PROBLEMS FACED BY MUSLIM TEENAGERS LIVING IN A NON-MUSLIM COUNTRIES

Before I begin writing, there are several keywords that need to be defined. The word 'problems' in a layman's term means hardship, obstacles and difficulties that one may encounter. Whereas, non Muslim countries, in this context, are countries where Islam is the minorities' religion which also mean the greater part of Europe and the whole of America continent.

Having defined all the keywords in the title assigned to me, I have to concede that there are problem faced by Muslim teenagers living in non Muslim countries. And I don't make the statement as a by-stander but also as the person who have had a first hand experience living in a non Muslim country as a teenager for more than two years.

Back in the early 1990's, my father was offered an opportunity to further his study in MBA in one of the prestigious universities in USA. The rest of the family were more than glad to tag along and accompanied my father doing his masters degree. At that time, I was 14 years of age. During the period of more than two years, being part of the denizens in a suburban neighborhood and also a public middle school, I had my fair share of problems of adjusting.

The main problem faced was halal food. I had to bring my own lunch from home which was very unfortunate as everybody around me tucked in hamburger and nachos dipped in cheese. But then, as a Muslim I had to persevere in my quest to maintain my faith. The other problem that is food-related is the fasting months. I had to endure the fasting months in winter, to boot. And out of lack of awareness, I had to explain to almost everyone including my PE teacher that I didn't have the energy to do any physical activities during the fasting months. Some of them even had the audacity to entice me to break my fast.

The third problem as a teenager living in a non-Muslim country, is not having the appropriate time and space of performing 5 prayers daily. As the main pillar of practices that must be performed by a Muslim. I had to confess that during the stint living and schooling in USA, there was no facilities provided for me to perform our prayers. I had to take the initiative to make do with the time and space that I had to perform my prayers. There were several incidents when I had to sneak into a janitor's storeroom just to perform my prayers as commanded by Allah, God Al-Mighty.

Bearing last name in Arabic also posed a problem to me and my family in general. Even though, I was living in the USA before the 9/11 incident, my last name drew enough curiosity and anticipation from some people. But, I am sure that that was nothing compared to what my fellow Muslims living in non-Muslim countries might have to endure right now, just because their last names in Arabic.

In conclusion, there are problems faced by teenagers living in non-Muslim countries. But as Muslims, teenagers or not, we must prevail and persevere to keep our faith intact even in the face of difficulties.

What Makes A Great Teacher

"What makes a great teacher" is a fairly subjective notion. Most people say that a teacher with a lot of empathy is a great teacher and some might say that a no-nonsense teacher also falls under that category. Truthfully, there's no hard and fast rule as to what makes a great teacher. It actually depends on how the receiver of the teaching of the 'great teacher' perceives and responds to his or her teacher.

I, for one, like everybody else, have accumulated good and bad memories of all of my teachers throughout my schooling years. And out of those assorted teachers, in my eyes, one stood out as a great teacher. Ironically, this teacher was the one who always gave me the hard times whenever I forgot my multiplication tables. You may ask, how can that be called a great teacher. I have found that her method was very effective in making me memorized the tables which I have despised to learn until she came into the picture.

Thus, I am very much convinced that a teacher is considered great if he or she can produce a good or better yet, a great student. If the teacher could turn a slow-learner into an average-learner or fast-learner, the teacher is a great teacher. It’s that simple.

Most people would have propounded that a great teacher must have all the right ingredients such as wide knowledge in his or her subject, good-humored, strict yet emphatic, and have good knowledge in pedagogy and psychology. However, do all these right ‘ingredients’ can guarantee the right product i.e. good or great student? That’s an issue for one to ponder.

Personally, I would answer the issue in the negative. Being a teacher equipped with all the knowledge and skills in the world could not make him or her a great teacher. A great teacher is the one who could impart his or her knowledge to a student and in turn, transform the student into a great student. A great teacher is the one who brings out and enhances the hidden potential of his or her student.

As a teacher myself, I would always bear in mind that being a great teacher is not always striving to be the most popular and the most likable teacher in the school. It is whether my students understand and could apply the lessons that I have taught. I also would never forget to instill good moral values in my everyday classes so that I could ensure that at least I have done my part to uphold the moral fibers in the society.

