Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Early marriage.

   According to the Oxford online dictionary  marriage is : " the formal union of a man and a woman , typically as recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife". While a true marriage needs a full and free consent of both parties, many parents force their daughters to get married even if they are under the legal age which is eighteen years old. Statistics has shown that child marriage is very common in developing countries like  sub-saharan Africa  and the Asian sub-continent ( India,Nepal , Bangladesh).Child marriage is also very common  in some countries in the middle east such as Sudan,Yemen and Bahrain  where girls are getting married at a very young age. 


Poverty is the main factor and cause that pushes some parent to marry their daughters so that they can improve their financial and social status , so those girls are obliged to do so and to drop out of school . Also, in some cultures marrying a girl in an early age preserve both her reputation and her family's honor, lack of education is also a critical cause of early marriage especially in the rural word. Moreover, some families consider their daughters as a burden, so they want to get rid of them by marrying them.

Early marriage has several negative and harmful effects on women:
1- Illiteracy since a girl drop out of school at an early age.
2- Severe health problems because of pregnancy.
3- stress and severe depression because a young girl cannot cope  with  maternal and marital problems.
4- High rates of divorce since there is a lack of maturity and experience.

A report on a child marriage,Nepal: "
"I was married to a nine-year-old boy when I was three. At that point of time, I was unaware of marriages. I don't even remember my marriage event. I just remember that as I was too young and was unable to walk and they had to carry me and bring me over to their place. Getting married at an early age, I was destined to suffer a lot of hardships. I had to carry water in a small clay-pot in the mornings. I had to sweep and swap the floor everyday".
To sum up, gouvernment has to sensitize people about the negative effects of early marriage. Furthermore, strict laws and measures must be taken in order to stop the spread of this phenomenon.


Sources:
http://marriage.ygoy.com/early-marriage-problems/
http://middleeast.about.com/od/humanrightsdemocracy/a/child-brides.htm
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/recommendation.htm


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Internet Addiction.

       According to Oxford online
 dictionary, addiction is :" the
 fact or condition of being abnormally addicted to a particular substance or activity". There are several types of addition: drugs,Alcohol,TV,and Internet addiction. Internet Addiction is a widespread phenomenon especially among youth and teenagers. this type of addiction is like any other addiction, and it is characterized by the overuse of the Internet. The addicted person in this case spend a huge amount of time in front of the computer screen using instant messaging,chat rooms,gambling, or even playing video games. Statistics shows that the rate of people who
 have problematic Internet habits in the United-States is:9-15
 million of people in the US use the Internet every day,and this rate
 is increasing every three months. 

Different symptomes can be shown by the internet addicted which are:
1- Neglecting the social life: the addicted becomes an isolated
 person, he may spend 8 to 12 hours in front of the monitor living
 in a virtual world, which has a negative impact on his or her social life.

2- Internet addiction contributes to depression,stress and anxiety .
3- The addicted manifests rage and anger once he is hampered
 from using Internet especially  if he/she is a teenager.
4- Lack of time managment since the addicted spend too much
 hours in front of the monitor, so he or she don't have enough time

 to complet other important tasks
 and responsabilities 

5- Less self control.
6- Change in the sleep pattern:
 the addicted may stay-up the
 whole  night surffing.
According to the online ressources of Al-Akhwayn
 University:"Compulsive use of the internet leads to negative life
 outcomes such as loosing a grade, missing a class or work, and
 missing a social engagment"(Junghyun Kim,Conference Papers -- International Communication Association; 2009 Annual Meeting, p1-36, 36p, 4 Diagrams, 4 Charts).

In order to overcome Internet Addiction, the addicted person must:
1- Try to  reduce the amount of time sitting in front of the computer
 screen, so that he or she gradually learn to get away from this 
addiction.
2- Starting new hobbies, and develop other productive activties 
such as reading books, playing sports,being a member in a club so 
that he or she can limit the time spent online.