Final blog- Questionnaire

I have now finished my blog and hope you have enjoyed reading my opinions and views on certain topic areas. Here is my evaluation post!

Age?
18

Sex?
Female

What is your degree subject (both if joint)?
Religious studies and Philosophy

Does ‘Being Bad’ relate well to the other modules you are taking?
Not really

If so, how? And if not, why not?
Because my other modules are either on religion or philosophers.

Have you found ‘Being Bad’ too demanding, too easy, or at an appropriate level?
I found the lecturers easy to understand and at an appropriate standard, however the blog was very time consuming. Overall i have enjoyed learning about people's opinions and watching the films.

Do you think the list of topics covered on the module was appropriate?
Each topic was relevant and so yes they were appropriate

Are there any topics not included in the module that you would like to see included?
Prositution, arranged marriages (extreme), i have included these topics within my blog though!

Do you think that the format for classes has worked well?
Yes they were fun to attend!

What did you think of the module team?
All the module team were easy to understand and most importantly were very friendly. However disipline needs to be increased as many people talk through lecturers and i find that very disturbing whilst making notes!

Do you think it would have been better to have had more:
Small group discussions?
Discussion and debate among the class as a whole?
Information and talk from lectureres?
I think more discussions would have meant less distractions!

The approach taken in the module is interdisciplinary (drawing on perspectives from English Literature, Film Studies, Creative Writing, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies and Politics): do you think this a useful way of approaching the topics covered in the module?
Yes, because the module needs to appeal to students from all courses.

Do you think that interdisciplinary modules are a good idea?
Yes because most degrees have crossovers.

Do you think you have benefited from the interdisciplinary approach taken in the module?
Yes because i have widened my learning area by learning things not specific to my module.

Would you like to see more modules that cover this kind of subject matter?
Yes because this lecture was such a pleasure to attend

Are you planning to take the follow-up module PH2004 ‘It Shouldn’t Be Allowed’ at level 2?
Yes i will be, i am looking forward to it!

Would you recommend ‘Being Bad’ to a friend?
Definately

Do you think that the blogs (web logs) were a good idea?
Yes because although it was time consuming, it was fun to do, much better than a presentation assessment!

What did you think of the other assessments (e.g. would it be better to have one longer assessment rather than two shorter ones?)?
They were manageable however i would have preffered one assessment instead of teo worth 30% each.

What have you learned from the module?
That for some topics there is not a right answer.

What parts of the module have you found most useful and why?
In these blogs a requirement was to make comments on other people's blogs, this therefore intiated a friendly debate which i think is a good skill to have in a philosophy module.

What parts do you think were a waste of time and why?
I don't really think any parts of the module were a waste of time.

Are there any other comments you wish to make regarding ‘Being Bad’?
That I have thoroughly enjoyed this module!

Young children swearing and using 'bad language'

I'm not that old but during my time at primary and even secondary school children were very well behaved in the sence that none of my classmates would ever dream about swearing at the teacher. However today it is very common to see children using foul words in order to gain attention/look like a rebel. I may have not witnessed this during my time at school because i went to a grammar school as opposed to a secondary one, but this just not justify the fact that many children do it today.

Children as young as 7 know swear words and also know their meanings. Although swearing is not really a 'crime' i beleve it to be bad behaviour as it shows lack of respect.

Here is what advice is given to parents whom children swear regulary, it also explains why the children may swear. http://www.kidsbehaviour.co.uk/ChildrenAndSwearing.html

Comment 4- formybeingbad.blogspot.com

(Smoking) Most people start smoking because they think it is a way of dealing with stress. However it fact smoking is whole load of stress anyway. The amount of money people spend of cigarettes and lighters is totally unreal.

Obviously it is human instinct to try something new out but the nicotine within the cigarette makes the person crave more. It is a viscous cycle.

I hope you manage to quit soon!

comment 3- sarahblog79.blogspot.com

(Arranged marriages) Not all arranged marriages are disaster areas, and not all of them are the same. Arranged marriages in my family consist of my family talking to the 'potential husband', and me meeting the boy. And only then would i be expected to make the decision of marrying him straight away/marrying him after more meet ups or if i decide to, to decline him.
Arranged marriages in Britian are very different to those from India and those portrayed in films.

