THE DAMAGE DONE BY HEADPHONES

       There are many technologies and devices which can be dangerous as well if not properly used. In the modern world, many of us are wearing headphones all day, every day. Headphones and earbuds are everywhere, but that doesn’t mean they are safe for our ears. Using earbuds and headphones can cause damage to our hearing, if we aren’t careful and don’t learn how to keep ourselves safe.

     People usually have a smartphone in their pocket and a pair of headphones that connect it directly to their ears, unfortunately those same devices that make listening or talking on the phone so direct damage our ears.  According to a 2011 study published in the journal of the American Medical Association; the use of headphones and earbuds has led to a major increase in the prevalence off hearing loss in adolescents and young adults. As a result  of the study, it was also seen, the prevalence of hearing loss among a sample of US adolescents aged 12 to 19 years was greater in 2005-2006 compared with 1988-1994.  For this reason; hearing loss is a common sensory disorder, affecting 20 million  individuals, especially adolescents and of all ages, in Turkey.

       It is obvious  that headphones can lead to some adverse effects. When we wear the headphones, strong vibrations reach our ear, the problem deep inside the cochlea is the fragile hairs and they turn vibrations into sound messages and send them to the brain. But the loud sound damages the hair cells and the cochlea can’t relay the sound messages to the brain and also unlike the damage to other parts of the body, it can’t be cured. The world Health Organization estimates more than 1 billion young people are in danger of hearing loss from portable audio devices, including smartphones. For this reason, when the damage  starts, then we are really on an irreversible journey, we should protect our life from these devices.

       There are also some preventative measures  against the damage done by  headphones. Firstly, avoid using headphones when alone and choose the right headphones or select the one with good sound  allowing you to hear a clear audio, which leads you to listen at low volume because the right volume is  probably not going to damage the hearing process. Doctor Foy also said  follow the %60 rule in regards to percentage of maximum volume and duration of time. There are also some advertisements and companies claiming/ which claim that you need expensive headphones to protect your hearing. This is obviously a wrong idea; the price doesn’t really correlate with the sound quality or the protection.

     Technology is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it can make your life easier and more convenient. But on the other hand, it comes with a lot of side effects and drawbacks. Especially headphones are great, when we are traveling, working out and just want to relax, but there are some harmful effects we are likely going to experience, if we don’t use them correctly.

FIRAT AKKUŞ

REPAIR VERSUS REPLACE

    My mother's generation had many skills that young people lack today.In the past,people could mend clothes, sew on buttons and fix a broken tap but this is not true of current generations who learnt  to replace rather than repair. This essay will discuss why these changes have occured and what effects this is having.

    Today fashion changes quickly but in the past it changed slowly. Clothing and furniture,for example,would last for many years; even generations. However, these days with pervasive advertising  and communication via social media, information about new items travels quickly and we tend to throw out the old to buy the new. Another reason why fashions change is that manufacturerers  are motivated to make goods that do not last very long. For example,cars today are built to last five to ten years, whereas in the past, cars would last much longer. By having early obsolescence, manufacturers can sell more goods.

      This change in attitude has deskilled the public and is damaging our environment. We have lost both the skills and will to maintain our possessions. In fact often we see it as exciting to make new purchases.Another change is that we now create more negative environmental impacts because many of the goods we buy and throw out are not biodegradable. We have become a generation of consumers and we are damaging the environment. This is a huge change from the past.

       In conclusion, today we tend to buy new items rather than repair older possessions.In the process,most of us have lost the skills and desire to repair older items and a further consequence is that we are damaging our environment due to excess waste products.

MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

        Throughout history, the fallibility of justice has harmed some innocent people. There is an important concept concerning the issue; it is called ‘’miscarriage of justice’’. Miscarriage of justice can be defined as a failure of justice. Due to miscarriage of justice, an innocent person is found guilty and a wrongful conviction is not overturned for several years, until after the innocent person has been executed, released from custody, or has died. Therefore, there remains some disagreement as to whether the current judicial systems in the world are enough. It is an undeniable fact that miscarriage of justice has disastrous effects on people’s lives. As regards the causes of this, it can be said that it is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that confirmation bias on the part of the investigators is important in this issue. It is obvious that man is a mortal entity and people can make a wrong decision but this decision affects other people’s life adversely. Some events concerning miscarriage of justice in the well-known documentaries can be shown as the best instance of this; although some people are not guilty, they had stayed in  the prison for a long time. It is clear that time is indispensable for humanity due to the fact that it is impossible to compensate. It is clear that acting regardless of/ disregarding the criminal standard of proof is not right but confirmation bias leads to some negative consequences such as wrongful conviction.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: the withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or the prosecution causes miscarriage of justice. It is obvious that forensic science is an important factor during the prosecution process so forensic evidence is important to prove somebody’s innocence. Therefore, governments or officials should take precautions to prevent these situations, otherwise, some innocent people are found guilty and they can pass away or waste the best years of their life behind bars before their innocence is proved. Due to these reasons, these improper/negative situations cause miscarriage of justice.

