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The Journal Of Traumatic Stress - 1838 Words

Connie Shotts CA301 In the Journal of Traumatic Stress, the article â€Å"Stress Among Young Urban Children Exposed to Family Violence and Other Potentially Traumatic Events† by Cindy A. Crusto of Yale University School of Medicine, Melissa L. Whitson of the University of New Haven, Sherry M. Walling of Fresno Pacific University, Richard Feinn of the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center, Farmington, Stacey R. Friedman of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), Jesse Reynolds of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, Mona Amer of the American University at Cairo, and Joy S. Kaufman of Yale University School of Medicine takes a look at traumatic events experienced by children†¦show more content†¦Psychologically, they have experienced hatred for themselves as well as loss of trust within their community, their moral values and ethics are lacking, as well as a breakdown of security and reality in general. This is known to c ause vulnerability to traumatic stress illnesses and other related behavioral and academic abnormalities. Child maltreatment such as physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, intimate partner violence (IPV), household dysfunction such as mental illness, alcohol/drug abuse, and criminal behavior are all family-based traumatic events which place the children at a higher risk for exposure. Children who witness single extreme events or those who suffer from chronic exposure to this type of stimuli require mediations to mend the cognitive, emotional, and physiological damages caused by violent acts. Interventions aim to create a climate in therapy that allows the child to learn how to cope and continue healthy growth. This is made possible by a therapist who understands children s unique reactions to traumatic experiences, and who will be empathetic to the child. The therapist should have experience working with children who have been subjected to different forms of violence and be sensitive, mature and stable themselves. This person should represent a safe, nonviolent place for the child. Connie Shotts CA301 Everything stated above is accurate and should be considered, however I believe this

Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays

Adolescence is the period of transition from childhood to adulthood, which is between 13 to 20 years of age. The term â€Å"adolescent† refers to the psychological maturation of an individual while â€Å"puberty† refers to the point at which reproduction becomes possible. Most people refer to this stage as a period that is highly stressful and volatile although teenagers nowadays successfully meet these challenges. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now During this period, physical changes occur rapidly and sexual maturation occurs along with the development of the primary and secondary sexual characteristics. In an article by Kathleen Surburry in Time Magazine entitled, â€Å"Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High†, the school is besieged by a boom in teenage pregnancy rates. Upon investigation of its principal, John Sullivan, it was found out that seventeen teenage girls made a pact to become pregnant and raise their children together. Teenage pregnancy can be considered as a social problem. As stated by Jarmrozik and Nocella (1998), â€Å"Social problems are social conditions, activities, attitudes and so on that at some stage may be perceived as problems, although they might have existed in society for some time without being seen in this way. The change in perception signifies a change in values, attitudes or interests, or new knowledge and awareness of a real or potential threat† Eric Erikson, created the eight phases of the process of socialization wherein each stage consists of a psychosocial crisis that an individual must face and attempt to find a resolution before proceeding to the next stage.   Adolescents (aged 13 years to 20 years) are on the fifth stage of the psychosocial crisis wherein individuals are battling with establishing an identity versus role confusion. This is marked by a period of learning one’s true personal identity that is separate from one’s peers. This is mainly a period of discovery and self exploration and most adolescents experience some aspects of identity confusion even though they are well adjusted. This is largely due to the peer pressure that is largely prevalent and feelings of self insecurity and doubt. At this stage, adolescents attempt to create their own personality, sexuality, ideas and roles as well as aiming to develop their strengths. It is not uncommon for teenagers to express various identities and may even go though a period of identity crisis in order to find their true selves. Successful resolution of this stage leads to the development of fidelity and the establishment of their own personal identity.   Failure to weather this stage will lead to role confusion wherein they may exhibit unstable behavior and may exhibit very minimal decision making skills. Adolescents often experience strong changes in various aspects: in their cognition, emotions and physical looks (Susman 2003). They may consider their parents or guardians as less important compared to their friends and peers. They often look up and idolize glamorous movie stars which may not be the best role models for them especially in a day when teenage pregnancy is highly glamorized by young stars. As such, teenagers may engage in socially unacceptable activities without fully understanding its consequences. Another theory that was put forth by Sigmund Freud is the development of personality through a series of stages wherein pleasure is centered on specific areas of the body that are erogenous in nature. The libido or psychosexual energy, thus, influences the individual’s behavior and actions. The early stages of this focus on attaining individual needs and leading to taking in consideration the needs of others. Adolescents belong to the last stage: the genital stage in Freud’s psychosexual theory. During this stage, the individual has a strong sexual interest in members of the opposite sex. The emergence of sexuality and desire usually appears at the onset of puberty. Adolescents may experience the first stirrings of sexual feelings and may seek to express this with members of the opposite sex without fully thinking of the consequences of their behavior. It must be taken into account that familial influences along with an individual’s religion and culture have an impact on how the adolescent express their sexuality (Abbassi 1998). Piaget states that the changes that occur within the mind as well as the widening social environment of the adolescent results to a high level of intellectual development. This is also known as formal operations. The adolescent develops the ability to determine possibilities, rank possibilities, solve problems and make decisions through logical operations. The teenager has the ability to think abstractly and deal effectively with hypothetical questions or problems. When confronted with a problem, the teenager can consider an infinite variety of causes and solutions. Thinking may now venture into such subjects as achieving world peace, finding justice, and seeking meaning in life. Adolescents have the capacity to reason with respect to possibilities and new cognitive powers allow the adolescent to do more far-reaching problem solving including their future and that of others. Although adolescents have the capacity to think as well as an adult, they lack experiences on which to build their decisions which may also result in conflicts between teens and their parents. Since human behavior impacts on nearly every aspect of life, this is an important area of science. Different fields in psychology can really help us a lot as it can provide us with a clear understanding of every concept about human personality and development. References: Abbassi V (1998). â€Å"Growth and normal puberty.† Pediatrics 102 (2 Pt 3): 507–11 Jarmrozik, A and Nocella, N. (1998). The Sociology of Social Problems.   page 21. Susman, EJ et al (2003). Puberty, sexuality, and health. In: Lerner MA, Easterbrooks MA, Mistry J. , editors. Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology. New York: Wiley ** Article can be accessed thru http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-bottom How to cite Teenage Pregnancy, Papers Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays string(43) " primary researched I did a questionnaire\." GCSE Humanities | Teenage pregnancy | | Are young people represented fairly by the media in British society? | | 0900001846 Haleema Shafi | 2/3/2010| Deadline 17/03/10| Contents page Sections Page number * Abstract * Introduction * Methods * Results * Discussion * References * Appendices Abstract Introduction This research is an investigation into whether the media in the UK represents young people accurately. The media have been constantly running stories about young people binge drinking, being involved in knife crime, gang culture and drug taking, amongst others. The daily mail has run headlines such as ‘British Teenagers are the Binge Drinking Champions of Europe’ (Hope, 2009), ‘The Face of Britain’s Knife Crime Scourge: Teenage Mutilated during Vicious Assault With Three-inch Blade’ (Daily Mail Reporter, 2009), ‘Inside Feral Britain: a Blood Chilling Journey into the Heart of Teenage Gang Culture’ (Malone, 2007). We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now These stories give readers the impression that young people are violent, did not have respect of other or the law moreover they did not have respect for the society. This research will investigate whether media stereotype young people in this way or whether media reflect reality. This is done in the context of teenage pregnancy. In the Daily Mail the article ‘Time to get tough on teenage mums’ by Katie Hampson (2006) is saying that teenagers think that they can get an attractive lifestyle by getting pregnant. This includes getting free council flats and finical rewards which is provided by the tax payer. Hampons also suggests that young mothers have different values to the rest of society. One example is that teenage mums go out night clubbing and are sexually promiscuous (Johnston, 2008). This provides readers with a stereotypical view of young mothers. Stereotyping is when people are put into groups and are classed as something, for what they do or what they wear. One example from Rosenhan (1978) where she said ’on being sane in insane places’ this shows how people behave according to someone is labelled or stereotyped. Research has shown that the media has stereotype social groups in the past for example Stan Cohen (1980) shows the different type of stereotyping views that are used by the media. In his study he describes how the media are categorizing young people into groups which are ‘mods’ and ‘rockers’. From this the media nowadays is using the same thing with teenage pregnancy. The media is saying that young teenage girls are ignorant and did not think about others, or society as they get intoxicated and pregnant and are using the tax payers money and getting support from the government to help them. This can also lead to prejudice, discrimination and persecution. Prejudice- A prejudice is an implicitly held belief, often about a group of people. Race, economic class, gender or sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and religion are other common subjects of prejudice ( en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Prejudice) Discrimination- Discrimination toward or against a person of a certain group is the treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit. (en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Discrimination) Persecution- Is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic. (en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Persec ution) For example, Stuart Hall’s stereotyped black males as muggers. People then believe the stereotype and behaved differently. People were afraid of being mugged by black males, and were scared to go out at night people called for the government to do something about the supposed problem of black males mugging. The government bought in the suss laws they were used to prosecute black males. ‘In Britain, the Sus law was the informal name for a stop-and-search law that permitted a police officer to act on suspicion, or ‘sus’, alone. ’(en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sus_Laws) Below is one article that I found about a sus law riot. SUS LAW SPARKED RIOTS By Emily Miller 28/05/2007 0’s Brixton (PA) NEW â€Å"stop and quiz† proposals carry disturbing echoes of deeply unpopular stop-and search laws that triggered mass riots in the early 1980s. Known as â€Å"Sus†, the law allowed police to stop, search and arrest anyone they chose as a crime prevention tactic. But it was widely believed to have been abused by officers to harass young black men. On April 2, 1980, police raided t he notorious Black and White Cafe in St Pauls, Bristol, sparking the most serious riots on mainland Britain since before the Second World War. And after Met police stopped and searched 943 people – the vast majority black and law-abiding – and arrested only 118 during a blitz on robberies and burglaries in the spring of 1981 trouble flared again in Brixton. Complaints of harassment and racism soared and riots on the streets left police cars and properties burned out. In July the same year Toxteth, Liverpool, was gripped by riots. Police were forced to withdraw as 150 buildings on a one-mile stretch of road were torched and 781 officers hurt. The law was hastily abolished that year. The government in the UK have said that they would try to lower the teenage pregnancy but nothing is been done about it. In the article Tony Shadow the health secretary quoted ‘it is unlikely that the government will meet its targets to have teenage pregnancies by 2010’. In this article ‘How Labour is losing the Fight to cut teen pregnancies’, the media is saying that teenager’s pregnancy rate has risen over the decade by 12% over the past ten years. In 2004 the amount of teenage girls under the age of 18 who got pregnant was 39,545. Teenage pregnancy has become a large problem in the UK, so bad that the government are using the tax payer’s money to help these teenagers to get abortion etc. In this article it shows that the total amount that the tax payers are giving is ? 