Critical Reflection

It was the first time during the course of my study whereby we had to give feedback to our peers on their essay and feedback was also given to me by my peers. Other than peer feedback, we received feedback from our tutor as well. A clear guideline was given to us on how we evaluate our peers’ essay. This guideline is useful as it had helped me to evaluate my peers’ work effectively and efficiently.

I feel that the critics I received from my peers were beneficial as it has helped me to improve my writing in this course. For example, my peers were able to spot grammar mistakes in my essay which I would not have spotted that myself. Furthermore, the feedback received from my tutor was useful whereby he highlighted the main problems in my writing. With his feedback, I can improve on the language use, content and organization in my subsequent essay drafts. In addition, reading my peers’ writing can help me to learn the positive points in their writing and also learn from their mistakes. This is so that I can incorporate good writing skills and avoid making the same mistakes as my peers in the future writings. However, as my basic foundation in English language is not strong, I was worried that my feedback was not useful to my peers or even given incorrectly.

The significant of this feedback exercise gave us an opportunity to evaluate our own writing as well as our peers critically. It has helped me to edit my own writing better as now I know the language mistakes I tend to make in my essay like subject-verb agreement, so I will look out for those repeatedly mistakes before I submit my essay. Through this feedback exercise, I have also learnt to think critically when evaluating my peers’ writing and giving constructive feedback to my peers.

In conclusion, I feel that the feedback exercise overall is very useful and beneficial.  In the future, I should seek feedback from different groups of people such as my peers or my tutor for my first draft of report. This is so that I can edit my subsequent drafts with the feedback I received and eliminate as many mistakes I can. 

(376 words)

Reflection on my Presentation

Although I have rehearsed a few times at home before the actual presentation, I still did not overcome my nervousness when I presented in class on Monday. I have a problem of looking at my script too much when I was presenting.  I do not feel confident enough to present without a script because I always tend to get overly nervous during the actual presentation even if I had memorized my content beforehand and blank out.  I also focus on my slides too much that instead of me being the center of focus, my slides captured the audience attention more. To improve on my presentation skills, I feel that I have to engage the audience more.  I could use storytelling or emotional appeal to deliver my content to the audience. In this way, I will be able to capture their attention and also the audiences will remember the main points of my presentation better. I find that this presentation component is useful as I can learn from my mistakes and also learn from my classmates. I enjoyed the presentation given by my classmates. I can improve on my presentation skills with the feedback given by my tutor and classmates thought this exercise. 

Essay draft 4 (final)

Cyberbullying among children and youths is one of the problems which arises due to the use of social media. Cyberbullying refers to the use of electronic media, especially the social media, to threaten, intimidate and upset someone (Media Literacy Council, 2015). It can come from friends in school or even online friends made in social media platform. This cyberbullying behavior has become a problem because it can lead to potentially adverse effects in the victims like psychological trauma, and in the worse cases, it has caused victims to commit suicide. Online bullying is especially prominent in Singapore. According to a study done by Microsoft in 2012, Singapore has the second highest rate of cyberbulling globally among children and youth between the ages of 8 and 17 (Baig, 2014). This study was conducted by asking children about negative experiences they had online such as being called mean names, being teased, etc. Similarly, Touch Cyber Wellness has done a survey on 1,900 primary school students and 3,000 secondary school pupils. It revealed that 1 in 3 of the latter population had been bullied online, while 1 in 4 surveyed admitted to having bullied their peers in the online sphere through social media platforms (Baig, 2014). The trend in primary school is similar whereby 1 out of 5 students had been taunted on social media platforms. To curb this problem of cyberbullying among the young people and youths, efforts have been taken by the government such as legislation by private organizations education on cyberbullying awareness. In order for these measures to be more effective in countering cyberbullying, close cooperation between the parents and educational institutions is required.

One existing measure taken by the government is implementing the Harassment act in 2014 (Attorney-General’s Chambers, 2104). This new act give more protection to the ordinary citizens including children who are using the internet in the form of punishments such as fines and custodial sentence to the cyberbully depending on the severity of the offender’s action. While the act applies equally to children and youth, if a child between ages of 7 to 16 is convicted, he or she will be dealt with under the Children and Young Person Act (Tham & Hoe, 2014). This law ensures that everyone regardless of age is accountable for the crimes committed online through social media platform or websites. However, the measure may not be effective as there is no guideline on ascertaining the identity of an anonymous offender. Thus, the identity of the anonymous bully can only be traced if educators and professionals who work with the youth are given the resources to do so. Furthermore, if the victim does not report the case of cyberbullying, there is no way to enforce this law. The offender may be left unpunished and continue his wrongdoings. At the same time, school bullying in the form of cyberbullying is a complex problem which cannot be adequately resolved through legislation. As the offenders might be young and immature, they may commit mistakes unknowingly due to poor judgment. Thus, the laws should be more lenient towards children.