                To summarize, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all these points that have been explained so far is that miscarriage of justice is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

KUBİLAY ESER

 

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

                                         

           
 The industrial revolution is defined as the period between the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The period started with the first cotton mill in 1733 in England. England wanted to keep its industrialization a secret. Samuel Slater was a famous and important name in these years. Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the father of the American Industrial Revolution and the father of the American Factory System. In the UK, he was called ‘’Slater the Traitor’’ because he brought British textile technology to America.Although the industrial revolution is seen as appealing to many people, there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

The industrial revolution marked a major turning point in the Earth’s ecology and people’s relationship with their environment. The industrial revolution dramatically changed every aspect of human life and lifestyles when machinery began to replace manual labor. Fossil fuels replaced wind, water and wood and were used for the manufacture of textiles and the development of the iron making process. The full impact of the industrial revolution would not begin to be realized until about 100 years later in the 1800s when the use of machines to replace human labor spread throughout Europe and North America. This transformation is referred to as the industrialization of the world. This process gave  rise to sweeping increases in production capacity and would affect all basic human needs, including food production, medicine, housing, and clothing. Not only did society develop the ability to have more things faster, but also it would be able to develop better things. That process of industrialization  continues today. There have been movements and periods in history which have proved to be important milestones leaving their mark on the years to come and forever changing the social, economic and cultural landscape. Some were religious in nature like The Reformation; some were artistic and philosophical like The Renaissance; yet others were economic like The Industrial Revolution. The former two movements have been widely studied but the latter is often overlooked. In fact, this movement which started with the invention of the spinning jenny and continued to impact all areas of business and social life throughout the 18^th and the 19^th centuries had some far reaching consequences.

There is a wide discussion in many parts of the world as to the effects of the Industrial Revolution. It is clear that working conditions, living conditions, urbanization, public health, and life expectancy, child labor, working-class families and the role of women, the emerging middle class, wealth and income are important effects in this period. Actually, there remains some disagreement as to how life for the average industrial worker was forever changed by bringing wealth and power to Great Britain throughout the 19^th century. Therefore,  the effects of industrialization on society and on daily living in a new industrial city should be explored.

            Firstly, in terms of working conditions, workers made up 80% of society and landowners were enclosing common village lands since the population was increasing in Great Britain. Besides, having no bargaining power to demand higher wages, fairer work hours, or better working conditions meant that working life was very tough for the workers of that period. In addition, there is a big problem: lack of medical attention due to the fact that injured workers would typically lose their jobs and  receive no financial compensation for their injury to pay for much-needed health care. It is clear that the government should have intervened in the free market to improve working conditions and workers should  not have been forced to work. That is to say, the government should have established a commission to investigate working conditions in the new factories and mills. If there are unsafe conditions, it is the government’s responsibility to look out for the safety of its citizens and set minimum safety standards.

            Secondly, in terms of living conditions, working in new industrial cities had an effect on people’s lives outsides of the factories as well. But it is an undeniable fact that during the first sixty years of the Industrial Revolution, living conditions were, by far, the worst for the poorest of the poor. Obviously, cities should have become places with opportunities for sport and entertainment.  It is the duty of the government in any welfare state to provide legislation to ensure that the living conditions of the working class are improved. This was not done during the 19^th century as the modern welfare state had yet to be established. Instead it was believed that the  government should intervene as little as possible to improve living conditions for the working class. After all, if the government gave handouts to the poor, there would be no incentive for them to find work on their own.

            Thirdly, in terms of urbanization, this period witnessed  the rise of cities. In pre-industrial society, over 80% of people lived in rural areas. As migrants moved from the countryside, small towns became large cities. As a result, working-class neighborhoods were formed and they were  bleak, crowded, dirty, and polluted. It was believed at the time that the government should not intervene in the free market to regulate industrial pollution or the filth in working-class neighborhoods. In fact, the government should have established a commission to investigate the negative effects of industrialization on urban life.

            Fourthly, in terms of public health and life expectancy, in the first half of the 19^th century, urban overcrowding, poor diets, poor sanitation, and essentially medieval medical remedies all contributed to very poor public health for the majority of British people. In addition, drinking water resources, such as wells, were frequently contaminated with diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, typhus, typhoid, and influenza. Unfortunately, it is true that in 1849, ten thousand people died of cholera in three months in London alone. Poor nutrition, disease, lack of sanitation, and harmful medical care in these urban areas had a devastating effect on the average life expectancy of British people in the first half of the 19^th century. It was believed that, the government should not intervene in the free market to improve public health. Citizens, it was felt, should be  free to hire a doctor, go to a hospital, or seek their own medical remedies, as they had been doing for centuries. The government, it was thought, had not been and should not be in the business of building houses for poor people.

            Fifthly, in terms of child labor, unfortunately, child labor was integral to the first factories, mines, and mills in England. The tedious and dangerous factory work had negative effects on the health of children. There is one fundamental question: Why was child labor used? Generally, as regards the causes of this, it is claimed that child employees are better than adults due to the fact that they are more obedient and child labor is cheap. What is more, most people believed that these impacts were expected to intensify in the following decades and unfortunately they were right because child labor is still a big problem in the modern world, in the twenty-first century, according to research carried out by international survey companies, especially in Southeastern Asia.

            Sixthly, in terms of classes, it is an undeniable fact that middle classes or ‘’ middling sort’’ emerged in industrial cities, mostly toward the end of 19^th century. The society consisted of aristocrats born into their lives of wealth and privilege, and low-income people born into the working classes. Besides, ‘’white collar’’ workers  such as business people, shopkeepers, bank clerks, insurance agents, merchants, accountants, managers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers emerged. However, it was believed that the government should not intervene in the private family lives of its citizens. The middle class it was felt, was doing fine. In fact the government should invest in the public school system to educate its citizens and encourage the continued rise of the middle class.

By way of conclusion, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all of these points that have been explained so far is that the industrial revolution has had lots of detrimental effects, what is more, the detrimental effects of the industrial revolution are still going on constantly. Due to this reason, precautions should be taken to minimize them. No matter what happens, nothing is more important than human life so it should be given due importance and it should not be endangered, that is to say, living properly is the most important thing for people in the world. In other words, to put it differently, the revolution led to negative results i.e. the social impacts of the industrial revolution in cities brought poverty and harsh living conditions. There is one proverb about this issue: ‘’stood on the shoulders of giants’’. It is not wrong to say that the revolution played an important role in rapid urbanization.

