46% of Teenagers Admit to Text Messaging While Driving

According to AAA, 46% percent of all teenage drivers admit to text messaging while driving, and that says nothing of the teens who won’t own up to the practice. 51% admit to talking on the cell phone while driving, though most of us who know teens would probably estimate that figure to be closer to 99%.

Unfortunately, both practices are quite dangerous, especially for young and inexperienced drivers. In many states, it’s actually illegal to do either, and more and more states are moving toward similar laws.

A study by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance has pointed out that while alcohol-related teen auto fatalities are down, the overall death toll hasn’t changed. Their theory is that modern technology and distracted driving have balanced out the decrease.

Texting while driving is the act of composing, sending, reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the web on a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. Texting while driving has come to be considered dangerous by many people, including authorities, and in some places has either been outlawed or restricted. A survey of more than 90 teens from more than 26 high schools nationwide conducted nationwide by Liberty Mutual Insurance Group in 2006 showed that 37% of students consider texting to be either "very" or "extremely" distracting.

Texting has become a social norm fairly quickly since the year 2000, as most cell phone plans include a text messaging package. The popularity of smartphones that allow people to communicate in even more ways, which increases the likelihood of usage. There have been many studies that have linked texting while driving to be the cause of life-threatening accidents due to driver distraction. The International Telecommunication Union states that “texting, making calls, and other interaction with in-vehicle information and communication systems while driving is a serious source of driver distraction and increases the risk of traffic accidents”.
A 2010 experiment with Car and Driver magazine editor Eddie Alterman that took place at a deserted air strip showed that texting while driving had a worse impact on safety than if you were driving while intoxicated. While legally drunk, Alterman's stopping distance from 70 mph increased by 4 feet; by contrast, reading an e-mail added 36 feet, and sending a text added 70 feet. While celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey have campaigned against texting while driving, there are reports that the message has not been getting through to teenagers.

If you’re a parent, that means that you need to be especially clear with your teen about the dangers of engaging in cell phone use while driving, whether it be making a call or sending a text message. To do that, there are a couple of basic steps you can take:
Set a Good Example: When you pick up the cell phone to make a call as you drive down a deserted stretch of interstate, your teen isn’t thinking, “Well, this is a relatively low-risk driving situation and Mom has a lot more driving experience than me.” He’s thinking, “I guess it’s okay to talk on the phone if you’re a good driver, and I’m getting pretty good…”
No matter how hard it is, you need to resist the temptation to use your cell phone while driving if you want your teen believe it’s a rule worth following.
Set Rules & Enforce Consequences: You can’t always watch your teen, but you can definitely let trusted friends and relatives know that you would like to be notified if they spot your teen using his phone to talk or text message while driving.
If your parenting style is a little more James Bond than that, you could even go so far as to match up your teen’s usual driving times with cell phone call and text message records. If your teen is a habitual offender, you’ll know pretty quickly.
Restrict Temptation: If your teen spends a lot of time text messaging, it might be wise to reduce his messaging package and hold him accountable for any extra text message fees. With fewer messages to work with, it’s less likely that he’ll develop the kind of text-addiction that leads so many teens to risk their safety by texting while driving.
Of course, if that doesn’t help, you may want to disable your teen’s text messaging capabilities entirely. Your cellular provider’s Customer Service department should be able to help you if you decide to take that step.

Ultimately, though, you’ll have to trust your own parenting skills and your teen’s common sense. You definitely can’t be present in the car at all times to make sure that he or she isn’t talking on the phone or sending text messages while driving. It’s scary, but all you can do is work hard to help your teen form the right habits and hope that most, if not all, of them stick.

Drive Safely.
TXT L8R

Deconstructing Dyslexia

Understanding Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a type of learning disability. A person with a learning disability has trouble processing words or numbers. There are several kinds of learning disabilities; dyslexia is the term used when people have difficulty learning to read, even though they are smart enough and are motivated to learn. The word dyslexia comes from two Greek words: dys, which means abnormal or impaired, and lexis, which refers to language or words.