In order to create awareness on cyberbully issue, private organizations such as Touch Cyber Wellness have been proactively educating children and teenagers on the consequences of using social media in a negative way and encourages them to use the Internet in positive ways(Touch Community Services, 2014). For example, Touch Cyber Wellness has reached out to more than 320 schools and 900,000 individuals through CRuSH (Cyberspace Risks and where U Seek Help) in promoting awareness in cyberbullying issues. Furthermore, other organizations such as the Media Literacy Council have partnered with Facebook to provide new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers (Media Literacy Council, 2015). These include important tools which give them information on what they can do if they experience something upsetting, recommendations to adults who want to help, as well as guidance to the person accused on why they have upset someone and how they can make it better. Education on cyber awareness seems to be an effective method in bringing across the anti-bully message to the youths. However, there are still cases which can go unnoticed if the victims themselves do not seek help or do not know that they are being victimized. As cyberspace extends beyond the bounds of the school, parents have to be more cautious about their children’s online activities. Thus, close cooperation between parents and schools is required to help identify children who are victims of cyberbullying so that appropriate steps can be taken.

In an effort to encourage such collaboration, the Ministry of Education (MOE) should encourage schools to establish a form of a bullying prevention coordinating committee. This committee should be in charge of developing school wide rules and sanctions against bullying, and events to raise school and community awareness about bullying. This is because research was done on 4500 Americans students in 2010 which found that those students who felt their parents and schools were not dismissive of cyberbullying and would punish them for such behavior were less likely to be involved in cyberbullying (Tan, 2013). In addition, parents should instill moral values in their children like teaching them to be responsible for their own actions. Parents and schools play an important role in deterring cyberbullying behavior through instilling moral values in the young people and teaching them the proper behavior when using social media.

It is evident that cyberbullying is a growing issue in today’s society. Anonymity online can be misused, allowing individuals to threaten and victimize the children and teenagers who use the internet often. With the implementation of the Harassment Act of 2014 in Singapore, offenders will be punished, which serves as a warning for those who have not been caught. Moreover, education and safety resources provided by private organizations can help to reduce the occurrence of cyberbullying cases. However, there also has to be close cooperation between parents and schools as they play important roles in monitoring the children behavior and instilling moral values in them. All in all, the preventive measures taken by the government, school and non-profit organization will help in countering cyberbullying in Singapore but they are not able to completely prevent the occurrence of it.

(1035 words)

References


Attorney-General’s Chambers. (2015). Protection From Harassment Act 2014. Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved from http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=DocId%3A%2207275b05-417a-4de5-a316-4c15606a2b8d%22%20Status%3Ainforce%20Depth%3A0;rec=0



Baig, N. (2014). 1 In 3 Students In Singapore Have Been Victims Of Cyberbullying. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-3-students-singapore-victims-070013753.html


Tan, T. (2103). Tackle cyber-bullying in Singapore before it gets worse. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/tackle-cyber-bullying-singapore-it-gets-worse/page/0/0


Tham, Y.C., Hoe, P.S. (2014). How far does harassment Bill go? The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/how-far-does-harassment-bill-go-20140318


Touch Community Services. (2014). Youth Service Group. Touch Cyber Wellness. Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/touch_cyber_wellness


Media Literacy Council. (2015). Press Release. Facebook and the media literacy council launch new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers in Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.medialiteracycouncil.sg/press-room/press-releases/Pages/BullyingPreventionCentre.aspx#sthash.eMhccH1Y.dpuf

reader response final

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept for all businesses. The author discusses the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses. He claims that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. Of course, businesses have to know ways in attracting their target market and engaging them through the right social media platform.

Newton also mentions that “social media is a concept that most organizations are realizing they have to embrace.” This is indeed true based on the fact that social media tools can help to increase sales provided that businesses choose platforms which are suited to their targeted pool of customers and that they also have the capability to retain these customers. As a frequent user of social media, I usually browse through different platforms for new updates on products such as clothing, accessories and shoes. If I come across a product I like on Instagram, I visit the online store and purchase it. This shows that social media serves as a good advertising platform for businesses as they can make use of it to increase their brand exposure and their web customer traffic. Moreover, there is a growing trend in the users of social media. According to statistics provided by Statista (2015), the number of social network users worldwide has climbed from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 1.79 billion in 2014. This suggests that businesses might be able to achieve higher market penetration through social media due to the rising numbers of user.

The author also points out another important point, which is a business choosing its active sites. This is largely dependent on a business’ targeted market. For instance, if the target group is youths, Instagram, Twitter and online blogs are better choices as compared to Facebook as users of these platforms are mostly from the younger age group. However, just being active is not enough to attract new customers; for example, businesses which aim to target young people have to engage these customers by using entertaining and interesting posts Being a consumer myself, I am more attracted to sites which uses interesting elements to promote their products because this leaves a deep impression on me. This is supported by the article “2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media” whereby one of the five reasons why people follow brands on social media is for its entertaining content (Karr,2014).

