Research Reports/ Journal Articles/ Academically Credible Websites

Assessment Task 2

Part 1:

Due to the global financial crisis, John’s parents, as part of a unanimous decision amongst the CEOs of the Commonwealth bank, accept a twenty percent annual salary cut, as a means of preventing other employees at lower levels within the Commonwealth bank structure, from being fired. This has a large impact on the socioeconomic status of the family. John’s parents are forced to dismiss the family’s servants, their butler and two maids, meaning John must depend on himself to travel to various parties, beaches and university itself. Further, John’s parents begin to pressure him to work harder at university to achieve and gain decent employment in later life. Thus, John’s social life becomes somewhat restricted as his parents limit him to one party per fortnight, either to be held at the family home, or at a friend’s home. This greatly upsets the routine of John’s social life as he is painfully forced to deny offers to parties at the beach and at the homes of his friends on weekends as well as surfing outings during which he is not per missed to attend a party. As well as this, John is forced to pay the remainder of his university fees himself, through Hecs, and to do this, he is forced to gain part-time employment, as John’s parents feel, in light of the financial situation of the family, that John should gain an appreciation of the value of the dollar and hard work to achieve the dollar, but also because John’s parents paying for his university fees, over the years of his course, would create a large hole in the family’s savings account. Furthermore, John’s parents are forced to have their treasured Lamborghini auctioned off along with other expensive motor vehicles belonging to other millionaires at The Royal Hall Of Industries at Moore Park. This greatly upsets John as he greatly enjoyed showing off the prized car when, on occasion, he would be per missed to drive it to the beach or to parties. Part 2:

Research Reports/ Journal Articles/ Academically credible websites

Nine in Ten Aussies wants CEO pay cut. Retrieved March 18 2009, from couriermail.com.au/http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25131499- 5013522,00.html

Gillian Cannon and Dominic Brock, (Tuesday 24 February 2009 7:53 pm). Executives must cut their salaries, says Rudd. Retrieved March 19 2009, from LIVENEWS.com.au/ http://www.livenews.com.au/Article/Index/187043?channel=home Kerry O’Brien, (11/12/2000). Australians urged to curb Christmas spending. Retrieved March 19 2009, from 7:30 Report transcript/ http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s222546.htm

Tony Wright Canberra and Michelle Grattan, Washington, (November 17 2008). Get it right or else, Rudd warns. Retrieved March 21 2009, from theage.com.au The Age/ http://www.theage.com.au/national/get-it-right-or-else-rudd-warns-20081116-683y.html? page=-1

HECS-HELP (n.d.). (March 23 2009), from Australian Government: Department Of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations/ http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/Main/Quickfind/PayingForYourStudiesHELPLoans/HECSHELP .htm

Anna Patty, Education Editor, (February 4 2009). Students told to cut part-time job hours. Retrieved March 24 2009, from smh.com.au The Sydney Morning Herald/ http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/students-told-to-cut-parttime-job- hours/2009/02/03/1233423223155.html

Repossessed exotics under the hammer in Sydney. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24 2009, from Pickles in the media/ http://www.pickles.com.au/cars/about/?contentId=617#repo %20exotics

Buchanan, C., (2009, March 25). A Silver Lining (electronic version). Scholastic Parent and Child, Feb/March 2009, p. 46-48, 3p

Helen Wellings, (2008). Recession Busters 3. Retrieved 23 April 2009, from 7 Perth/ http://www.7perth.com.au/view/today-tonight-articles/recession-busters-gas-electricity-and- water/

Helen Wellings, (April 15 2009). Recession Busters: Telecommunications. Retrieved March 25 2009, from today tonight/ http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/5500139/consumer/recession- busters-telecommunications Jackie Quist, (March 16 2009). Frugal foods making a comeback. Retrieved March 27 2009, from today tonight/ http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/5394384/lifestyle/frugal- foods-making-comeback

Gavin Alder, (March 23 2009). Simple Savings. Retrieved March 28 2009, from today tonight/ http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/5424315/consumer/simple-savings

Marguerite McKinnon, (January 6 2009). Jobs on the line. Retrieved April 1 2009, from today tonight/ http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/5247071/money/jobs-line

Staff of A Current Affair, Tuesday, 29/5/07. Budgeting For The Big Things In Life. Retrieved April 1 2009, from A Current Affair website/ http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx? id=269977

