumer activity require increased efforts from the IT section in respect of the program development, i.e. the way information can be retrieved or updated. Applications of social media such as Facebook, twitter, blogs; heavy video content such as Multimedia content, which already accounts for more than half of the Internet traffic, is expected to grow by 70 percent in year 2013, with

Socio-Economic Profile of a Switzerland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Socio-Economic Profile of a Switzerland - Essay Example In the paper, Switzerland’s status regarding Market Economy and Productivity, Purchasing Power Parity and Human Development Index are discussed. Religion is an important social variable that often determines the associated risk factors with a certain form of business. The religious stubbornness of the people of a country might put many constraining factors on the business environment of that country. By December 2010 the population of Switzerland was 7.9 million (. According to a publicly funded study the foundation of religious belief in Switzerland is eroding at a fast pace. 32 percent of Swiss populations are Protestant and 31 percent of them are Catholics; 12 percent are of non-Christian religion and 25 percent does not have any religious beliefs. Forty years ago the scenario was lot different when only one percent of the Swiss population was bereft of any religious belief. In the year 2000, the same figure stood at 11 percent. Language is the most important form of person al communication. Since in business communicating with people is most necessary, hence having a clear knowledge of the official languages of a country before setting foot upon its soil is most important from the business point of view. The four official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian, and Rumantsch. The meaning of body language and etiquette along with corporate culture differs from country to country. Knowing the meaning of the same might make a difference regarding success or failure of a business decision. The Swiss value â€Å"cleanliness, honesty, hard work, and material possessions†. The Switzerland motto is â€Å"Unity, yes; Uniformity, no.† The Swiss people are â€Å"proud of their environment and have a long tradition of freedom. They value sobriety, thrift, tolerance, punctuality and a sense of responsibility.†

Licensed Futurist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Licensed Futurist - Essay Example In his DVD, An Inconvenient Truth, he talks about how our entire world is changing. The challenge for Gore is that the people who need to listen and do something about it on a larger scale, are turning a deaf ear. Many so-called scientists want to say that there is no such thing as Global Warming. However, everyone is experiencing climate changes. We have more damaging storms and many areas that should have snow in the winter have spring days. In some areas, the summers are hotter than ever before and we are losing our oceans. We are not paying attention to this because we do not think that it is affecting us. However, everything that happens to the planet will have an effect on us eventually. Another area where we are not watching is what is happening in technology. With cell phones alone, we have a device that baby sits, takes away time from the family and does everything but get up and dance; who knows, someone may be working on that one right now! We are told that many discoveries in telecommunications and other technology are good for us. A prediction that "there will be intelligent electronic systems almost everywhere" (Hall, 2007, p. 1) is a common prediction. Why? Because ewe are becoming so advanced with our technology that it is difficult to embrace all of it at once. One prediction in this area that we have already realized is the Internet connections anywhere we go. Many restaurants, hospital waiting rooms, even Burger King has a wireless connection today. Although this is a great idea, when we embrace it to the fullest, we will move away from our children and families in favor of talking on the phone or being on the computer most of the time. According to Rub ner (2010), some experts predict that we will be wearing mobile electronics in our clothing; Rubner says we will not need computers eventually because we will be wearing them. Hall adds to what Rubner says and we can expect live

Transition to adulthood Essay Example for Free

Transition to adulthood Essay This article was full of information in the transition to adulthood. It begins with a history of becoming an adult. This article takes you through comparisons of the statistics from the past to now. This article gives you an idea on the difference between race and ethnic backgrounds. It also provides support for its findings. What I found interesting in this article is that back in the day, which young people viewed adulthood as a requirement at an early age. Nowadays young people are taking a lot longer to transition to adulthood, they are completing college and finding careers, I think is a great thing. Children need to focus on their education and the opposite sex. I think it is important for young men and women to have a plan of action about where their life is headed. I think today we are more thinkers then doers, I think we are looking into the long-term affect more now. This also gave me statics on when the kids become independent, the past versus present, male, female, and race. I choose this article because I have a step son in the military; this article gave me ideas on how fast they are required to step into adulthood. It was interesting to discover the difference between the age groups, races and what programs they are involved in. If I had to write a research paper this would be the article I would use. This is an interesting topic that I think I could take further. After reviewing this article I feel this is a creditable source, it has supporting facts and documentation to back up its findings, reads well the flow is right. This was definitely a very informative piece of work and you can tell the author spent their time and effort on this as well.