In addition, the two other reasons why people follow brands on social media are for its customer service and ability to offer feedback (Karr,2014). Before buying a product, most people read the buyers’ reviews of the product and the feedback provided by the seller as these have an influence on their purchase decision. In order to provide feedback more efficiently, Karr suggests that an organization should set up a social media team to handle any matters regarding the platform and allow all employees in the organization even those who are not in the social media team to participate instead of blocking social media applications. This is a useful concept that businesses should adopt, as providing prompt feedback to the consumers can improve customer satisfaction. Eventually, it can translate into higher sales for the company.

In conclusion, the author has mentioned social media is a useful tool for businesses and relevant to all businesses regardless of their sizes or nature as they can help to boost their sales level. Nonetheless, social media is only useful if businesses choose the suitable platform for their targeted customers and they must also have the ability to retain them.


(612 words)

References


Karr, D. (2014, October 1). 2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media [web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.marketingtechblog.com/2014-statistics-trends-businesses-social-media/

Newton, P. (2014, June 18). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved from http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-posts/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media/

Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2018 (in billions). (2015). Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/

Outline for peer and tutor feedback

What happened? (describe the experience)

• I am supposed to give feedback to our peers for their essay writings 
• I also received positive/ negative feedback from my peers and tutor
• I find the feedback useful as I can know my strengths and weaknesses in the my writing

Why/how did it happen? What factors contributed? How do u feel about it?

• I was given guide lines from my tutor to which what is expected of us for the feedback
• I have to give positive and negative feedback to my peers 
• My peers were able find mistakes in my writing which I myself would not have spotted them
• I find the feedback given from my peers and tutor useful 
• I can improve my writing skills with the feedback given
• Looking at my peers’ writing I can learn some positive points about their writing which I do not have in my writing, this can help me to improve
• The tutor will highlight common mistakes made by the class so everyone can learn from each other
• I feel that my English in terms of language use is still incompetent so I worried that my feedback is not helpful to my peers or I wasn’t able to spot any mistakes in my peers’ writing
• Not sure if the feedback given by my peers is correct or wrong 

What is your new interpretation of the experience? What is the significance? What did you learn about yourself and others?

• The significance of this peer feedback give us opportunity to evaluate our own writing as well as our peers
• I have learnt the importance of doing an outline before writing an essay, good organization, content and language 
• Editing is very important to minimize mistakes in use of language

What will you do as a result of this experience? How will you use it to inform your future? 

• I will learn from my mistakes and apply in my future writings
• I must remember to edit my essay a few times before I submit
• Must also remember to do my end text citations properly

Essay draft 3

Cyberbullying among children and youths is one of the problems which arises due to the use of social media. Cyberbullying refers to the use of electronic media, especially the social media, to threaten, intimidate and upset someone. It can come from friends in school or even online friends made in social media platform. This cyberbullying behavior has become a problem because it can lead to potentially adverse effects in the victims like psychological trauma, and in the worse cases, it has caused victims to commit suicide. Online bullying is especially prominent in Singapore. According to a study done by Microsoft in 2012, Singapore has the second highest rate of cyberbulling globally among children and youth between the ages of 8 and 17 (Baig, 2014). This study was conducted by asking children about negative experiences they had online such as being called mean names, being teased, etc. Similarly, Touch Cyber Wellness has done a survey on 1,900 primary school students and 3,000 secondary school pupils. It revealed that 1 in 3 of the latter population had been bullied online, while 1 in 4 surveyed admitted to having bullied their peers in the online sphere through social media platforms (Baig, 2014). The trend in primary school is similar whereby 1 out of 5 students had been taunted on social media platforms. To curb this problem of cyberbullying among the young people and youths, there are efforts taken by the government and private organizations such as legislation and education on cyberbullying awareness. In order for these measures to be more effective in countering cyberbullying, close cooperation between the parents and education institutions is required.

One existing measure taken by the government is implementing the Harassment act in 2014 (Attorney-General’s Chambers, 2104). This new act will give more protection to the ordinary citizens including children who are using the internet in the form of punishments such as fines and custodial sentence to the cyberbully depending on the severity of the offender’s action. While the act applies equally to children and youth, if a child between ages of 7 to 16 is convicted, he or she will be dealt with under the Children and Young Person Act (Tham & Hoe, 2014). This law ensures that everyone regardless of ages is accountable for the crimes committed online through social media platform or websites. However, the measure may not be effective as there is no guideline on ascertaining the identity of an anonymous offender. Thus, the identity of the anonymous bully can only be traced if educators and professionals who work with the youth are given the resources to do so. Furthermore, if the victim does not report the case of cyberbullying, there is no way to enforce this law. The offender may be left unpunished and continue his wrongdoings. However, school bullying in the form of cyberbullying is a complex problem which cannot be adequately resolved through legislation. As the offenders might be young and immature, they may commit mistakes unknowingly due to poor judgment. Thus, the laws should be more lenient towards children.