138 million. In this same article it tells us the amount that the NHS are spending on teenage pregnancy a year, the amount is ? 63 million this is ‘more than 1 million a day’. Methods I have used primary and secondary recourses to help me with my project. For my primary researched I did a questionnaire. You read "Teenage Pregnancy" in category "Essay examples" In my questionnaire I asked nine questions. For my secondary research I used online articles from newspapers such as the Daily Mail. I did a questionnaire about teenage pregnancy to find out what people thoughts are about it and what their view were upon teenage pregnancy. I asked 10 people to fill in my questionnaire. 70% were female and 30% were male, their age group was the same percent to. The reason I did this was because I wanted to find out what young people thought about their fellow members in their same age group. I also asked other people, the ages of 30 and over, I wanted to find out what the older generation thought about the younger generation and weather they were stereotyping young people. After getting people to fill my questionnaires in I found out and interesting results. In my results when I asked the first question which was on ‘how many teenage pregnancies do you think occur in the UK’, the majority thought 39,545 and they were correct, this showed me that people are not stereotypical toward teenage pregnancy and it is only the media that is making teenage girls look bad and horrible. The second question I asked was where you think teenage mums are most likely to live. I found out that generally people thought they would live in a council house but a few thought that they live with their parents. This shows that many people are stereotyping all teenage girls and are saying that they live in council houses so they can get money. I found an article on in internet, which said that the government are planning on sending teenage mother to supervised homes where they are taught how to look after their babies. When I asked do you think teenage mothers get married to the baby’s father, I found an interesting result because it showed me that more than half of the people I asked said they do sometimes and 40% said they don’t get married. Sometimes it depends on what kind situation the teenager is. Most of the time teenagers get pregnant to gain attention or to have responsibility, when I asked ‘what do you consider to be the reason for young females to get pregnant’. When analysing the results I found out that 80% thought it was done accidental which shows me that people are not stereotypical towards teenager girls. 0% thought girls get pregnant to gain attention, whilst the other 10% thought it was because girls get lonely. When I asked the question ‘do you think that teenage girls plan to get married’, the results showed me that 90% thought they don’t whilst the 10% thought they do. When I asked if people thought there was enough information to help young people to avoid becoming pregnant. 80% thought that there was loads of information out there for all teenagers but they ignore it and the other 20% said yes. Bias- To incline to one side; to give a particular direction to; to influence; to prejudice; to prepossess. (http://thinkexist. com/dictionary/meaning/bias/) Results Figure 1 * 70% of female did my questionnaire and 30% of male did my questionnaire. Figure 2 * The highest age group that did my questionnaire were between the age of 17 to 20 years old, the other 30% were 30+. Figure 3 * My results show that 50% were British, 20% were Pakistani, 10% were Asian, 10; were Black African and 10% were others. How many teenage pregnancies to do think occur in the UK? Figure 4 For this question I got an interesting result, 50% of people thought that there were 39,545 teenage pregnancies in the UK, 20% thought there were 40,00, another 20% thought there were 55, 345 and 10% thought there were 85,567 teenage pregnancies in the UK. Figure 5| | * From the results I have found out that 30% think that teenage mums live with their parents, the other 60% think that they live in a council house and the other 10% think they own their own house. Figure 6 * 40% think that they don’t get married whereas the other 60% think they do sometimes. Figure 7 From the results it shows that 90% of people think that teenage mums don’t plan to get married and the other 10% think that they do. Figure 8 * From the results majority (80%) think there is enough information to help young people but they ignore it, (purple), and the other 20% think that there is plenty of information out there to help young females to avoid becoming pregnant. Figure 9 * The results show that 80% of people think that teenage pregnancy happens accidentally, 10% think that teenagers get pregnant to get attention, and the other 10% think it is because they are lonely. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Discussion and evaluation Are young people represented fairly by the media in British society? What is the focus of my evaluation? The focus of my evaluation is that I’m trying to study and find out how t eenagers in Britain are being treated by the media. I will examine if young people are represented fairly in British society. I will give examples and study how people view young teenagers, moreover how we can change the representation of young teenagers. The topic that I have chosen to study on is teenage pregnancy in the UK. How do I use sources of information in the evaluation? For my evaluation I will try to use different type of source to help me get different view by people. I will do some questionnaires for different type of people such as elderly people and middle aged people and teenagers themselves. I will also do some research on the internet, I will try to get less information from the internet and try to get more information about teenagers and how they are represented by using books, listen to the radio and television. I will give examples of how the teenagers are represented by asking them about their experiences, I will do this by going around college and meeting people outside of college and find out more. Arguments (against)| Arguments (for)| College- most teenagers are sensible, they might be doing A level in school or studying in college and focusing on their studies and their future, not out drinking and getting pregnant. There are many mature teenager in the UK, but the media are labelling them all saying stuff like they go out and party and get drunk etc. | | Beliefs- some people like myself don’t drink alcohol at all because of their religion. As a Muslim myself i | | | | References * http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-1165002/British-teenagers-binge-drinking-champions-Europe. html * http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-1124104/The-face-Britains-knife-crime-scourge-Teenager-mutilated-vicious-assault-inch-blade. html * http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-483249/Inside-feral-Britain-A-blood-chilling-journey-heart-teenage-gang-culture. html * http://www. dailymail. co. uk/femail/article-379738/Time-tough-teenage-mums. html * http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-401824/How-Labour-losing-fight-cut-teen-pregnancies. html * http://www. dailymail. co. k/news/article-1217047/Teenage-mothers-sent-hostels-council-flats-vows-Brown. html * en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Prejudice * en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Discrimination * en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Persecution (en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sus_Laws) http://thinkexist. com/dictionary/meaning/bias/ Appendices Questionnaire * What’s your gender? F M * How old are you? 1 4-16 17-20 21-24 25-30 31+ * What is your Ethnicity? British Pakistani Asian Black African Indian others prefer not to say * How many teenage pregnancies to do think occur in the UK? 39,545 40. 000 55. 345 75. 75 85. 567 90. 143 * Where do you think teenage mum most likely to live? With parents council house have their own house * Do teenage mums get married to the baby’s father? Yes No sometimes * Do you think teenage mums plan to get pregnant? Yes No * Do you think there is enough information to help young people to avoid becoming pregnant? Yes No yes, but teenagers ignore them * What do you consider to be the reason for young females to get pregnant? Accidental To gain attention loneliness to have responsibility Secure relationship with their partner How to cite Teenage Pregnancy, Essay examples Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays 1. (Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE) Another problem facing teen mothers is the use of drugs and alcohol, including cigarette smoking. No amount of any of these substances is safe for use in pregnancy. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now In fact, their use can complicate pregnancy even further increasing the likelihood of premature birth and other complications. 2. Rebecca B. Singson In the Philippines, the sexual revolution has ushered in a period in which the average adolescent experiences tremendous pressures to have sexual experiences of all kinds. Filipino teens get a higher exposure to sex from the Internet, magazines, TV shows, movies and other media than decades ago, yet without any corresponding increase in information on how to handle the input. So kids are pretty much left to other kids for opinions and value formation when it comes to sex. 3. (Dryfoos, 1991) Bearing a child during adolescence adds up the stress and triggers changes in various aspects-physical, emotional, personal, and social. Among the well documented includes school dropouts, developmental and health problems, depression, poverty, etc. . (Dilworth, 2004) It’s found that literature on teenage pregnancy mostly focuses on the negative consequences of being a teen parent though there are teen parents who said that they enjoy being so and the child has brought more joy to the family. 5. Mariah Kilgore, The situation of teenage pregnancy has grown abundantly throughout the United States. Sex education taught in the school system can help teens realize the consequences of having pre-marital sex and prevent pregnancy. The realities and effects of teen pregnancies are sometimes difficult and harsh to face for the mother, father, and child. 6. Fullerton,1997 Social, economical, environmental as well as individual factors determines for the increase in teenage pregnancy rate and thus makes it difficult to disentangle the exact cause for teen pregnancies. 7. Finkel et al, 2002 Speaking about expectations for the future, one needs to remember that teenage mothers typically do not plan long-term and attempt to concentrate on their baby. On the contrary teenagers who plan long –term and expect a lot from their future delay pregnancy as much as possible and certainly for a longer period of time than those who lack hope and expectation of the future. 