Is It Time to Hire a Content Strategist

Online content is a key part of any business’s marketing strategy, but any business will find it hard to achieve their marketing goals without a clear content strategy. According to Marketing Profs and the Content Marketing Institute, 63 percent of businesses don’t have a documented content strategy. This is where a content strategist comes in. With only 42 percent of companies having a designated content strategist, brands that choose to have one on their team can gain a competitive advantage. What is a Content Strategist? A content strategist can be thought of as the architect of a business’s content marketing plan. Their job is to ensure the efficient delivery of useful and engaging online content to potential and existing customers. To develop a successful content strategy, they need to understand a business, its marketing goals, and the needs of its target audience. What Are the Main Tasks of a Content Strategist? The duties of a content strategist will vary from one business to the next, but there are some common tasks they’ll be responsible for: Assessing Existing Content A content strategist will identify where content is located, how it’s designed, how it functions, and where improvements can be made. They’ll determine whether the content is designed with the target audience and search engines in mind, and ensure it is consistent across all online channels. The role will also involve meeting team members across different departments to develop promotional strategies, find content gaps, and look at how to refresh older content. Setting Guidelines They’ll ensure that all team members are aware of a brand’s editorial strategy. This involves creating and maintaining an editorial calendar and giving team members a content style guide: †¢ Clarifies the style and tone of all brand content. †¢ Identifies audience demographics and personas. †¢ Gives details on preferred content formats and delivery channels. Delivering Content Each type of content needs to be presented appropriately, based on research and experience. A content strategist will determine the best content distribution channels, understand how to tailor content to each channel, and will know when and how often to publish content. A content strategist may not write on a daily basis, but they may have to jump in and create content when necessary. Editing Editing is more than cutting words and optimizing phrases. It’s about understanding what should be rewritten or discarded according to analytics data and content performance. Analyzing Content Performance Content strategists must be able to use analytics tools to measure content performance according to marketing goals. They will spot weaknesses in specific areas and plan new strategies where appropriate. Budget Responsibilities As well as knowing how to improve content marketing ROI by focusing on the right organic channels, a content strategist will be familiar with paid content strategies. These include search engine marketing, social media ads, display advertising, and native advertising. What Makes Someone a Good Content Strategist? The best content strategists will possess certain qualities that enable them to achieve greater content marketing success. Look out for someone who has the following: Campaign Experience A good candidate will have years of content marketing experience. They’ll be familiar with planning and executing content campaigns, and will, therefore, have a more instinctive feel for what will and won’t work. Having a background in your specific industry is a bonus. They’re more likely to care about your business and understand your target market. Multitasking and Organizational Skills A brand’s content marketing success depends on a clear strategy. You need someone who can plan effectively, lead projects, and keep projects on track without compromising quality. A content strategist needs to be constantly aware of content performance. What are people engaging with? Which pieces of content drive conversions? This requires knowledge of analytics tools and how to interpret data. Collaboration Skills Not everyone will appreciate the importance of content marketing. Content strategists need to be able to demonstrate to others the power of content marketing and also promote team collaboration. An Ability to Remain Calm Under Pressure Managing tight schedules isn’t always easy, so a strategist needs to keep their composure when deadlines are tight and conflicts emerge. They should also be able to adapt quickly to unpredictable events. Remaining in control doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t take risks; the best content strategists are always willing to test exciting new strategies to maximize results. Copywriting Skills Being able to craft engaging content is key to effective content marketing, so having great copywriting skills is a major advantage. Knowing how to tell a great story and persuade readers through colourful language is a valuable skill. Is It Time to Hire a Content Strategist? Only 35 percent of B2C marketers believe their content marketing strategy is very effective. A content strategist will map out a content plan that delivers the right content to your existing audience and potential customers. They’ll strengthen your content strategy by defining your marketing objectives, competitive advantages, and unique brand voice. If you want to ensure all the ingredients of your digital content work together, you should definitely consider hiring a content strategist. It will strengthen your brand’s online presence for years to come.