In order to create awareness on cyberbully issue, private organizations such as Touch Cyber wellness have been proactively educating children and teenagers on the consequences of using social media in a negative way and teaches them to use the Internet in positive ways(Touch Community Services, 2014). For example, Touch cyber wellness have reached out to more than 320 schools and 900,000 individuals through CRuSH (Cyberspace Risks and where U Seek Help) in promoting awareness in cyberbullying issues. Furthermore, other organizations such as the Media Literacy Council has partnered with Facebook to provide new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers (Media Literacy Council, 2015). These include important tools which give them information on what they can do if they experience something upsetting, recommendations to adults who want to help, as well as guidance to the person accused on why they have upset someone and how they can make it better. Education on cyber awareness seems to be an effective method in bringing across the anti-bully message to the youths. However, there are still cases which can go unnoticed if the victims themselves do not seek help or do not know that they are being victimized. As cyberspace extends beyond the bounds of the school, parents have to be more cautious about their children’s online activities. Thus, close cooperation between parents and schools is required to help identify children who are victims of cyberbullying so that appropriate steps can be taken.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) should encourage schools to establish a form of a bullying prevention coordinating committee. This committee should be in charge of developing school wide rules and sanctions against bullying, and events to raise school and community awareness about bullying. This is because research was done on 4500 Americans students in 2010 which found that those students who felt their parents and schools were not dismissive of cyberbullying and would punish them for such behavior were less likely to be involved in cyberbullying (Tan, 2013). On the other hand, parents should instill moral values in their children like teaching them to be responsible for their own actions. Hence, parents and schools play an important role in deterring cyberbullying behavior through instilling moral values in the young people and teaching them the proper behavior when using social media.

It is evident that cyberbullying is a growing issue in today’s society. Anonymity online can be misused to threaten and victimize the children and teenagers who use the internet often. With the implementation of the Harassment Act of 2014, offenders will be punished, which serves as a warning for those who have not been caught. Moreover, education and safety resources provided by private organizations can help to reduce the occurrence of cyberbullying cases. However, there also has to be close cooperation between parents and schools as they play important roles in monitoring the children behavior and instilling moral values in them. All in all, the preventive measures taken by the government, school and non-profit organization will help in countering cyberbullying in Singapore but they are not able to completely prevent the occurrence of it.

(1020 words)

References

Attorney-General’s Chambers. (2015).Protection From Harassment Act 2014. Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved from http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=DocId%3A%2207275b05-417a-4de5-a316-4c15606a2b8d%22%20Status%3Ainforce%20Depth%3A0;rec=0 

Baig, N. (2014). 1 In 3 Students In Singapore Have Been Victims Of Cyberbullying. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-3-students-singapore-victims-070013753.html

Tan, T. (2103). Tackle cyber-bullying in Singapore before it gets worse. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/tackle-cyber-bullying-singapore-it-gets-worse/page/0/0

Tham, Y.C., Hoe, P.S. (2014). How far does harassment Bill go? The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/how-far-does-harassment-bill-go-20140318

Touch Community Services. (2014). Youth Service Group. Touch Cyber Wellness. Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/touch_cyber_wellness

Media Literacy Council. (2015). Press Release. Facebook and the media literacy council launch new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers in Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.medialiteracycouncil.sg/press-room/press-releases/Pages/BullyingPreventionCentre.aspx#sthash.eMhccH1Y.dpuf

Essay draft 2

Cyber bullying among children and youths is one of the problems which arise due to the use of social media. Cyber bullying refers to the use of electronic media especially the internet to threaten, intimidate and upset some one. It can come from friends in school or even online friends made in social media platform. This cyber bullying behavior has become a problem because it can lead to potentially adverse effects on the victims like psychological trauma and in the worse cases it has caused victims to commit suicide. Online bullying is especially prominent in Singapore. According to the study done by Microsoft in 2012, Singapore has the second highest rate of cyber bulling globally among children and youth between the ages of 8 and 17 (Baig, 2014). This study is conducted by asking children about negative experiences they have had online from their point of view such as being called mean names, being teased and etc. Similarly, Touch Cyber Wellness has done a survey on 1,900 primary school students and 3,000 secondary school pupils. It revealed that 1 in 3 of the latter population had been bullied online, while 1 in 4 surveyed admitted to having bullied their peers in the online sphere through social media platforms ( Baig, 2014). The trend in primary school is similar whereby 1 out of 5 students had been taunted on social media platforms. To curb this problem of cyber bullying, there are efforts taken by the government and private organizations.

One existing measures taken by the government is implementing the Harassment act in 2014 (Attorney-General’s Chambers, 2104). This new act would give more protection to the ordinary citizens including children who are using the internet in the form of punishments such as fine and custodial sentence depending on the severity of the offender’s action. While the act applies equally to children and youth, if a child between ages of 7 to 16 is convicted, he or she will be dealt with under the Children and Young Person Act (Tham & Hoe, 2014). This law ensures that everyone regardless of ages is accountable for the crimes committed online through social media platform or websites. However, the measure may not be effective as there is no guide line on ascertaining the identity of the anonymous offender. Thus the identity of the anonymous can only be trace if educators and profession who work with the youth are given the resources to do so. Furthermore, if the victim does not report the case of cyber bullying, there is no way to enforce this law. The offender may be just left unpunished and continue his wrongdoings. In addition, school bullying in the form of cyber bullying is a complex problem which cannot be adequately resolved through legislation. As the offenders might be young and immature, they may commit mistakes unknowingly due to poor judgment. Thus, the laws should be more lenient towards children.