Damien Murphy, November 25 2008. Luxury car bargains at auction. Retrieved April 1 2009, from Drive/ http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=59176

Authors: Nan Bahr & Donna Pendergast, Editor: Anne Findlay, ACER Press Australian Council for Educational Research LTD, (2007). (The Millennial Adolescent). P.P. 184, 185, 186, 192, 19 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell, Victoria, 3124: ACER Press Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd

Podcasts

Mae, S. (n.d.) FAP722, Sallie Mae, Nelnet in Trouble, graduate financial aid mailbag (single episode, no other episodes apparent). Podcast retrieved from FinancialAidPodcast.com/ http://www.financialaidpodcast.com/category/graduate-students/

Speers, D., (interviewer), & Prime Minister Rudd. K. (interviewee). (October 16 2008). Sky News Australia (interview transcript). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=dFTa66mOwH8 Harper H. (n.d.). Dealing with the global financial crisis (November 19, 2008). ABC Melbourne. Podcast retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2008/11/19/2424100.htm

Part 3:

Despite the issues which John now faces due to the twenty per cent annual salary cut which his parents have been forced to accept along with the other CEOs of the Commonwealth Bank, John still has means by which he can cope with his new personal context. These means come in the form of protective factors, as emphasized by the text “The Millennial Adolescent” (pg 192) with this captivating the theory of protective factors put forward by Benard,( 1991, 2004). These protective factors emphasize elements of John’s wider personal context, namely his individual characteristics, family characteristics, schooling context, as well as the influence of Australian society and global factors, with these also being reflected by risk factors in John’s life, further captivated by the text “The Millennial Adolescent” (pgs. 185-6) with this captivating the theory of risk factors put forward by Benard, (1991, 2004) . These factors of John’s personal context encompass aspects of John’s life such as his still living in a large waterside mansion in Mosman, as well as his still retaining a large number of friends and his being restricted to one party a fortnight or one surf outing a fortnight, instead of being entirely forbidden to attend any parties or to surf, in conjunction with creating a greater devotion of John to his university studies. Further, John’s grandparents will still spoil him and make him the centre of their attention due to lesser restrictions upon their budgets due to a lack of the expenses of John’s family such as more expensive bills and other expenses. Also, through the pattern of commonality of trend and sentiment surrounding the issues which John is faced with, John is able to appreciate that he is not alone in being forced to accept change. Thus, it will be through these protective factors that John will ultimately find the strength to accept and cope with his new personal context.

However, in light of the issues which entail John’s new personal context, there are furthermore risk factors which threaten to damage this development of adaptation by John. These risk factors can be traced to John’s new personal context and the impact of it upon him; this further implies John’s awareness of the basis of the oppression which he suffers, a restriction upon his lifestyle. The new factor of John not having servants to manage and serve at his host parties may create a degree of frustration in perception that perhaps the parties aren’t as impressive and extravagant as they once were, as well as John now having to assert independence in his travel to various social outings. A further risk factor entails John’s new social restrictions and the associated issue of John only being able to attend one party per fortnight, plus the new pressure of his parents for him to study more intensely and to gain part-time employment to help contribute to the family and to pay the rest of his university fees. A final risk factor is the great sadness of John in seeing his parents give up the family’s Lamborghini for auction at the Royal Hall Of Industries at Moore Park. The issue associated with these risk factors is that they may be cause for a hindrance of John’s development towards adaptation into his new personal context. This in turn may cause John to experience a greater degree of challenge and struggle in adapting to his new circumstances than should be necessary.

Although John is now forced to be more independent in travelling to parties and surf outings, as well as university, due to his parents relinquishing the family butler and two maids, he is comforted by the fact that he still lives within a large Mosman waterside mansion with this fact emphasizing to John that the benefit outweighs the cost with the lack of servants being a minor issue in comparison to the extent of the issue if the family had been forced to rather downsize to a more modest dwelling. Also, as time goes by John will begin to appreciate that his mansion home is, and has been, a source of comfort for him, reminding him of his wealth, and that his socioeconomic context has not been altered as greatly as he first perceived. Further, John, as he grows increasingly accustomed to this new factor in his life, will begin to recognize the fact that he is now able to develop a new independence, which will somewhat further his freedom through him determining his own means of transport to and from outings and university, thus he can leave home earlier, and stay out later, if he so wishes. Further comfort for John comes in the form of the fact that almost nine in ten Australians believe that executives and CEOs should receive salary cuts, with this emphasizing for John that the cut-backs his family has been forced to make are echoed by other wealthy families with such salary cuts being echoed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his interview with political editor David Speers on Sky News.