Search and Seizure Essay Example

Search and Seizure Essay Example Search and Seizure Essay Search and Seizure Essay Unit 5: Midterm Project Carolyn Newton Associates Capstone in Criminal Justice CJ299-01 Professor: Jennifer Wills October 3, 2011 The search of the crime scene is the most important phase of any investigation. Decisions of the courts restricting admissibility of testimonial evidence have significantly increased the value of physical evidence in homicide investigations. Therefore, law enforcement personnel involved in the crime scene search must arrange for the proper and effective collection of evidence at the scene. The arguments the lawyer’s will make in the William’s case is: once an item is recognized as evidence it must be properly collected and preserved for laboratory examination. However, in order for physical evidence to be admissible, it must have been legally obtained. The courts have severely restricted the right of the police to search certain homicide crime scenes without a search warrant, (Mincey v. Arizona 437 US 385, 1978). His lawyer’s argument will be that Williams Forth Amendment rights were violated because it states that: â€Å"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized therefore, the police should have first secured a search warrant†. Because the evidence collected at the Ellis home was obtained without a warrant, this would be the argument of the defense to have the evidence excluded. The exclusion in this case should only pertain to the evidence collected from the Ellis home. Any and all evidence that was collected from the Stevens home should not be excluded because it was collected with consent of the homeowner. In this case, Mrs. Stevens gave permission for the police to search her home and the fact that Mr. Stevens was now deceased; there would be no need for his consent. Without probable cause or a warrant, the police can search when they have voluntary consent from the individual. The consent must in fact be voluntary and not the result of duress or coercion expresses or implied. State v. Pearson, 234 Kan. 906, 631 P. 2d 605 (1984); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S. 218, 225-26, 93 S. Ct. 2041, 36 L. Ed. 2d 854 (1973). Consent would be a legal justification for a search because it states that: If the person who is in control of the property consents to the search without being coerced or tricked into doing so, a search without a warrant is valid. Note that police do not have to tell you that you have the right to refuse a search, but you do. Also, note that if you have a roommate, he or she can consent to a search of the common areas of your dwelling (kitchen, living room), but not to your private areas (bedroom, for instance). On the other hand, the Supreme Court recently ruled that one spouse cannot consent to the search of a house on behalf of the other. In 1984 The Supreme Court once again stepped in to address the same issue in Thompson v Louisiana 469 US 17 (1984). In the Thompson case, a woman who was reportedly depressed shot and killed her husband. She then took an overdose of pills in an attempt to commit suicide. She then suddenly experienced a change-of-heart and decided she didnt want to die. She called her daughter, who in turn called the Sheriffs Department, which dispatched an ambulance and deputies to the womans home. The woman was transported to the hospital where she was treated. Investigators were called to the house and gathered evidence of the murder in the crime scene. The woman was subsequently charged and convicted in the murder of her husband. The United States Supreme Court ruled against The State of Louisiana citing the Mincey Decision and the expectation of privacy provided in the Fourth Amendment. The womans conviction was overturned. Once again the courts ruled that there was NO Homicide Exception and that the police were required to obtain a search warrant. The Exclusionary Rule is available to a defendant in a criminal case as a remedy for illegal searches that violate the rights set forth in the Fourth Amendment. When applicable, the rule dictates that the evidence illegally btained must be excluded as evidence under the Fourth Amendment. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U. S. 643. One important corollary to the Exclusionary Rule is the â€Å"fruit of the poisonous tree† doctrine. (McManus 2003). This rule holds that, in addition to the material uncovered during the illegal search being inadmissible, any evidence that is later gathered as an indirect result of the illegal search will also be excluded. Wong Sun v. United St ates, 371 U. S. 471. Example: 1- Say for instance, the police illegally search an individual’s home and find drugs. The drugs will be excluded as evidence in the case against the individual in accordance with the exclusionary rule. Example : 2 If the police conduct an illegal search of an individual’s home and find a map showing the location of a well-hidden, remotely located outdoor marijuana field. The police go to the field and seize the marijuana. Under the doctrine of fruit of the poisonous tree, the marijuana will be excluded as evidence in the case against the individual as it stemmed directly from an illegal search. There are two important exceptions to the â€Å"fruit of the poisonous tree† doctrine: 1. If the police have an independent source of knowledge of the evidence aside from the fruits of the illegal search, then the doctrine will not exclude the discovered evidence. 