Influence Of Television Viewing On Children Media Essay

Influence Of Television Viewing On Children Media Essay Introduction This essay is about the extent, justification and concerns that adult citizens have about the influence of television viewing on children. Adults in the context of this essay encompass parents, journalists, policy makers, media researchers and human right activists among other citizens. The discussion is covered over five sections. Each section attempts to give the perspective of a loose category of adult citizen concerns. The first section begins by situating the topic in media effects research theory-a concern for social scientists and media theorists. Here it underscores the various foci of effects research over the years notably; media texts as powerful agents of social change (Hovland et.al., 1953; Galician, 2004 and McQuail, 2005), media texts have an influence on peer relations (Moreno, 1934), there is a role of mediating factors (Klapper, 1960 and Moss, 1996) among other concerns. The second section attempts to justify the question of the essay by providing some evidence of w hy the influence of television might be considered more important than other media a concern for media owners, human rights activists and policy makers. Here contributions are made on the distribution and coverage of television (Lichter, 1990), its accessibility (Burton, 2004) and extent of usage by children (Buckingham, 2007) among other arguments. The third section focuses on a range of specific concerns about the actual effects of television- of interest to parents, media researchers and human rights activists. These concerns include, aggressive behaviour (Bandura, 1994), gender stereotyping (Ingham, 1997) and citizenship (Selznick, 2008) among others. The fourth section critically discusses some of the methodological approaches to examining the influence of television on children that would be of possible interest to media researchers and policy makers. Here it briefly highlights possible theories of how children react when exposed to a media text through perceived processes of cultivation (Newbold, 1995), acculturation and socialization (Goonasekera, 1996) and varying intellectual development (Buckingham, 1998) among other theories. The fifth section is the authors perspective of the kind of effective action that should be taken to contribute to better effects research and healthy television viewing among children. The conclusion summarises the main elements of the essay. Situating the influence of television viewing on children in media effects research theory The early part of the 20th century saw a pristine effort in the study of mass media effects that began when public concern about the impact of movies on children and adolescents was prompted by the privately funded Payne Studies (Galician, 2004, p84). These and other media studies helped establish the notion that mass media messages are indeed powerful agents of social change (e.g. Hovland, et.al., 1953;Galician, 2004 and McQuail, 2005). The influence of television viewing on children is an important issue to examine because as McQuail in Newbold (2005, p9) argues, the media is a powerful shaper of opinion and beliefs. For Hovland, et.al. (1953, pp260-266), two personality factors appeared to play a significant role in determining variations in the degree of effect of a media text; intellectual ability and motivation. In even earlier work, Moreno (1934) underscored the importance of peer relations and the bonds they form based on values within the group that are perhaps influenced by media texts. Lazarsfeld et al. (1948, p151) argued that the process of attitude and opinion formation within the broader public sphere of say a community owed more to the influence of other people the opinion leaders, than the media itself. Within media effects research, the opinion leaders are considered the primary group whose relevance is not merely its existence but rather their influence on behaviour and attitudes of individuals that make up the group (Newbold, 2005, p17). Hovland and his colleagues were not only concerned with personality factors but more so with the message itself. They argued that its apparent trustworthiness and how it influences the learning of facts indeed invoked different reactions (Newbold, 2005, p15). For Klapper (1960, p8), mass communication does not ordinarily serve as a necessary or sufficient cause of audience effects, but rather functions through a nexus of mediating factors, an argument that emphasizes the total situation. Moss (1996, p5) see ms to allude to this when she stipulates that audience studies can be examined by establishing the social context in which texts are distributed and consumed. The disparity in effects research approaches perhaps provides an indication of the complexity of the emphasis of issues and concerns by mass communication scholars in demarcating the field. The next section provides some illumination on this latter concern by comparing the influence of television versus other media on audiences from the collective adult citizen perspective of human right activists, journalists and policy makers. The influence of television versus other media Lichter, et. al. (1990, p8) views effects of television as greater than the print media or even radio because it clearly provides its audience