In order to create awareness on cyberbully issue, private organization such as Touch Cyber wellness has been proactively educating children and teenagers on the consequences of using social media in a negative way and inspires them to use the Internet in positive ways (Touch Community Services, 2014). Furthermore, other organization such as Media Literacy Council has partnered with Facebook to provide new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers (Media Literacy Council, 2015). These includes important tools which gives them information on what they can do if they experience something upsetting, recommendations to adult who want to help, as well as guidance to the person accused on why they have upset someone and how they can make it better. Education on cyber awareness seems to be an effective method in bringing across the anti-bully message among the youths. However, there are still cases which can go unnoticed if the victims themselves do not seek help or do not know that they are being victimized. As cyberspace extends beyond the bounds of the school, parents have to be more cautious about their children’s online activities. Thus, it requires close cooperation between parents and schools to help identify children who are victims of cyber bullying so that appropriate steps can be taken.

A research was done on about 4500 Americans students in 2010 found that those students who felt their parents and schools were not dismissive of cyber-bullying and would punish them for such behavior were less likely to do so (Tan, 2013). The school can establish a form of a bullying prevention coordinating committee. This committee is in charge of developing school wide rules and sanctions against bullying, and events to raise school and community awareness about bullying. On the other hand, parents should instill moral values in their children like teaching them to be responsible for their own actions. Hence, Parents and schools play an important role in deterring cyber bullying behavior through instilling moral values in the young people and teaching them the proper behavior when using social media.

It is evident that cyber bullying is a growing issue in today’s society. Anonymity online can be misused to threaten and victimize the children and teenagers who use the internet often. With the implementation of the Harassment Act, offenders will be punished and it serves as a warning for those who have not been caught. Moreover, education and safety resources provided by non-profit organization can help to reduce the occurrence of cyber bullying cases. However, there has to be close cooperation between parents and school as they play important roles in monitoring the child’s behavior and instilling moral values in them. All in all, the preventive measures taken by the government, school and non-profit organization will help in countering cyber bullying in Singapore but they are not able to completely prevent the occurrence of it.

(960 words)


References

Attorney-General’s Chambers. (2015).Protection From Harassment Act 2014. Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved from  http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=DocId%3A%2207275b05-417a-4de5-a316-4c15606a2b8d%22%20Status%3Ainforce%20Depth%3A0;rec=0

Baig,N. (2014). 1 In 3 Students In Singapore Have Been Victims Of Cyberbullying. Retrieved from
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-3-students-singapore-victims-070013753.html

Tan,T. (2103). Tackle cyber-bullying in Singapore before it gets worse. Retrieved from http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/tackle-cyber-bullying-singapore-it-gets-worse/page/0/0

Tham, Y.C., Hoe, P.S. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/how-far-does-harassment-bill-go-20140318

Touch Community Services. (2014). Youth Service Group. Touch Cyber Wellness. Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/touch_cyber_wellness

Media Literacy Council. (2015). Press Release. Facebook and the media literacy council launch new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers in Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.medialiteracycouncil.sg/press-room/press-releases/Pages/BullyingPreventionCentre.aspx#sthash.eMhccH1Y.dpuf

Essay draft 1

Cyber bullying is one of the problems which arise due to the use of social media. Cyber bullying refers to the use of electronic media especially the internet to threaten, intimidate and upset some one. It can come from friends in school or even online friends made in social media platform . This cyber bullying behavior has become a problem because it can lead to potentially adverse effects on the victims like psychological trauma and in the worse cases it has caused victims to commit suicide. Online bullying is especially prominent in Singapore. According to the study done by Microsoft in 2012, Singapore has the second highest rate of cyber bulling globally among children and youth between the ages of 8 and 17(Nawira Baig, 2014). This study is conducted by asking children about negative experiences they have had online from their point of view such as being called mean names, being teased etc. Similarly, in 2013 a survey had been done by Touch Cyber Wellness on 1,900 primary school students and 3,000 secondary school pupils. It revealed that 1 in 3 of the latter population had been bullied online, while 1 in 4 surveyed admitted to having bullied their peers in the online sphere through social networks (Nawira Baig, 2014). The trend in primary school is similar whereby 1 out of 5 students had been taunted on social media platform. There are efforts by the government and private organizations to mitigate the problem of cyber bullying among the children and youths.

The government has implemented the Harassment act in 2014 as an measure in curbing the problem of cyber bullying (Attorney-General’s Chambers, 2104). This new act would give more protection to the ordinary citizens including children who are using the internet in the form of punishments such as fine and custodial sentence depending on the severity of the offender’s action. This law ensures that individual is accountable for crimes committed online through social media platform or websites. However, the measure may not be effective as there is no guide line on ascertaining the identity of the anonymous offender. Thus, the identity of the anonymous can only be trace if educators and profession who work with the youth are given the resources to do so. Furthermore, if the victim does not report the case of cyber bullying, there is no way to enforce this law. The offender may be just left unpunished and continue his wrongdoings. In addition, school bullying in the form of cyber bullying is a complex problem which cannot be adequately resolved through legislation. As the offenders might be young and immature, they may commit mistakes unknowingly due to poor judgment. Thus, the laws should be more lenient towards children.