8. Jessor, R. , Jessor, 2002 Ignorance about reproduction and contraception is another factor that contributes to the increase of teenage pregnancy and places another burden on females and the society they live in. Misunderstanding and false assumptions regarding reproduction and contraception can lead to trial-and-error approach to exploring sexual life which in turn might result in an unwanted pregnancy. For instance, the majority of US teen females still believe that losing virginity without a condom will not result in a pregnancy, while others believe that one cannot get married if she did not have an orgasm. 9. Shah et al, 2003 Health or sex education that teaches females and males about contraception and safe sexual behavior is believed to be able to quickly and efficiently reduce the number of pregnancies in the USA as well as other countries around the world. Countries of the European Union that already use progressive sex education at young age at school witness lowering rates of teenage pregnancies. The proponents of early sex education in schools claim that providing all the needed information about sex, contraception and pregnancy to school children will allow them to make their own informed and educated choices and then decided what to do with their lives. 10. Ettinger, 2001 Resources needs to be directed in tackling psychosocial factors influencing teen mothers like low self esteem, low expectations, unrealistic goals, limited support etc. How to cite Teenage Pregnancy, Papers Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays Introduction Is it the new trend for teenager to have sex and get pregnant? What is the point? There are so many things we as teenagers have to gain during our teenage life especially our maturity. So how can we do that and also take responsibility for another child? Teenage pregnancy is complicated by our conflicting attitudes and behaviors. Yet we are shocked at the increasing numbers of teens who are sexually active. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now As we all know, teenage pregnancy is on the rampage in St. Kitts and we are all wondering what may be the cause of it. In my presentation, I will first outline what is teenage pregnancy, depict the causes of teenage pregnancy, and also state some risk factors of teenage pregnancy and also state some recommendations on how I think we can curb teenage pregnancy. What is Teenage Pregnancy? Teenage pregnancy is technically defined as occurring when a woman under the age of 20 becomes pregnant. The youngest mother who ever gave birth was Lina Medina, who, in 1939, gave birth to a boy at the age of five. (Source: Wikepedia). Most girls however, do not become fully fertile until much later, example; the average age of menarche (first menstrual period) in St. Kitts is 11. 5 years. Babies born to teenagers are at risk from neglect and abuse because their young mothers are uncertain about their roles and may be frustrated by the constant demands of caretaking. The number of births to teenagers in St. Kitts has been fluctuating considerably over the last few years. Some teenage pregnancies occur as a result of their sexual inexperience and inadequate understanding of their reproductive cycle. This is most likely due to the increased unavailability of readily accessible contraception and abortion facilities, because of an increase in sexual activity. Research suggests that knowledge about reproductive matters and access to contraception are necessary to prevent unintended adolescent pregnancy. However, not all teenage pregnancies are unplanned. Some teenagers literally choose to want to have a baby due to their idealised views of pregnancy and parenting as well as presume from their male partners. Facts and figures In order to provide accurate statistics on the number of teenage live births in St. Kitts, I requested the information from the Planning Unit in the Ministry of Finance, Technology and Sustainable Development. Table 1 showing the number of live teenage births within St. Kitts during the period 2000 – 2005. Sourced from the Planning Unit, Ministry of Finance, Technology and Sustainable Development. 200020012002200320042005 Age Group 10-14 yrs231036 15-19 yrs160164138144113120 Total of live births162167139144116126 Chart showing the statistics shown above in Figure 1 Causes and Effects of Teen Pregnancy Causes You may be wondering about the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy. A teenage girl may become pregnant as a result of many various situations. Some teenage girls become pregnant while involved in long-term dating relationships. Other girls become pregnant after hooking up. And, some girls may become pregnant as a result of a rape situation. All teenage pregnancies are the result of sexual activity, whether voluntary or involuntary. No matter what measures are taken for birth control, the only 100% effective way to prevent pregnancy is abstinence( is the withholding or indulging of sexual activity) from all sexual activities. Only abstinence is guaranteed not to cause teen pregnancy. Parents shy away from discussing sex education with their children. Some may feel that their children are learning about it in school so why should they say it again. Nowadays parents are too busy to shoulder of their responsibilities and that’s why neglect is a cause for teenage pregnancy. They feel that if they have a child that they can be loved. Teens can prevent teenage pregnancies by using one of a number of options they have. These options includes: CHART Effects Facing an unplanned teen pregnancy can be hard. The effects of teenage pregnancy are not limited to having to decide whether or not to keep the baby, how to cope with motherhood or whether to make an adoption plan. Teenage pregnancy is usually a crisis for the pregnant girl and her family. Common reactions include anger, guilt, and denial. If the father is young and present, similar problems can occur in his family. †¢50% of adolescents who have a baby become pregnant again within two years of the baby’s birth. †¢Only 41% of teenage mothers complete high school, making it less likely for teen mothers to have the skills necessary to qualify for a well-paying job. †¢Teen fathers are very reluctant to support their child so all the strain is left on the mother. †¢Children born to teen mothers are more likely to have low birth weight and related problems such as infant death, blindness, and mental retardation. Children of teen parents often receive inadequate parenting, are subject to abuse and neglect, and often have insufficient health care. †¢Children of teen parents are 50% more likely to repeat a grade, perform poorly on tests and final exams, and ultimately less likely to complete high school. †¢Babies born to teenagers are at gre ater risk for neglect and abuse than those of a woman. Teenage mothers may feel like they are being demanded to do the job and they may take their frustration out on the child. Teen pregnancy, in my opinion, is awful. I feel that young women should not be having children at such a young age. I feel that these teenagers that are having babies are children themselves, and do not know how to take care of them as an older, more mature person might. At this young age, very few teenagers have jobs. Therefore, it may be difficult for them to support themselves and the baby. They would probably have to drop out of school, and get a couple of jobs; all this just to pay for diapers, food, clothing and healthcare. There are a number of risk factors for teenage pregnancy. They include: †¢unstable housing arrangements †¢poor school performance †¢low socio-economic background †¢family history of teenage pregnancies †¢low maternal education †¢father’s absence †¢low self-esteem Teen pregnancy can be a very difficult situation at times. For example, and I quote what a young girl tells about what she went through. This young girl thought she was in love. She was dating the cutest guys in the school and often wondered why he would be dating an average girl like herself. He said he loved her. This girl had been having sexual intercourse since she was fourteen years old. She slept with this guy and before you know it, she ended up pregnant. What was this young girl to do? The family pressures pushed the girl to have an abortion. Time went by and she met another guy. She talks about how this guy was her â€Å"first true love. † She has sexual intercourse with this guy and before you know it, she is pregnant again. What are her options? First she had an abortion. The girl is pregnant again and wonders what to do. How many times does a teenage girl get to do this? These young girls do not know how great the responsibility is to take care of a child. They might think it would be like a babysitting job or watching their little brother/sister, but in actuality, it is much more than that. If the guy you were with decided to leave you and the child, you would have to find ways to support yourself. Recommendations Adult parents can help prevent teenage pregnancy by providing guidance to their children about sexuality and the risks and responsibilities of intimate relationships and pregnancy. School classes in family life and sex education, as well as clinics providing reproductive information and birth control to young people, can also help to prevent unwanted pregnancy. If pregnancy occurs, teenagers and their families deserve honest and sensitive counseling about options available to them, including abortion, parenting and adoption. Special support systems, including consultation with a child and adolescent psychiatrist when needed, should be available to help the teenager throughout the pregnancy, the birth, and the decision about whether to keep the infant or give it up for adoption. Government should substantially increase its investment in effective teen pregnancy prevention programs. Investment in abstinence-only programs that exclude information about contraception wastes precious resources. To date, these programs have been proven ineffective in delaying the initiation of sexual intercourse and/or in decreasing sexual risk-taking behaviors among sexually active youth. Sex education help prepare the youth for changes in their bodies, sex effects and consequences, and how to respond and deal with dating, birth control, condoms, pills etc and also help prevent Std’s and pregnancy. Conclusion To conclude, teenage pregnancy is a serious issue that everyone needs to realise. While many teens that engage in pre-marital sex never become pregnant, some are not as fortunate. Teenage pregnancy has become all too common in this day and age. Some teens think it will not happen to them and do not use necessary precautions to protect against it. The simple desire to feel loved by another person may be a cause for an unexpected pregnancy. A teen may have a low self-esteem and simply be looking for acceptance in the bedroom. However, many teens that have a wonderful, affectionate family and are very confidant are merely looking for the few minutes of pleasure and avoid using protection. As several teens use the excuse that sex feels better without a condom, an unwanted pregnancy is likely to occur. One major effect of teenage pregnancy is that the child may be raised by a single parent. While most girls are looking for love and acceptance in sex, many guys are looking for the mere pleasure and are not planning on becoming a responsible teen father. The pressures of high school and hanging out with friends may be overwhelming for some teens, so they just leave. Raising a child as a teen is difficult, but raising a child alone would be almost impossible. With this I hope you will conclude that having a child is not a game; it’s a task we must take serious. Teens, we need to look at the effects as well as all the consequences before we go out and engage ourselves in something that can and could affect our entire lives. So let’s think before we become sexually active. Abstinence is the key but for those of us who can’t abstain, just remember to be wise, and condomize. I thank you! Bibliography â€Å"Teen Pregnancy: Fact Sheet. † Mar. 2000. â€Å"It Happens To â€Å"Good Girls† Too. † Dec. 1999 â€Å"When Children Have Children. † Jan. 2000 Wikepedia How to cite Teenage Pregnancy, Papers Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays Teenage pregnancy could be defined as a girl attaining motherhood before she reaches the legal age of adulthood. Rates of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica are among the highest in the Caribbean, with females between the ages of fifteen to nineteen years of age being responsible for one hundred and eight births per thousand women. Females between the ages of ten and nineteen account for twenty-five percent of births in Jamaica, and twenty-two percent of births between fifteen to nineteen year olds are second pregnancies. