Post Employment Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Post Employment Benefits - Essay Example 2. We have been provided with what would be "amortized" this year (2007) towards Unrecognized Prior Service Costs, but we have not been provided with what is the actual amount pending towards UPSC. 3. We have been told that the employer's contribution would be 3% of payroll. But we do not know as to what are the company's expenses on salaries and wages. 4. We have no information regarding the number of employees involved in the scheme, their retirement dates, etc. All this information can influence the answer. So, where ever required, we have made suitable assumptions relating the above missing information. Answer 1: From the given information, if the company decides to go on with its existing (DBP) post employment benefits plan, from the information available, we can draw up an approximate pension worksheet, as follows: Items General Journal Entries Memo Record Annual Pension Expense Cash (Prepaid) / Accrued Cost Projected Benefit Obligation Plan Assets Unrecognized Prior Service Cost Balance, Dec. 31, 2006 810,000 Cr 340,000Dr (a) Unrecognized Prior Service Cost Balance, Jan. 1, 2007 --- (810,000+) Cr 340,000 Dr (b) Service Cost 88,000 Dr 88,000Cr (c) Interest Cost 81,000 Dr 81,000 Cr (d) Actual Return 34,000 Cr 34,000 Dr (e) Amortization of UPSC 21,000 Dr 21,000 Cr (f) Contributions X Cr X Dr Journal Entry for 2007 156,000 Dr X Cr (156,000 - X) Cr Balance, Dec. 31, 2007 0 (374,000 + X) Dr Note: In the above table, 1. Interest / Discount / Settlement Rate = 10% 2. Opening and closing balance of Unrecognized Prior Service Cost is unknown. (Shown as '') 3. Since the amount contributed by the employer...They do so by letting the company switch over from its existing 'defined benefits plan' to a 'defined contribution plan' to save costs. 3. The employees give up their claim on every other liability, like whatever is pending towards Unrecognized Prior service costs, what ever would be this years service cost, interest burden on what ever is pending towards 'Projected Benefits Obligation', etc. 5. Employer will contribute 3% of the payroll towards the 'retirement fund' or the 'plan assets' hence forth regardless of whatever has been accumulated in the fund, whether it is sufficient, insufficient or in excess. 6. AND hence forth, since the company moves on with a 'defined contribution plan', employer doesn't have any more liability other than payment of his annual contribution towards the fund and what ever post employment benefits are to be derived would be out of the balance in the 'fund' kept aside for that purpose. From the given information, if the company decides to go on with its existing (DBP) post employment benefits plan, from the information available, we can draw up an approximate pension worksheet, as follows: While, if the employer decides to switch over to a 'defined contribution plan' where the employer pays 3% of payroll as his contribution, the agreement being that the employees get to keep what is already in the defined benefit

Dream Act and Illegal immigrant childrens citizenship Essay

Dream Act and Illegal immigrant childrens citizenship - Essay Example It is immigration reform bill that offers over 12 million illegal immigrants to become legalized U.S. citizen, in addition to heightened security on Mexico border, and introducing guest worker program to assist employers in working out low paying jobs. Despite the fact that, it is costly legislation, has direct negative impact on already worse employment market, challenge for balancing budget on not only state but also federal level, additional tax burden on Americans, work as invitation for future illegal immigrants, and threat to not only immigration law but to the rights of law abiding legalized U.S. citizens. It is immoral and unethical approach of illegal immigrant who seek U.S citizenship for themselves or their children born or grew up here, as its basic purpose was to protect slave children not illegal immigrant's children. The Dream Act President Obama with liberal Democratic Party leadership is determined to pass the Dream Act which will grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants (King, 2010).U.S. Senate blocked â€Å"the Dream Act† this December, the bill, if passed, would have allowed young children of illegal immigrants to attain a legalized citizenship of United States of America. These illegal immigrants came to America as children but their criminal record and other requirements are clear. Moreover, they have completed two years of military service or college education in America. The bill could not gather the support of required 60 senators to cross the filibuster which delayed it for one year with an uncertain future (Herszenhorn, 2010). Fundamental objections The implemented version of 14th Amendment’s interpretation encourages other nation’s citizens to enter United States jurisdiction and give birth. The legalized children access social services and support their parents to beco me legalized. Presence of legal immigrant as immediate relative shortens the otherwise lengthy process of immigration (Rau, 2010). Its results can be far-reaching as we can infer it from Pew Hispanic Centre’s study (qtd. in Rau,2010) which reports about 340,000 births to illegal immigrants in United States only in 2008.In most of the cases, parents were residing in America form one year or more. It is unethical rather criminal as Lillpop refers it, to use infants or â€Å"anchor babies† to avoid deportation or other punishment, such as, jailing. Moreover, it is immoral manipulation and use of not only newborns but U.S. constitution for illegal immigrants’ personal interest. It offers short cut to legalization and unjust for those who go through a longer process for attaining United States citizenship in a legal way. A common justification is the humanistic stance that wants to keep the families united. It is suspicious and needs reconsideration because illegal i mmigrant initially left their families in their homeland just to reside illegally on American land. Moreover, a criminal cannot be judged upon on the basis of whether he has a family or not. Illegal immigrants are not less of criminals because they invade another nation’s soil without their legal permission. Dream Act permits illegal immigrants to feed on law abiding taxpayers’ money for their law breaking act. Opponents attributed the Dream Act to be too broad in its interpretation and it would lead to give amnesty to illegal immigrants (Herszenhorn, 2010). Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama (qtd. in Herszenhorn, 2010) accuse Democrats of not only tolerating lawlessness but certain policies encourage it, he led the Dream Act’s opposition in Senate and highlighted the lack of efforts in improving the situation at borders to inhibit