KUBİLAY ESER

THE EFFECTS OF URBAN LIVING ON THE MIND

                                                

                Over the past 50 or 60 years, urbanization has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether the effects of urban living on the mind are favorable or unfavorable. It is an undeniable fact that urban living has disastrous effects on people’s mind and it  affects people adversely in the four corners of the world.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that urban living affects people’s mental health adversely. It is clear that the risk of developing anxiety and mood disorders are important points in this issue. Anxiety disorders pose a  higher risk with 21 percent and mood disorders pose  the highest risk with 39 percent. It is important to emphasize that living in a city roughly doubles the risk of schizophrenia. It can be said that there are a lot of reasons concerning the risks, one of the most important reasons is stressful life events: divorce, bereavement or a serious illness, besides, income, employment, and education affect mental health. According to research carried out by Dr. Andres Meyer-Lindenberg of the central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim in Germany, the city dwellers’ brains, don’t seem to handle stress so well, compared with people who live in the countryside.

                Similarly, when it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: urban living has disastrous effects on people’s brain health, especially the amygdala and the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC). The amgydala is responsible for assessing threats and generating fear, on the other hand, the pACC is responsible for regulating the amygdala. According to research, in the city dwellers, the amygdalas appear more active and not to be the same smooth connection between the behavior of the two brain regions. In addition, there is a different point: Dopamine levels. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter with many functions, one of which is to infuse the brain, besides, dopamine levels are very high in parts of schizophrenic people’s brain.

                All that has been said raises the issue of whether the effects of urban living on the mind are favorable or unfavorable. It is obvious that there are lots of harmful effects on people’s brain. The risk of anxiety and mood disorders, stress, the failure of the amygdala, pACC and dopamine levels can be listed as the detrimental effects on the minds of urban dwellers.

                                                                                             KUBİLAY ESER

UNRELIABLE MEMORIES

     Our brain is considered a computer. It records data and data is kept by our brain without experiencing any changes. Actually, the brain stores memories that we think never change. When we remember something, our brain revives them. However, we may not always remember events like the first time. That's why, our memories are unreliable. There are some reasons why memories are not reliable.

      First of all, one of the main reasons for an unreliable memory is that when we want to recall our memories, we reconstruct the events. We are facing a lot of events every day. The new situations which we encounter cause us to reshape the events. In addition, our memories are affected by our present expectations and our current knowledge and thoughts. Thus, while we are remembering  the past events, we can mix the present and the past. Therefore, our memories can deceive us and they may be unreliable.

       Secondly, another reason for unreliable memories is that we usually suppress memories that are painful and damaging to our self-esteem. We have a tendency to remember pleasant memories because painful memories torment us when we revisit them. Therefore, we may not say that memories are completely true and reliable. Moreover, we are open to external factors such as false memories. We are open to believing in unexperienced events. For example, when a person says “a wild dog was chasing you in your childhood”, you believe the person who tells that story. That's to say, you can be misled. That's why, our memories are unreliable.

       All in all, our brain is not a machine which preserves the events and memories. Our brain keeps the memories in mind and each time we recall something, these memories come out changed. Our brain reconstructs them. Therefore, our memories are unreliable.

                                                                                                  Seher Çakmar

WHY PEOPLE DON’T GIVE UP THEIR SEATS TO OLDER PEOPLE ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The modern world is becoming an increasingly stressful place as the pace of life has reached epic proportions and people are always on the run. Everything needs to be finished yesterday and people are under continuous pressure to succeed. This relentless pace means that common courtesy and concern for others have fallen by the wayside. Nowhere is this more obvious than on public transport where the elderly stand while young people sit playing with their phones. There are various reasons why young people have become like this.

One reason for the apparent selfishness of the younger generation is the fact that everyone is living in their own little bubble thanks to modern technology. The more connected people become via technology, the more likely they are to shift their attention to the virtual world that they have started to inhabit. A lot of business and socialization takes place online, shopping is done online and education, to a large extent takes place online. Thus modern man inhabits two universes, the virtual one and the real world of his ancestors. Technology aids and abets the break from the real world and leaves young people turned in on themselves focused on their screens and their parallel world. With this kind of a mindset, they don’t even notice the elderly. The modern day zombies are too busy living a life the elderly are incapable of comprehending.

A second reason for young people’s seeming indifference to the plight of the elderly on vehicles of mass transit is the lack of social intelligence. The lack of quality contact with fellow human beings resulting from increased connectivity has also had a knock on effect on social intelligence. Social intelligence enables people to be more aware of their surroundings and to read situations correctly. Yet such a skill cannot develop without practice in real life situations and exposure to real life problems. The virtual world, the new reality of modern man, provides no opportunity to do this. The thus mentally impoverished young people fail to empathize with the elderly who have difficulty standing. They don’t sympathize with their plight and stare at them with blank eyes. In short, the upbringing the modern generation and the life they lead have lead them to lose some important social values.

To sum up, modern life and technological developments have made young people what they are. Understanding the source of the problem should enable us to address it as a community. What needs to be done is make children more aware of the real world and all that is happening around them. ‘Re-socialization’ is the key to making the world a better place.

  

STUDYING ONLINE

     Studying online has become increasingly popular in recent years, so much so that universities are having a difficult time filling their classrooms. Nowadays,students prefer to study online rather than attend classes on campus. This essay will discuss both why students prefer online study and what universities can do to reengage students to bring them back to the campus.