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now Contrary to popular belief the teenagers involved are not the only ones at fault. These pregnancies are a result of other un-addressed issues surrounding them. These issues stem from three things: religious teachings as it relates to sex, family environment and peer pressure. These are the major influences within an individual’s life. Christianity is the dominant religion in Jamaica. Christianity’s approach to sex is abstinence only, despite the unsuccessfulness of this strategy. The Ministry of Health the statement was made that, â€Å"Early sex initiation is not a new fad and children are fully aware of this. In fact, many of us reading this article are products of teenage mothers or parents who were continuously taught about abstinence and valuing self but still engaged in early sexual relationships. On average, the age of sexual initiation in Jamaica for girls is 15 years and 13 years for boys, with some as early as nine years old. † Religious beliefs play a big role in this. Our churches vaguely inform our youths on sex, STD’s and contraceptives. Picture sexuality as the fruit God forbade Adam to eat. Adam had no knowledge of what the fruit or was why he wasn’t supposed to eat it. How to cite Teenage Pregnancy, Papers Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays Aneta Karkut English 102 Instructor Pols 6 March 2013 Paper #3 How to Stop the Rise of Teenage Pregnancy I turn on my television and an MTV show is on. I spend a little time watching it, though I’m not sure what I am watching. There are girls that look my age, and I see they have children. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now They are arguing with their boyfriends and their parents, but most look happy overall. A commercial comes on it tells me â€Å"16 and Pregnant† will be right back. Curious about the name and the concept of this TV show, and why it even was a TV show with that name, I turned to my good friend Google. Off the Wikipedia blurb I discovered, â€Å"16 and Pregnant is an MTV reality television series produced by Morgan J. Freeman and Dia Sokol Savage†¦ It follows the stories of pregnant teenage girls in high school dealing with the hardships of teenage pregnancy† (â€Å"16 and Pregnant†). My dad walked by and asks what the show is about, I explain; he walked away shaking his head. This was heartbreaking to him. In his years, pregnancy at such a young age was unheard of and the thought of being unmarried? Forget it! It was not acceptable. For my generation? My graduating class had 9 pregnant senior girls, and those were just the ones we knew of. Statistically speaking, it could have been higher. The Center for Disease Disease Control and Prevention says, â€Å"More than 360,000 teen girls give birth each year in the United States. One half of teen mothers do not finish high school. † Peggy Peck, a journalist for ABC Health News found that, â€Å"In 2006, there were 42 births per 1,000 U. S. teenage girls, which was 4 percent higher than 2005. It has been reported that, â€Å"the United States continues to have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and birth among developed countries† (Minnick 1). So why is that? Why as one of the leading countries with some of the best, health care, medications, and doctors are we struggling to reduce pregnancy among adolescents? The CDC recommends 3 solutions to this ongoing problem: * Include evidence-based sex education that provides accurate information and supports the needs of teens throughout their development. Include efforts to help parents and teens communicate effectively with each other. * Ensure sexually active teens have access to effective and affordable contraceptives. It is to be believed that these methods will help solve this ongoing epidemic among adolescents. As a country we can sit back and do nothing, but that would not be a good solution. We need to step up and help these children who will be the leaders of our nation tomorrow. After all, â€Å"Becoming parents while still adolescents can have numerous long term negative consequences†¦ hich include health impacts for both the mother and the baby along with other social, emotional, and economic detriments† so let us do everything we can as a nation to stop this (Elders 1). In 2009, â€Å"President Barack Obama signed an appropriations bill that ended funding for existing abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and put new teenage pregnanc y prevention initiative in the newly funded Office of Adolescent Health within the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services† (Krisberg 1). We have already put in the start to help fix the pregnancy problem but we need to continue to apply it. Abstinence works for some teens, but the idea that most teens will wait to have sex indefinitely is rigid and impractical† said Dr. Richard S. Guido, chair of ACOG’s Committee on Adolescent Health Care in an interview with Peck. And this statement is rather true. In high school, there is so much pressure, especially among boys to â€Å"lose it† even if it is just in a one night stand. When all children were being taught in school was that sex was bad and you must wait, the talk of the benefit of condoms and other contraceptive methods was looked down upon. It made the children feel as if they were doing something wrong getting protection so it was easier to just do it without one. By changing the way schools teach sex education, now they are able to talk about the complications that come with sex such as possible disease, STD’s, and of course the consequence of pregnancy. When people are given the straight up facts, it makes it easier to understand why someone should choose to wait and come up with this solution on their own as opposed to just don’t do it without a concrete reason. Sex education classes have opened doors for teenagers in explaining topics and and answering questions that some feel they cannot approach their parents about. Although it is an uncomfortable subject for some teachers to teach, and some students to listen to, the uncomfortableness does not weigh out the benefit of these programs. Some have not agreed that this is a good idea and recently, â€Å"U. S. Senate, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, successfully included an amendment to restore $50 million a year in abstinence-only state funds† (â€Å"Teen Pregnancies†). Premarital sex goes against the morals of those who follow religion very closely and they are especially active to shut down the current school sex curriculum, but shouldn’t self values go after practicality in this case? How else would most adolescents get the correct information to have safe sex? I know I don’t talk to my parents, so I can speak for myself of the benefits of the program, and realistically speaking, in this day and age where the music, the celebrities, and the media are glamorizing sex, you can’t escape it. We need to do more to keep safe sex programs in school, and abstinence only programs out. Another source to help decrease the rise of teenage pregnancy is the power of parents themselves. The Mayo Clinic says, â€Å"Awkward as it may be, sex education is a parent’s responsibility. By reinforcing and supplementing what your teen learns in school, you can set the stage for a lifetime of healthy sexuality,† and that is so true. It is an uncomfortable subject, but a very important one. By building a healthy relationship with each other, teenagers build a trust and feel that they have a support system to answer their questions and help if anything goes wrong. Also by talking more openly, it is easier to get the methods that prevent pregnancy such as birth control when daughters don’t have to go behind the backs of their parents to see a doctor. Values are established and just having someone you can talk to and you know will help you can make the whole transition from adolescence to adulthood a lot easier. My grandma always gave me warnings and told me stories of things she read in the news, and when I started dating she taught me about date rape drugs and pedophiles. Although those were topics covered in school, her being further explain them to me made the world of differences and changed some of the choices I would have made and some of the people I associated myself with. When a teenagers has a pregnancy scare or actually does become pregnant, their parents are one of the hardest people to break the news to, but they are also some of the people who have the most answers, after all they were once pregnant with you. They can help you make the decision what to do with the baby whether it be adoption, abortion, or keeping the child and can provide the right care and support in this difficult time. Teens will very rarely come to parents to about this topic so it is so very important for the adult to initiate conversation, after all one day it may prevent your child’s pregnancy. â€Å"Traditional contraceptive methods such as birth control pills, which require consistent daily use, or condoms, which require a certain level of preparedness by having one available when needed, can pose challenges for many adolescents. Works Cited â€Å"16 and Pregnant. † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Feb. 2013. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. Krisberg, Kim. Teen Pregnancy Prevention Focusing On Evidence. (Cover Story). † Nation’s Health 40. 3 (2010): 1-14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2013. Elders, M. Joycelyn. â€Å"Coming to Grips With the US Adolescent Birth Rate. † American Journal of Public Health Dec. 2012: 2205+. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2013. Mayo Clinic. â€Å"Sex Education: Talking to Your Teen about Sex. † Mayo Clinic. Mayo Founda tion for Medical Education and Research, 18 Nov. 2011. Web. 0 Mar. 2013. Minnick, Dorlisa, J. , and Lauren Shandler. Changing Adolescent Perceptions On Teenage Pregnancy. † Children Schools 33. 4 (2011): 241-248. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 6 Mar. 2013. Peck, Peggy. â€Å"Teen Pregnancies On the Rise Again. † ABC News. ABC News Network, 27 Jan. 2010. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Reducing Teen Pregnancy: Engaging Communities. † Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 05 July 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Teen Pregnancies, Dangers on the Rise. † The Sacramento Observer. N. p. , 11 June 2011. Web. 06 Mar. 2013. How to cite Teenage Pregnancy, Papers Teenage Pregnancy Free Essays Teen Pregnancy In today’s society, teenage pregnancy has become the highest percentage rate in the U. S. In this present day, the problem is continuing and is vastly affecting our communities. We will write a custom essay sample on Teenage Pregnancy or any similar topic only for you Order Now The problem is that teens need to know how easily they can become pregnant. They are effected emotionally, financially, and many other ways. Teenage girls are not prepared to take responsibility of a child at such a young age. I believe the society needs to become more aware of this problem and get more involved in preventing teenage pregnancy. There are many possible solutions to this problem. These are the problems that need to be resolved in our society. To begin, the problems of teenage pregnancy are continuing to increase thought out America. Too many teens are dropping out of school because they are pregnant and not able to finish school; or just don’t have the motivation to finish. Some either go back or get their G. E. D to get their high school diploma, so they can have the proper education. Most teenagers having low self esteem and feel peer pressured by their peers to have sex in order to fit in. Often they don’t know what they are doing and end up getting pregnant and not knowing the consequences. Now in this type of society, there are many teenagers whose relationships are based off sex. Nowadays some teens feel like they don’t have any other option. Another issue is when teens get pregnant it becomes a family problem. Parents have to help get involved financially to help their child help support their new found family. When teenagers have their baby and drop out of school, they lack job skills; they don’t have the motivation to go find better jobs with better incomes