2. If the discovery of the evidence was inevitable, the evidence may be admitted, as it was not then the illegal search that caused the evidence to be found. â€Å"Inevitable† is a strong word, and in order to admit evidence under this exception, a court must find that police would have discovered the evidence whether or not they conducted the unreasonable search. Example: 1: 2- If an officer illegally searches an individual’s barn and discovers documents identifying the individual as the culprit behind an internet scam. The next day a confidential informant e-mails the officer the same documents. The documents are admissible as evidence because there was an independent source for the evidence besides the illegal search After arriving at the scene, I would have taken the route least likely to disturb evidence, noting my route of travel. After checking the victim for signs of life, (breathing and neck area for pulse). I would then have noted the time of arrival. Before allowing the removal of the victim (Mr. Williams), I would have photographed his position at the scene and obtained any and all physical evidence from victim. After notifying command, I would then request assistance, and begin by making a video tape recording of the crime scene which would include video tape shots of the evidence being collected, and examining the victim at scene. I would then begin organizing the search by adopting a specific plan, assigning tasks areas of search to individual officers. One officer would be assigned to collect, mark and transport items found. I would then execute the search by carefully following the planned assigned tasks. Next, by marking and photographing the location of objects found such as the knife, latent fingerprints, footprints, tool marks, hair, fragments of cloth, buttons, cigarette butts, bloodstains, etc. All of this would be done while the team is waiting for the search warrant to arrive. References Hendrie, Edward M. // FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin; Sep97, Vol. 66 Issue 9, p26 McManus, Brian C. // Defense Counsel Journal; Apr2003, Vol. 70 Issue 2, p540 (Mincey v. Arizona 437 US 385 (1978). State v. Pearson, 234 Kan. 906, 631 P. 2d 605 (1984); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412. Thompson v Louisiana 469 US 17 (1984). S. 218, 225-26, 93 S. Ct. 2041, 36 L. Ed. 2d, 854 (1973).

10 Fulfilling Teaching Jobs That Pay More Than $60k Per Year

10 Fulfilling Teaching Jobs That Pay More Than $60k Per Year You might not think a career in education is a particularly lucrative choice, but if teaching is your passion, it is definitely possible to make a very good living. Check out these 10 examples of financially rewarding jobs in education. Some might take a bit of time to get there, but if you have your eye on the prize and a career path in mind, you can take the steps necessary to reach the upper levels of the profession. 1. Law ProfessorSure, you’ll have to go to law school first, and have some experience in the field, but once you get all those things- plus some teaching experience, you’ll be set to make six figures by the middle of your career, with junior positions coming in at an average of about $68,000 per year. There’s stiff competition for this career path, of course, but it is possible to land a gig.2. Chief Executive of a UniversityIf you can work your way up to head honcho of a top-tier college or university, whether you’re the chancellor or pres ident or provost, you can make anywhere from $100,000 to $3 million (!)- especially if you’re good at bringing in the money for endowments and capital funds for campus ventures. The downside: this is not a very high growth field, and jobs are scarce. Once people get them, they tend to hold on tight!3. DeanIf you can’t get to executive level in the academic world, you could try working your way up to Dean level. You’ll want an advanced degree in the subject, plus some years as a tenured professor in your field, but then you can start earning some serious money- an average of about $83,000 per year.4. Engineering ProfessorIf you got a fancy education in engineering, you could always go the academic route. Get a little experience in your field, then go back to teaching and research. You could earn up to $100,000 per year in a top tier school. This field is growing rather nicely.5. School SuperintendentThe high administrator of the area public school system makes an ywhere from $130,000 to $196,000 per year. You’ll want a doctorate in education, plus a healthy base of teaching experience and some leadership experience to pursue this job.6. PrincipalWant to be more involved in the day-to-day and less in the macro-level budgeting and overseeing? School principals can make anywhere between $86,000 and $130,000 per year working closely with both teachers and students. A master’s in education is a plus here, as well as some teaching experience.7. Curriculum DeveloperStart out as a classroom teacher, then get your master’s and start working on instructional design. Help determine what students should be learning and how they should be evaluated most effectively. Train your fellow teachers to teach better, and make up to $75,000 per year.8. Registrar or Financial Aid CounselorStep back into the admin side for a while and work in the front office of secondary and post-secondary schools. Help guide students through the stressful adm inistrative stuff they have to take care of for their studies, and make up to $90,000 per year.9. Health/Allied Health ProfessorTeaching would-be health care professionals is serious and stringent work. You’ll need to build up to this with a degree of your own in a medical field, plus years of practical experience and teaching experience, but the job prospects and growth rates are great and you can make almost $100,000 per year.10. Economics ProfessorIf you’re an expert in economic theory and want to research and teach, take your experience as an analyst, policy maker, or researcher back into an academic institution and make about $90,000 per year. The better your credentials, the better your chances of landing a job in this competitive field.

