Article Analysis: Fatal Distraction, By Gene Weingarten

He next argues that the requirement of memories is not a pertinent way to establish humanity. He states that very young children or those who have experienced memory loss would not be considered human under that definition because they have no memories (Noonan, 2012, p. 470). This argument is weak because those with memory loss did form memories, even if they have since lost them. New research also suggests that young children might actually be

Neural Plasticity is a characteristics which is sustainable throughout life and is the ability to respond and change to experiences as well as the environment (Comb-Orme et al., 2011). According to Combs-Orme, Egan, and Neely-Barnes, neural plasticity means that neuron connections and neurons may develop throughout life. Neural plasticity indicates at the significance of several psychosocial aspects (Comb-Orme et al., 2011). Researchers Combs-Orme, Egan, and Neely-Barnes explain how the ability to store and organize information as well as develop the solution to issues is cognition. The development of cognition advances from less complicated to a more complicated process which initiates at birth until death. Cognitive development depends on neural plasticity’s part in adapting to environmental stimulants (Comb-Orme et al., 2011). Integrating cognition and memory into social work is important for understanding the methods for policy as well as direct practice. Phillips and Shonkoff explain that stress is a set of adjustments taking place in an individual’s body and brain which is set off by a stimulus or risk that is considered traumatic. According to Adolphs, Tranel, and Buchanan believe that the amygdala is an important aspect in emotional memory. The processing of memories may change within the brain depending on if a traumatic event occurs (Comb-Orme et al.,

In some ethical and legal respects a pregnant woman and her fetus can be considered separate. Both the woman and the fetus are ordinarily affected by the well-being of one another for as long as each of them live. The ethical and legal issues are challenged deeply in cases where the well-being of the fetus and the mother appear to be in conflict. Our society struggles with identifying cases where the pregnant woman’s interests and/or behaviors might put her fetus at risk. Criminal and/or civil commitments should be used to bar pregnant women from exposing their fetuses to risk.

The organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving released a small ad campaign in 2011 that featured the stick figure family car decals shown to be families affected by drunk driving. The campaign attempts to discourage impaired driving and prevent accidents by emphasizing the people besides the driver who can be hurt in various ways. The one video in the series shows a crash and the reaction of the mother and daughter to the other two family members dying, one image shows the father in jail and the mother and children reacting in sadness and anger, and the third image shows a child in a wheelchair and the other family members looking at him in distress. The tagline for all is “Impaired driving tears families apart.” By including this representation of disability as a tragic and undesirable effect, Mothers Against Drunk Driving falls into the trend that Clare describes in Brilliant Imperfection of using disability as a “cautionary tale” (55). The ad persuades people to be safer drivers by using ableist assumptions that disability is inherently tragic and should be above all prevented, upholding prescriptive visions of normal and desirable family life and individual embodiment.

An explanation of the potential effects on development of babies and young children of the following experiences.

A Life or Death Situation, by Robin Marantz Henig, New York Times, July, 2013, is a review of the debate surrounding the right to a dignified death. It examines the purely philosophical view of the issue; as well as the heart wrenching reality of being faced with that question in one 's personal life. Does a person have a right to choose how he or she dies? How does that choice impact the people who care about about him or her? Should a person who cares about someone be required to cause or aide in his or her death? These questions weigh heavy on the minds of many people, who live

Many people think it is wrong to just leave your child at a hospital and forget about it, but there are worse fates for children whose parents did not know about the Safe Haven Laws. The risk of homicide on the first day of life is 10 times greater than the rate during any other time of life (Herman-Giddens 1425). In a population-based study called Newborns Killed or Left to Die by a Parent, five authors describe cases of infant death and abandonment in North Carolina, “Over a 16 year period in North Carolina, we report 34 newborns known to be killed or discarded in the first day of life by (or likely) the parents, an annual rate of 2.1 per 100,000 newborns” (Herman-Giddens 1428). Sadly, only a few deaths were unintentional, “The majority of these cases (91.2%) were ruled as homicides, while three were found to be unintentional due to natural causes” (Herman-Giddens 1428). Mothers were usually the ones that abandon or kill the newborn, “mothers were the perpetrators in all cases where the perpetrator was positively identified” (Herman-Giddens 1428).

On July 27, 1981 Adam Walsh was in the toy department of Sears playing video games while his mom shopped in the store. This was quite common in the late seventies and early eighties when a trusting generation let their kids run wild and free. On this particular day a monster watched and waited close by for the perfect opportunity to strike. The opportunity presented itself, a small young boy, all alone. He snatched him and fled. This is every parent's worst nightmare and a horror story that griped the nation. In a matter of seconds, a child was gone and would never be seen alive again.

Parents lead busy lives. With a thousand errands to be taken care of, it can be tempting to leave a child in the car while ducking into the store or dropping off some dry cleaning. It can even be easy to completely forget that a child is in the car at all.

According to the (Association, 2015) there is insignificant acknowledgement of parental insistence. In the last several year in the United States the countless number of children under 5 years of age are killed, nevertheless they are murdered by the hands of their parents which is a high percentage that can be equally put in separation with mother and father.

Many parents lack education on, or do not fully know, proper car seat use and the consequences of improper car seat safety implementation. Car seat safety is important for children as they face increase risk of injury at certain ages or physical size.

The author invites the reader on his own journey to understanding how the developing brain works. He learns that to facilitate recovery, the loss of

According to the article “Child Vehicular Stroke Fact Sheet” from KidsAndCars.org, “The average number of U.S. child vehicular heat stroke deaths is 37 per year.” That is one death of a child every nine days. Although, some individuals may or may not have unintentionally left their children in the car. A majority of parents that left their child in the vehicle unknowingly did it. However, there is a small percentage of parents that knowingly left their child unattended in the vehicle. In some cases, the child even entered the vehicle on their own without the parent or caregiver noticing in time. Statistics of child vehicular heat stroke deaths reveal that 54.25% of parents unknowingly left their child in the vehicle, 11.58% knowingly left their child in the vehicle, and 33.58% of the children entered the vehicle by themselves without parents or caregivers noticing in a reasonable amount of time (Child Vehicular Heat Stroke). Some individuals, usually non-parents, believe that it is completely absurd to forget a child is in the vehicle. However, the most dangerous mistake a parent or caregiver can make is to think leaving a child alone in a vehicle could never happen to them or their family (Child Vehicular Heat Stroke). A heat stroke can be extremely lethal to young children if it is not recognized and treated in time.

Memory – what it is, how it works, and how it might be manipulated – has long been a subject of curious fascination. Remembering, the mind-boggling ability in which the human brain can conjure up very specific, very lucid, long-gone episodes from any given point on the timeline of our lives, is an astounding feat. Yet, along with our brain’s ability of remembrance comes also the concept of forgetting: interruptions of memory or “an inability of consciousness to make present to itself what it wants” (Honold, 1994, p. 2). There is a very close relationship between remembering and forgetting; in fact, the two come hand-in-hand. A close reading of Joshua Foer’s essay, “The End of Remembering”, and Susan Griffin’s piece, “Our Secret”, directs us

Technological advances in the past decade have allowed scientists to study the brain in ways that have led to new understanding about how young children develop. There is a new understanding of both the capabilities and the vulnerabilities of infants and young children and that understanding is has influenced the work of caregivers and teachers. During pregnancy, the basic architecture of the brain is formed. Although, certain experiences do influence the developing brain during pregnancy, such as maternal health and stress, intake of drugs and/or alcohol, and quality of maternal nutrition.