     Since the early 2000s, students have been leaving the classroom in favor of studying on their computers.First and foremost, studying online is far more convenient than attending classes on campus. Who wants to drive through peak hour traffic to attend a one hour lecture when one can simply flick a switch and watch it online? Technological advances such as live streaming mean that students can participate in the classes without having to be there in person. Avoiding the hassle of attending class, which might be located a long way away, is the major reason why students prefer online study.

      Universities have very little hope of attracting students back to their classrooms.As technology progresses and computers become more and more virtual, students will want to actually attend real life classes. In the not too distant future, it is predicted that virtual reality will enter the mainstream which means that universities are fighting a downhill battle.The reality is that students will continue to study via computer technology rather than in real life.

       This essay discussed why students prefer to study online rather than attend classes at university. In my opinion, studying online is far more convenient for students and it is only going to continue to become more convenient.Universities will not be able to compete with the forces of technology and therefore it will continue to lose students numbers.

CYBERSECURITY

                                                                       

                Over the past 15 or 20 years, cyberspace has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to why cybersecurity is important. It is obvious that people encounter computing and communication technologies every day, that is to say,  people’s personal lives involves computing through social networking, home management, communication with(their) family and friends. The ubiquitous integration of computing and communication technologies into common everyday objects enhances their usefulness and makes life easier and more convenient. On the one hand, IT is instrumental in the day-to-day operations of companies, organizations, and the government. Besides, retail consumers depend on computers and networks.   It is an undeniable fact that cybersecurity affects several factors in the four corners of the world due to the fact that a rough definition might be that cyberspace consists of artifacts based on or dependent on computing and communications technology. There is a controversial phrase about this issue: Cybercrime. No matter how well constructed, inevitably cybersystems have vulnerabilities that bad guys can take advantage of.  Cybercrime can be defined as the use of the Internet and IT to steal valuable assets (i.e. money) from their rightful owners.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that threats to national security are the main reason for cybersecurity. It is important to emphasize that armed forces depend heavily on IT for virtually every aspect of the nation’s capabilities weapons system; system for command, control, communications, and intelligence, system for managing logistics, and the system for administration. As can be seen above, in the modern world or the twenty-first century, armies consist of several interwoven competencies or distinct types of sensitive data. Due to these reasons, it is an undeniable fact that national security cannot be ignored and precautions should be taken to prevent the negative effects of lack of cybersecurity.  Otherwise, countries may be confronted with the unwanted consequences like in the case of espionage, hacking, misuse of employee privileges, loss of privacy, and misappropriation of intellectual property. These attacks can be defined as one nation’s or third parties attempts to gather, identify, and record information, intelligence, trade secrets, and other product or software information. Therefore, all policies and precautions should be in accordance with Cybersecurity policies to counteract the negative effects of attacks of these types because it is clear that all pieces of information are related to national security, trade, and foreign affairs.      

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: cybersecurity potentially has negative effects in other areas such as economics, innovation, civil liberties, etc. It is an undeniable fact that cybersecurity is related to future possibilities and it is regarded as a part of risk management with all of the demands for a share of government budgets and attention from senior policymakers but decision makers discount future possibilities so much that they do not see the need for present-day action. On the other hand, the private sector is constantly trying to bring forward new applications and technologies but attention to security can slow the process of bringing new products and services to the market, therefore, new technologies and applications are offered for general use without effective security. In addition, some measures which are proposed to improve cybersecurity for the nation potentially infringe on civil liberties, such as privacy, anonymity, due process, freedom of association, and free speech.

               

By way of conclusion, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all these points that have been explained so far is that cybersecurity is a controversial issue due to the fact that computing or communication technologies are indispensable factors for people, governments, companies, and organizations and contain sensitive data, therefore, cybersecurity is a fundamental component of cyberspace.  It is not wrong to say that cybersecurity is the main threat to national security and has negative effects on economics, innovation and civil liberties.

KUBİLAY ESER

WHY WE NEED ART IN OUR LIFE

There is no doubt that man is a civilized creature. One of the components of  civilization is art. While other components deal with man’s environment and man’s outside world (the outside world of man) , art examines the inner world of human beings, and shows the good and the bad in people. Thus, art creates a second nature and beautifies the inner nature of human. Even though there are several reasons why people need art in their life, increasing of man’s capacity and development and transfer of culture can be claimed to be the most important two.

To begin with, the increase of man’s capacity is known to be the primary reason why people need art in their life. Art provides a problem and then solves this problem. For example, if a curriculum includes arts such as making statues, painting, pottery or dance, these are the kinds of things that lead students to view the world differently. These abilities give young people a chance to really develop a vision of self. Artistic activity matures the kids passions and thanks to it, young people feel that school is about making different things. Another point is that, being able to imagine has a vital role in man’s life. It is a fact that arts distinguish human beings from other species. A man devoid of imagination  is unthinkable , because man’s dreams allow him to find new things, make innovations and improve them. Shortly, art enables people to think outside the box.

Furthermore, development and transfer of culture seem to be the second reason why people need art in their life. People use hundreds of different languages to communicate. Someone has to learn his language to transfer information or an emotion to a stranger. However, artistic activities, just like  science, are universal. To exemplify, music that caresses the spirit of humans in Austria influences all people positively, not just now but forever. Moreover, art engages with society and it engages also with the key issues that affect people all day. Although the works of art seem to belong to a person, in fact they carry the traces of the depth of history. Therefore, feelings similar to each society can be revealed in the works. In brief, art is universal and leads to connections between the past, the future and the present.