Another protective factor for John is that he is still able to retain a large number of friends, despite the new restriction of one party or surf outing per fortnight, with this fact acting to comfort John in the transition process into this new aspect of lifestyle. Although John must accept a new restriction upon his social life, he does not have to give up his friendships and thus, does not have to sacrifice the joy and self-satisfaction gained from having such friendships and interactions with others. Also, John is still able to enjoy the company of his friends in a party social context, with this again providing a sense of familiarity and comfort for John, and allowing for him to more easily adopt a tolerance of his being pushed more greatly to study hard at university as he will always have the company of his friends, and the fun of attending and hosting parties, to look forward to.

John’s grandparents still continuing to spoil him will further ultimately comfort him through making him feel that he is still the centre of attention, with this acting to comfort him through a familiar aspect of lifestyle, with this also acting to boost and maintain John’s confidence during this key time of transition, thus making for a smoother transition. Also, the wealth of his grandparents, reflected by their homes, will further act as familiar to John. Thus, John will be encouraged to tackle this transition with greater strength of will and determination due to perceiving that this transition does not involve an entire relinquishment of all past lifestyle factors.

Also, in light of the global financial crisis, John is able to further take comfort in the fact that the issues he faces are echoed by other young peoples of wealthy backgrounds as well as more modest backgrounds, worldwide, with the political echoes to make cut-backs on salaries and spending, also echoed by the database article “a silver lining” which speaks of cut-backs such as eating out less frequently as well as taking measures such as renting movies rather than going to the movie theatre, as well as many young people now having part-time employment, with these factors, and the general cut-backs regarding budget in light of the financial crisis, and the associated consequences, having to be adopted by people nation –wide and on an international scale.

When John is now per missed to host a party at the family mansion, despite there having only been restriction on parties, an aspect which has been removed is John’s servants, and due to this drawback, John may now feel that he is less able to boast his wealth at parties he hosts, a sentiment similarly echoed by many wealthy car enthusiasts who have been forced to relinquish expensive sports cars according to http://www.pickles.com.au/cars/about/? contentId=617#repo%20exotics, and John may feel as if his parties are not as unique and impressive as they once were when his servants were able to carry drinks and food to guests. Further, as John must now drive himself to parties and beach outings, he may again perceive this to hinder his ability to boast his wealth to his friends, particularly in light of his parents having had to sell the family Lamborghini at the Royal Hall Of Industries in Moore Park, again, echoed by many rich car lovers whom have been forced to sell their luxury vehicles also at the Royal Hall Of Industries at Moore Park, according to http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=59176 . Through this, John may feel frustration and a lack of enthusiasm for the parties he holds, and this in turn would cause John to resent, not embrace, the new factors of his lifestyle, resulting in an up-hill struggle to effectively adapt to the new lifestyle factors present.

John’s social restrictions in being able to only attend one party a fortnight may further act to hinder John’s adaptation to his new lifestyle through him perceiving that he is no longer able to see his friends often enough, and that he is slowly being encompassed by responsibility and academia with his parents pressuring him to study harder and to gain a part-time job. He may feel that he will be unable to cope with this new responsibility and that the restrictions upon his social-life will hinder any ability to cope with the new pressure through socialization. Thus, John may become quite apprehensive and stressed, causing him to struggle with adapting, instead of allowing for a smoother transition process.

In light of the new factors of lifestyle which John is faced with, and the adaptation process which is associated with it, there is a balance of protective and risk factors, which will ultimately determine how John manages to cope with the adaptation process he faces. There are, amidst changes, elements of comfort and familiarity which will guide John in his transition process, allowing him to perceive that his life has not been completely rewritten but still contains factors which he appreciates and enjoys experiencing. There is also comfort for John in the fact that he is not alone in having to adapt to a new lifestyle. There are other young peoples, wealthy and less wealthy, who also face lifestyle changes and the adaptation process involved. However, there are also risk factors which are associated with this new situation of lifestyle change and adaptation. These risk factors ultimately threaten to taint the smooth transition by John into his new lifestyle and instead cause John to struggle and stress due to perception that this new lifestyle is too much of a change from what he is used to experiencing and living due to his new lifestyle captivating factors such as a restriction on his social life and a push towards more involvement in work, academic and employment wise.