to support their child. Therefore, a teen mother leaves school because she cannot manage the task of caring for a baby and studying, and a teen father usually chooses a job over school so that he can pay bills and provide for his child. These are the problems that they go through while trying to raise their child. However, there are many possible solutions to prevent teenage pregnancy like sex education programs, teaching teenagers how to use proper birth control, or just an overall promotion of abstinence. There should be more programs on sex education and it should be enforced more in the school systems so teen pregnancy can be avoided. Some solutions can be proposed, life choices and recreation center which focus on giving teens options geared towards bettering their lives. These centers would be places where teens could come to hang out after school, in the evening and on the weekends. They have different activities like teaching the lessons of responsibilities, parenthood, and sex education programs. Another method is changing teenage behaviors in relationships, changing their focus and teaching them more important things other than sex like having better communication skills towards people. When teenage women have babies, they still have financial problems to take care of. Fortunately, the government is there to offer assistance. The government welfare really helps teenage parents maintain and help support their children. Some people depend on this benefit rather than getting a better job or finish school. In some cases, teen mothers may also receive help like Medicaid and food stamps. These benefits help support the child with food and health care without the parents having to worry about supporting because of the government. Lastly, the youth programs would greatly help to diminish teen pregnancy. As stated earlier, the programs should have different activities to help understand more of the importance of this issue. The programs can teach the teenagers about birth control, using condoms, improving parent-child communication, and behavior skills. Teenagers should learn behavior skills such as decision-making and refusing to have sex in their relationships this should be enforced in the programs. If these solutions could be enforced more in the U. S. the percentage rate should be decrease to help our society. Education and mentoring programs are helping but however, every year there are still teens becoming pregnant and entering the programs after the problem. Sex education needs to start in middle school to have a chance to make a difference throughout teen years. How to cite Teenage Pregnancy, Papers

Derivation and Application of the Black free essay sample

Since the option confers on its holders a right with no obligation it has some value. Conversely, the writer of the option must be compensated for the obligation he assumed. The right to sell an asset in a put option and has payoff properties which are opposite to those of a call. A put option allows its holder to sell the asset on a certain date for a prescribed amount. The writer is then obliged to buy the asset. The holder of a call option wants the asset price to rise, the higher the asset price at expiry, the greater the profit. Whereas, the holder of a put option wants the asset price to fall as low as possible. An American option is one that may be exercised at any time prior to expiry. The options that can only be exercised at expiry are called European. In this project, I will only focus on the European type of options. We will write a custom essay sample on Derivation and Application of the Black or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 1. 3 Some economic definitions There are some important definitions need to be clarified besides the definition of an option. Definition 1 (Portfolio) A portfolio in finance is any collection of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash. 5 Definition 2 (Arbitrage) Arbitrage indicates that it is possible in a financial market to make risk-free profits larger than just placing money in the bank. Definition 3 (Derivative) A derivative instrument is a contract between two parties that specifies conditions (especially the dates, resulting values of the underlying variables, and notional amounts) under which payments, or payoffs, are to be made between the parties. Definition 4 (Arbitrage-free) If the market prices do not allow for profitable arbitrage, the prices are said to constitute an arbitrage equilibrium or arbitrage-free market. Definition 5 (Risk-free interest rate) The risk-free interest rate, r(t), is the growth rate of the real money supply, M, in very long time period. Definition 6 (Hedging) Hedging is a risk management strategy used to limiting or offset probability of loss from fluctuations in the prices of commodities, currencies, or securities. Definition 7 (Volatility) Volatility (? ) is related to the standard deviation of the stock price of a share. It is an indication of some random behavior of the market. 6 1. 4 List of symbols In order to stick with specific symbols throughout

Spy Games Creative Essay Example For Students

Spy Games Creative Essay Being an international spy is no walk in the park. Death canbe waiting for you around the corner or around the world. Howeverwhen youre only 17 years old, death is the furthest thing fromyour mind. So here we were on a hot summers day playinginternational espionage. Of course to six of us playing, it wasjust another Saturday of playing spy. Myself, Tim Wolfe, David Sullivan, Peter Shore, JenniferStrong (who was the only female to be amongst us) and Frank Robbmade up the group. At this age it was suppose to be above us toplay in these spy games. We were going to be graduating in a year or so after all. Thuskeeping the game secret was good practice for all of us. It alsomeant lying to a lot of people as to why we were always busy onSaturdays. Mind you, we never considered it lying. We preferred torefer to it as clouding the truth. Many of us wanted to becomeemployed in the intelligence area. So really, we though of it moreas an act of deception. We will write a custom essay on Spy Games Creative specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We took our game very seriously. In fact we never evenreferred to is as a game. Mostly because we were working ourmaneuvers on real people who didnt know we were just a group ofteenagers pretending to be spies. Every week wed have at least onemeeting at my house to talk about how things were going. Sometimesdepending on the case or goal we were pursuing, the meetings wouldrun on into the late of night. I guess it could be said that I was leader of our group. Themeetings were held at my house, and I was the one who broughttogether the present group of agents. In the theme of espionage,we referred to everyone as an agent. Never as a friend. However wepreferred to think of our agency, which we had given the name ofthe Renegades, as a collective. That is, everybody had a say inwhat we did. My bedroom was in the basement of our house, and I had theentire basement at my disposal. Against the far wall was a roomwith my bed, stereo, and the usual stuff youd find a bedroom. Perhaps the one difference being I had posters of famous spies onmy walls rather than sports heroes. Igor Grouzenko is a goodexample. Outside my room was a large table where we held most, ifnot all, of our meetings. Thanks to a door located in the cellar,it made for easy access to the outside. In most cases my parentsnever knew we held meetings on into the dead of night. The dooralso made it easy to sneak out at night. Agents do their work bestunder the cover of darkness you know. Today our meeting was going to be a good one. Last Thursdaywe had decided to draw up entire new names and careers forourselves. Agents usually have more aliases than friends, so wedecided to change ours every month. It was kind of hard jugglingschool work and memorizing new alias information each month. Yetwhen we were out in the real world doing maneuvers it all seemsworth it. The table was round, so there really was no one at the headof it. From left to right there was Tim, David, Peter, Frank, Jen,then myself. I trust everyone had no problem coming up with a newalias I asked. Everyone nodded in agreement. From there we went about thetable saying who we now were and what our profession was. My aliaswas John Inglis, and I went to one of the local high schools. Asa part time job I supposedly worked for McDonalds. Everybodysmain story was that they went to high school. It helps givecredibility to your story. Perhaps the only thing that varied fromperson to person was their name, and their part time job. After some more talking, we decided on our next target. Wewere going to find out how much money the local computer storetakes in on a daily basis. Naturally they would not divulge suchinformation to a bunch of teenagers. The way we go about gatheringour information is the basis for our intelligence game. Finding outstuff about people and things which theyd rather have us not know. Since many of us had a chemistry test next morning, we keptthe meeting short. We all agreed to meet back at my house tomorrow Friday night to discuss our plan of action. As a parting wordI suggested that a cleaning of our guns during study breaks woulddo us some good. Both to help us relax to study, and ensure theguns worked properly. With that we said our good-nights. When I mention gun, Im not talking about the kind that carrybullets and actually kill people. The guns we carry are of a muchless harming sort. We carried CO2 powered paint guns which firedpaint pellets. Although they could do some damage if they hitsomeone in the eye, we always ensured that the enemy was hit on thebody. Preferable in the heart to ensure what would normally bedeath. We could carry the guns where-ever we wished, under onecondition. They must always be concealed. If your weapon could beseen, it was considered that you were as good as dead. Personally,I carried mine tucked into my pants behind my back. After a few hours of studying, I didnt think any more chemwould sink in. So, it was off to bed. Tomorrow Id write the test,and then get to thinking about our weekend of intelligence work. * * * * *The test went ok. Its always hard to concentrate fully whenyou know that youre doing spy techniques the following day. Withthat I went home around 3:30 and waited for my fellow agents toarrive. Eventually everyone showed up and we began to plan out whatwed be doing tomorrow. The plan was to have Jen and Frank headdown to the store tomorrow with the front of wanting to buy acomputer. The rest of us would wait out in the car and watch whowent in and out of the store. Saturday rolled around and Tim came by around 10am. Since Timwas the only one who owned his own car, he ended up doing most ofthe driving. It seems I was the last one to be picked up, aseveryone else was present and accounted for. By the time 10:30 hadrolled around, we were all down at Compu-Tech. Jen and Frank left the car, leaving the rest of us to sit andlisten to the radio. Time drags slowly when youre sitting and notphysically partaking in a mission. I mean aside from watchingwhose coming and going, there wasnt much else to do. About half and hour later Jen and Frank emerged. Chit chattingabout what they had seen and what the salesman had told them. Asalways we decided not to talk about anything concrete until we wereback at my place. Arriving home, we descended into the basement and took ourusual seating. Jen started the meeting by telling everything andeverything about the store. Frank sat beside her and interjectedhis opinion every now and then. By the time Jen had given us herreport we felt fairly comfortable with the information we hadheard. Yet we still didnt know what their daily income was. One more thing Jen said. One of the sales people was TammyContenda. Maybe she can give us the information were after. Tammy Contenda was a girl we all knew from high school. Although she was fairly popular, none of us could be considered hergood friend. Acquaintances is perhaps a better word. None the less,we had our lead. Now all we had to do was pump the information fromher. If she could tell us about Compu-Tech without any of usentering the building ourselves, so much the better. It was decided that myself and Dave would approach her. Afterall, she may recognize Jen and Frank from the store if they decidedto talk to her. We spent the rest of our day figuring out step bystep what we would do in the following weeks. Many of our missionstook about a month to finish, sometimes even longer. So speed wasnot of the essence. * * * * *On Monday I began Dave