All in all, increasing of man’s capacity and its universality are said  to be the most common reasons why people need art in their life. I think, art is a phenomenon where our dreams and our emotions reach their peaks and we must value it very much.

Burak Özçifçi

YouTubers

In the modern and global world, YouTube is one of the most important social platforms  of our society. Teenagers, called Generation Z, are raised in the era of smartphones and don't know anything about the time before social media. Today, most of the young people are YouTube addicts. They spend a lot of time watching videos on YouTube. YouTube has attained a global watch time of over five hundred million hours daily. Before YouTube became a very popular platform, people used to see celebrities as role models. However, YouTubers' influences on young people surpassed celebrities on traditional media. In fact, celebrities are increasingly shifting their focus to YouTube in order to compete with YouTubers. Moreover, many parents don't even know about the existence of YouTubers and how they affect their kids. In order to raise our children in the best way, we should consider the effects of YouTubers on young people.

            Firstly, we should consider the effects of YouTubers on young girls. Millions of videos which are related to beauty were featured via YouTube. The importance of fashion and beauty have increased in young girls' lives this way. For example, some YouTubers feature Haul videos in which a YouTuber introduces and describes the products that they have purchased after each shopping trip. These YouTubers can earn thousands of dollars via shopping and filming what they  buy. Furthermore, besides fashion videos, a lot of videos which have beauty and makeup content are  featured. These YouTubers teach how to apply makeup and share their beauty routine. Young girls see these YouTubers as role models. They think they must dress  like YouTubers and apply makeup like them in order to look beautiful.

 Secondly, YouTubers affect young people's decision making process. These pseudo experts give information about the products based on their personal experience in order to support their viewer's purchasing decisions. YouTubers share intimate stories about their lives; it makes them seem trustworthy. They feel closer  to YouTubers than their Hollywood variety. They perceive them as equal because they are average people who might be a person living next door. Therefore, YouTubers are more popular and admired than celebrities and they can easily affect people's decision making process.

Finally, YouTubers affect young people's identification process. They affect their behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes. Some teenagers identify with YouTubers and adopt their ideas. Identification is not the same as imitation. It is permanent. For instance, some popular YouTubers talk about sensitive issues including transgender issues, suicidal ideation, anxiety and depression. Hearing about such topics can be empowering for children who may have experienced rejection or isolation. Messages from YouTubers can be very confusing for them. Children might adopt these kinds of ideas which are not actually true. Also, some children adopt the bad language which is used by YouTubers. If they watch YouTubers who don't pay attention to the language that they use, they can start swearing and cursing  people in their lives. In addition, they might eat too much unhealthy food because they see YouTubers consuming them on their vlogs every day. Moreover, some YouTube videos such as Try not to laugh have risks that might result in children getting hurt or into trouble. YouTubers prank one of their friends or a stranger in videos of this kind . They perceive other people as accessories to their  own enjoyment. If viewers imitate this behavior in their lives, they can get hurt because they might ignore the anger of people  who are pranked.

To sum up, YouTubers can easily affect young girls, young people's decision making process and young people’s behaviors since they are one of us. Parents should take precautions against YouTube videos which might have harmful content in order to raise their children in the best way.

https://www.mamamia.com.au/how-bloggers-influence-teenagers/

https://essay.utwente.nl/71094/1/Westenberg_MA_BMS.pdf

https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/expert-opinion/YouTubers-influencing-children/

Gökhan DEMİRÇİN

THE EFFECTS OF THE LATEST CELL PHONES (70)

                Over the past 20 or 30 years, technological developments have brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether these changes favorable. Especially, the developments of cell phones have considerable effects on people. Although the attest cell phones are seen as appealing to people, there are a lot of positive effects as well as negative effects.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that there are lots of positive effects of the latest cell phones. One of these positive effects is convenience due to the fact that people can use their cell phones everywhere. Besides, thanks to cell phones, people can contact each other easily. In addition, cell phones contribute to the improvement of personal security by using fingerprints or entry codes. Therefore, it can be said that there are several positive effects of the latest cell phones.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: there are numerous negative effects of the latest cell phones. To be more specific, these negative effects are related to people’s health; people who use the latest cell phones always suffer from addiction, stress, the risk of cancer, and insomnia, according to research carried out by the World Health Organization. In addition, there is one different point concerning this issue: this is traffic accidents. It is an undeniable fact that most traffic accidents are caused by drivers who are on the phone. Therefore, the latest cell phones have numerous negative effects.

                By way of conclusion, whether the latest cell phones are favorable or not is a controversial issue. It is obvious that there are both negative effects and positive effects. Being convenient, increasing personal security and supplying contact can be listed as the positive effect, on the other hand, addiction, increased stress, the risk of cancer, insomnia and , the increased the risk of traffic accidents are seen as the negative effects of the latest cell phones.

The Crippling Effects Of Meat Consumption

Eating meat has become so trivial that humans usually don’t regard meat free meals as a main meal. Only a few decades ago, meat was a luxury product; nonetheless, today everybody can easily consume it. Paradoxically, meat is the most inefficient way of feeding humans. When we analyze it on a global scale, it is noticed that our meat filled diet is literally eating up the planet. In that case, it might be a good idea to consider the environmental effects of meat consumption.