Part 4:

Ultimately, it is characteristics of resilience, which, if properly embedded within a child or teenager will allow for an ability to appropriately adapt in conditions of change or adversity. These characteristics are namely: high self-esteem, resilience itself, strong identity, sense of belonging and happiness, according to Fuller, 2004,acknowledged in the Millennial Adolescent: p. 184-85. These traits may be naturally embedded within the individual’s personality but more often than not, these characteristics are nurtured within an individual by their family and by friends and teachers.

Family is able to promote these characteristics within a child through engaging the child in culture of the family, ethnically, and on a familial basis. This will provide a source of identity and a sense of belonging. Further, family can nurture these characteristics through giving the child a degree of responsibility as they enter adolescence, with this promoting a sense of trustworthiness, maturity, and thus self-esteem. Further, it is critical for parents to allow for children to socialize as this will allow for an escape of the pressures of everyday life and an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, a happier personal context thus and a stronger sense of self-identity. Lastly, parents must support and encourage their children, particularly during adolescence, during the good times and the bad, in order to promote development of resilience and a positive attitude to be asserted in all contexts of their lives. Development of the aforementioned characteristics of resilience is further significant as these traits will largely influence motivation and progress at a schooling level.

“The Millennial Adolescent”:pgs 184, 185 and 192

Community (friends and teachers) also play a significant role in nurturing a resilient nature. Friends play, arguably, a more significant role in this context than teachers, as they spend far more time with, and are far more emotionally involved with an individual. Friends thus have the responsibility of acting as emotional support as, it has been identified that adolescents often reveal personal issues to their friends in seeking out advice and guidance, rather than parents or teachers. Friends must encourage one another and promote in one another, a sense of strong identity and a high degree of self esteem. Friends must further not undervalue the significance of their relaxed social interactions, commonly occurring at parties, or more condensed personal outings such as attending the movie theatre, or going to the city together. The relaxed nature of this environment will create a sense of belonging within the individuals involved as well as a high degree of self- identity due to feeling such social acceptance. Further, the individuals involved, due to being more relaxed, will be able to forget issues which have been troubling them and then return later to deal with such issues with a new sense of spirit, allowing for these issues to be handled with greater ease. Despite the importance of friends, teachers must also recognize their responsibility for the development of resilience in students. This notion captivates encouragement of all students to strive to achieve their best, as well as encouraging feedback for students whom are struggling somewhat. This will promote self-esteem in students. Further, teachers must aim to create an interactive classroom environment in order to allow for a more unified classroom community and ability for students to learn from one another, promoting more engaged learning which will create a greater sense of belonging within the classroom and make no student feel left out or neglected.

The culture (ethnically based) which a family presents to a child is significant in exposing the child to tradition, cuisine and language which the child is able to integrate as part of who they are and where they have come from. This allows the child to feel they can trace who they are, and allows them to feel that they have a context in which they belong, a culture which they share with their family, nuclear and extended, as well as other peoples of that culture.

Familial culture further emphasizes this notion through a family presenting to a child, elements of language, familial values and philosophy. This further aids the child in recognizing and identifying with values and notions which they can apply to life, with this allowing for them to identify with themselves and what they believe. Further this allows the child to feel that, within the family, they share common elements with others, and thus can feel a sense of belonging within a familial context. Parents allowing teenagers to have a greater degree of independence, such as allowing them to begin driving lessons, and allowing them to apply for part-time employment, is further crucial in allowing teenagers to perceive granted freedom and thus feel that they are deemed trustworthy of increased responsibility by their parents. Further, increased levels of responsibility allows for adolescents to gain increased levels of maturity, shaping their levels of responsibility and judgement to greater levels. Also, new levels of responsibility and resulting maturity allow for increased levels of self-esteem which allow for a better shaped character.

As children become adolescents it becomes increasingly crucial for parents to ease restrictions upon their children’s socialization, with this meaning allowance of children to attend parties and to travel to meet friends and spend time with friends independently. This is crucial to ensure that teenagers can take time to relax and escape from everyday stresses, and is also crucial in giving teens a sense of belonging in a social context with their friends, and this will consequently create increased self-esteem and thus a more fulfilling personal context and a stronger, more valued sense of self-identity and self perception.