Ethics in Video Games

Ethics in Video Games Evolution Video games are one of the fastest growing industries that at least half of the people you know played video games. Video games evolve from a simple Pong game in 1970s to violent games such as Street Fighter (player play as a human like characters fought the other player until death) in the 1990s. As video games evolve, computer graphics become more realistic and the issues of ethics in video games arise. The media become aware of ethics in video game such as violence, addiction and sexual themes and more ethical questions about should game designers be more consider of what is designed and their games can affect the learning process and social development of many children who play their games. The main issues of video games are violence and crime, sexuality and social addiction.More and more video games contain high degree of violence. This violence in the game can lead to aggressive behavior, especially for children. From the graph at Video Game Violence and Public Policy, it shows that a teenager involved in a physical fight is more likely have plays a high violent game. This shows that violent game can lead to real life violence and it may leads to more aggressive actions such as crime. For example, Playing the blame game article, the graduate student who killed five students used to play a famous game call counter-strike (player play as first person shooter and the game involve shooting on the head and rewards for killing people). Some people think that violence in game is not acceptable but others think virtual life is different than real life so violence in game is acceptable. Ethics The sexuality involves in the video game is a morality problem. It utilizes women as mere sexual tools to mens insatiable which effect status of woman in the sociality. For example, the game Rapelay encouraged the player to force the woman they rape to have an abortion is reinforces rape culture. This contradict not just moral of video game but also moral of human behavior. A lot of sexual games also have issue such as racialism and sexual abuse.Playing video game can becomes an addictive or isolating activity. This addiction can have effects on falling behind in school and work. Game addiction is also what game company use as a strategy to keep player consume the game. Some children use many hours in a day to play video games, this may cause lack of interest in other stuff and social skills due to video game replaced friends and family. In the article of Special Issues for Teens, National Institute on Media and the Family stated At-risk teenage boys spend 60% more time playing games , and they prefer more violent games than other teens. This leads back to the issue violence. This addiction also have effects on health, long time playing video game can result in dry eyes, headaches and more extreme failure to eat.The ethics in video game is mainly cause by game company does not about ethics and moral question. The reason the game designers create violence games is not because they wanted children to train children in the use of weapons and harden them emotionally to the act of murder by simulating the killing other players in a video game. The game designers is just follow what the company want them to do is to increase profit. Virtual World Virtual World The sexuality involves in the video game is a morality problem. It utilizes women as mere sexual tools to mens insatiable which effect status of woman in the sociality. For example, the game Rapelay encouraged the player to force the woman they rape to have an abortion is reinforces rape culture. This contradict not just moral of video game but also moral of human behavior. A lot of sexual games also have issue such as racialism and sexual abuse.Playing video game can becomes an addictive or isolating activity. This addiction can have effects on falling behind in school and work. Game addiction is also what game company use as a strategy to keep player consume the game. Some children use many hours in a day to play video games, this may cause lack of interest in other stuff and social skills due to video game replaced friends and family. In the article of Special Issues for Teens, National Institute on Media and the Family stated At-risk teenage boys spend 60% more time playing games , and they prefer more violent games than other teens. This leads back to the issue violence. This addiction also have effects on health, long time playing video game can result in dry eyes, headaches and more extreme failure to eat.The ethics in video game is mainly cause by game company does not about ethics and moral question. The reason the game designers create violence games is not because they wanted children to train children in the use of weapons and harden them emotionally to the act of murder by simulating the killing other players in a video game. The game designers is just follow what the company want them to do is to increase profit. An assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology Andrew Phelps thinks there is an ethical obligation for game designers to produce less violence and/or addictive game.Internet virtual worlds can increase the number of consumer play games, which will have good impact on the game industry. This is supported by Kids and teens have pushed at least 6 immersive online worlds to over 2m UU/mth in the US, Susuan Wu said continuing down this path of improving the user experience of living and socializing online. This story is about human context, social proximity, and a sense of place.Internet virtual worlds is like second real life world, people will likely to spend more time on it and this will increase profit for the game company.Inter virtual worlds can impact law in a way it is out of control. For example, a game is restricted to eighteen and over, it is easier for an underage person to lie on the internet to play the game. This can cause issues such as protecting children from violence and sexuality. As law stated people have obligation to pay tax but if a person selling goods and currency in the virtual world, it is harder to tax them. Conclusion Video game is a good entertainment tool but ethics in video game such as violence, sexuality; we must realize it is not just the problem of the developers. Everyone has an obligation to find a solution and improve the environment. As internet virtual world evolve these few years, it is more important that player themselves behave ethical otherwise more ethical issue will rise in the game industry.