Plastic Surgery

This is becoming more and more common in today’s society, however I do not agree with the extremities of some surgery. For example, some people get their boobs enlarged, nose straightened just because people today are trying to look as good as celebrities.

However the fact that they are affordable does not mean it is 100% fool proof as surgery can go wrong for the best of people, e.g. Jordan.

People would rather spend their life’s savings on getting their face reshaped in order to look what they deem as being ‘beautiful’. Is our view on beauty changing as time goes on?

This shows the statistics of the number of people who get plastic surgery done. http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/130203cosmetic.html

Comment 2- broomie89.blogspot.com

(Infidelity) This situation is highly unusual as your friend knows that the boy is being unfaithful and by not stopping the 'relationship' she is basically having casual sex. Now personally i don't like the idea of people having casual sex but that's an individual choice. However on a side note, this is university, and neither of them are tied down to a partner by marriage etc and therefore would not be as serious had the boy been married with children.

Internet porn sites

I think such sites are vile as it just shows women degrading themselves for men and in most cases they do it for the money. It encourages prostitution and can make women feel like they are worth nothing. This is a huge problem and links onto problems such as anorexia and bulimia, as the ‘porn stars’ featured in such videos make boys think all women should be a size 8, this obviously has a knock-on effect towards girls who are perhaps not as skinny as they would like to be.

One of the many cases where people are found to be visiting pornographic sites http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004387779_apjapaninternetporn.html

Comment 1- weirdwonderfulworldwelivein.blogspot.com

(Announced new cigarette display ban) I agree with your statement saying out of sight does not mean out of mind, however I think this new idea does make it that bit harder for new smokers to be tempted. Obviously there will be other ways to purchase them, but it will cut down the amount of cigarettes which are illegally sold to underage kids because of the fact people behind the counter, are too afraid to ask.

I am totally for this new ban as will be less tempting for new quitters. If a new smoking quitter went to buy a magazine and was exposed to row upon row of cigarettes then the chances of them purchasing one is higher than that of someone who has recently quit smoking and isn’t exposed to cigarettes behind the counter.

Speeding

I do not believe in speeding, and I often stick to the limits of the road, like 30mph round residential areas. This may be because I am a new driver and am still learning getting used to roads etc. However, long roads where there are like 2 speed cameras visible do help the people who want to speed. I have seen it many times cars often slow down where they see speed cameras and speed up again when they are free of them. I do not understand why people feel the need to drive so fast, cameras and speed limits have been placed there for a reason and I really think people are very inconsiderate. The kinds of people I see speeding are those who have new cars and young kids. Both are placing their lives and mine at risk. Perhaps my view to speeding will change the more I drive, I have only had my license for 1 month and so maybe this is my naivety to driving.

There are many articles demonstrating that speeding leads to many accidents http://www.co.henrico.va.us/cc/speedkills/teenandspeed.htm

suicide

Is self-loathing classed as bad behaviour? I believe that for someone to commit suicide shows their mental state as unstable, and shows that they thought they had no other option. However, I also think that it is a selfish act as the people (family/friends) of the person left behind, are left with no answer and can make them hate themselves too for not recognising/realising that the person was even feeling suicidal.

A few months back there was an interview of a woman on gmtv who came and talked about her own daughter who hung herself in the woods. Her daughter found tips and help on how best to kill herself on the internet, after hearing this I found it disgusting that people would encourage each other to kill themselves? I believe such websites should be banned and closed down as it only makes the person think that it’s ‘normal’ to want to kill themselves.

I found a website which helps people prepare a suicide note, the fact that people read this thinking suicide is normal is horrific and disgusting. Here is the link http://www.axe-s.com/tips/

Drugs

Working at a pharmacist for work experience made me very aware of the amount of drug addicts there are in my area alone. On a daily basis around 10-20 people came in so to collect their dose of methadone/pick up some clean needles. Those who collected the needles had no desire to wait around, for them it was just an easy way of getting their ‘fix’ and not catching HIV. I’m not quite sure what I thought of this giving away of needles to users as it only encourages them more, however in the long term it does help rule out the spreading of HIV.