Besides enforcement of the law, more can be done to empower the youth to speak up against cyber bullying as young people not generally deterred by legal policies. According the research done by Cyber-bullying Research Centre in America, it is shown that informal social controls like peer influence, are found to be more influential in curbing deviant behavior among the youth (Theresa Tan, 2013). Moreover, a research done on about 4500 americans students in 2010 found that those students who felt their parents and schools were not dismissive of cyber-bullying and would punish them for such behavior were less likely to do so (Theresa Tan, 2013). Hence, parents and schools play an important role in deterring cyber bullying behavior through instilling moral values in the young people and teaching them the proper behavior when using social media.

In order to create awareness on cyberbully issue, private organization such as Touch Cyber wellness has been proactively educating children and teenagers on the consequences of using social media in a negative way and inspires them to use the Internet in positive ways(Touch Community Services, 2014). Moreover, other organization such as Media Literacy Council has partnered with Facebook to provide new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers (Media Literacy Council, 2015). These includes important tools which gives them information on what they can do if they experience something upsetting, recommendations to adult who want to help, as well as guidance to the person accused on why they have upset someone and how they can make it better. Education on cyber awareness seems to be an effective method in bringing across the anti-bully message among the youths. Nevertheless, there are still cases which can go unnoticed if the victims themselves do not seek help or do not know that they are being victimized. As cyberspace extends beyond the bounds of the school, parents have to be more cautious about their children’s online activities.Close cooperation between parents and schools is required to help identify children who are victims of cyber bullying so that appropriate steps can be taken.

It is evident that cyber bullying is growing issue in today’s society. Anonymity online can be misused to threaten and victimize the young people who uses the internet often. With the implementation of the Harassment Act, offenders can be punished and it serves as a warning for those who have not been caught. Moreover, education and safety resources provided by non-profit organization can help to reduce the occurrence of cyber bullying cases but it does not completely prevent the occurrence of it. Therefore, close cooperation between parents and school is essential as they play important roles in monitoring the child’s behavior and instilling moral values in them.

(911 words)

References

Attorney-General’s Chambers. (2015).Protection From Harassment Act 2014. Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved from http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=DocId%3A%2207275b05-417a-4de5-a316-4c15606a2b8d%22%20Status%3Ainforce%20Depth%3A0;rec=0

Media Literacy Council. (2015). Press Release. Facebook and the media literacy council launch new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers in Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.medialiteracycouncil.sg/press-room/press-releases/Pages/BullyingPreventionCentre.aspx#sthash.eMhccH1Y.dpuf

Nawira Baig. (2014). 1 In 3 Students In Singapore Have Been Victims Of Cyberbullying. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-3-students-singapore-victims-070013753.html

Theresa Tan. (2103). Tackle cyber-bullying in Singapore before it gets worse. Retrieved from http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/tackle-cyber-bullying-singapore-it-gets-worse/page/0/0

Touch Community Services. (2014). Youth Service Group. Touch Cyber Wellness. Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/touch_cyber_wellness

"An Influential Event "

An event which has shaped my life and the person I have become was the day my grandmother passed away. It happened five years ago when I was in my junior year in polytechnic. My grandmother took care of my brother and I since we were born as both of my parents are working. We had very close ties because we stayed together. I still remembered her telling me bed time stories whenever I couldn’t sleep at night. She was my closest kin since then.

As I grew older, my grandmother and I started to drift apart; I was getting busier with my school and friends. I started neglecting her and our conversation got lesser and lesser. Eventually, my grandmother started to fall sick and many illnesses caught up on her. She had dementia, sometimes she forgot who I am, so I find it very difficult to communicate with her and I did not know what to talk to her

It was five years ago when my grandmother got a stroke because she fell down in the toilet; she became bed ridden and she could not articulate her speech well anymore. There was hardly any interaction between us after she was bed ridden as I did not know how to talk to her. Not long after, she passed away. It was then when I realized that I had so many things which I have not told her and should have done for her. I regret not taking care of her when she was sick and old. I was very selfish and I took many things for granted. I knew that I had to change so that I would not have any regrets in the future. Ever since my grandmother passed away, I have changed for the better; I cherish every thing I have now in my life and making for use of every moment.

reader response draft 3

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discusses the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (Newton, 2010). He claims that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know ways in attracting their target market and engaging them through the right social media platform.

In this article, the author mentions that “social media is a concept that most organizations are realizing they have to embrace”. This is indeed true based on the fact that social media tools can help to increase sales provided that businesses choose platforms which suited their targeted pool of customers and also have the capability to retain them. As a frequent user of social media, I usually browse through different platforms for new update on products such as clothing, accessories and shoes. If I come across a product I like on Instagram, I visit the online store and purchase it. Hence, social media serves as a good advertising platform for businesses as they can make use of it to increase their brand exposure and their web traffic. Moreover, there is a growing trend in the users of social media, according to the statistics provided by Statista; the numbers of social network user worldwide have climbed from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 1.79 billion in 2014. This suggests that businesses are able to achieve higher market penetration through social media due to the rising numbers of user.