First of all, there are numerous environmental effects of meat consumption. Humans keep many animals for food. Currently, about 23 billion chickens, 1,5 billion cattle, and 1 billion pigs and sheep are being raising across the globe. Thus, we have transformed earth into a giant feeding ground. 83% of the world’s farmland is used for livestock. That’s 26% of earth’s total land area. If we include the water needed for plants such as pasture, meat and dairy production accounts for 27% of global freshwater consumption. For instance, about 85% of the water consumed in the USA is used for the livestock industry. Another intriguing example is that 2500 liters of water is used to produce a hamburger. Unfortunately, meat production is like a black hole for resources. As animals are living things, most of their food is used to keep them alive. Apart from these, meat contains only a fraction of the nutrients from fodder crops. Cows, for example, convert only about 4% of the proteins and %3 of the calories of plants. More than 97% of the calories are lost. To create one kilogram of steak, a cow needs to eat up to 25 kilos of grain and uses about 15000 liters of water. Animal products are guzzling up tons of food but they only make up 18% of the calories humans eat. According to projections, we could nourish another 3,5 billion people if we just ate the stuff we feed to animals. About 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans are created by the meat industry, as much as by all ships, planes, trucks, and cars combined. As far as only cows are concerned, everyday, they emit 567 billion liters of methane, a kind of gas causing 86 times more global warming than CO₂. There is also an indirect effect of meat consumption on the environment in that humans destroy rainforests to create pastures, which causes erosion and thereby floods. Moreover, the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere increases because of this.

There is another aspect to meat consumption: ethical problems. Globally, we kill about 200 million animals every day and about 74 billion a year. Furthermore, more than 6 billion animals are slaughtered hourly for meat production. After all, it could be argued that we’re doing them a favor. They cannot exist without us. We might eat them in the end but we also provide food, shelter, and the gift of existence to them. Unfortunately, we aren’t very compassionate gods. A lot of our meat comes from factory farms which are huge industrial systems housing thousands of animals. The factory farms are engineered to be as efficient as possible, and therefore, they have little regard for the quality of life. Most pigs are raised in gigantic windowless sheds and thereby never get to see the sun. Sows are kept in pens too small to turn around. Dairy cows are forced to breed continually to ensure thir milk supply but they are separated from their calves after birth. To fatten up beef cattle for slaughter, they are put in feedlots and confined to pens where they can’t roam to make it possible to keep them  tightly together without dying of diseases. As a result, they put on weight more quickly. The majority of antibiotics we use - up to 80% in the USA -   are for livestock. That helps in the short term but fuels antibiotic resistances. As for chickens, we can say that they are the most unfortunate animals in the context of this matter. They are kept in such vast numbers and so close to each other that they can’t form the social structures they have in nature, so they start attacking each other. To stop that, their beaks and claws are cut. Cockrels  are deemed worthless since they can’t lay eggs and aren’t suitable for meat production. For this reason, within minutes after birth, they’re usually gassed and shredded in grinders. Several hundred million chicks are killed this way each year.

All things considered, the obvious conclusion to be drawn is that meat production has deleterious effects on the environment. Most of them can be ameliorated through technology. However, only if we don’t take action to solve ethical problems will they be likely to continue for along time. It shouldn’t be said that we cannot do anything to eradicate them. For example, the waste of 4164 liters of water, 20,5 kilos of cereal, and 25 m² built-up area is hindered by a vegan every day. The final decision is yours.

                                                                           CEM KOCA

HOW TO IMPROVE CONCENTRATION

                                                                                                               

With the development of technology, we started living in a fast world. In other words, we are quickly jumping from task to task and we are not accomplishing each task fully. There is a serious consequence affecting us; we all have a common concentration problem in the modern world. We, of course, need to keep paying attention in order to learn and remember things, but the essential problem is how to make ourselves more attentive and focused.We first learn to focus by making ourselves do it repeatedly until it becomes a habit, a way of thinking.The ability to stay concentrated on what you’re doing and ignore distractions is extremely hard, but there are some specific steps for improving attention.

Unfortunately, exposure to technology is bad for concentration. Technology is surrounded by many distractions especially associated with visual media.If we manage to keep away from distracting technology related tools such as a laptop, iPad, cellphone and TV, our mind will focus on the task instead of wandering. In addition, we need to grab the present intensely, not the past or the future. We can correct past weaknesses and mistakes and reduce their likelihood in the future; however, we cannot know the future and re-do the past. For these reasons, the present  has  a major role in staying focused. For instance, if we make a daily schedule, we can easily plan our day in terms of activities, events, study blocks and we get focus on a subject.

Another step is meditation which concentrates on our natural flow and controlling our breathing. We generally use meditation for avoiding some negative thoughts like stress, but regular practice mediation also helps us to be mentally focused. It involves sitting in a lotus position while trying to regulate awareness by focusing on one thing, like breathing, but also clearing the mind of other thoughts. With practice, the ability to meditate improves and it enables us to establish  stronger relationships between brain function and mental focus.The more focused we are, the more successful we can be at whatever we do. And, conversely, the more distracted we are, the less well we do.

In conclusion, keeping our concentration high is not an easy task in today’s world, but if we apply some specific steps, we will concentrate better. Avoiding some distractions like technology, focusing on the  present and practicing meditation aid concentration.

                                                                                                              RaziyeYağız 

THE CAUSES OF SHYNESS

Man has undoubtedly a lot of emotions and various characteristics. One of them is shyness. Shyness is an emotion that affects how a person feels and behaves around others. In other words, shyness can mean feeling uncomfartable, self-conscious, nervous, bashful, timid or insecure. People who feel shy sometimes notice physical sensations like blushing , feeling speechless, shaky or breathless. Shyness is the opposite of being comfortable with yourself. When people are shy, they can hesitate to say or do something, because they are  unsure of them and are not ready to be noticed. Even though there are several causes of shyness, reacting to new things and genetics can be claimed to be the most important two.