Charlie Wilson's War

Has anyone seen the movie "Charlie Wilson's War"? I have. It seems that Mr. Wilson, with all his character flaws and all, is a great politician after all.

However, Mr. Wilson's pleas for schools for the afghans were left unheeded.

Anybody want to give a comment?

How To Manage Your Husband For Dummies

As title stated above, I really would love to write a book entitled "How To Manage Your Husband For Dummies". I am sure this book would be very, very, very useful not only for me (married with two children) but also to all wives out there and not to mention single women.

Thus, I would like my y'all contributions regarding the title above.

Thank you

A Sequel Story To The Song "Jimmy Please Say You’ll Wait For Me".

Jimmy Please Say You’ll Wait For Me

Jimmy Please Say You’ll Wait For Me
I’ll Grow Up Some Day You’ll See
Saving All My Kisses Just For You
Signed With Love Forever True

Joni Was The Girl Who Lived Next Door
I’ve Known Her I Guess Ten Years Or More
Joni Wrote Me A Note One Day
And This Is What She Had To Say

Jimmy Please Say You’ll Wait For Me
I’ll Grow Up Some Day You’ll See
Saving All My Kisses Just For You
Signed With Love Forever True

Slowly I Read Her Note Once More
I Went Over To The House Next Door
Her Teardrops Fell Like Rain That Day
When I Told Her What I Had To Say

Joni Joni Please Don’t Cry
You’ll Forget Me Bye And Bye
You’re Just Fif-teen I’m Twenty Two
And Joni I Just Can’t Wait For You

Soon I Left Our Little Home Town
Got Me A Job And Tried To Settle Down
But These Words Just Kept Haunting My Memo-ry
The Words That Joni Said To Me

Jimmy Please Say You’ll Wait For Me
I’ll Grow Up Some Day You’ll See
Saving All My Kisses Just For You
Signed With Love Forever True

I Packed My Clothes And I Caught A Plane
Had To See Joni I Had To Explain
How My Heart Was Filled With Her Memo-ry
And Ask My Joni If She’ll Marry Me

I Ran All The Way To The House Next Door
Things Weren’t Like They Were Before
My Teardrops Fell Like Rain That Day
When I Heard What Joni Had To Say

Jimmy Jimmy Please Don’t Cry
You’ll Forget Me Bye And Bye
It’s Been Five Years Since You’ve Been Gone
Jimmy I Married Your Best Friend John

THE SEQUEL TO THE SONG

After the heart-breaking incident of Joni marrying Jimmy’s best friend, John, Jimmy was naturally devastated. Before Jimmy left, he still managed to stay at John and Joni’s house for awhile. He even got to know their 4 year-old daughter named Jeannie. At 4 year-old, Jeannie possessed the copious image and beauty of her mother, Joni.

Eleven years had passed since that day. Jimmy visited John and Joni and he came with a mission. He wanted to marry daughter, Jeannie. When Joni asked him why Jeannie, Jimmy answered that he wanted to redeem himself and didn’t want the best thing passed him by twice. Jeannie was then 15 years-old but had blossomed into a such beautiful young woman just like her mother.

When Jimmy and Jeannie finally married (with the blessings of Jeannie’s parents), Jimmy was 38 years-old and Jeannie was 15 years-old. Eventhough, the age gap between them was 23 years old, they managed to live happily ever after.

There are a few moral values to be learned based on the song and the story above. One of which is never to underestimate the potential of a person no matter how young he or she is. The person may turn out better than you would ever be. Second moral value that could be extracted from the story is taking the risk or chance coming at you. The adage that can be applicable here is that opportunity never knocks twice. And if it does, the opportunity may not be as good as the first one. Last but certainly not the least, life can comes in ups and downs. So, when you’re down, don’t forget to rebound.

WAYS TO MANAGE THE PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIOUR IN PRIMARY SCHOOL USING PSYCHOLOGY THEORIES

WAYS TO MANAGE THE PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIOUR IN PRIMARY SCHOOL USING PSYCHOLOGY THEORIES

Theory that has been learned that could be applicable to overcome truancy and fighting is a model of moral development, developed by Lawrence Kohlberg (1984) .The theory firstly developed by Piaget (1932). The model explained that moral development is determined by cognitive development. Piaget assumed that the way individuals consider moral issues depend on their level of cognitive development. Using this assumption, Kohlberg eventually derived a stage theory based on investigation of the nature and progression of subjective reasoning (Mok Soon Sang, 2006).