On Liberty Essay examples -- essays research papers

Analysis & Critique of J.S. Mill's On Liberty The perception of liberty has been an issue that has bewildered the human race for a long time. It seems with every aspiring leader comes a new definition of liberty, some more realistic than others. We have seen, though, that some tend to have a grasp of what true liberty is. One of these scholars was the English philosopher and economist J.S. Mill. Mill's On Liberty provided a great example of what, in his opinion, liberty is and how it is to be protected. In this essay we will examine Mill's ideals concerning liberty and point out a few things he may not have been realistic about. For Mill, liberty is defined by, "the nature and limits of the power of which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual." Mill's stance is that society can step in only when the action of the individual causes harm to others. Interference for any other reason is unwarranted and only hinders the development of society as a whole. When these liberties are preserved the end result is freedom, and true freedom, according to Mill, is pursuing one's own good in which ever way they deem fit, so long as it doesn't bring harm to others. And here in lies the problem, It is human nature to believe that you are right and the other is wrong. This concept, which seems to be hard wired into all of us, leads to the disapproval, which leads to anger, which in turn leads to suppression. This is the one thing that must be avoided. Across history there are examples of government, or society, stifling the voice of opposition. Though we may think we are right, that doesn 't give us the right to keep others from expressing their own opinions and ideas. To take away an individual's ability to think and feel for itself is to rob them of the greatest part of being alive. Along with that you are robbing yourself of the knowledge that they posses, which is retarding your growth as a person. According to Mill, we dare not quiet the voice of opposition for there is a good chance that that voice is correct. The truths of life are an ever evolving concept. Things that were thought to be true have falling time and time again, and if we are honestly trying to find out these truths we must listen and argue every ... ...t would be structured like, with the three branches and currency. Mill has more of an ideal that he would like to project onto a society. Both believe a government's priority is to protect the freedom of its citizens, and if it does not accomplish this then it is the populations duty to relieve it of its power. I myself agree with a lot of what Mill says. We do need to let people express themselves even when what they say and do angers us. For what we say and do my anger them just the same, and no one would like to be silenced. Tolerance is a virtue that we all need in our everyday lives. But the problem is implementing this into a society that preaches free speech, but doesn't always back it up. People here don't want to hear those who oppose. Though we don't directly stifle their voice, we don't take the time to hear what they have to say. Now isn't that in the same ballpark as suppressing someone's ideas, not taking the time to hear the ideas and to form educated opinions of them. "If a tree fall in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Wouldn't that same thing apply to someone talking and nobody listening?