Due to people being addicted to drugs whilst being pregnant it means that many children are born addicted to heroin as soon as they enter the world. For people, help is not what they want. For example, a recent example of a regular drug abuser is Amy Winehouse, even with her friends and family around her to help her she went to rehab for a few days, only to return to continue to drugs. This is because not all problems are easy to solve and sometimes it is more to do with psychology than anything else. I truly feel sorry for drug addicts as not all of them intentionally tried drugs, and they can often be found in a ‘rut’ which is very hard (but not impossible) to get out of.

A site which does offer help, moral and scientific, http://www.talktofrank.com/home_html.aspx

Tattoos

Some people get a tattoo in order to fulfil a desire, because they love the art of tattoo, because they committed a murder? American rappers such as ‘the game’ have got tattoos by their eye which is in the shape of a teardrop, for them this symbolises the amount of murders they have committed. For example, ‘the game’ has one teardrop which shows his fans that he has committed one murder. This worries me as there are some people who idolise rappers such as ‘the game’ and could in fact go to great length to become like them, e.g. they could commit a murder too in order to gain such a tattoo. Is it just me who finds this portrayal of sin, sick? It’s almost as though they are proud of it and want to tell the world, what kind of message is this sending out to young kids?

http://www.maniatv.com/shows/spread-entertainment/videos/dave-navarro-spread-entertainment-jeffree-star-tattoo-obsession-ep-11-072607
Above is a video clip of a star showing off his tattoo obsession

Being too religious

When I found out we were going to be discussing people being too religious, it made me think of my own belief in religion. Although I believe in ‘a god’ I am yet to be convinced into a religion as learning about religions raises many unanswerable questions.

People who I think are ‘too religious’ would be the kinds of people who knock on your and post leaflets of their own religion knowing you already believe in another, this would be forcing their own opinions on people and often gets a negative response from people. Other kinds of people whom I believe to be ‘too religious’ are the people who go to large areas of worship in order for a miracle, these people can often be conned into giving up large amounts of money and therefore let their need rule over their mind/reality.

As we stand back and look at a the mother who is giving up large amounts of money to a priest who claims to be able to cure her son from cancer we are unable but to think that the mother has lost her mind and is silly for believing such miracles exist. However, the case would be different if it was our own son suffering with cancer, as sometimes hope is all we have?

Some people's views on faith healers, http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/faith.html

Masturbation

This used to be a very taboo subject area in the 19^th century, as no-one wanted to admit that they masturbated/thought about it. An old idea used to be that sex gave pleasure but was only carried out in order to conceive, people often went to great lengths to make sure people only had sex when married, in order to have children. In countries such as India men and women were put through physical pain in order to ensure that they stayed virgins till their marriage. (In some areas of India this is still common). It wasn’t till later on people began having sex for pleasure, and obviously if this wasn’t available they turned to masturbation.

Masturbation is now a very common aspect in today’s society and it is therefore very much acceptable in England. There are often documentaries of such acts on channel 4 and it is encouraged by shops such as Ann Summers, which promotes it by selling lube and sexual toys in order for ultimate pleasure. http://www.annsummers.com/lubrication.asp

Although it is widely ‘acceptable’ there are many myths linked with it, for example some people believe the more you masturbate the less immune you are to diseases, and some people state that it is healthy to masturbate regularly.

Personally, I would rather have sex than masturbate, anyone disagree?

Bad Cinema

When i found out that one of my 'being bad' lecturers involved a lecture based on 'bad cinema' i had many different ideas about what the lecture could discuss. Some of these ideas included thoughts about films containing bad acting, cheap filming and no story plot. However this was not the case, instead the lecture was based on an old film called 'kids'. This film was made in 1995 and more information can be found on this movie website- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113540/

This film consisted of teenagers experiencing and enjoying drugs and sex. But when this was released many people objected to it as it portrayed under-age children regularly having sex, it also portrayed the society as being not bothered/ not having any help to offer the children.