According to Kohlberg’s Stage Theory, individuals' progress according to three main levels of moral development, with two sublevels in each, yielding altogether six stages of moral development. These three main levels are pre-conventional morality, conventional morality and post-conventional morality. Kohlberg’s Level of Moral Development has propagated that children at the pre-conventional level or around early childhood level, think and act in terms of external authority. These children obey the rules to avoid punishment or to get certain reward (Mok Soon Sang, 2006).

Older children or children at middle childhood age are within the conventional level of moral reasoning. The children obey the rules not for avoiding punishment but to behave good so as to win approval from others, especially the adults. Their moral thinking is relatively rigid and authority oriented. They consider rules as absolute guidelines that should be followed accordingly (Mok Soon Sang, 2006).

Adolescents, who have reached the post-conventional level, involve working out their own personal code of ethics. They understand that these rules are necessary for social order, but they may not abide by them if these rules were to violate the code of ethics and principles of their own.

Therefore, when these theories applied to the problematic behaviour among primary school pupils who are between 6 and 12 years old (early childhood age and middle childhood age) the remedies that could be put forward are :-

a) Giving out awards for good behaviour such as mock certificates, candies and stationeries.

b) Giving praises and other expressive approvals.

c) Getting out clear rules and regulations.

d) Publicly and reasonably punish those who are breaking the rules and regulations.

Another theory that can be applicable in handling truancy in primary schools is Rational Choice And Deterrence Theory.

In seeking to answer the question, "Why do people engage in deviant and/or criminal acts?", many researchers, as well as the general public, have begun to focus on the element of personal choice. An understanding of personal choice is commonly based in a conception of rationality or rational choice. These conceptions are rooted in the analysis of human behavior developed by the early classical theorists, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.

The central points of this theory are: (1) The human being is a rational actor, (2) Rationality involves an end/means calculation, (3) People (freely) choose all behavior, both conforming and deviant, based on their rational calculations, (4) The central element of calculation involves a cost benefit analysis: Pleasure versus Pain, (5) Choice, with all other conditions equal, will be directed towards the maximization of individual pleasure, (6) Choice can be controlled through the perception and understanding of the potential pain or punishment that will follow an act judged to be in violation of the social good, the social contract, (7) The state is responsible for maintaining order and preserving the common good through a system of laws (this system is the embodiment of the social contract), (8) The Swiftness, Severity, and Certainty of punishment are the key elements in understanding a law's ability to control human behavior.

Classical theory, however, dominated thinking about deviance for only a short time. Positivist research on the external (social, psychological, and biological) "causes" of crime focused attention on the factors that impose upon and constrain the rational choice of individual actors.

According to this view, law-violating behavior should be viewed as an event that occurs when an offender decides to risk violating the law after considering his or her own personal situation (need for money, personal values, learning experiences) and situational factors (how well a target is protected, how affluent the neighborhood is, how efficient the local police happen to be). Before choosing to commit a crime, the reasoning criminal evaluates the risk of apprehension, the seriousness of the expected punishment, the value of the criminal enterprise, and his or her immediate need for criminal gain." (Siegel, p.131, 1992)

This perspective shifts attention to the act of engaging in criminal or deviant activity. The issue becomes, what can be done to make the act of crime or deviance less attractive to the individual? How can crime or deviant behavior be prevented? "...crime prevention or at least crime reduction, may be achieved through policies that convince criminals to desist from criminal activities, delay their actions, or avoid a particular target." (Siegel, p.133, 1992).

Based on the theory above, the truant pupils before committing the undesirable acts, they must have take into considerations the risk of getting caught by the teachers, the seriousness of the expected punishment, and what the truant pupils would have gained from their acts of truancy.

Therefore, if the considerations stated above are addressed judiciously and carefully, the acts of truancy can be deterred or reduced. For example, if truant pupils consider that they can go to arcade playing video games if they go truant, then maybe, the teachers should talk to the video arcade operators the pupils always frequented, to stop admitting them to enter the video arcade. With this implementation, it is hoped that the truant pupils will stop their acts of truancy as they have nowhere to go.