The Belief in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Belief in Education - Essay Example The children were having their Hindi lessons. And the teacher was seated on a chair placed inside the broken walls. We greeted each other and the children gathered around me trying to communicate with me in whatever few English words they knew. The teacher told me, â€Å"We had a proper school until last year. But it was destroyed last year in a grenade attack. You might know that in Kashmir we are having some trouble with extremists and there was a shoot out between the army and them. Thank God, it was vacation time. No child was hurt. But we lost the school building.† I was shocked though I knew a little bit about the situation in Kashmir. Even some of our friends had warned us not to go to Kashmir, but my father said, â€Å"What is the use of visiting India without seeing the paradise on Earth!† Our tour operator also said we could visit some safe areas of Kashmir if we insisted. â€Å"Why do you take this much risk to continue the school?†, I could not help a sking the teacher, â€Å"can't the children go to some other school in a safer place?† The teacher smiled and said, â€Å"You know, 25 years back, in this village, every house had at least one man who was with the extremists. But after this school came in 1985, we have two doctors, 13 school teachers, and one deputy collector even, all of them completing their 10th standard in this school. And we have fewer extremists. And of course, less unemployment. If this school is not functioning, the next nearby school is 35 kilometers away from here. How many of these children do you think will be able to go there?† I bade the children and teacher goodbye and walked back to our car. Faces of impoverished child soldiers from Sri Lanka, Africa, Lebanon... that I have seen on television flashed before my mind's eyes. Hadn't their fate been different if they had the opportunity to get a proper education? Until then I had never realized the transformation that education could bring into a man or woman. As I lived in a country where there are universal education and better opportunities to avail it, education was like environment. I was inside it and was never aware of its existence and how it molded me. Now I started thinking.

Dangers of Using Plastic Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Dangers of Using Plastic - Research Paper Example On the other hand, those opposed to the idea of using plastic maintain that plastic is non-biodegradable and that when they are discarded, they will remain intact for decades. Only DANGERS OF USING PLASTIC 4 incineration can result in the disposal of plastic. Incineration has its attendant risks; it causes noxious fumes to be released into the atmosphere. Due to this, the second group consisting of mainly environmentalists, conservationists and health experts insist that the use of plastic be limited. What is Plastic? Plastic is manufactured from hydrocarbons that are found in oil and natural gas. It is formed when molecules, known as monomers bond together. Different types of monomers create different types of plastic each type of plastic has different properties or characteristics. While some are soft and pliable, others are strong and durable. Use of Plastic – Statistics The United States alone produced 13 million tons of plastics as containers and packaging, 11 million ton s as durable goods and nearly 7 million tons as nondurable goods in 2009 (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). This shows the prevalent use of plastic in many industries including the electronics, automobile, food, furniture and textile industries. Plastic – Types and Benefits There are two main types of plastic : thermosets and thermoplastics. The first type of plastic known as thermoset solidifies when heated. This type of plastic is known for its durability and strength. Therefore, thermosets are used in the automobile and construction industries. They are also used in the making of ink, coatings and adhesives. DANGERS OF USING PLASTIC 5 The second... This paper stresses that the use of plastic has environmental, health and economic advantages as well as disadvantages. Although it offers advantages such as durability, flexibility affordability and light weight, it creates a host of problems such as contamination of the environment, health problems and the dwindling of the earth’s resources. People who support the banning of plastic do so for several reasons. In the first place, plastic is made up of dwindling natural resources such as petroleum and natural gas. Second, aquatic, marine and land animals are strangled, choked and killed when they consume plastic bags or get caught in them. Plastic has also become a major cause of litter and plastic materials pollute both the land, beaches and waterways. Moreover, plastic takes a long time to biodegrade. Finally, plastic is a health hazard. This report makes a conclusion that many governments are now aware of the seriousness of the situation and are taking measures to combat the problem. These measures include imposing a tax on plastic bags to discourage their use. By imposing a tax, consumers may decide to switch to other more environment-friendly reusable bags. In Ireland, for example, customers have to pay a tax of about 20 cents per bag. This has cut the amount of plastic bags by as much as 90 percent. Many other countries like Bangladesh, Italy, South Africa, Taiwan and India have either banned or reduced the use of plastic bags.