Chapter 19 The Hungarian Horntail

The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Harry over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. The shock of finding himself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing him had started to sink in. The first task was drawing steadily nearer; he felt as though it were crouching ahead of him hike some horrific monster, barring his path. He had never suffered nerves like these; they were way beyond anything he had experienced before a Quidditch match, not even his last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. Harry was finding it hard to think about the future at all; he felt as though his whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the first task†¦. Admittedly, he didn't see how Sirius was going to make him feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. Harry wrote back to Sirius saying that he would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested; and he and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that – Filch would skin them alive. In the meantime, life became even worse for Harry within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all. The article had appeared ten days ago, and Harry still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in his stomach every time he thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported him saying an awful lot of things that he couldn't remember ever saying in his life, let alone in that broom cupboard. I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now†¦.Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it†¦.I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me†¦ But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming his â€Å"er's† into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about him too. Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. From the moment the article had appeared, Harry had had to endure people -Slytherins, mainly – quoting it at him as he passed and making sneering comments. â€Å"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?† â€Å"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?† â€Å"Hey – Harry!† â€Å"Yeah, that's right!† Harry found himself shouting as he wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. â€Å"I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No – it was just – you dropped your quill.† It was Cho. Harry felt the color rising in his face. â€Å"Oh – right – sorry,† he muttered, taking the quill back. â€Å"Er†¦good luck on Tuesday,† she said. â€Å"I really hope you do well.† Which left Harry feeling extremely stupid. Hermione had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness too, but she hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, Harry was full of admiration for the way she was handling the situation. â€Å"Stunningly pretty? Her?† Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. â€Å"What was she judging against – a chipmunk?† â€Å"Ignore it,† Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. â€Å"Just ignore it, Harry.† But Harry couldn't ignore it. Ron hadn't spoken to him at all since he had told him about Snape's detentions. Harry had half hoped they would make things up during the two hours they were forced to pickle rats' brains in Snape's dungeon, but that had been the day Rita's article had appeared, which seemed to have confirmed Ron's belief that Harry was really enjoying all the attention. Hermione was furious with the pair of them; she went from one to the other, trying to force them to talk to each other, but Harry was adamant: He would talk to Ron again only if Ron admitted that Harry hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for calling him a liar. â€Å"I didn't start this,† Harry said stubbornly. â€Å"It's his problem.† â€Å"You miss him!† Hermione said impatiently. â€Å"And I know he misses you -â€Å" â€Å"Miss him?† said Harry. â€Å"I don't miss him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But this was a downright lie. Harry liked Hermione very much, but she just wasn't the same as Ron. There was much hess laughter and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend. Harry still hadn't mastered Summoning Charms, he seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time poring over books during their lunchtimes. Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, and Harry wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, or was he looking for things to help him through the first task? Hermione often complained about Krum being there – not that he ever bothered them – but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting. â€Å"He's not even good-looking!† she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. â€Å"They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing -â€Å" â€Å"Wronski Feint,† said Harry, through gritted teeth. Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms correct, it caused him another pang to imagine Ron's expression if he could have heard Hermione talking about Wonky-Faints. It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. Harry's feeling of barely controlled panic was with him wherever he went, as everpresent as the snide comments about the Daily Prophet article. On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. Hermione told Harry that it would do him good to get away from the castle for a bit, and Harry didn't need much persuasion. â€Å"What about Ron, though?† he said. â€Å"Don't you want to go with him?† â€Å"Oh†¦well†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Hermione went slightly pink. â€Å"I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks†¦.† â€Å"No,† said Harry flatly. â€Å"Oh Harry, this is so stupid -â€Å" â€Å"I'll come, but I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak.† â€Å"Oh all right then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hermione snapped, â€Å"but I hate talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not.† So Harry put on his Invisibility Cloak in the dormitory, went back downstairs, and together he and Hermione set off for Hogsmeade. Harry felt wonderfully free under the cloak; he watched other students walking past them as they entered the village, most of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges, but no horrible remarks came his way for a change, and nobody was quoting that stupid article. â€Å"People keep looking at me now,† said Hermione grumpily as they came out of Honeydukes Sweetshop later, eating large cream-filled chocolates. â€Å"They think I'm talking to myself.† â€Å"Don't move your lips so much then.† â€Å"Come on, please just take off your cloak for a bit, no one's going to bother you here.† â€Å"Oh yeah?† said Harry. â€Å"Look behind you.† Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. Talking in low voices, they passed right by Hermione without hooking at her. Harry backed into the wall of Honeydukes to stop Rita Skeeter from hitting him with her crocodile-skin handbag. When they were gone, Harry said, â€Å"She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the first task.† As he said it, his stomach flooded with a wave of molten panic. He didn't mention this; he and Hermione hadn't discussed what was coming in the first task much; he had the feeling she didn't want to think about it. â€Å"She's gone,† said Hermione, looking right through Harry toward the end of the street. â€Å"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it? You don't have to talk to Ron!