Contracts and Employment Agreements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contracts and Employment Agreements - Essay Example There are exceptions that have become a trend and offer a lot of fortification to at will discharge. These trends comprise public policy, implied contracts and implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. I understand that, in public policy, employees need a â€Å"just cause† for discharge. They need the same to guarantee managerial processes that define whether there is an unbiased cause for discharge. Implied contract entails all that an employee has done in a company, those that show good reputation. It is more significant in employees that have served for a long time without facing lots of critics. On the other hand, implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing comprehensively entails insincerity in a contract. This is vivid when an individual employee does what is in contrary to the laws stipulated in the signed agreement.There is a group of people that are basically not subjects to the earlier stated rule, â€Å"at-will†. This includes contractors and union ized workers, of which Barnes is one. In trying to argue cases that find them, there are certain exceptions that come in an implied contract. As it is indicated in the study, in chapter seven, there is a mode of acceptance that should be followed to the latter in a contract (Gibson & Lindley, 2010). These require adequacy in consideration, in order to explicate the mode of contracts. Arguments arise when Barnes and Pentrix go to court. To justify himself, one of the parties, Barnes says what he was told during an interview.

Making survery and interview questions for proposal Assignment

Making survery and interview questions for proposal - Assignment Example The survey questions for both groups are presented below. It is expected that these questions will be able to search out for most reasons behind placement problems for international students. The results from these surveys can be used to piece together effective strategies to deal with international students placement problems. In order to deal with placement problems for international students, the representative of the Career Center at UMD will be interviewed to discern the nature of obstacles causing the problems. The information extracted from this interview will enable the creation of strategies that would augment the hiring of international students who graduate from UMD. The sample questions for the interview are listed below. 3. How would you place the responsibility of low placement figures for international students – with the students themselves, the university, the economic circumstances or a combination of all these? It is expected that answers to these questions from the Representative of Career Center at UMD will yield much required insight that would be required to solve the international student placement

Scenario Of Smoking And Cigarettes Health And Social Care Essay

Scenario Of Smoking And Cigarettes Health And Social Care Essay According to Mackay and Eriksen (2002), since early 20th century, when cigarette was first manufactured, there has been a steady increase in the number of cigarette consumers throughout the whole world. Although there are ups and downs in the graph of cigarette consumption level in certain countries, the number of people who smoke around the world continues to rise and more cigarettes are being consumed every day. As the human race populations keep on expanding and become larger, so will the number of smokers in the world. It is expected that at least 2 billion people will live in this planet smoking cigarette by year 2030. The number of people who smokes will continue to increase, even as the prevalence rates drop. Female smokers are growing in numbers, particularly in developing countries, which will fill the gap of decrease in the prevalence rates among male smokers Goddard (2008), in another study found out that from 1974 until 1982, the popularity of smoking in Great Britain had fallen significantly, from 45% to 35%. This decrease however, began to slow down, where for every two years only approximately one percentage of the rate fell down until 1994 to 27%. The general decrease in smoking popularity mentioned above was caused by decline of both light smokers and heavy smokers. Here, light smokers are identified as people who smoke less than 20 cigarettes per day whereas heavy smokers are people who smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day. There has been a decrease on the number of adult smokers who consume average 20 or more cigarettes per day from 1974 to 2006 with the percentage of 26% and 8% respectively. Over the same period, the female smokers also showed a decline in number from 13% to 5%. Meanwhile, in Mexico, a decrease in smoking trends occurred at the offset of 20th century especially on exposure of smoking, daily smoking consumption as well as smoking frequency among the society, especially among men. In addition, smoking popularity and smoking frequency has shown a significant decline particularly among adult smokers in both genders compared to the younger smokers. Nonetheless, men are facing a worse smoking situation compared to women in both mentioned areas. However, during year 2002, it was found out that daily female smokers smoked more cigarettes than men (Franco-Marina, 2007). Surprisingly, in worldwide, nearly one billion men, consists about 35% in developed countries and another 50% in developing countries, are smokers. The rate of