and I will approach Tammy to seewhat we can get find out about Compu-Tech. Chances are good thatshe wont volunteer the information readily. So, it may take sometime.What, instead of waiting a week for this project to come toa close we may end up waiting three or four? This was Petertalking. Pete always was in a rush to get our missions over anddone with. Were it not for the fact that he was an incredibleagent, and excellent at recruiting people, we might have let himgo. These factors alone were enough to keep him in the Renegades. Unfortunately it just might I replied. You know as well asanyone else that having Tammy tell us how much money the storebrings in lessens the risk to us. I know I know said Pete. I just wish it wouldnt take solong. Monday arrived before we knew what happened. Saturdays arealways dedicated to Renegade work. That means Sundays are left todoing homework. At school, Dave approached Tammy under the guiseof needing help in Algebra. As luck would have it, her and Davewere in the same class. Later on into the conversation, I happenedby and Dave introduced me to her. Bingo, contact had been made. Thegroup of us dont hang around together at school, so there waslittle chance of Tammy associating our intentions with Frank andJen. Still we decided to play it safe, so they ate lunch on theother side of the cafeteria. By Wednesday, Dave and Tammy had made arrangements for algebratutoring outside of class time. I had more or less fallen from thepicture as Dave had become good friends with her. Aside from aguest appearance here and there, that was it for me. At our regularThursday meeting though, we found just how good a friends theyreally had become!She what? exclaimed Frank from across the table. She asked me to go to prom with her repeated Dave. A chorus of laughter could be heard coming from the rest ofus. The prom wasnt for another two months, and tickets had justgone on sale at the beginning of the week. Its a safe bet that noneof us had even thought of getting a prom date. Plus considering ouroriginal plan was too just involve Tammy and then end it, this wasan interesting turn of events. Have you decided what youre going to tell her? Frankcontinued to probe the issue. I couldnt help but pick up a hintof jealousy in his voice. Of course. I told her that Id love to go with her. Silence echoed through my basement for what seemed like aneternity. At last I asked Have you found out anything about Compu-Tech? This seemed to throw everyone for a loop. Wed all beenwrapped up in the gossip concerning Daves life that we forgotabout Compu-Tech. Yeah, Ive been able to find out a bit about the place. Tammys told me about the establishment. Its owned by a husbandand wife team Linda ; Jason Proton. Business seems to run inspurts.How long has Tammy been working there? asked Jen. In thisshuffle of prom dates, everyone had forgotten to consider hermatters on the situation. She told me shes been there for about a year and a half. Business seems to come and go in spurts according to her. Thesummer months including September along with Christmas time aretheir peak times.Any complaints with regards to her treatment from them? Jencontinued. None really. Just the usual you know. More pay, not to workon Friday nightsYeah yeah I interjected. Any word on what were after?Nope, not yet. I plan on asking her Friday night.Friday night? we all seemed to ask in unison. Yeah, when we go to the movies together.Again, laugher could be hard all around the room. * * * * *Saturdays meeting was relatively short one. Everyone was atmy place by 1pm, and the meeting begun. How was your date lastnight, stud man? asked Frank. You could tell from the tone in hisvoice that he was mocking Dave. Fine thanks Dave replied, not lowering himself to reply withany snide comments. Incase you were wondering, I asked her aboutthe information were after. Oh yeah, asked her between kisses I suppose eh? quipped Frank. Now listen Dave began. My love life is none of your, orfor that matter anyones business, so if you dont mind IdDaves voice was tensing as we could sense his anger. Ok, ok Dave. We understand your point I stated. Now, if youwill continue your report on what Tammy told you, Im sure wedall be glad to hear it. Well, according to her, Compu-Tech pulls in around $500,000a year. Mind you, keep in mind that these figures are just comingfrom the top of her head.Would it possible for her to find out the exact amount ofmoney the store pulls in? Jen inquired. I suppose she has access to that kind of information. Yet howto propose I ask her? Wouldnt you become a bit suspicious ifsomeone asked you to find out the exact financial position of thebusiness you worked for?Well, I suppose I would Jen continued. What if you askedher to take a look at one of their accounting programs, under theguise that you wanted to buy a computer system. Then you could askher to use the real numbers from Compu-Techs income.I suspect it might. Yet I dont really dont want to putmyself in such a position. It could jeopardize my relationship withTammy.Mind you, it could be done, right? I asked. Ok, ok. Ill see about doing it. If I lose my prom date overthis though, you can count me out of the Renegades.Well take that chance Tim commented. After that comment, the meeting broke down. Jen and I stayedback to do a bit of target practice in my back yard. The targetswe used were of cut-outs of people which we propped up. Ideallywed like to have them jump out at us; as in real target practice,yet such a feat was not possible. So, we stood about 40 feet back from the target and began totake aim. We aimed for the heart area and the head. In real lifethough, with a real gun, youd aim for the persons head. Afterall, leaving any witnesses around was sealing your fate. Howeverwith only paint pistols, we didnt want to take any chances onhitting someone in the eye. For that reason we concentrated ourshots to the persons heart region. Jen was a much better shot than me. Where 8 out of 10 shotsof mine would hit the proper area on the target, all 10 of Jenswould land perfectly. I was jealous yes, but there wasnt much thatcould be done. We worked on various techniques. Such as doing aforward summer salt, standing up and shooting at the target. Another one was to walk by the target unsuspiciously, the quicklyremove your gun and shoot. The later was my strong area while Jen seemed to have masteredthem all. In a while, both targets were covered in red paint. Aquick hose down with water, and they looked as good as new. Nothing like an afternoon of target practice to relieve a bitof stress eh? I said. Yeah, now all we have to do is improve your aim.Thinking to myself, I decided that this would be a good timeand place. Jen I began. Already I could feel the sweat formingin my palms. I mean I could pull of this spy stuff with noproblems. Yet when it came to asking a girl out, I was as weak asthey come. Would you like to go the prom with me? There, Id saidit. Now all that was required was the word -yes- and everythingwould be perfect. Well its really sweat of you to ask oh oh, here it comes Ithought to myself. Yet Ive already said Id go with Dan Scoff. .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 , .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .postImageUrl , .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 , .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940:hover , .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940:visited , .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940:active { border:0!important; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940:active , .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940 .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u90c0d83f99974c531ccd92630ec26940:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Tell Tale Heart Analysis EssayI hope youll understand.Sure I replied. Inside my heart dove to the bottom of mystomach and began to be burned by its acid. Shot down again. Ahwell, thats life. Jen helped me put the targets away and I bid her good-bye. Looking at my watch, I noted the time was close to 4pm. I decidedto head inside and help Mom with dinner. For a guy whose supposeto feel great about his accomplishments, I sure never felt lowerin my life. * * * * *Sunday evening I found myself staring at my Physics book. Nothing was sinking in. My mind seemed to race everywhere. School,girls, Jen, the prom, the Renegades, everything. Suddenly the phonerang. How soon can you get over to my place? It was Dave. From thesound of his voice something was up. If I can get the car, Ill be over in about 5 minutes. Soonenough for ya?Perfect. and with that Dave hung up. Usually Dave can go onand talk your ear off. In fact the two of us usually sit around andchat on the phone from time to time. Out of everyone in the groupId say I knew him the best. Putting on my Levis and grabbing a baseball cap I proceededupstairs. A quick check with Dad that I could take the car, and Ifound myself headed towards Daves place. In my rush to get out thedoor, I didnt bother phoning any of the other Renegades. Nomatter, if Dave had wanted them at his place, he would have calledthem himself. Arriving at Daves I saw the familiar appearance of everyonescar with the exception of Pete. Since Tim and Pete live on the samestreet, I assumed that Tim had brought Pete along with him. Parkingmy car I walked up to the door and rung the bell. Within a matterof seconds Dave was standing at the door. Quickly, come in, come in Dave said closing the door behindme. In all my years of being friends with Dave Id never seen himso pale. Go on upstairs, everyone else has already arrived.Whats up Dave? I asked. Just get up stairs. Ill tell you once were in my room.I climbed the stairs to Daves room, passing family portraitsof him and his brother growing up. The odd family portrait of thefour of them. Kind of makes me wonder why my parents stopped at onechild. Anyway, before I knew it I was walking into Daves room. I walked past Jen and sat beside Tim. Whats going on here?I asked him?Beats me. I just received a call telling me to get my buttdown here. Yourself? replied Tim. Same.Now, youre probably asking yourselves why I called you hereat this time of night. began Dave. Well, its about Tammy. ShePete cut in She what? Found out you have frog lips?No you monkey head. howled Dave. Shes been kidnapped!* * * * *Kidnapped! I exclaimed. Are you sure? Who told you this?When did you find out? The questions just seemed to roll off mytongue. All I know is that when I called her tonight her Mom told methat Tammy hadnt come home from work on Saturday. She figured thatTammy had gone out with me or was spending the night at a friendshouse. Yet when I called at six tonight she still hadnt comehome. replied Dave. We all sat silent for a few moments. Everyone seemed takenback by this information. I was letting it sink in. Trying to findsome hole or something that I could say to indicate it may not havebeen a kidnapping. Then Jen spoke up. Have you tried to contact the owners of Compu-Tech? Perhapsthey know what happened to her.Mr Mrs Contenda tried to contact them. Yet she doesnthave their home number written down. Besides, its an unlistednumber so information is out of the question. We have to dosomething!! exclaimed Dave. This is what weve been training forall these years. To actually get out and use our talents. Well,nows the time!Hang on a sec here Dave I began. Were not even sure thatsome foul play has happened here. Why dont we wait until Mondayand find out what the police have to say. Then we can take it fromthere. Agreed?Agreed everyone said in unison, although Daves may havebeen a bit less then enthusiastic. Slowly we stumbled out of Daves house. On way out we mumbledour dont worry, everything will work out speech and what haveyou. We had decided to hold a meeting tomorrow after school and getorganized. The original plan of finding out the income of Compu-Tech seemed to be of minor concern in the recent news. I was home and in bed in no time. Sleep though didnt smileupon me tonight. My mind was racing through the potentialkidnapping that Dave had dropped on our laps. Although I issued mywords of encouragement to Dave along with the others, I couldnthelp but think Dave was on to something here. * * * * *School came and went. By 4:00pm everyone was assembled in mybasement, ready to figure out our next step. Tammy wasnt in algebra today Dave began. I called herplace when I arrived home from school and still no luck. None ofher friends have seen her either.Have the police been contacted yet? asked Frank?Yeah, Mr. Contenda said he went down to the station thismorning and filled out a missing person