† she added irritably, correctly interpreting his silence. The Three Broomsticks was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people Harry rarely saw anywhere else. Harry supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves. It was very hard to move through crowds in the Invisibility Cloak, in case you accidentally trod on someone, which tended to lead to awkward questions. Harry edged slowly toward a spare table in the corner while Hermione went to buy drinks. On his way through the pub, Harry spotted Ron, who was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Resisting the urge to give Ron a good hard poke in the back of the head, he finally reached the table and sat down at it. Hermione joined him a moment later and slipped him a butterbeer under his cloak. â€Å"I look like such an idiot, sitting here on my own,† she muttered. â€Å"Lucky I brought something to do.† And she pulled out a notebook in which she had been keeping a record of S.P.E.W. members. Harry saw his and Ron's names at the top of the very short list. It seemed a long time ago that they had sat making up those predictions together, and Hermione had turned up and appointed them secretary and treasurer. â€Å"You know, maybe I should try and get some of the villagers involved in S.P.E.W.,† Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around the pub. â€Å"Yeah, right,† said Harry. He took a swig of butterbeer under his cloak. â€Å"Hermione, when are you going to give up on this spew stuff?† â€Å"When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!† she hissed back. â€Å"You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?† â€Å"No idea, ask Fred and George,† said Harry. Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while Harry drank his butterbeer, watching the people in the pub. All of them looked cheerful and relaxed. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table; both of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges on their cloaks. Right over by the door he saw Cho and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn't wearing a Cedric badge though†¦.This cheered up Harry very slightly†¦. What wouldn't he have given to be one of these people, sitting around laughing and talking, with nothing to worry about but homework? He imagined how it would have felt to be here if his name hadn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. He wouldn't be wearing the Invisibility Cloak, for one thing. Ron would be sitting with him. The three of them would probably be happily imagining what deadly dangerous task the school champions would be facing on Tuesday. He'd have been really hooking forward to it, watching them do whatever it was†¦cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands†¦ He wondered how the other champions were feeling. Every time he had seen Cedric lately, he had been surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but excited. Harry glimpsed Fleur Delacour from time to time in the corridors; she looked exactly as she always did, haughty and unruffled. And Krum just sat in the library, poring over books. Harry thought of Sirius, and the tight, tense knot in his chest seemed to ease slightly. He would be speaking to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight was the night they were meeting at the common room fire – assuming nothing went wrong, as everything else had done lately†¦ â€Å"Look, it's Hagrid!† said Hermione. The back of Hagrid's enormous shaggy head – he had mercifully abandoned his bunches – emerged over the crowd. Harry wondered why he hadn't spotted him at once, as Hagrid was so large, but standing up carefully, he saw that Hagrid had been leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. Hagrid had his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but Moody was drinking from his hip flask. Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn't seem to think much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around them. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but Harry knew better. Moody had told them all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup. As Harry watched, he saw Hagrid and Moody get up to leave. He waved, then remembered that Hagrid couldn't see him. Moody, however, paused, his magical eye on the corner where Harry was standing. He tapped Hagrid in the small of the back (being unable to reach his shoulder), muttered something to him, and then the pair of them made their way back across the pub toward Harry and Hermione's table. â€Å"All right, Hermione?† said Hagrid loudly. â€Å"Hello,† said Hermione, smiling back. Moody limped around the table and bent down; Harry thought he was reading the S.P.E.W. notebook, until he muttered, â€Å"Nice cloak, Potter.† Harry stared at him in amazement. The large chunk missing from Moody's nose was particularly obvious at a few inches' distance. Moody grinned. â€Å"Can your eye – I mean, can you -?† â€Å"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks,† Moody said quietly. â€Å"And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you.† Hagrid was beaming down at Harry too. Harry knew Hagrid couldn't see him, but Moody had obviously told Hagrid he was there. Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well, and said in a whisper so low that only Harry could hear it, â€Å"Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak.† Straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, â€Å"Nice ter see yeh, Hermione,† winked, and departed. Moody followed him. â€Å"Why does Hagrid want me to meet him at midnight?† Harry said, very surprised. â€Å"Does he?† said Hermione, looking startled. â€Å"I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you should go, Harry†¦.† She looked nervously around and hissed, â€Å"It might make you late for Sirius.† It was true that going down to Hagrid's at midnight would mean cutting his meeting with Sirius very fine indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to Hagrid's to tell him he couldn't go – always assuming she would consent to take the note, of course – Harry, however, thought it better just to be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted him for. He was very curious to know what this might be; Hagrid had never asked Harry to visit him so late at night. At half past eleven that evening, Harry, who had pretended to go up to bed early, pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over himself and crept back downstairs through the common room. Quite a few people were still in there. The Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of Support Cedric Diggory! badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say Support Harry Potter! instead. So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS. Harry crept past them to the portrait hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on his watch. Then Hermione opened the Fat Lady for him from outside as they had planned. He slipped past her with a whispered â€Å"Thanks!† and set off through the castle. The grounds were very dark. Harry walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; Harry could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as he knocked on Hagrid's front door. â€Å"You there, Harry?† Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around. â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off his head. â€Å"What's up?