Although this film is classed as 'bad cinema' because there was no storyline, the acting was dreadful, many people disliked the film's reality, this film was seen a wake-up call to the harsh lives of certain poor children. It can open up the eyes of the public, showing people what effect bad parenting can have on children, and how important the right role model is during teenage years. It also emphasizes more important problems of the 20th century, such as HIV. The film showed many teenagers having sex without a condom, and treating it as no big deal, however the reality soon kicks in as the main character realises she has caught HIV after just having sex with one boy. This therefore sends out a message to the audience telling them that to catch HIV is easy and is caught by not using a condom. Since the movie the use od condoms have increased, and i think films showing problems such as these increase awareness in today's society and can therefore contribute to the end of underage sex/HIV in the future.

Body Modifications

I have non-invasively practised body modification. This is because non invasive BM includes clip-on earrings, make-up and non permanent tattoos. I would never and have never demonstrated invasive practices, this therefore means no piercings or implants of permanent ink.

Some people believe invasive practices as a demonstration of their individuality- such people enjoy the pictures/dates/symbols on their body as for them, it is showing people 'who they are' or 'what they believe in'. This can be anything from a spiderman tattoo, to the indian symbol for 'Aum'. However certain people who have this symbol of their faith on their body do not always mean it seriously, and therefore it becomes a fashion statement/ taking God's name in vain. I personally believe such tattoos are disrespecting what religion means to a theist.

Piercings are common among the 'emo' community today. This is not because of peer pressure as some people do it for the attention of standing out and being 'different'. Within the youth today there is a big emphasise on being unique and standing out of the crowd.
Such desires to be different from a community can often lead to rebelllious acts. It is not uncommon to see children under the age of 16 getting piercings on their bodies/tattoos on them in order to look fashionable, and therefore gain the attention from fellow peers and so that they perhaps can gain the attention from their heavy-work-driven-parents?

Not all BMs are done with the same intention- this means that some people do not do it to crave attention/faith/fashion or to fit in, some people get a tattoo/piercing simply because they enjoy the idea of having one.
However, with non invasive body modifications, reasons for doing them are very much for attention/self confidence. An example of a non invasive BM would be makeup, and therefore it can be said some people wear it because without it they feel like they have no confidence.

Whatever the reason for tattoos/piercings i personally would never get one done and think that those people who get such things done in order to fit in are deluded.

Whilst searching on the internet (well google) i found a website which shows people who self-harm but in a way so that they make it into a design. It seems stupid but these people modify their bodies by self harming it. http://modblog.bmezine.com/index.php?s=byblair

Smoking

I do not like smokers, i personally don't smoke and i am therefore very intolerant of it. Since the ban for smokers on the 1St of july 07 i have began to attend much more pubs as i don't have to fear the risk of passive smoking anymore. When people smoke on the street however i do not like the fact that i am in turn passive smoking. I personally don't smoke as i know the risks involved, and what the worst case scenario would be if i were ever to be a chain smoker. I don't believe in putting my body at risk of cancer, as it would be self-inflicted and therefore entirely my own fault.
However, i do not think that smokers should be deprived of organ transplants simply because their cancer is self-inflicted. But you could say that an organ transplanter who continues to smoke is not worthy of anymore treatment? What would you say?

Like all bad habits they start from stress, peer pressure, boredom, and 'experimenting'. The information about smoke and what it contains is available to everyone, and even taught in some schools. Therefore for people to try smoking is absolutely ridiculous as they know the health risks involved and the potential problem of getting addicted to the nicotine.

In today's society it is very common to see pregnant women smoking away as though they aren't carrying a child. The table's soon turn as soon as the child is born with a defiency as everyone but themselves are to blame. I am intolerant of such smokers as it's just immaturity.


Smoking can be described as being similar to 'suicide', obviously noone tries to smoke themself to death, but their habit/bad behavior is consequently destroying their body, and also those around them who have to passive smoke.
"People that breath secondhand smoke are at risk of the same diseases as smokers, including cancer and heart disease, because secondhand smoke contains 4,000 toxic chemicals. It is estimated that secondhand smoke causes thousands of deaths each year."


Nowadays there is so much help for those who want to quit, so they should accept the help and stop 'hurting' their body. A website which offers help and also informs smokers of the risks, is http://gosmokefree.nhs.uk/why-go-smokefree/

Acceptable infidelity?