It is further significant for parents to maintain a positive attitude when dealing with positive and negative elements of their children’s lives, whether these elements are perceived by them to be positive or negative elements, and regardless of how these elements make them personally feel. This is necessary, particularly during adolescence when adolescents are experiencing puberty and emotional fragility, as it will ultimately encourage development of a positive attitude within a child or teenager and this will promote resilience with this allowing for coping with personal issues with greater emotional ease within a personal context.

Friends, most importantly during adolescence, play a crucial role in providing emotional support for one another and must constantly provide positive reinforcement for one another during the bad times, with this role increasing during adolescence during which teenagers go to one another for advice regarding personal issues which they face. The positive reinforcement provided must come in the form of promotion of admirable qualities in the individual facing an issue in order to build a strong sense of identity and self-esteem in the individual. Support must also entail emphasis upon the fact that in the end all will become restored in the individual’s life, with this captivating a positive perception of the future by the individual and the degree of self-esteem required for the individual to carry on.

It is also important for friends to recognize that their social interactions with one another are central to aiding in ability to cope with stress of everyday life. Friends must further recognize that these social interactions create a sense of belonging and increased self -identity due to perception that times of social interaction are a “soft place to fall” amidst their busy schedules. Such self- identity will also allow for a greater degree of ability to solve issues faced at all levels of personal lifestyle. Within the classroom teachers must essentially recognize the fact that they too, although to a lesser degree than friends, assume a role of keeping students motivated and confident in all academic challenges which they face throughout their schooling years, but particularly during senior school years. Teachers must further ensure that they encourage students whom are struggling, in order to ensure that these students remain motivated and appreciative of the value of their learning. This should be achieved through providing encouraging feedback and working more intensely with students whom are struggling to ensure that they are able to grasp concepts in class. Such actions will ultimately instill greater levels of self-esteem within students than would be achieved otherwise, as well as stronger feelings of self-identity and personal happiness.

Teachers must also ensure that they promote interactive classroom learning, namely, students working together in pairs, and interactive classroom discussions, which will allow for students to more readily gain access to help if they experience issues with a concept or a problem, with this further allowing for students whom are more noticeably struggling to obtain help from the teacher. This scheme will ultimately create an increased sense of belonging within the classroom environment for each student, and promote increased levels of enthusiasm towards the subject.

Resilience is an essential trait for individuals to obtain in order to cope with issues of life which they face. Elements of resilience can be traced as genetically inherited aspects of personality, but are more commonly traced as being influenced by family, friends and teachers.

Family plays a significant role in nurturing resilience within children and teenagers through providing a sense of belonging and self-identity within the family, as well as allowing for increasing levels of independence and responsibility as they trace their children’s development to and throughout adolescence. This can promote new levels of maturity and independence and thus self-esteem within children and teenagers. Parents must further, as they trace their children’s development into adolescence, ease restrictions upon their children’s social lives and become increasingly understanding and open-minded to their children’s issues as they grow and develop. This will further promote children and adolescents feeling a sense of belonging with their friends and thus a stronger self-identity, as well as application of a positive attitude towards issues which are faced throughout the course of life.

Community based influences (friends and teachers) further contribute to create resilience in children and adolescents. Friends have a more involved role as they are more socially connected to one another than the level to which children and adolescents are to teachers. Friends thus have the crucial responsibility of acting as emotional support for one another in association with promoting a strong sense of self- identity and self-esteem within each other. Friends must further ensure that they always set aside time for social interaction due to the sense of belonging experienced by each participant in any given social outing, as well as high levels of self-identity and happiness due to their social acceptance. This further allows for tackling of issues, personal and academic, which are faced throughout the course of the child or adolescent’s life.

Teachers must also perceive a role of encouraging and thus motivating students to strive to succeed throughout their learning of a particular subject, with this also emphasizing positive feedback for students whom are struggling, as well as increased levels of support for such students which will ultimately promote self-esteem within students. Teachers must also recognize the value of an interactive classroom environment due to its ability to allow for greater consolidation of a concept and thus increased self-esteem and happiness of students within the class due to feeling a greater understanding of a concept and due to feeling actively engaged within the classroom environment.