Major deforestation is a known issue today, but not many think about it as more than just a statistic. Though forests still cover roughly 30% of Earth’s surface, forests as large as half of England are being cut down each year. At the current rate of deforestation, rainforests will no longer exist within 100 years (National Geographic). What are the main causes of deforestation and what is being done about it? We will explore these topics in the following paragraphs.

The main cause of deforestation is agriculture, specifically subsistence farming (48%) and commercial agriculture (32%). The two other causes of deforestation is logging (14%) and fuel wood removals (5%) (UNFCCC). However, not all deforestation is done with intent, for instance, natural wildfires and overgrazing (National Geographic).

What can we do about this exponential advance of deforestation? Sustainable forestry is one option. As you might have guessed, sustainable forestry focuses on doing as little damage as possible to the ecosystem in which the forests reside. The regimen for this practice is planting trees after logging, cutting back on soil erosion, and limiting damage to habitats and water purity (Seattle PI).

Since one of the main causes of deforestation is clearing land for agriculture, erosion control is pertinent. Erosion control consists of maintaining soil quality, and matching crops and farming techniques with terrain. The maintenance of soil quality results in less deforestation, as it lends to less clearing of land for agriculture (Seattle PI).

Another action that can cut back on deforestation is stewardship. This implies the caring of indigenous people residing on land scheduled for logging and agriculture, the monitoring of legal troubles and abidance, and aiding farmers while logging is happening in their areas. You can become an independent steward, but you can also join The Forest Stewardship Council as well, or at least support it (Seattle PI).

Our forests are rapidly disappearing due to agriculture, logging, fuel wood removals. However, with the help of sustainable forestry, erosion control, and stewardship, we might be able to properly fight back against the total elimination of the world’s forests. Though the future looks bleak, humankind has almost always stepped up to the challenge of solving our problems when the situation is truly dire.

References

Nationalgeographic.com. (2017). Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet. [online] Available at: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/ [Accessed 4 Oct. 2017].

UNFCCC (2007). “Investment and financial flows to address climate change” (PDF). unfccc.int. UNFCCC. p. 81.

Education.seattlepi.com. (2017). Cite a Website – Cite This For Me. [online] Available at: http://education.seattlepi.com/things-being-done-deforestation-3349.html [Accessed 4 Oct. 2017].

Adolescence is probably the most extreme period in the life of an individual. Transiting from childhood to being an adult is full of rioting, searching for one’s identity and purpose, developing new models of behavior, psychologically separating from parents, and maturing. Many people tend to remember their teen years as the most saturated and meaningful—even though what teenagers usually do is hang out with friends and party. This age, however, is not as carefree and unclouded as it seems; teenagers, due to hormonal hurricanes and the psychological peculiarities of this age, often get themselves in trouble. Millions of parents around the world are worried that their children at this age will get in the wrong surrounding, start doing drugs, or drink alcohol; there is, at the same time, a problem that is no less dangerous: running away from home.

Although it might seem romantic—escaping home and wandering around the country or abroad, in search of one’s purpose or for whatever other reason—the reality is different. According to statistics, every year, up to 2.8 million teens who escape from home have to live on the streets. Among them, about 50% have been kicked out of their homes or shelters at least once, and they specified home conflicts being one of the main reasons of this; according to the reports of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, about 20% of young people who have been thrown out of their homes or escaped faced physical and/or sexual abuse, or felt they were under the threat of abuse. Overall, more than 60% of runaway teenagers have depression, half of them have problems at school, and about 20% have developed substance addiction (National Safe Place). As it can be seen from the statistics, being a runaway is not about romantically searching for their place in the world, but rather suffering from injustice, poverty, violence, and depression.

Of course, there are cases when teens run away because of something bad at home (for example, a big fight with parents, or harsh restrictions, and so on). However, for a large percentage of runaways, the need to escape is innate, due to systematic misfortunes at home or school. In this regard, specialists distinguish between episodic running away and chronic running away. Episodic running away does not have a consistent pattern, and usually it not used to manipulate parents. More likely, episodic runaways occur in order to avoid punishment for misbehavior or misconduct, possible humiliation (for instance, from peers at school), or embarrassment. In the case of chronic running away, the situation is different; teenagers who regularly escape from home may be using this strategy to influence their parents, draw their attention if other means do not prove to be efficient, manipulate parents, or act out. One of the signs of such a pattern is when a teenager uses phrases such as: “If you make me do this/If you do not do that, I will run away.” They may threaten their parents by saying, “If you make me do that, I’ll run away,” knowing that running away is what many parents are afraid of. This is a bargaining strategy, and parents can engage in it without fully realizing they in fact cater to such behavioral patterns, not prevent them. Once a parent concedes to such blackmailing, a teenager may start using it more to always get what he or she wants; when such a relationship model substitutes direct and open communication between children and parents, it is not a healthy relationship anymore (Empowering Parents).