report. The officer on dutytold him theyd be in touch if anything turned up.Well, calculus was not the most exciting class today. So,rather than pay attention I came up with a game plan of sorts. Doyou folks have any objection to hearing me out? I said. Everyone seemed to nod in agreement, so I proceeded. Now from the way I look at things Tammy was a good kid. Theonly reason someone would want to have her kidnapped would be ifshe found out something she shouldnt have. As I understand it, theContendas are not the richest people in the world. So a possibleransom reason may be hard to swallow. For that reason this is what I propose. Jen and Dave head downto the hall of records. Photocopy or write down everything you canfind on the owners of Compu-Tech Mr. Mrs. Proton. Maybe theyvehad some bad dealings or what ever. Ill head down to the police station and see if I can get alook at the missing person report. I doubt theyll just show it tome, so I may have to push a few buttons if you will. Pete, Id like you to head down to Compu-Tech and see what youcan find out. Just kind of browse around and look and/or listen foranything. If youre approached talk like you want to purchase acomputer. In the small talk that ensues, ask about Tammy. You know,as any nosey customer would. Anyone have any questions?Yeah, what am I suppose to do? asked Frank. You and Tim are in charge of coordinating all the informationwe gather. Go over everything with, as the saying goes, a finetooth comb. Maybe youll be able to tie things together and makesome sense out of it.Ah bummer man said Tim. How come we stuck with the loserjob while the rest of you get to rock and roll? If we lived neara beach, Tim would have been on the waves 24 hours a day. Ihonestly think he should have been born in California rather thanOntario. From the way he talks youd think surfing was all he livedfor. Come on Tim, give it a break. Not everyone can have theglamorous jobs you know? I replied. Yeah yeah, I know dude. Its just Id rather be out rockenand rollen with you catsWe sat around for a while and talked about the specifics ofour assigned missions. Everyone seemed happy with theirassignments. Even Tim and Frank seemed pleased with what I hadassigned them, albeit they did grumble a bit. Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes my Mom yelled down thestairs. Will your friends be staying with us tonight?I glanced around the room and everyone shook their heads. No,they have to be heading home. I replied. With that we decided to call the meeting to an end. Wed haveour usual meeting on Thursday when everyone could tell us whattheyd managed to find. I saw everyone out the door in thebasement, and reassured Dave as he left. As Jen approached the doorI turned away and half heartily said see ya. Ever since shedsaid no to me about the prom Id been treating her coldly. Notintentionally mind you. I just couldnt relate to her anymore. Ifelt like shed ripped my heart out by saying no. Dave she began. Ah, look. Dinners almost ready otherwise Id love to sit andchat with you I interjected. Yeah, right Jen snapped back. Tim was the last to leave, and he closed the door behind him. I stood for a moment in silence and starred at the meeting table. For about 1 year we had been doing our spy stuff. In all the timewed never actually tried a real case. I chuckled to myself in thesilence. Just to think of it. A group of kids calling themselvesThe Renegades, was going to try and solve a possible kidnappingcrime. It all seemed a bit hard to believe. * * * * *I arrived home from school around quarter to four. Dad washome, so I asked him for the car. I fabricated some excuse aboutgoing to the library for research a school project. Telling himthat I was on my way to the police station would just result in abunch of questions which I was not in the mood to answer. Before I left the house I gave Dave a call. I wanted to knowif hed had the presence of mind to ask the Contendas if they knewthe officers name who took the missing person report. Dave toldme the name was Lublanski. I thanked him and hung up the phone. Thedrive to the station was a relatively short one. In the area offifteen minutes at the most. Parking the car, I walked up to the front desk and asked foran Officer Lublanski. Over there replied the desk Sergeant in a deep voice. Ithanked him and made my way over to the corner of the building. Sitting at a desk with what mounds of paper folders everywherepossible, was Officer Lublanski. She seemed like a fairly youngcop, fresh out of the academy. I guessed her age at 23 maybe 24. A pen wedged behind he left ear indicated that she was a lefty. Intelligence officers notice everything. Well, at least we had thatin common. Officer Lublanski? I asked as I approached her desk. Yes she replied. What can I do for you?Hi, my name is John Inglis I began, giving her my aliasrather than my real name. I was hoping you could give me someinformation on a friend of mine. Her parents seem to have reportedher missing to you a couple of days ago.In reality they had filed the report only yesterday. I didntplan on telling the cop any more than I had to though. Hmm, whats the name? she asked. Contenda, Tammy Contenda.The officer opened up a drawer and started flipping though afew files. Before long she pulled out a file and placed in on herdesk. In the corner was written Contenda, Tammy K. K must have beenher middle name. I was beginning to wonder what it may be when Iwas brought down to earth again by Lublanskis voice. What interested do you have in this case? she asked me. Doyou have any information that can help us out?Unfortunately I dont I began. Great. How was I going totell her I was interested with the case without looking like acomplete fool. Then, I remembered Tammy worked at a computer store,I decided to go at it from that angle. Tammy sold my Dad acomputer when she was working at Compu-Tech. The two of us struckup a friendship for a while. When we moved I kept in touch withher. My dad had to come to Toronto for business and I decided togive her a call. When I found out she may be missing, well Idecided to come down and see what you people could tell me.The cop looked at me for a while. Trying to figure out if Iwas for real I guess. None the less, she swallowed my story becausethe next thing I know she handed me the file. So far, its all weve got. Do you have any idea of the numberof abductions we get on a daily basis. Then their man power cuts,and what have you. It all makes for an increasing pile of work.I mumbled my yeah, I can relate reply, and poured myselfover the file. It contained the usually information such as age,hair colour, address, etc. nothing out of the ordinary really. Iwas just about to hand back and thank her when something caught myeye. It seemed that the last reported citing of Tammy the policehad was one of in a red pick-up parked outside the local 7-eleven. To our knowledge the last time anyone had seen Tammy was when shewas at work. I handed back the file and asked It says here the last timeshe was seen was at 7-eleven.Yeah. One of the workers saw her sitting in the passengerseat of the truck. He thought it odd that the girl was sitting withthe windows up when it was such a hot day outside.Windows up eh? Could indicate the driver of the truck didntwant Tammy making a scene of anything. Id tell my friends aboutthis info later. Thanks for all your help I said. Before I go, do you havea business card I could have? Ill be in town for a while longerand if I find anything out Ill give you a call. Sure, here you go. Thanks.Youre quite welcome she replied. From there she dove backinto the files piled up on her desk. * * * * *Jen and Dave arrived at the Hall of records shortly afterfour. Upon entering the building, they noticed that was close toempty. I guess not many people care about history Dave remarked. They made their way down the hall into a room containing thecomputer catalogs. Dave having the more experience with computersystems sat down. The main screen presented him with many choices. Lets see Dave began. What do you say we pick name search.Sounds good to me replied Jen. The question was a rhetoricalone, although Jen must have felt compelled to answer. Dave typed in Proton where it asked for last name andpressed return. The next display on the screen contained a listingof five people with the last name of Proton. Not know the firstname of the Protons who own Compu-Tech, Dave decided to print outthe information on all of them. Returning to the main screen, the next choice was a businessinquiring. Dave typed in Compu-Tech and was greeted with a screenshowing all of the information about the business. A print-out ofthis information was also obtained. Well, I guess thats about it eh? said Dave. Should we findout any thing else while were here?Na. We can always come back if we have to replied Jen. * * * * *Pete walked in to Compu-Tech and walked around for a while. Looking at the various IBM computers that were on display. Aftera while, an older looking gentleman approached him. The name on theclerks tag read Rajiv. May I help you he asked. Yeah, Im heading off to university next year and wasinterested in buying a computer. What can you tell me about them?From there the man started spouting off information ofmegahertz, memory, and everything under the Sun. Pete was quitebored with the information being thrown at him. He already owneda computer and knew everything the sales clerk was telling him. None the less, he put up with it and let him finish. Ok, so this one here is a 386, right? asked Pete. Correct replied the salesman. Hmm, Im kind of torn between the 386 and 486. A friend ofmine Tammy Contenda works here. Is she around? I love to hear whatshe has to say on this issue Pete said. Looking a little flustered and nervous the man replied Tammyhasnt been in to work since Saturday. I was under the impressionshe had gone missing. Hadnt you heard?No, I hadnt heard. Replied Pete. Do you know anythingabout it?Nothing. Now look. The police have already been in hereasking me questions and everything. Just whats your connection toher? asked the clerk. .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 , .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .postImageUrl , .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 , .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37:hover , .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37:visited , .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37:active { border:0!important; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37:active , .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37 .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9ddb1606966092ba163b562352af9e37:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: My Filipino Heritage EssayIt was obvious form his reaction and tension that somethingwas bothering him. Pete decided to play it cool. Nothing, were just friends. Anyway, thanks for theinformation on the computers. Ill get back to you. With that he shook the clerks hand and left the store. Drivinghome, Pete couldnt help shake the feeling that the clerk knewsomething which he wasnt letting on to. * * * * *Thursday and our meeting came before I knew what had happened. Suddenly everyone came running in to my basement. After the usualround of pleasantries were sorted out, we sat down to business. Hey dudes, check this out echoed Tim. These cats, theProtons are heavily into debt. Check out the mortgage the have ontheir pad. Theres also this problemo of all the computer surplusthey have on hand at the stores. Whenever Tim started talking, I always had the shivers. Something about his surfer persona bothered me. I think it was thefact he actually look like a surfer. The long blonde hair, the airheadish attitude, everything. None the less, he was right. What are you suggesting then Tim? That the Protons kidnappedTammy for ransom? asked Jen. Uh, no way dudette. I was just making a causal observation. Chill out will ya?Id have to agree with Tim on this one I began. So what do you propose then, McDuff? asked Pete. I sat in silence for a while trying to think. Things hadbecome so clouded all of a sudden. Issues with Jen and I were stilltense. I think we should head down to Compu-Tech and see if we cantalk to the Protons. Maybe theyll crack under pressure and saymore than they should. Comments?Everyone sat and nodded in silence. Good, then its agreed. I propose that Pete and Dave be the ones to go in the store andtalk with them. Dave is already known to be with Tammy, so theowners will not be curious is Dave goes in there asking question. Pete, I just want you to look for anything suspicious. Ok?Both Dave and Pete