† â€Å"Got summat ter show yeh,† said Hagrid. There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair – Harry could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it. â€Å"What're you showing me?† Harry said warily, wondering if the skrewts had laid eggs, or Hagrid had managed to buy another giant three-headed dog off a stranger in a pub. â€Å"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerself covered with that cloak,† said Hagrid. â€Å"We won' take Fang, he won' like it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long†¦.I've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock -â€Å" But Hagrid wasn't listening; he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Harry hurried to follow and found, to his great surprise, that Hagrid was leading him to the Beauxbatons carriage. â€Å"Hagrid, what -?† â€Å"Shhh!† said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands. Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid. â€Å"Ah, ‘Agrid†¦it is time?† â€Å"Bong-sewer,† said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps. Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Harry, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show him Madame Maxime? He could see her any old time he wanted†¦she wasn't exactly hard to miss†¦. But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as Harry, because after a while she said playfully, â€Å"Wair is it you are taking me, ‘Agrid?† â€Å"Yeh'll enjoy this,† said Hagrid gruffly, â€Å"worth seein', trust me. On'y – don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know.† â€Å"Of course not,† said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes. And still they walked, Harry getting more and more irritated as he jogged along in their wake, checking his watch every now and then. Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make him miss Sirius. If they didn't get there soon, he was going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime†¦. But then – when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight – Harry heard something. Men were shouting up ahead†¦then came a deafening, earsplitting roar†¦ Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Harry hurried up alongside them – for a split second, he thought he was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them – and then his mouth fell open. Dragons. Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting – torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizard-hike than the others, which was nearest to them. At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerized, Harry looked up, high above him, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, he couldn't tell which†¦.It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream†¦. â€Å"Keep back there, Hagrid!† yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. â€Å"They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!† â€Å"Is'n' it beautiful?† said Hagrid softly. â€Å"It's no good!† yelled another wizard. â€Å"Stunning Spells, on the count of three!† Harry saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand. â€Å"Stupefy!† they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides – Harry watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking – then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly-black dragon hit the ground with a thud that Harry could have sworn made the trees behind him quake. The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands. â€Å"Wan' a closer look?† Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and Harry followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and Harry realized who it was: Charlie Weasley. â€Å"All right, Hagrid?† he panted, coming over to talk. â€Å"They should be okay now – we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet – but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all -â€Å" â€Å"What breeds you got here, Charlie?† said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something chose to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Harry could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid. â€Å"This is a Hungarian Horntail,† said Charlie. â€Å"There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one – a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray – and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red.† Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons. â€Å"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid,† Charlie said, frowning. â€Å"The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming – she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?† â€Å"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em,† shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons. â€Å"Really romantic date, Hagrid,† said Charlie, shaking his head. â€Å"Four†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Hagrid, â€Å"so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do – fight 'em?† â€Å"Just get past them, I think,† said Charlie. â€Å"We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why†¦but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look.† Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Harry saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches. Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing. â€Å"I've got them counted, Hagrid,† said Charlie sternly. Then he said, â€Å"How's Harry?† â€Å"Fine,† said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs. â€Å"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot,† said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. â€Å"I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about him†¦.† Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. â€Å"‘How could they let him enter that tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him. ‘He still cries about his parents! Oh bless him, I never knew!'† Harry had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss him, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, he turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle. He didn't know whether he was glad he'd seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if he'd seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, he would have passed out cold in front of the whole school†¦but maybe he would anyway†¦.He was going to be armed with his wand – which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood – against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And he had to get past it. With everyone watching. How? Harry sped up, skirting the edge of the forest; he had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius, and he couldn't remember, ever, wanting to talk to someone more than he did right now – when, without warning, he ran into something very solid. Harry fell backward, his glasses askew, clutching the cloak around him. A voice nearby said, â€Å"Ouch! Who's there?† Harry hastily checked that the cloak was covering him and hay very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard he had hit. He recognized the goatee†¦it was Karkaroff. â€Å"Who's there?