As for the reasons why teenagers choose to escape can be numerous. Among the most common ones are abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, and so on), substance addiction, and peer pressure. According to a study conducted at the University of Chicago, the most common reason for teenagers to run away from home is the lack of support and understanding coming from family members—and this is the best-case scenario. Unfortunately, there are numerous cases when teens have been molested, beaten, humiliated, threatened, and mistreated in their families; the fact that parents—probably the closest people to a teen—do this to him or her deeply undermines a young person’s ability to trust the world and his or her given society. Often being dependent on their parents in terms of finance or a place to live, they do not have an effective means of preventing or stopping harm from their parents; running away for such children seems to be the only valid option. Nearly the same is the situation for many teenagers at schools; feeling like a black sheep in class or being bullied, such teens tend to choose radical ways of problem solving. There were infamous cases when such teens committed mass shootings in the schools they studied at, but less psychologically traumatized children prefer to eliminate themselves from the stressful environment—through running away, usually. As for substance addiction, it commonly accompanies the aforementioned problems; a healthy teenager who has good relationships within and outside the family rarely feels the desire to try out drugs, for example; this may be done as an experiment or a part of teenage rioting behavior, but rarely turns into a consistent pattern typical for addicts. Nevertheless, teenagers who develop a substance addiction may run away from home in order to conceal this addiction from their parents, find money (often illegally) to buy more drugs or alcohol, or because they got into trouble connected to substances. Either way, parents need to look out for the signs of addiction a child may display in order to be able to notice the problem in time and try to solve it before it is too late.

Running away as a teen is a dangerous act. Teens who escape their homes often have to live in poverty, depression, and abuse; trying to solve problems (such as physical or emotional abuse, for example) at school or home, they run away hoping to get away from the source of distress; however, living on the streets means becoming less protected and more vulnerable, so the reason why teens escape does not vanish. Therefore, parents should be more attentive to their children, encourage direct communication, and watch out for signs of problems their child might be demonstrating in order to prevent the situation from becoming worse.

Works Cited

“Running Away.” National Safe Place. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

“Why Do Kids Run Away.” Empowering Parents. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

Fisher, Nathan. “Reasons Why Teenagers Run Away.” LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 May 2017.

Decreased self-esteem, or the inhibited feeling of self-worth is influenced, as it is often the case, by the problems in communication with authoritative others in childhood. This is especially true if a child is raised while being constantly criticized, taught how to do things “right,” and not appreciated no matter how hard he or she tries, or shamed and blamed. This causes a child to grow up into an adult that constantly doubts his or her worth, trying to please other people in order to gain acceptance or to avoid critics. At the same time, there is a “passive” way parents can harm their child. Even if they do not criticize their child, inactive, emotionally-cold parents contribute to a child developing low self-esteem in the future; children need to feel love and attention from their parents, and if parents are preoccupied and do not (or cannot) notice their child’s behaviors, accomplishments, and manifestations, it can also cause psychological harm. A child in such a family may feel unnoticed, unimportant, and abandoned. This may cause a person to develop a need to “apologize” for their existence—for example, trying to be “useful,” or justify the fact of his or her life in some other ways. In addition, when parents or other authoritative figures raising a child are in conflict with each other, it can pose psychological danger as well: feeling overwhelmed and scared by constant conflicts, a child may develop a sense of guilt, considering himself or herself somehow responsible for the fact that adults are fighting with each other. This may result in feeling “tainted,” “guilty,” and can be carried on into adult life (Psychology Today).

Children, when in groups, can be extremely cruel—this is a well-known fact, although it does not mean that children are bad: because they are in the process of adopting and understanding social norms, since they are only learning empathy and compassion, children often cannot distinguish between what is wrong and what is right. As a result, they can cause physical and psychological pain to each other. Rather often, there is a child who is somehow different from others: poorer, smarter, awkward, and so on; such children usually become objects for bullying and hatred. Negative attitudes from peers and being subjected to bullying decreases self-esteem dramatically. It is an innate need of every person to be a part of some group, to be respected and recognized; even for adults, it can be difficult to stay in a hostile or negligent collective of people. For children, it can be devastating: having to face hostile environments day by day, year by year (for example, because a child has to go to the same school, and is ashamed to tell his or her parents about being bullied and humiliated) may cause an individual to think that something is wrong with them, that they are somehow “bad” or inferior (Good Choices Good Life). Needless to say that such feelings transit to adult life, causing painful doubts in a person’s self-worth, obstructing communication and trust with other people, and making such a person to feel ashamed for every small discrepancy in their looks, way of thinking, and so on.

Yet another way to cause a child to develop low self-esteem is abuse: emotional, physical, or sexual—it does not matter. Any case of abuse is a potential psychological trauma, which can remain in a child’s psyche for years (sometimes for his or her entire life); abuse in the past may even cause PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), which only makes a child’s condition worse, making him or her constantly feel “damaged” and worthless (self-confidence.co.uk). For many people, the facts of physical or any other abuse cause severe distress, and can lead to depression, addiction, and other forms of negative self-attitude. An abused child requires psychological help—the sooner, the better.

There are many ways in which parents, environments, and peers can cause a child to develop low self-esteem, which later transits to adult life. Negligence, emotional coldness, criticism, a lack of appreciation, bullying, humiliation, as well as abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual) can harm a child’s psyche. In order to help a person overcome such traumas, the help of a professional psychotherapist may be needed.

Works Cited

Lachmann, Suzanne. “10 Sources of Low Self-Esteem.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 24 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 July 2017.

“8 Common Causes of Low Self-Esteem.” Good Choices Good Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2017.

“Top Ten Facts About Low Self Esteem.” Self-confidence.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2017.