The author also points out another important point, which is a business choosing its active sites. This is largely dependent on a business’ targeted market. For instance, if the target group is youths, Instagram, Twitter and online blogs are better choices as users of these platforms are mostly from the younger age group. However, just being active is not enough to attract new customers; businesses have to engage customers by using humor and interesting posts. Being a consumer myself, I am more attracted to sites which use humor to promote their products and also this certainly leaves a deep impression on me. This is supported by the article “2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media” whereby one of the five reasons why people follow brands on social media is for its entertaining content (Karr,2014).


In addition, the two other reasons why people follow brands on social media are for its customer service and ability to offer feedback (Karr,2014). A customer like to have product support after purchase from the seller as this can improve his or her buying experience and trust in the brand. Furthermore, before buying a product, most of the people read the buyers’ reviews of the product and the feedback provided by the seller as these have an influence on his or her purchase decision. In order to provide feedback more efficiently, Karr suggested that an organization should set up a social media team to handle any matters regarding the platform and allow other employees in the organization to participate instead of blocking social media applications. This is a useful concept that businesses should adopt, as by proving prompt feedback to the consumers can improve customer satisfaction. Eventually it can translate into higher sales for the company.


In conclusion, social media is a useful tool for businesses as it can help to boost their sales level. Nonetheless, it is only useful if businesses choose the suitable platform for their targeted customers and they must also have the ability to retain them.

(602 words)

References


Karr,D. (2014, October 1). 2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media [web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.marketingtechblog.com/2014-statistics-trends-businesses-social-media/

Newton,P. (2014, June 18). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved from http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-posts/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media/

Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2018 (in billions). (2015). Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/

Reader response draft 2

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discusses the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (as cited in Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). He claims that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know ways in attracting their target market and engaging them through the right social media platform.

In this article, the author mentions that “social media is a concept that most organizations are realizing they have to embrace”. This is indeed true based on my personal experience. As a frequent user of social media, I usually browse through different platforms for new updates on products such as clothing, accessories and shoes. If I come across a product I like on Instagram, I would visit the online store and purchase it. Hence, social media serves as a good advertising platform for businesses as they can make use of it to increase the brand exposure and their web traffic. Moreover, there is a growing trend in the users of social media, according to the statistics provided by Statista; the number of social network users worldwide has climbed from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 1.79 billion in 2014. This suggests that businesses would be able to achieve higher market penetration through social media due to the rising number of users.

The author also point out another important point, which is choosing their active sites. This would be largely dependent on the business’s targeted market. For instance, if the target group is the youth, Instagram, Twitter and online blogs would be a better choice of platform as most users are from the younger age group. However, just being active is not enough to attract new customers; businesses have to engage customers by using humor and interesting posts. Being a consumer myself, I would be more attracted to sites which use humor to promote their products and also this would certainly leave a deep impression in me. This is supported by the article “2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media” whereby one of the five reasons why people follow brands on social media is for its entertaining content (Karr,2014).


In addition, the two other reasons to why people follow brands on social media are for its customer service and ability to offer feedback (Karr,2014). A customer would like to have product support after purchase from the seller as this would improve his or her buying experience and trust in the brand. Furthermore, before buying a product, most of the people would read the buyers’ reviews of the product and the feedback provided by the seller as these would have an influence on his or her purchase decision. In order to provide feedback more efficiently, the author suggested that an organization should set up a social media team to handle any matters regarding the platform and allow other employees in the organization to participate instead of blocking social media applications. This is a useful concept that businesses should adopt, as by proving prompt feedback to the consumers can improve customer satisfaction. Eventually it can translate into higher sales for the company.


In conclusion, social media is a useful tool for businesses as it can help to boost their sales level. Nonetheless, it is only useful if businesses choose the suitable platform where the targeted customers are present and they must also have the ability to retain them.


References

Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2018 (in billions). (2015). Retrieved Feb 5, http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/


Puala Newton. (2014). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9, http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-posts/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media/

Douglas Karr.(2014). 2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media. Retrieved Feb 8, https://www.marketingtechblog.com/2014-statistics-trends-businesses-social-media/


Andreas M. Kaplan & Michael Haenlein. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9 http://michaelhaenlein.com/Publications/Kaplan,%20Andreas%20-%20Users%20of%20the%20world,%20unite.pdf

"The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media" reader response draft 1

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discusses the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (as cited in Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). He believes that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know ways to attract their target market and also engage them through the right social media platform.

In this article, the author mentions that “social media is a concept that most organizations are realizing they have to embrace”. I feel that this is indeed true based on my personal experience. I use social media on a daily basis, and I usually browse through different platforms for new updates on products such as clothing, accessories and shoes. For example, if I come across a product I like on Instagram, I would visit the online store and purchase it. Hence, social media serve as a good advertising platform for businesses as they can make use of it to increase brand exposure and increase web traffic. Moreover, there is an increasing trend in the users of social media, according to the statistics provided by Statista; number of social network users worldwide has climbed from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 1.79 billion in 2014. This means that businesses would be able to achieve higher market penetration through social media.