Dyslexia is not a disease. It's a condition that you are born with, and it often runs in families. People with dyslexia are not stupid or lazy. Most have average or above-average intelligence, and they work very hard to overcome their learning problems.

Educators have not been able to agree on what dyslexia really is. Some authorities believe that is strictly a language processing problem that involves the distinguishing of sounds of letters—this is why the struggling reader cannot remember phonics sounds to decode a word. Others believe that it is a visual/perceptual problem since these children reverse words laterally (b/d) and vertically (m/w) as well as scrambling letters (“the” = “het”) when they read and write. They are both correct.

Dyslexia is an auditory/language problem, visual/perceptual problem, and often also a visual/motor (eye/hand) problem. My 30 years of experience working with these bright, yet struggling learners has taught me that it is essentially a midline problem. Our brain is divided into two main hemispheres: the right, our “automatic” hemisphere, and the left, our “thinking” hemisphere. When children are suffering from dyslexia the processes that should have been taken over by the right hemisphere (such as eye tracking, writing, and letter identification) are still in the left brain. This means that the child has to think about the processes. The learning processes can be likened to the driving process. If you had to think about how to turn the signals and when to brake and accelerate while you were driving, it would be a very difficult procedure. While reading, recognition of letters, sight words, and letter combinations need to be retrieved from the right hemisphere where our long-term memory is stored. This is not happening with dyslexics.

You can suspect dyslexia in your child if all three of these processing areas are impacted and your child is past the first grade. If your child has only a minor problem in the areas it can be considered a learning glitch. If the problem presents itself more frequently and your child is older, it would be considered a dysfunction. If the symptoms are much more frequent, your child is above first grade, and two years behind in reading or writing, it would be considered dyslexia. The degree of the problem and age of the child are major considerations in the determination of dyslexia. Many times these children are not reading or reading at least two years behind grade level. They write almost no sentences from memory since their right, visual hemisphere is not storing words efficiently (copying a sentence is not considered writing). Transposing numbers (19/91) is not considered dyslexia. When a child reverses letters or numbers, even if only once in a while, you know that there is stress in the writing system—the child has to think about the direction of the letters rather than the content of the writing. I always take reversals (reading and writing) seriously past the first grade. One way to eliminate them is with Brain Integration Therapy exercises.

 
The following items should provide useful guidelines for teachers and parents to follow and support:

In the class:

• Of value to all children in the class is an outline of what is going to be taught in the lesson, ending the lesson with a resume of what has been taught. In this way information is more likely to go from short term memory to long term memory.
• When homework is set, it is important to check that the child correctly writes down exactly what is required. Try to ensure that the appropriate worksheets and books are with the child to take home.
• In the front of the pupils' homework book get them to write down the telephone numbers of a couple of friends. Then, if there is any doubt over homework, they can ring up and check, rather than worry or spend time doing the wrong work.
• Make sure that messages and day to day classroom activities are written down, and never sent verbally. i.e. music, P. E. swimming etc.
• Make a daily check list for the pupil to refer to each evening. Encourage a daily routine to help develop the child's own self-reliance and responsibilities.
• Encourage good organizational skills by the use of folders and dividers to keep work easily accessible and in an orderly fashion.
• Break tasks down into small easily remembered pieces of information.
• If visual memory is poor, copying must be kept to a minimum. Notes or handouts are far more useful.
• Seat the child fairly near the class teacher so that the teacher is available to help if necessary, or he can be supported by a well-motivated and sympathetic classmate.

Copying from the blackboard:

• Use different colour chalks for each line if there is a lot of written information on the board, or underline every second line with a different coloured chalk.
• Ensure that the writing is well spaced.
• Leave the writing on the blackboard long enough to ensure the child doesn't rush, or that the work is not erased from the board before the child has finished copying.