† said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harry remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were. Very slowly and very carefully, Harry got to his feet and set off again as fast as he could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts. He had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the first task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the forest together – they were hardly difficult to spot at a distance†¦and now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions. By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric. Harry reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs; he was very out of breath, but he didn't dare slow down†¦.He had less than five minutes to get up to the fire†¦. â€Å"Balderdash!† he gasped at the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole. â€Å"If you say so,† she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit him. Harry climbed inside. The common room was deserted, and, judging by the fact that it smelled quite normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any Dungbombs to ensure that he and Sirius got privacy. Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and threw himself into an armchair in front of the fire. The room was in semidarkness; the flames were the only source of light. Nearby, on a table, the Support Cedric Diggory! badges the Creeveys had been trying to improve were glinting in the firelight. They now read POTTER REALLY STINKS. Harry looked back into the flames, and jumped. Sirius's head was sitting in the fire. If Harry hadn't seen Mr. Diggory do exactly this back in the Weasleys' kitchen, it would have scared him out of his wits. Instead, his face breaking into the first smile he had worn for days, he scrambled out of his chair, crouched down by the hearth, and said, â€Å"Sirius – how're you doing?† Sirius looked different from Harry's memory of him. When they had said good-bye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair – but the hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Harry had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding. â€Å"Never mind me, how are you?† said Sirius seriously. â€Å"I'm -† For a second, Harry tried to say â€Å"fine† – but he couldn't do it. Before he could stop himself, he was talking more than he'd talked in days – about how no one believed he hadn't entered the tournament of his own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about him in the Daily Prophet, how he couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at – and about Ron, Ron not believing him, Ron's jealousy†¦ â€Å"†¦and now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner,† he finished desperately. Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them – that deadened, haunted look He had let Harry talk himself into silence without interruption, but now he said, â€Å"Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute – I haven't got long here†¦I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about.† â€Å"What?† said Harry, feeling his spirits slip a further few notches†¦.Surely there could be nothing worse than dragons coming? â€Å"Karkaroff,† said Sirius. â€Å"Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?† â€Å"Yes – he – what?† â€Å"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place.† â€Å"Karkaroff got released?† Harry said slowly – his brain seemed to be struggling to absorb yet another piece of shocking information. â€Å"Why did they release him?† â€Å"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic,† said Sirius bitterly. â€Å"He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names†¦he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place†¦.He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well.† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry slowly. â€Å"But†¦are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing.† â€Å"We know he's a good actor,† said Sirius, â€Å"because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry -â€Å" â€Å"- you and the rest of the world,† said Harry bitterly. â€Å"- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm,† Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, â€Å"but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had.† â€Å"So†¦what are you saying?† said Harry slowly. â€Å"Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But – why?† Sirius hesitated. â€Å"I've been nearing some very strange things,† he said slowly. â€Å"The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark†¦and then – did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?† â€Å"Bertha Jorkins?† said Harry. â€Å"Exactly†¦she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last†¦and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?† â€Å"Yeah, but†¦it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?† said Harry. â€Å"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins,† said Sirius grimly. â€Å"She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap.† â€Å"So†¦so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?† said Harry. â€Å"Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?† â€Å"I don't know,† said Sirius slowly, â€Å"I just don't know†¦Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it hook like an accident.† â€Å"Looks hike a really good plan from where I'm standing,† said Harry grinning bleaky. â€Å"They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff.† â€Å"Right – these dragons,† said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. â€Å"There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell – dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon -â€Å" â€Å"Yeah, I know, I just saw,† said Harry. â€Å"But you can do it alone,† said Sirius. â€Å"There is away, and a simple spell's all you need. Just -â€Å" But Harry held up a hand to silence him, his heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. He could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind him. â€Å"Go!† he hissed at Sirius. † Go! There's someone coming!† Harry scrambled to his feet, hiding the fire – if someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar – the Ministry would get dragged in – he, Harry, would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts – Harry heard a tiny pop! in the fire behind him and knew Sirius had gone. He watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling him how to get past a dragon? It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Harry across the room, and looked around. â€Å"Who were you talking to?† he said. â€Å"What's that got to do with you?† Harry snarled. â€Å"What are you doing down here at this time of night?† â€Å"I just wondered where you -† Ron broke off, shrugging. â€Å"Nothing. I'm going back to bed.† â€Å"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?† Harry shouted. He knew that Ron had no idea what he'd walked in on, knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but he didn't care – at this moment he hated everything about Ron, right down to the several inches of bare ankle showing beneath his pajama trousers. â€Å"Sorry about that,† said Ron, his face reddening with anger. â€Å"Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace.† Harry seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off. â€Å"There you go,† Harry said. â€Å"Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if yon're lucky†¦.That's what you want, isn't it?† He strode across the room toward the stairs; he half expected Ron to stop him, he would even have liked Ron to throw a punch at him, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pajamas, and Harry, having stormed upstairs, lay awake in bed fuming for a long time afterward and didn't hear him come up to bed.