male smoking across the world had reached its peak but is slowly declining. Nevertheless, there declining rate is very slow compared to the current effects it has on human. Although more and more researches had been conducted to reveal the negative impacts of smoking, currently the decrease has been slow. In overall, the ones who give up the smoking habit come from those who are educated and so smoking becomes more popular among poorer and less educated man. (Mackay and Eriksen, 2002). Concern over health issues related to tobacco usage is not a new issue. According to Shafey (2003), not only that health concern is increasing, presently the dominance of smoking also began shifting to low-income and middle-income countries especially in many Asian countries (as cited in Parkinson et al., 2009). This is true especially when tobacco usage among human has become a global outbreak. Cigarettes are manufactured with the amount of five and a half trillion for every one year. This is enough to feed everyone on earth about approximately 1,000 cigarettes for each one of them. The largest tobacco consumers identified are Asia, Australia and the Far East with consumption of 2,715 billion cigarettes, before the Americas with 745 billion cigarettes, Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Economies with 631 billion cigarretes and Western Europe with 606 billion cigarettes (Mackay and Eriksen, 2002). Situation in Malaysia however, is slightly different. According to National Health Morbidity Survey (1986 and 1996), the prevalence of smoking among Malaysian adults has increased from 39% to 49% (as cited in Shahidan et al., 2002). National Health and Morbidity Survey (1996) also states the occurrence of tobacco consumption is roughly 24.8% and among all men, 49.2% of them are smokers, whereas for women only 3.5% of them are smoke (as cited in Parkinson et al., 2009). Meanwhile according to statistic in PROSTAR (2007), in 2000 there are 3.6 million smokers in Malaysia and by 2025, it is speculated that the total will increase to 4.6 million (as cited in Kim et al., 2009). Even though currently no clear evidence exists, some survey had identified that smoking among teenagers is increasing nowadays. (Parkinson et al., 2009). However, according to Thambypillai (1985); Shamsuddin Haris (2000); Naing et al. (2004) and Ahmad et al. (1997), there are no significant changes of trends for t eenage smoking. Several surveys done in different regions found out that smoking habit among male teenagers was between 17% to 36% meanwhile for female it was between 1% to 5% (as cited in Lim et al., 2006). 2.1 Reasons for Smoking According to Baker et al. (2002), smokers give almost the same justifications or rationales for smoking. Apparently, majority of them regard smoking activity as a form of relaxation and a way to cope with stress. It is also an addictive habit which presents smokers with good feelings and lessens the bad feelings through the effects of nicotine. In a way smokers consider cigarette as a helpful tool to them although they are aware of its negative effects. This is consistent with the research done by KaÃ…Å ¸ikà §i et al. (2008) in which they stated that smoking is one way for smokers to have pleasure while at the same time relaxing themselves or easing their stress. Moreover, British American Tobacco Malaysia (2010) reported that an important aspect experienced by smokers comes from the pharmacological effect of nicotine a mild stimulant effect not unlike that of caffeine, and a mild relaxing effect. Baker et al. (2002) also stated that serious cigarette smokers are addicted to to bacco, which lead them to smoke heavily whereas light smokers smoke more for social purpose. On the other hand, according to Jarvis (2004), during early adolescent is a period where people like to experiment with smoking due to psychosocial reason. For people who just started smoking, a cigarette is a symbolic way of saying that they are no longer their mothers child and a way of showing that they are mature. Children who have tendency to smoke usually come from environment that promotes smoking culture. Such environment includes situation where family members and peers are smokers or where smoking is considered common in school and in society. They also have tendency to smoke due to their own internal or external conditions such having low self esteem, overweight, psychologically impaired, or having poor achievement at school. Moreover, it is believed that there is a distinguishable pattern among smokers from different gender group. Parkinson et al. (2009), conform to this idea in which the findings of his study revealed that males tend to believe that smoking makes people look more attractive compared to women and see smoking as a mark of being modern. Furthermore, both genders also similarly tend to believe that by smoking they can control their body weight. This finding however contradicts with Western studies by Cavallo (2006), where the data showed that male teenagers do not worry about their weight as much as female teenagers and so are less likely smoke in order to control weight than females (as cited in Parkinson et al., 2009). 