with a sense that what it views is true and real. They further argue (p8) that television has broken down class and regional boundaries to a far greater extent than other media (during the 1990s); as compared to say, the print media that is segregated by area of distribution and readership. For Burton (2004, p93), television is the most accessible media to most people, including young children, where television is their most favourite form of media. Buckingham (2007, p75) further illuminates Burtons assertion by arguing that if schools have remained relatively unaffected by the advent of new technology, the same cannot be said of childrens lives after school. He also argues that childhood is permeated and in some respects defined by modern media -television, video games, mobile phones, the internet that make up contemporary consumer culture. G avin (2005) asserts that within a year an average American child would have spent about 900 hours viewing television in school compared to and nearly 1,023 hours in front of a television at home. Kellner (1990, p1) supports the latter assertions and argues that 750 million television sets across 160 countries worldwide are watched by 2.5 billion people every day; underscoring the obvious ubiquity and centrality of television in our everyday lives. Television influence separates itself from other media influences by the extent of its central role in the lives of the contemporary child and perhaps the fact that this is coupled with frequent audio visual stimulation. Media convergence in the current advanced IT age has given rise to internet television and mobile phone television tuning that technically changes the perceived coverage and possible influence of television. Surrounding these postulations is a range of specific concerns that are briefly discussed in the next section; looke d at from the collective perspective of concerned parents, social scientists and possibly media theorists. Concerns about the influence of television viewing on children The debate about the influence of the media on children has been wide-ranging and at times fierce (Robinson Willett, 2006, p6) with concerns about violence, sexual content, advertising and its developmental and educational implications (p6). The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Factsheet (2000, p1) claims that prolonged exposure to television violence is among the factors which lead to children to display aggressive behaviour in both the short and long term. Some aggressive effects research evidences that up to 88% of children readily imitate aggressive behaviour seen earlier on television (Bandura, 1994 in Cumberbatch, 2008, p23). Other concerns revolve around the power of advertising. Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p134) contend that advertising is often accused of promoting false needs, irrational fantasies or even reinforcing exaggerated gender stereotypes and; children are at risk because of their apparent inability to recognise its underlying per suasive intentions. Some authors attribute this to the effectiveness of advertising. Halford, et.al. (2004) argue that because food is the most frequently advertised product on childrens television programming, exposure to these advertisements effectively promotes consumption of the advertised products. Gunter and McAleer in Robinson and Willett (2006, p11) do not agree with the latter assertion and argue that objective evidence is much less conclusive as to the effect of advertising. For Coon, et.al. (2001), excessive TV viewing during childhood and adolescence contributes to higher intakes of energy through snacks and carbonated beverages and lower intakes of fruit and vegetables. Other authors (e.g. Gortmaker, et. al., 1996; Hancox, et.al., 2004) suggest that watching excessive television contributes to sedentarism in both children and adults by taking the place of more energetic activities. Some concerns have been reflected in childrens perception of traditional gender stereotyp ing on television that is perhaps no longer appropriate for the contemporary roles taken on by the sexes. Ingham (1997, p2) reports that women in the home are frequently represented via the housewife-type role, with the man as the strong, bread winning husband. She further argues (p3) that when women are portrayed as successful; it tends to be at the expense of their personal life, which invariably tends to be unhappy. From a philosophical perspective Goonasekera (1996,p41) argues that communications technology (including television) has greatly increased cultural contacts among people of different nations; providing unprecedented opportunities for the establishment of closer cultural linkages and identities. He further argues that this very opportunity raises fears of cultural domination and obliteration of ethnic identities. For Van Evra (2004, p66), the concerns have gone beyond looking at only the negative effects and argues that although television may displace study time or af fect reading habits and study skills; it can also stimulate interest in new topics, provide background material for school projects and stimulate classroom discussions. For Selznick (2008, p108), television teaches citizenship. A plethora of views exist on the perceived influence of television on children. As noted by some authors (e.g. Buckingham, 1998, p.137; Newbold, 