Adolescent Interview Essay

When picking my adolescent I had quite a few choices to pick from but I decided on my adolescent 15 year old sister since I know a lot about her and have seen first-hand how she is coping with this adolescent stage. Patricia is a normal 15 year old girl still in high school. She lives in a household of 7 with 3 older siblings and one younger one. She mentioned that she lived in a small home with three dogs, two fish, a bird and six other humans. Both her parents are field workers so they aren’t really at home much. Patricia has a younger 7 year old sister that she pays attention to a lot, they have a really close relationship, and she cares for her younger sister when her mother is at work. Patricia is in a special program in her high school called the International Bachelorette Program â€Å"IB,† this program challenges high school students and gives them and idea of what college is like after they graduate. She gets a lot of homework every day for all her classes, she manages to do all of it and still helps take care of her younger sibling. I think my teenager didn’t quite fit in the conceptions people have of a typical adolescent. She seems to be really close to her family. When I asked her what her family life was like I was surprised with the answer she gave me. She said she loved her family and that they were the best. Most teens at her age tend to distance themselves when they hit puberty. Puberty brings an increase in parent-child conflict- psychological distancing that may, in part be a modern substitute for physical departure from the family. (Berk, 2012, p.541.) According to what my teen said about her family life, she has a very good relationship with her family; her parents seem to play an important role in how hard she is working on her education and her good grades since she mentioned that school was really important to her because her mother wanted her to have a better life for herself. I believe that my teen interviewee has reached the stage of formal operational thinking. When I asked her what if people had no thumbs she gave me a bunch of explanations as to what would happen if such a thing were true. She said people wouldn’t be able to text, suck their thumbs, cover the sun, be able to thumb print criminals for criminal cases, be able to write, click on the computer mouse,  do their hair, and that everyone would be ugly. She pretty much hypothesized what would happen if people had no thumbs. According to Piaget she has become capable of hypothetico-deductive reasoning- this being when faced with a problem, they start with a hypothesis, or prediction about variables that might affect an outcome, from which they deduce logical, testable inferences. (Berk,2012, p.566.) Her answers to the problem of having no thumbs were thought out. I wish she would have explained them a little more but I know if I asked her to explain more thoroughly she would have the logic for doing so. Propositional thought is also a characteristic of formal operational thought; it is when a young individual can evaluate the logic of verbal statements without referring to real-world circumstances. (Berk,2012, p.595.) When I asked her question number 13 of the interview she gave me a smart remark saying â€Å"Duh it’s going to make a freaking noise if she hit it. No she did not make noise because she didn’t hit it.† She said this right away and asked why I was asking such weird questions that were so obvious. I did notice some signs of my teen forming an identity. Her style of clothing seemed to be pretty laid back. She wore a loose fitted tee shirt, some jeans, and a pair of converse. Her hair was in a ponytail and she didn’t have any tattoos or piercings. She doesn’t wear any make-up and her only concerns about her appearance were being fat. She mentioned having a lot of friends in school and the particular group she hung out with during lunch and her breaks was only a pair of two close friends. When asked if she belonged to a group she pointed out that she belonged to a group nobody knew about and all her group does is sit and talk and think about homework and. She mentioned all the other different kinds of groups she saw in her high school such as the popular kids, the jocks, the gang bangers, the Asians, the cheerleaders, the gothics, the bible geeks, and the nerds. She didn’t categorize herself in any of these, but she mentioned that her only concerns are getting good grades, she mentioned this a lot during her interview. Constructing an identity involves defining who you are, what you value, and the directions you choose to purse in life. (Berk,2012, p. 600.) When I asked her what role school played in her life she easily told me she was pursuing getting good grades throughout high school and eventually going to college, her moral values play a great role in her life, these being the  things her mother has encouraged and guided her to pursue. Her direction in life has been identified; she explained to me she wanted to eventually be able to go to really good universities. I believe my teen has formed her identity because of these things. My teens’ identity status is probably at the identity achievement; she has established her values and goals in life. Identity achieved individuals are committed to a clearly formulated set of va lues and goals; they know where they are going. (Berk, 2012, p.603.) I don’t really have much advice to give to my teen; to me she seemed to be on track. But her mentioning herself as being fat does concern me. I think her self-esteem is low, when I asked her if she had a boyfriend she said she did not because she was ugly. She also seems to think she is fat, since she mentioned twice in the interview she wanted to lose weight. The advice I would give my teen is, to not concern herself too much about physical appearance and focus more on the relationships she has formed with the people she has becomes friends with. I would tell her she doesn’t have to look a certain way to have a boyfriend, I would also mention that it doesn’t really matter if she has one or not, the right one will come along someday. Her academic self-esteem seems to be good though, while I was interviewing her she mentioned that her grades were really good and she was concerned about keeping them that way. Academic self-esteem is a powerful predictor of teenagers judgments of the importance and usefulness of school subjects, willingness to exert effort, achievement, and eventually career choice (Bleeker & Jacobs, 2004;Denissen,Zarrettt,& Eccles,2007;Valentine, DuBois,& Cooper,2004; Whitesell et al.,2009) I would tell her she should keep on pursuing her goals of getting good grades and eventually going to the university of her choice. I would tell her this because I personally didn’t pursue going to a university after I graduated from high school and have totally regretted it ever since. Having a good education is a good goal for a young individual to have to have a better life. My interviewees’ didn’t have any signs of a cognitive distortion, there wasn’t signs of any self-focus in her answers. Imaginary audience is when the adolescent believes that they are the focus of everyone’s attention. (Berk. 2012, p. 572.) She stated in the interview that she and her friends  were part of a group that nobody knew about; she showed little concern about it. Her social development is good; she said in her interview that she talked to most of her classmates in all her classes. She seems to have attained good peer relations and has established good friendships. I don’t think my adolescent would conform to peer pressuring, she mentioned in the interview that alcohol and drugs were of easy access but they have no effect on her friends and her. She said she did not pay much attention to those things. References Berk, L. E. (2012). Infants, Children, and Adolescents (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.