nodded. Hey, I was talking with Tammysfolks last night began Dave and they told they found a computerdisk in her room when they were looking for clues as to where shemay have gone.Well bring that sucker in here. It may have valuable stuffon it! I replied. From here the meeting deteriorated. We decided to order insome pizza and sit around shoot the shit. I tended to keep mydistance from Jen as she did from me. It seems that when she shotme down for the prom I was more hurt than I realized. * * * * *Monday afternoon we met at my place and went down to Compu-Tech. After fifteen minutes Dave and Pete came out. Both haddefeated looks on their faces. Nothing they said as they entered the car. What happened dudes? No wave action or what? said Tim. Naw, the Protons have taken off for an unspecified amount oftime. It appears that this Rajiv guy is going to be running thingsuntil they return.Did he mentioned why theyd be returning?Naw, the guy said nothing. Then he tried to sell us somecomputer. Dave and I spent the entire fifteen minutes trying toleave the bloody place.Hey said Dave. I have that disk from Tammys place back atmy own. Why dont we go get it and take it over to Petes. Maybetheres something on it we can use. Shortly the six of us were al crowded around Petes computeras he drew up a directory on his disk drive. Nothing here but a bunch of lotus 1-2-3 files said Pete. Dude, do you have Lotus asked Tim. Yeah. I suppose I could load them in to the computer and seewhat theyre all about.A few whirls of Petes hard disk brought up the Lotus programand in a short while we were starring face to face with the Lotusfiles from the disk dave obtained from Tammys folks. Hey, do you realize what this is I screamed out. A bunch of meaningless numbers?Naw, this is the financial report for the company. This isthe stuff we were original after. And look at this. Looking atthese files shows their company is making major bucks. Yet when welooked at their government records, it showed they were loosingmoney. My fellow Renegades, I think weve found what we wereafter.* * * * *I think everyone felt better now that we knew the Protons werebehind Tammys appearance. We all agreed that Tammy must havediscovered the Protons were taking money off the top of theircompany and falsifying their tax records. Scared that Tammy wouldexpose them, they decided to get rid of her. This news did not sitwell with Dave. He was still pretty upset over her disappearance,and knowing her life may be in danger did not quell his nerves. However it was decided to call it night. Tomorrow wed hold anemergency meeting of the Renegades to figure out what to do. At 4pm sharp everyone arrived at my place. Ok, we know the Protons are behind this I began. Now thequestion is what to do from here. Ideas?Like, lets take this to the police cat. remarked Tim. And what? Tell them a bunch of 17 year olds know whokidnapped Tammy Contenda. Do you honestly think theyd believe us?A chorus of nos went around the room. Tim could be heardletting out a muffled bummer in the background. Suddenly Jenstood up. I have a plan she boldly said. We listened to her idea, and after and hour of hammering outthe details, we knew exactly what we were going to do. The planwent something like this. I was to call Compu-Tech and tell them I knew all about theirplot involving Tammy. From there Id tell them if they valued theirbusiness, they should meet me Friday night behind the local AP. Even though Rajiv told us they were on vacation somewhere, we feltthat he was relaying messages to them somehow. The next day when I arrived home from school the plan was setin motion. Rajiv told asked me my name, which as all good spies do,gave him a false one. I always warmed up to the name of JimMackinnon, so that was the name I gave him. Rajiv told me he didntknow what I was talking about, but hed try to get the messageacross to the Protons. I thanked him an hung up. Quick phone calls followed to my fellow Renegades telling themthe trap had been set. I think calling Jen was the hardest call inmy life. None the less, I made it. * * * * *Friday seemed to take for ever to arrive. However when it did,everything was planned out. Jen being the crack shot, hid herselfbehind a few milk crates. Derek was there with her hold a taperecorder. Tim was nearby in a parked car ready to pick them up. Over a bit closer to me were Dave and Frank. Again, the two of themwaiting in a parked car to get me. Everything was in place. Suddenly, from across the parking lot, a pair of car lights cameat me (us). Slowing, the car eventually came to a stop. Out emergedthe Protons. Who are you Mr. Jim Mackinnon and what have I done againstyou?Slow down there Jason Proton I started. The only thing Ihave against you is that youre endangering the life of a friendof mine. I want to see her returned.What are you talking about? The police are handling theContenda investigation as a teen-age runaway. I have better thingsto do with my time than stand here and be insulted by the likes ofsome 18 year old. In reality I was only 17, but hey. Jason Proton thinks Imolder, so much the better. Slowly, the two of them began to getback in their cars. I know about the imbezeling I screamed. That comment surestopped them in their tracks. Even from where I was standing Icould here his jaw hit the ground. WhatWhatTammy had no right to tell you that. the wordsseemed not to flow so easily for Mr. Proton now. Oh it wasnt Tammy. YOu see I have this little computer diskhere I said holding up a computer disk. You scum, thats breaking and entering!! he began to runafter me. Daves car engine roared to life as I dove in the back seat. Tims engine could be heard starting up as well. Then the noise ofa gun going off a few times was heard next. Not an ordinary gunhowever. Jens CO2 powered gun. I looked up from the back seat ofto see Jason Protons shirt covered in paint. I honestly believehe though he was shot. Argh!! he screamed as he fell to the ground. Im not sureif he was playing up the effects for all they were worth of ifphysiologically his mind told him a bullet had ripped through him. Whatever the case, Jen and Derek jumped intos Tim car and bothcars sped off into the night. We met no more than ten minutes back at my place. Quickly Ipulled out officer Lublanskis business card and called her athome. Even though it was 12:30am, I still felt she should know whathe had found out. To say the least, she was not amused that I hadwoken her up. She did however remember my name (luckily Iremembered the alias I had given her) and that shed be glad tohear what we had to say tomorrow morning. After begging andpleading my case she finally relented to see us tonight. Hurriedly I jotted down the directions to her house and within10 minutes were at her house. With bed head and all, officerLublanski came to the door and welcomed us in. I didnt even botherintroducing my companions. Tammys life is in great danger I blurted out. What do mean? she asked kind of sleepy like. We have proof that her employers may have done something withher spurted out Dave. Wait, who are these people? she asked. These are fellow Renegades. Look, I dont have time toexplain it all to you now. Please, just get a police car over tothe Contenda house hold. Please!!Officer Lublanski looked at us like we were nuts. However shemust have figured we had a good reason for being there. After all,why else would we wake up a police officer at 12:30? You guys hadbetter be right about this she mumbled. Stumbling off to the kitchen she invited us in to sit down andrelax. We looked exhausted as she put it. She was right to. Thesix of us clasped in the furniture she had set about her livingroom. In a few minutes she was on her way back over. Ok, a squad car is on its way over. Now, John do you care totell me what this is all about?With the mention of the name John, looked at me. They neverever though Id actually give a false name to a police officer. Well, its a long story I began. For starters, my real nameis not JohnI guess the story didnt take as long as I though, becausejust as I was finished up with how we had met the Protons tonight,her phone rang. After the usual yeahs and okays she hung upthe phone. I dont believe it she was saying as she approached us. Ijust dont believe it. We all jumped up as she came back. Well, dont keep ushanging' exclaimed Tim. I dont know how to tell you this, but the police found Tammyalive and well. It seems that when the Protons found out theirscheme was up, they didnt bother going back home. Tammy hadmanaged to take off her gag and was screaming at the top of herlungs for help. The police took her home. Shes going to be ok. The group of us let out a collective sigh of relief and sankback into our chairs. Speaking going home, I should be heading outmyself said Derek. Everyone murmured their agreement and we stoodup to leave. Id like to see you all down at the police station tomorrowis you dont mind officer Lublanski began. You know, to clear upall the lose strings and stuff. Sure, no problem. Good night we more or less said in unison. * * * * *We agreed to meet as a group and head over to the station at9am. When we arrived reporters and journalists were everywhere. Thepolice kept saying no comment. As we emerged from our car, theyall ran over to us. A tad intimidated with the rush of media types,we ran at full tilt into the police station. Bursting though thedoors we found ourselves face to face with the Protons. You little scum bag. I dont even know a Jim Mackinnonscreamed Jason Proton. Officer Lublanski was standing beside him and looked my way. I just smiled and said old habits are heard to break.I bet they are she replied. We caught these two at theairport. It seems they were making a run of Brazil. We arrived justin time to foil their plot.At the moment Tammy came running into the room and ran up toDave giving him a huge hag. Dave, its so nice to see you again.The rest of us turned away politely, not wanting to stare. If you dont mind, Id like all of you to come into my officeplease.We looked over to our left and saw an older type man with grayhair standing infront of an office. It didnt take a genius tofigure out it was the chief of police. I cant speak for theothers, but I was pretty scared. I mean we had interfered with apolice investigation. We had shot a firearm at someone. Technicallywe could be in a lot of trouble. Entering the office we noticed seven chairs infront of thechiefs desk. Pease, take a seat he motioned us as he closed thedoor behind him. Dave and Tammy sat together, holding hands. Forthe first time since Jen shot me down I sat beside her. For somestrange reason it felt good to be beside her. Id like to begin by saying that Im very glad miss Contendais ok. The last thing we need in this area is another homicide. Inthat respect Id like to congratulate you group, the Renegadesisnt it, on a job well done. began the Chief. Whew, that wasntso bad I thought. But as yes, theres always a but what youdid was terribly dangerous. Shooting off a fire-arm without apermit. Stealing personal information, endangering your lives,interfering with police workUh, sir asked Tim. For me it was the first time I hadntheard him talk like he was out at the beach. Are we going to berockin and rollin in jail. Ah there it was. Rockin and Rollin. I knew the surfer in Tim couldnt stay hidden. The Chief of Police let out a little chuckle. No, youre notgoing to be rockin and rollin as you so put it. In fact Im goingto honour you all with distinction medals. How does that sound?Totally tubular exclaimed Tim. I think our comrade speaks for all of us sir said Derek. Great. Then lets go outside and give the press what they camehere for. With that, we stood up and proceed to meet the media * * * * *It was a dream come true. Although spies dont want theirpicture published on the front page of a daily paper, that didntbother us. After all, its not every day a high school student helpssolve kidnapping cases. The group of us decided to put Renegade activities on holduntil school was out for the summer. The prom turned out to be afun time for everyone. I ended up going stag, which wasnt too bad. Derek and I managed to share costs for a limo as he went stag aswell. I had the front page of the newspaper in which we our pictureappeared framed. It now hangs at the head of my bed, reminding methat all the hard work wed done over the years finally amountedto something. The six of us, Tim Wolfe, David Sullivan, PeterShore, Jennifer Strong, Frank Robb, and myself Edward Cohagen. Nomore would we be embarrassed to tell our friends we were playingspy. Although we were no longer a spy agency. Now we were TheRenegades Private Investigators for Hire.