2.2 Review of Related Studies The smoking rate for university students is rising gradually in Turkey as well as the world (KaÃ…Å ¸ikà §i et al., 2008). A research by Cooper et al. (2004) said that there is an increase for the rate of smoking in Turkey in which 64% of the increase is among the men and 23% of it is women. Abolfutuoh et al. (1998) states 40% of the students in Education Council are heavy smokers and only 23% of the Medicine Council students smoke. Meanwhile, Kader and Alsadi (2008) found that most of the students are light smokers (50.6%). They also said that students in the medical school tend to smoke less than their friends in other faculties. Surprisingly, a study by Kypri and Baxter (2004) said that the smoking pattern is higher among Maori women than men, in which the women tend to smoke daily. Sharker (2005) in his study about knowledge, attitude and practice on smoking among students and staff in Universiti Putra Malaysia states that 13.7% from respondents who smoke comes from students while 9.9% was comes from the staff. He also found that Indians and Malays were among the highest percentage due to ethnic groups which comprises of 12.7% and 11.6% respectively; meanwhile Hindus and Muslim were among the highest percentage due to religious group which equal to 13% and 11.9% respectively. According to Azlan (2006) in his study on smoking among secondary school students in Kuantan, the smoking percentage was 43%; with 63.5% comes from males and 17.5% comes female. This study is quite similar to the study done by Rapeah et al. (2008) whereby almost half of the respondents in her study on factors influencing smoking behaviours among male adolescents in Kuantan were smokers (45.8%) and Malays were contribute up to 53.1%. A cross-sectional study of 16-year old secondary school students in Kota Tinggi district reported that 29.7% from the respondents were found to be smoking and the highest percentage of male smokers comes from FELDA (Federal Land Development Authority) areas which comprises of more than 50% (Lim et al., 2006). Meanwhile, the study done by Shahidan et al. (2002) on smoking habits among secondary school students in Kedah reported that the average age for smoking and non-smoking groups were 16 years old the research has reveal that the age of onset smoking among respondents began as early as 13 years old. According to KaÃ…Å ¸ikà §i et al. (2008), 40.2% of the final grade students at the AtatÃ…Â ©rk University smoked. 56.5% from that said that they smoke to release tense while 24.6% smoke for pleasure. Abolfutuoh et al. (1998) states that curiosity was the main reason for initiation of smoking among students in medical students at the University College of Medicine and students of the College of Education. There are findings found in a research by Kader and Alsadi (2008) that say the students smoke because it helps them to concentrate as well as calm them down. They also said that students smoke because they also want to cope with stress and social anxieties. Kypri and Baxter (2004) also stated that students smoke because it helps them to relax. According to Shahidan et al. (2002), matured, attractive and classy are among the reasons students start smoking with percentage of 70.0%, 62.2% and 54.0% respectively. Meanwhile, Sharker (2005) found that the main reason for the onset of smoking among students and staff in Universiti Putra Malaysia was just for fun and it was comprises of 54.2%. In addition, Azlan (2006) revealed that the main reason for students to smoke is because of the influences of friends. Rapeah et al. (2008) states that wanted to try received the highest frequency among reasons for smoking with percentage of 68.9% and peer influence follows behind with percentage of 56.1%. Nonetheless, nearly 70% of the respondents disagrees that trendy is the reason for initiating smoking. There are also findings found in a research by Khairani et al. (2007) that say curiosity and peer pressure are the most common reasons for starting smoking with percentage of 69.3% and 51% respectively. On the other hand, the most frequent reason for continuing smoking reported was stress with percentage of 70% followed by addiction with percentage of 49%. KaÃ…Å ¸ikà §i et al. (2008) stated that one of the factors that encourage the students to smoke is the parents of the students. Most of the students who smoke have fathers and brothers who smoke as well. Friends are also one of the factors that lead to smoking habit among the students. These findings are quite similar with the study by Shahidan et al. (2002) which conducted in Kedah. Their research stated that family members and peers who smoke have great influence to students to start smoking. There is twice higher risk for students who come from smoking family to smoke than those who are not. In addition, there are nearly six times higher risks of smoking for student who have peers who are smokers than those who do not have peers who smoke. Same goes to the study by Khairani et al. (2007), which found out significant connection between smoking among family members and teenager smoking. Sharker (2005) reported that the popularity of smoking was linked with race, family, age, religious, economic status as well as peers smoking habits. These findings are consistent with the study done by Azlan (2006) on the prevalence of smoking among secondary school students and its associated factors in the district of Kuantan. Meanwhile, according to Lim et al. (2006), smoking is associated with factors such as having low academic achievement as well as having a lot of close friends and siblings who smoke. Another finding also discovers that respondents who smoke are linked with factors which are attitude towards smoking, type of class stream and having smoking friends (Rapeah et al., 2008). In addition, among the main factors for students to start smoking are showing off, curiosity and pressure from peers (Abolfutuoh et al., 1998).