To begin with, reacting to new things is known to be the primary cause of shyness. New and unfamiliar situations can bring about shy feelings like the first day in school, meeting someone new or speaking in front of a group for the first time. Shy feelings can be mild, medium or intense like other emotions  because all of them  depend on the situation and the person. Someone who usually or often feels shy might think of himself as a shy person. Shy people may need more time to  change. They may choose to stick to what they know or what’s familiar. On the other hand, shy people generally hesitate before trying  something new. They often prefer watching others before joining a group activity.Indeed, teasing and being bullied are also known to be causes to shyness. Shortly, shy people think of others eyes before their own, while they are doing something for the first time.

Furthermore, genetic factors seem to be the second cause of shyness. People’s genes determine their physical traits like height, eye color and body type.  But genes also influence certain personality traits, including shyness. For example, if a child has a shy parent who is the mother, the  father or both, he  probably has a genetic tendency to be naturally shy. However, everyone with a genetic tendency to be shy does not develop a shyness temparement, because life experiences also have a role. Some types of experience can build up in a  person’s thoughts and follow him or her all the way up to adulthood. Consequently, these types of experiences prevent him from being socially accepted. So sometimes, people can experience  a case of anxiety or lack of confidence due to experiences. These cases have also been shown to cause shyness(to be causes of shyness). In brief, one’s genes and experiences have a vital role in the development of syhness.

All in all, reacting to new things and genetic factors are said to be the most common causes of shyness. I think, the word  ‘’ you are born shy’’  is  really silly and really dangerous, and the fear of failure is a surmountable situation. If you want to get rid of shyness, you have to start to overcome your negative self-image.

Burak Özçifçi

ELECTRONIC WASTE

The Industrial revolution followed by the advances in information technology had, without doubt, a vital role in human life because it radically changed man’s lifestyle. Although this development has a lot of benefits, mismanagement and people’s anxiety about innovations have led to new problems of contamination and pollution. People developed a lot of  technical prowess during the last century, but these innovations created  a new challenge in the management of waste. Moreover, these products, named electronic waste, are becoming quite dangerous. Even though there are several effects of elecronic waste, environmental pollution and the danger to human health can be claimed to be the most important two.

To begin with, nature is accepted as the essence of technology ; however, this revolution impacted nature negatively. For example, nowadays the computer has become the most common and most used gadget in all kinds of places ranging from schools and residences to offices and the like. Despite/ Inspite of the   benefits, it contains many heavy metals. It’s bateries, including cadmium, are highly toxic. Consequently, these toxins seep into the soil and contaminate groundwater. Such electronic devices, which are thrown into garbage containers  or just dumped, literally poison nature. To exemplify, the exposure of electronic wastes to heat, light or shock causes toxic substances in the environment to seep into the environment. Briefly, electronic gadgets accelerate routine work and provide many advantages  for human life, but they hasten the end of the world at the same time.

Furthermore, human health seems to be the second effect of electronic wastes. These days, the smart phone is really like an extension of people’ bodies; it is like a  part of the communication system. Unfortunately, it is the only organ that harms the body in all circumstances. For instance, it contains a lot of lead that disrupts the central nervous system and reproductive system and causes brain damage in children. In addition, problems such as memory loss and blood diseases are common. To give another example, e-wastes contain substances like lead in low doses and mercury, which cause poisoning. Mercury is known to damage the nervous system and kidneys. In short, the lifetime of electronic products is very short and they decrease  the human life span.

All in all, environmental pollution and human health are said to be the most common effects of electronic waste. If we want to have a long and healthy life for ourselves and future generations, firstly we should decrease the consumption of e-material, secondly we must have enough recycling facilities.

Burak Özçifçi

THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE INTERNET ON CHILDREN

The internet has become indispensible in the modern world. It is essential in business, at school, in politics, in short in every area you can imagine. This being the case, there is a computer and internet access in practically every home. Children growing up in modern households are, therefore, exposed to the internet very early in life. However, constant access to the internet impacts children in a negative way.

First of all, spending the majority of their time on the internet negatively impacts health. Constant inactivity makes the child gain weight, which is unhealthy. It also prevents muscle development and such children become weak. Physical activity is essential for healthy growth and lack of it can cause all kinds of developmental issues. Constantly staring at a screen is also bad for the eyes. The UV rays which are emitted by computers cause eye problems. This is why many of the young people are wearing glasses. Sitting in front of a screen also dries and irritates the eyes and is uncomfortable. In short, physical health is affected by continued internet use.

Second of all, spending too much time on the internet impacts psychological development. People are basically social creatures and live together in large communities. This being the case, they need to interact with each other. Staring at a screen all day is a solitary activity and it doesn’t help the child develop the social skills he needs. He doesn’t have enough face to face contact with friends; he doesn’t play with them and he doesn’t even speak to them much. He grows up to become awkward in society. In short, excessive time spent on the internet reduces a child’s social skills.

Lastly, spending too much time on the internet can expose children to actual danger. There are all manner of sites on the internet. Some of them are useful and harmless, others are dangerous and harmful. Kiddy porn, terrorist websites and various other sites can lead children astray. Predators on the internet are eager to entrap innocent children. Many children have become involved in all manner of harmful activities due to excessive use of the internet. In short, there are a lot of dangers lurking on the internet.

The society has no use for zombies. It needs individuals who will grow up to become useful members of society. Children who grow up cut off from the physical world and who don’t know how to interact with others are of little use to anyone. Therefore, parents should monitor and restrict the time children spend on the internet.