Reading:

• A structured reading scheme that involves repetition and introduces new words slowly is extremely important. This allows the child to develop confidence and self esteem when reading.
• Don't ask pupils to read a book at a level beyond their current skills, this will instantly demotivate them. Motivation is far better when demands are not too high, and the child can actually enjoy the book. If he has to labour over every word he will forget the meaning of what he is reading.
• Save the dyslexic child the ordeal of having to 'read aloud in class'. Reserve this for a quiet time with the class teacher. Alternatively, perhaps give the child advanced time to read pre-selected reading material, to be practiced at home the day before. This will help ensure that the child is seen to be able to read out loud, along with other children
• Real books should also be available for paired reading with an adult, which will often generate enthusiasm for books. Story tapes can be of great benefit for the enjoyment and enhancement of vocabulary. No child should be denied the pleasure of gaining access to the meaning of print even if he cannot decode it fully.
• Remember reading should be fun.

Spelling:

• Many of the normal classroom techniques used to teach spellings do not help the dyslexic child. All pupils in the class can benefit from structured and systematic exposure to rules and patterns that underpin a language.
• Spelling rules can be given to the whole class. Words for class spelling tests are often topic based rather than grouped for structure. If there are one or two dyslexics in the class, a short list of structure-based words for their weekly spelling test, will be far more helpful than random words. Three or four irregular words can be included each week, eventually this should be seen to improve their free-writing skills.
• All children should be encouraged to proof read, which can be useful for initial correction of spellings. Dyslexics seem to be unable to correct their spellings spontaneously as they write, but they can be trained to look out for errors that are particular to them.
• Remember, poor spelling is not an indication of low intelligence.

Maths:

• Maths has its own language, and this can be the root of many problems. Whilst some dyslexic students are good at maths, it has been estimated that around 90% of dyslexic children have problems in at least some areas of maths. General mathematical terminology words need to be clearly understood before they can be used in calculations, e.g. add, plus, sum of, increase and total, all describe a single mathematical process. Other related difficulties could be with visual/perceptual skills, directional confusion, sequencing, word skills and memory. Dyslexic students may have special difficulties with aspects of maths that require many steps or place a heavy load on the short-term memory, e.g. long division or algebra.
• The value of learning the skills of estimation cannot be too strongly stressed for the dyslexic child. Use and encourage the use of estimation. The child should be taught to form the habit of checking his answers against the question when he has finished the calculation, i.e. is the answer possible, sensible or ludicrous?
• When using mental arithmetic allow the dyslexic child to jot down the key number and the appropriate mathematical sign from the question.
• Encourage pupils to verbalize and to talk their way through each step of the problem. Many children find this very helpful.
• Teach the pupil how to use the times table square and encourage him to say his workings out as he uses it.
• Encourage a dyslexic child to use a calculator. Make sure he fully understand how to use it. Ensure that he has been taught to estimate to check his calculations. This is a way of 'proof reading' what he does.
• Put key words on a card index system or on the inside cover of the pupils maths book so it can be used for reference and revision.
• Rehearse mathematical vocabulary constantly, using multi sensory/kinesthetic methods.
• Put the decimal point in red ink. It helps visual perception with the dyslexic child.

Handwriting:

• Reasons for poor handwriting at any age can be poor motor control, tension, badly formed letters, speed etc. A cursive joined style is most helpful to children with dyslexic problems. Encourage the children to study their writing and be self-critical. Get them to decide for themselves where faults lie and what improvements can be made, so that no resentment is built up at yet another person complaining about their written work.
• Discuss the advantages of good handwriting and the goals to be achieved with the class. Analyze common faults in writing, by writing a few well chosen words on the board for class comment.
• Make sure a small reference chart is available to serve as a constant reminder for the cursive script in upper and lower case.
• If handwriting practice is needed it is essential to use words that present no problem to the dyslexic child in terms of meaning or spelling.
• Improvement in handwriting skills can improve self confidence, which in turn reflects favorably throughout a pupil's work.