2005, p15) and Klapper,1960, p8), intervening variables mediate between television and its audience. Selznick (2008, p108) also argues that whether the effect of television on children is seen as positive or negative, most scholars agree that television affects the way that children build their own identities, specifically how they understand who they are, what they like, their place in the world and their goals. The next section provides a critical exploration of some approaches and models in effects research around the influence of television on children by expressing the more prominent concerns that scholars have had of their peers. A critique of evidence and methodology around effects of television on children The development of effects research has largely been in the direction of emphasizing the role of intervening variables (Buckingham p136 in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà ©, 1998). Taking this as a starting point, Robinson and Willett (2006, p9) argues that the way we interpret physical phenomena is not constant across cultural boundaries. Cumberbatch (2008,p33) alludes to Robinson and Willets latter argument when he asserts that research evidence on the effects of viewing violence suffers from various methodological evidence. Moss (1996, p30) alludes to these latter arguments from a Vygotskian perspective when she asserts that children grow up accommodating themselves to the existing social forms of thinking, shaped through words (Moss 1996, p18) and perhaps by proxy; through what they see through different media. Perhaps at this point a small illustration might serve to stimulate the discussion. Recently in Uganda, horror was experienced when a group of school children witnessed one of their peers plunge to his death in a deep topless latrine after boasting to his friends about being Tinky Winky one of the Teletubbies on childrens television often seen to emerge or drop down a hole in the ground. The Tinky Winky illustration peripherally suggests that negligence might have caused such an unfortunate situation for the kids. But as some of the Ugandan community seemingly believed; television implanted a fatal irrational fantasy described by Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p134). Gerbner and Gross (1976) in Newbold, 1995, p30) prefer to call the latter case cultivation that places emphasis on long-term effects of the media. Perhaps, what creates a fair amount of separation in effects research and perspectives is not only linked to the way we interpret physical phenomena but also to the way that populist views (Robinson Willett, p9) are taken as gospel truth. The elite Ugandan community called for a total ban of the teletubbies -a d emand that spread to human rights groups. Could peers perhaps have influenced their unfortunate friend through secondary transfer of their television experience with the teletubbies? For Moss (1996), children sense of the media is mediated through talk with peers, parents and teachers. Goonasekera (1996, p26) attempts to demarcate the process that leads to anti-social behaviour that he contends happens through a process of acculturation and socialization, where values such as respect for the sanctity of human life become weaker and values promoting short-term hedonistic behaviour become stronger. Does this latter postulation apply to the Ugandan tragedy above? Some authors think otherwise. Gauntlett in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p124) criticises the effects model for its media depictions of anti-social acts that he says is limited to fictional productions. The weakness with this latter assertion of the effects model is that other anti-social activities which appear in other media do not have similar effects on the same audiences. If also, as McKenna (1995,p25) asserts that public service broadcasting tends to be dominated by the elites, then how can one account for the violence that is prevalent in many rural areas in Africa that are not exposed to the media? Can this perhaps be controlled when testing hypotheses? McQuail (2005, p16) alludes to this when he asks; which aspect of the medium is being regulated? This latter assertion has connotations for media effects research methodology; especially testing hypotheses. Buckingham (2008, p31) recommends that research should contribute to the wider debates about the aims and methods of media education. For Moss (1996, p24), this kind of research could explore on a macro level, the influence of media products on society and its culture or the socio-psychology of the process for individuals. Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p136) however notes that effects models assume that effects can simply be read off from the analysis of content. This latter assertion appears to undermine the mediating factors paradigm that he further argues, has a weakness of viewing the audience as a mass of undifferentiated individuals. However, Buckingham (p.137) also validates mediating factors research approaches that underscore the dependence of the socializing influence of television on diverse and variable meanings which its users attach to it (uses and gratifications) and where viewers construct meaning (constructivist). Anderson and Lorch (1983), allude to an active relationship between children and television as they view them as actively making the choice to pay attention to television which in turn influences the way they understand what they watch and on the activities available in their viewing environment. This approach appears not to account for future similar anti-social behaviour that children exhibit after recently watching television. Indeed, Buckingham (1998 , p139) expresses this latter concern with the ways in which childrens understanding of television changes along with their intellectual development and uncertainty over their ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy on television. But for Cumberbatch (2008, p13 p32) doubts remain over the validity of empirical evidence to the case of causality in effects research into media violence that he argues; fails to raise the question of investigating why many people seem unaffected by television violence. On the other hand Moss (1996, p30) postulates that through social activities, childrens interpretation of media text goes through a transformation as they represent what they know in the current context, and renegotiate its significance in the light of others comments to generate and sustain their talk. For Robinson and Willett (2006,p25), both popular and academic research view children as passive receivers of whatever messages the media offers, with little ability to resist t he effects. These hypotheses in the underlying models of communications create a separation in the evidence generated by effects research of the media on audiences. The variegated demarcation of concerns in this and other sections only adds to the complexity of the issues around televisions influence and further raises the question of kind of effective action that needs to be taken. The next section attempts to illuminate this latter question from the authors perspective. Effective action for better effects research and healthy television viewing among children The concerns laid out in previous sections are based on the premise that watching television might have both positive and negative effects. This said, there appears to be vast inconclusive literature on anti-social effects such as violence compared to pro-social influence that television might have on children. Research might better serve in demarcating the field by illuminating the more positive aspects of television influence on audiences. With global processes such as the current economic recession and globalization unfolding or deepening, it might be useful for research to investigate the effects of television viewing on cultural practices or on economic status of audiences across an array of ethnic groups. Also investigating the effectiveness of mediating factors in influencing the resulting effect(s) might be an interesting area for research e.g. does someones religious beliefs rein-in or promote potential anti-social behaviour? Can say criminal anti-social behaviour have a gen etic link that manifests under a threshold of specific media exposure? How can research separate media and non-media influences across different audience age groups by first establishing a baseline of what children already know about the media? In terms of the presumed effects of advertising, media violence and so forth, parents or guardians need to review the balance of the childs daily activity based on some anti-social indicators. For example, if a child always chooses to watch television instead of play with friends or only talks only about television programs and characters, or is not performing well in school, it would be prudent to cut back on the amount of time spent in front of the television. Television viewing time should be negotiated together with the child. Parental Guidance locks should also be instituted on undesirable programmes. It is also helpful for adults, media text producers and regulation to help children interpret and critique the viewed material in order to promote constructive ways that life and values should be interpreted. Conclusion This essay has benefited by examining some of the salient issues around adult citizens concerns about the influence of television viewing on children. It focused on loosely defining the category of adult citizens and their specific interest in aspects of the topic. The discussion was demarcated by situating the topic in media theory, justifying the importance of examining the influence of TV versus other media and then specifically highlighting the plethora of concerns that were mainly negative. These concerns then spilt over into a separate section that focused on a critique of some of the existing methodological approaches and concerns. This was important to examine because methodological approaches inform the existing evidence and facts that a range of adult citizens base their understanding of the issue on. The essay then underscored the fact that mostly negative evidence exists around examining the influence of TV viewing on children and inconclusive in its findings. The essay t hen recommends future research to look into more positive facets when examining the issue and to incorporate the interesting dimensions of genetics, ethnicity and spirituality. This complex essay would have benefited more from an in-depth examination of the causal link between ethonographic, child development and economic issues and critical distancing in the influence TV television viewing on children.