WHY FREUD WAS WRONG WHEN IT CAME TO DEPENDENCY THEORY

   Sigmund Freud, who is theoretician and the father of psychoanalysis, was a Viennese doctor and clinician. He made numerous studies on child development and according to them, children go through a series of psychosexual stages which lead to the development of the adult personality. These stages are the Oral Stage, which comprises the first year of a baby’s life, the Anal Stage, the Phallic Stage, the Latent Stage, and the Genital Stage. In the Oral Stage, babies are totally and necessarily depend on their mothers because they fulfill the basic needs of the baby such as bathing, feeding or wiping. As a result of this, the baby moves from a state of unpleasant biological need to satiated biological satisfaction. At this point, Freud thought that the dependency of babies on their mothers was about the indispensable function of the mother in the baby’s life. But he interpreted these essential needs as physical needs. This interpretation didn't consider the importance of a mother’s touch on a baby and led to the acceptance of the attachment theory instead of the dependency theory in the coming years.

    The psychologists who justify attachment theory believe that the power of the caregiver’s touch is as important as the basic needs of babies and it has a significant influence on child development. In the 1950s, Harry Harlow made an experiment on rhesus monkeys to contribute to the importance of caregiving, affection, and social relationships in life. He separated infant monkeys from their mothers

a few hours after birth; he put the infants in a place where there were two kinds of surrogate monkey mother machines which dispensed milk and one of the machine monkeys was covered with a soft terry cloth. Then, he put the monkeys in a room with the machines to see their preference. Infant monkeys chose the monkey with the soft terry cloth and milk. Therewithal, Harlow made a critical difference in the experiment to understand the necessity of attachment; he equipped one of the monkey machines just with milk while another machine was covered with a soft terry cloth. At this point, the responses of monkeys clearly indicated the significance of attachment in development. The result of the second experiment was astonishing. The monkeys preferred the monkey machine which was covered with soft cloth even though the other monkey machine had milk which is a requisite for his life. Consequently, psychologists and doctors accepted the importance of attachment. With this in mind, the experiment has been judged by some people because of its ethical issues. This experiment proved that the orphanage system has harmful effects on the child’s development and needs to be changed. Today, most of the countries are encouraging adoption instead of the orphanage system and children become healthier physically and mentally.

     In 1944, American psychologists made an unethical experiment to see the results of the shortage of attachment on humans. In order to do that, they used 20 new-born infants. During the experiment, doctors, and psychologists fulfilled the main needs of babies. They fed the babies sufficiently, gave them a comfortable place to sleep and kept their bodies clean. However, they didn't contact the babies directly to prevent the sense of feeling. In order to do that, they used plastic gloves if they had to touch them. Psychologists were planning to continue this experiment for two years but just after 4 months, unexpected outcomes compelled them to interrupt the experiment: the babies started to die. Before the death of the babies, experimenters observed that the babies were becoming unresponsive to the person who fulfilled their needs in contrast to their response at the beginning of the experiment; they weren't crying at all.  The experimenters tried to bring the babies back to life by touching. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

   As a result of this experiment, psychologists accepted the necessity of attachment and interpreted this need as an essential factor in babies’ life. Therewithal, the unethical side of the experiment has been judged by many people but the reason for the applicability of the experiment was about the conditions in those days; the experiment was made during the Second World War and the babies were probably obtained in return for money.

      In conclusion, the importance and necessity of attachment is accepted, and it has been proved that the results of the deficiency of attachment on babies can lead to serious issues in an individual’s life. Today, many psychologists have experienced this situation in many cases. Through these experiences and experiments, we have learned that we are not depending on our caregivers just because they satisfy our needs, we develop an emotional relationship , and need them as humans.

                                                                                                         SUEDA DİNÇ

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THE CONSEQUENCES OF TARIFFS AND QUOTAS

Trade, without doubt, has  the most  important role in human life.Trade, or commerce, involves the transfer of goods or services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. All  people trade regularly. Although it caused wars and people died in the past, it now continues its importance with different results.  Trade protectionism, which is a kind of virtual commercial war, is the economic practice of restricting trade between countries, usually through imposing tariffs or setting quotas on imported goods. It can also involve subsidizing domestic industries. Nowadays, governments are applying tariffs and quotas to protect their countries. Even though there are several effects of  tariffs and quotas, welfare and retaliation are claimed to be the most important two.

To begin with, welfare is known to be the primary effect of tariffs and quotas.It is not a coincidence that most societies want to live at a high level of prosperity(enjoy a high level of prosperity), even if they are rich, hence the governments of these  societies are occupied in increasing (in the increase of) their people's trading power.The first rule of wealth or welfare for a country is that local products are cheaper than imported products. To exemplify, the domestic producer should be relatively more competitive compared to importers. Thanks to tariffs, the small manufacturer can make   more profit than international companies. Another point is that if a country does not have enough products and producers(have either enough products or enough producers) ,increasing tariffs will reflect on consumer labels. Eventually, purchasing power will be reduced. In short, tariffs must be balanced for both consumers and producers by governments.

Furthermore, retaliation seems to be the second effect of tariffs and quotas. Countries may also set tariffs as a retaliation technique, if they think that a trading partner has not played by the rules. For instance, when the US does not agree with its ally Turkey in the Middle East, it puts extra customs duty on iron and steel products On the other hand, thanks to tariffs and quotas, the countries can produce their business opportunities for their citizens. The more business opportunities you have, the fewer  problems of revenue you have. Briefly, tariffs and quatas  always offer the possibility of retaliation

All in all, welfare and retaliation are said to be the most common effects of tariffs and quotas. International trade is connected with consumer demands and supply. I think the most sensible economic model for a country is to use tariffs and quotas, which are considered to be international economic weapons after they have achieved their domestic trade balance.

BURAK ÖZÇİFÇi