Marking of work:

• Credit for effort as well as achievement are both essential. This gives the pupil a better chance of getting a balanced mark. Creative writing should be marked on context.
• Spelling mistakes pinpointed should be those appropriate to the child's level of spelling. Marking should be done in pencil and have positive comments.
• Try not to use red pens to mark the dyslexic child's work. There's nothing more disheartening for the child than to have work returned covered in red ink, when they've inevitably tried harder than their peers to produce the work.
• Only ask a pupil to rewrite a piece of work that is going to be displayed. Rewriting pages for no reason at all is soul destroying as usually much effort will have already been put into the original piece of work.

Homework:

• By the end of a school day a dyslexic child is generally more tired than his peers because everything requires more thought, tasks take longer and nothing comes easily. More errors are likely to be made. Only set homework that will be of real benefit to the child.
• In allocating homework and exercises that may be a little different or less demanding, it is important to use tact. Self-esteem is rapidly undermined if a teacher is underlining the differences between those with difficulties and their peers. However, it should also be remembered that far more effort may be needed for a dyslexic child to complete the assignment than for their peers.
• Set a limit on time spent on homework, as often a dyslexic child will take a lot longer to produce the same work that another child with good literacy skills may produce easily.

Integration:

• A dyslexic child's ability to write down thoughts and ideas will be quite different from the level of information the child can give verbally. For successful integration, the pupil must be able to demonstrate to the teacher that he knows the information and where he is in each subject. Be prepared to accept verbal descriptions as an alternative to written descriptions if appropriate.
  
  Alternative ways of recording should be looked at, such as :
  • The use of computers for word processing.
  • Audio tapes for recording lessons that can then be written up at a later stage.
  • Written record of the pupil's verbal account, or voice activated software can be used.
• More time should be allocated for completion of work because of the extra time a dyslexic child needs for reading, planning, rewriting and proofreading their work.
• For a dyslexic child the feeling of being 'different' can be acute when faced with the obvious and very important need of 'specialist' help for his literacy and possibly mathematical skills. Some specialist methods can be incorporated into the classroom so all children can benefit from them, thus reducing the feeling of 'difference'.

How to start your day?

Study trends in 2013

According to estimates in a report released by ASSOCHAM, nearly eight lakh Indian students spent over Rs 10,000 crore on overseas education in 2012-13. The report, titled ‘Funds flows out of India for Higher Education 2013’, reveals that the country needs quality institutes on the lines of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) for students wanting to pursue careers in management, accounting, engineering and chartered accountancy. Such an approach would not only restrict the outgo foreign exchange but also spread of global standards within the country increasing employability of the students in the industry and research institutions.

DS Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM, called for deregulation of higher education and reversing the trend of brain drain by opening up a series of quality institutions with public private partnership, while commenting on the findings of the report.

Making a comparative analysis of the expenditure incurred by Indian students studying in India and those studying abroad, the report states that while an IIT student incurs an expenditure of USD 150 per month as fees, those opting to go abroad incur anywhere between USD 200-600, per month, in countries such as US, Canada, Australia and UK.

The report additionally adds that deregulation of the higher education sector will also make India a leading destination for students hailing from other developing countries. While USA tops the list with 82% enrollment in the higher education sector, countries with low enrollment in this space constitute Pakistan (5%), India (12%), China (20%) and Brazil (24%).

The report also finds that about 95% of all entrance exam takers in the IITs and IIMs do not make it due to capacity constraints in these institutes and end up taking admissions abroad. While currently there are about 900 million jobs in India, 90% of these are skill-based, requiring vocational training, 9% are knowledge based and only 1% require both knowledge and skills.

iEduTalk Google Group

Lets take the discussions to a new level. Lets make it a 2 way interaction and actively discuss Education in India.

Join our Group.