I did not discuss the 'acceptable' times where for me infideltiy shouldn't be called 'bad behaviour'. For example, if somebody was in an abussive marriage and fell in love with someone else, if this led to them having sexual interactions with someone other than their partner then i would not class this as being wrong. As humans we have this abilty to sympathise and empathise and if i had ever been in that situation with an abussive husband (god forbid) then i would not class the infidelity as wrong.

Infidelity

Infidelity can often be the main reason for a break-up. In today's soceity is it very common to see unfaithfulness within a marriage. It is shown in many television programmes, e.g. in eastenders there was a huge storyline between Stacey Slater and Max Branning. This was an affair which touched on age issues too as Stacey was practically half of his age.
Infidelity is part of all our lives as we are constantly surrounded by such 'bad behaviour'. For example only recently had it come out that Ashley Cole had cheated on his new wife Cheryl Tweedy many times before and during their marriage.

However, what is the consequence of such behaviour during a marriage? For cheryl tweedy it's been a hard journey as she has not been able to forgive him ompletely, but nor has she been able to forget him. This is not the case for all couples; David Beckham had also 'allegedly' cheated on Victoria. But this just made their marriage stronger as Victoria soon forgave him and they are going to renew their vows very soon.

Here is a link to the story which the mirror wrote about the couple http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/01/25/ashley-cole-cheats-on-wife-cheryl-89520-20297690/

Infidelity within married couples is always seen as unacceptable within our society, but infidelity also occurs with non-married couples. During my early teenage years i have been cheated on by a partner, but this did not affect me as much as i was only young. Now that i am 18, i am in a much more 'deeper' relationship, and if i was to found out that my current partner was cheating on me now, i know i would be heartbroken and would be much more affected by it than previously.

I think with age comes experience, and maturity, therefore this is why i find such behaviours as infidelity, unforgivable. It can often be seen on chatshows (e.g. jeremy kyle) that people cheat because they 'got too drunk, made a mistake, wanted to get revenge' howvever, even such 'reasons' are unjustified for hurting someone who has placed their trust in you.
Some people would say that they cheat on a partner because they have fallen out of love with them, however my answer would be to communicate with eachother. I believe that by lying to a loved one, you are mocking them and not taking them seriously. Infidelity is simply an excuse not to talk about real reasons and problems within a marriage. If you can't stay faithful, dont get married!!

Shoplifters

Do all shoplifters deserved to be punished? I think that 75% of them do because the reasoning behind it is often lame and unjustified.

For young children today there is immense peer pressure to look good and to fit in. As if the peer pressure to do drugs and drink wasn't enough for teenagers today, they also have the added pressure of knowing that if they dont go through with a dare e.g. in this scenario to steal from a shop then they may get beaten up for being a 'woos'.
Obviously, the youths take the 'easy' option out and steal, however this is where the habit starts off for most. Some just forget about it and experience no remorse or adrenaline rush, but this is not the case for all.

In the clip 'family guy' from class, louis nver got caught stealing the first time, this therefore gave her an adrenaline rush and she loved the feeling of not getting caught. By her fourh attempt to steal it wasn't even about what she actually stole, it was just simply the fact of not gtting caught. Unfortunately this is also true for many people in our society today.

On the other hand, i do also believe that some people are not to blame for stealing, and it therefore would be 'justifiable' and 'for a better cause'. For example, if a homeless moter stole food for her starving children, i believe that she is in the right to do so and i feel i would do the same, had i been in her position.

Another group of people who i believe are not to blame are kleptomanias. This is a rare impulsive-disorder where people are not in complete physical control. Such people feel a strong urge to steal, however these people often feel a sense of remorse after as they don't choose to steal, nor do they want to. Kleptomanias are not understood very well as it's hard for us to undertand. I found an article on it from an American newspaper http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2004/10/14/curbingTheUrgeToSteal

Finally, i don't believe it is always wrong to steal, and neither do i believe that it is always someone's choice to steal. There are circumstances which create different situations, we should just aim to choice what's ''morally'' right.

Module field trip

A bad place to visit would be the red light district in London. You could see cheating people and witness prostitutes.