Impacts of Internet to Youth Essay

The Internet is a household word in the West and is responsible for the wide dissemination of information all over the world. It is perhaps the greatest invention of the 20th century and gives great power to its users; with great power comes great responsibility, especially for youths. The Internet is a new medium for distributing information. It has its own culture, its own way of communicating, no law enforcement, no national boundaries as well as free access to every kind of information known to mankind. Its potential for good and evil is mind-boggling with the possibility of every household being connected. After the September 11th attacks on the United States, it was rumored that Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda organization used the Internet to covertly exchange messages to prepare for the attacks [Kelley, Jack. Terror groups hide behind Web encryption. USA today. 2001.05.20. Available on life. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-02-05-binladen.htm]. But the Internet has so far mainly served as a very valuable tool to bring mankind closer together and to remove some of the barriers inherent in the â€Å"real† world (such as expensive textbooks and far distances to travel to see someone). It has had a great impact on those countries that have adopted its use and provides some kind of measure of the gap between First World and Third World countries. But what exactly is the Internet? And what are some of its uses? And what are its impacts to the society especially youth? 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Many computer literate children and youth access the Internet daily for both educational and recreational purposes. While the Internet provides a wealth of positive information, there has been increased awareness of its potential dangers, especially to young people. To address concerns surrounding Internet safety, in 1999 the Internet Safety Group of New Zealand was established. The Internet Safety Group is comprised of a number of Community groups and government agencies. Their objective â€Å"is to offer Schools and libraries resources that will help them educate and protect children and Young people, and educate parents/caregivers on the safe use of the Internet.† (Internet Safety Group, 2000, p.3). There has been much discussion to date about the ‘unsafe’ Internet practices of youth. Empirical research in this area is however limited. Auckland Rape Crisis, as a member of the Internet Safety Group, wanted to increase their knowledge and understanding of how you th use the Internet, and more specifically what youth may or may not be doing to place themselves at risk as a result of being on-line. Thus, it is imperative to study on the impacts of Internet to youth in Tanzania. 1.3 IMPORTANCE THE STUDY 1. The study will help the researcher to have practical skills on conducting research. 2. The study will open room for other researches to be conducted on the field so as to identify what should be done to prepare youth to overcome the challenges of Internet. 3. The study will also help the government and stakeholders in policy making to review country policies concerning the usage of Internet. 4. The study will also reveal the danger associate to internet usage among youth in Tanzania. 5. The study will also reveal the danger associate to internet usage among youth in Tanzania as far as our culture is concerned. 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Specifically the study will focus on the following objectives: 1)To find out and analyze the level of youth awareness and competence in the use of Internet. 2)To identify different types of Internet services and their uses to youth in Tanzania. 3)To identify what are the positive and negative impact of internet to youth in Tanzania. 4)To identify what youth in Tanzania benefit from Internet usage. 1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study will focus mainly on identifying uses of internet among youth in Tanzania and how internet affect their behavior and their day to day activity plus revealing the advantages that they will obtain from the internet. To meet the goal the researcher will study and analyze critically youth behavior on using the internet, what services they prefer to use on the internet, what kind of Webpages they prefer to visit and how internet affects them. 1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The study is affected by the following limitations: a)Fund provided by the sponsor is limited hence the researcher will conduct the study in accordance to the fund available. b)Availability respondents and response from respondents will limit the researcher form getting relevant information at the right time. c)There is no enough proof of the information given by respondents, which might limit the research from meeting the objective of the research d)The availability of literature will affect the study. Few literatures may hinder the efficiency of the study. 1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS The study will investigate on the following questions: 1.Are youth in Tanzania aware of the Internet and to what extent? 2.What service offered by Internet (web) do youth prefers? 3.How Internet influences youth behavior? 4.How does youth benefit from the Internet? STATISTICAL HYPOTHESIS 1.Are youth in Tanzania aware of the Internet and to what extent? Hypothesis †¢Youth in Tanzania are aware of internet †¢Youth in Tanzania are not aware of internet 2.What service offered by Internet/web do youth prefers? Hypothesis †¢Youth prefer most of the services offered by the web. †¢Youth do not prefer most of the services offered by the web. 3.How Internet influences youth behavior? Hypothesis †¢Internet does influence youth behavior. †¢Internet does not influence youth behavior. 4.How does youth benefit from the Internet? Hypothesis †¢Youth does benefit from the Internet. †¢Youth does not benefit from the Internet.