The author also point out another important point which is choosing their active sites. I feel that this would be dependent largely on the business’s targeted market. For instance, if the target group is the youth, Instagram, Twitter and online blogs would be a better choice of platform as most users are from the younger age group. However, just being active is not enough to attract new customers; businesses have to engage customers by using humor and interesting posts. One of the five reasons why people follow brands on social media is for its entertaining content (2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media). This is true because as a consumer myself, I would be attracted to sites which uses humor to promote their products and also this would certainly leave a deep impression in me.

In addition, the two other reasons to why people follow brands on social media are for its customer service and ability to offer feedback (2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media). Being a consumer myself, I would like to have product support after purchases from the seller as this would improve my buying experience and trust in the products. Furthermore, before I buy a product I would read the buyers’ reviews of the product and the feedback provided by the seller as these would have an influence on my purchase decision. In order to provide feedback more efficiently, the author suggested that organization should set up a social media team to handle any matters regarding the platform and allow other employees in the organization to participate instead of blocking social media applications. I feel that this is a useful concept which businesses should adopt as by proving prompt feedback to the consumers, as it can improve customer satisfaction and in turn translates into more sales for the company.

In conclusion, social media is a useful tool for businesses as it can help to boost their sales level. Nonetheless, it is only useful if businesses choose the suitable platform where the targeted customers are present and also have the ability to retain them.



References


Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2018 (in billions). (2015). Retrieved Feb 5, http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/


Puala Newton. (2014). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9, http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-posts/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media/

Douglas Karr.(2014). 2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media. Retrieved Feb 8,
https://www.marketingtechblog.com/2014-statistics-trends-businesses-social-media/

Andreas M. Kaplan & Michael Haenlein. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9 http://michaelhaenlein.com/Publications/Kaplan,%20Andreas%20-%20Users%20of%20the%20world,%20unite.pdf

Outline for reader response

Main thesis- Social media is an essential concept for businesses

First supporting idea- businesses can use social media to advertise their products

Explanation- increased the knowledge of products through social media, increase target market size

Example- growing number of online shoppers, there are increasing number of people who use social media on a daily basis

Second supporting idea- allowing all employees in an organization rather than only the group who is in charge of the social media to participate in social media is beneficial

Explanation- there will be more feedback on improving customer satisfaction in using the social media platform; customer support service is more efficient, and also increase employees’ commitment to the organization

Example- everyone can have access to the social media platform will enhance interaction between the company and customer and also within the organization itself

Summary for “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media”

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discussed the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (as cited in Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). He believes that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know the ways to attract their target market and also engage them through the right platform.  

Paraphrasing and Summarising

A3 part 1: According to Crystal (n.d.), the dominance of Latin as the official language in the Roman Empire was due to the strong influence of the Romans, instead of their vast number of conquests.

A3 part 2: Butler (2004) suggest that the new nuclear reactors are expected to function at a very high temperature which improves its competency. Safety features which are simple to operate are installed without a need for much human interference. Experts also agreed on a low-cost reactor which produces minimum radioactive waste in order to please a nuclear-adverse public.

B3 part 1: Sociologist uses quality of life indicators to explain the disparity between the rich and poor in every nation.

B3 part 2: A language turns into a worldwide tool of communication due to the supremacy of the speakers rather than the large amount of the said speakers.

Your reporting verb choices:

"claim", "observe", "find", "state"...

C3 part 1: Lester (1076) asserts/claim/allege/argue/affirm that students should only make a limited amount of notes in direct quotation in order to help minimize the amount of quotes used.

C3 part 2: It is proposed that the first half of the year has been profitable, the next six month are not expected to be as lucrative.

Done by:  Sue Ling, Valerie and Taqiuddin Tamrin

My English Language Learning Journey

I came from a chinese speaking family, so I am very used to speaking chinese since young. I only started to communicate in english when I started primary school. However, for most of the times I still used chinese to converse with my friends. Due to this, I did not pay much attention in improving my english in terms of writing and speaking.  It was probably during my secondary school days that I decided to work hard in improving my english as I used to get borderline passes for all of my english tests. My hard work was finally paid off when I managed to pull up my english grade from a C to B.

After I started my studies in polytechnic, I feel that there was lesser emphasize on using good english as the students were only required to give short answers for exams. Furthermore, due to the modules I took during the course of study; I was not exposed to any essay writing. I feel that I wasn’t able to build a strong foundation before I entered university. Hence, it became harder for me when I had to write essays and academic paper in university. For instance, I always have difficulties in expressing my thoughts because of my poor vocabulary and I tend to make grammar mistakes in my paper. This had led to my fear in taking modules which would require me to write essays as I was afraid that I would not do well in it.

I hope that by the end of this module, I can improve on my writing skills and also gain confidence in essay writing.