How Does Trans-Racial Adoption Affect A Child's Racial Identity?

As a Family Science major I was interested in many of the different research projects that are going on right now in my school. One of the studies that stuck out to me the most was one about trans-racial adoption and how both the parents and children are affected by it. I have always been interested in the process of adoption so this seemed like a very interesting take on it to me. I got many opinions on trans-racial adoption in general and how it could possibly affect the way a child feels about his/her racial identity as they grow up.

In today's world, approximately 40% of all adoptions in America are trans-racial.

A trans-racial adoption involves an adult adopting a child of a different race than their own; the most common example is a white American couple adopting a child from a minority race. There have been studies over recent decades about how being adopted into a family of a different racial background than their own affects how children grow up and identify themselves later on in life. Dr. Christine Schull is a professor in the Family Science school at the University of Maryland and specializes in studying children. When asked about her thoughts on trans-racial adoption and the affects that it has on the child she explains that it tends to only have negative affects when it is not addressed.

In the past white couples were urged to adopt children of a different race.

In the 1960's, trans-racial adoptions were becoming increasingly popular and adoption agencies actually started to encourage white families to adopt children from other races. Then in 1972 the National Association of Black Social Workers passed a resolution, which is still in effect today, that was against the adoption of black children by white parents because they believed that it was harmful to black heritage and by 1987, 35 states had established policies that is against cross-racial adoption. When asked her thoughts on trans-racial adoption, Genevieve explains that children of a different race than their adoptive parents do not go through much more identity crises than that of children of the same race.

listen to ‘Genevieve’ on Audioboo

Studies have shown a low percentage of young black children who are adopted by white families have problems with racial identity. 

Others have found that preschool children that are involved in trans-racial adoptions are just as well adjusted as those children from same-race adoptions. Children adopted trans-racially from infancy until beyond adolescence tend not to have problems identifying as their own ethnicity and are, for the most part, well-adjusted. Jonathan gives his opinion about trans-racial adoption, stating that the most important thing for the child is having a loving family and environment.

listen to ‘Jonathan Sanchez-Hildalgo’ on Audioboo

Overall, most people agree that trans-racial adoption does not negatively affect the children any more than it does the children in a same race adoption situation. Giving a child a nice home in a good environment with a loving family is the most important part of adoption and the race of the child should not be factored into who to adopt. 

The Diverse Broadband Technology Services is Adding Innovation to Education

Broadband, sometimes referred to as high-speed, is a network connection that enables a large amount of bandwidth to be transmitted, which allows more information to be sent in a shorter period of time. Without broadband people using the internet cannot view videos or listen to audio, such as podcasts, synchronously or at a high quality. Broadband is offered in four different services. Broadband is becoming increasingly popular, not only because of it's benefits over dial-up internet, but also because broadband companies tend to have a monopoly over the communications market.

Broadband Technologies offered to end users

The four types of broadband services are DSL, cable, fiber-optics, and satellite

Digital Subscriber Line, better known as DSL, is an internet service that connects by taking advantage of the unused telephone wires that do not interrupt the phone services. The speed of DSL all depends your location, if you are close to the provider's office then it will be very fast, but if you are far away from the service provider's office then your speed will be much slower. Like everything DSL has its advantages and disadvantages. For instance, it is faster than a regular modem, you can use the internet and telephone at the same time, and there is no new wiring that is necessary when installing DSL services. On the other hand, DSL connection is not as fast for sending data as it is for receiving it over the internet and the service is not available in all areas.

Cable internet is provided through your local television provider, many people like to get cable because is has a clear picture and provides a variety channels. The speed of cable connection depends on how many people are using the service at that time because in specific areas users of broadband cable share the same bandwidth connection. This connection issue can be solved if the company would add a new channel, that way the users are split into groups so there will not be as many people on a single line. Unlike DSL though, the speed of your connection does not depend on your location away from the central cable office. 

Even considering how new it is, fiber-optics is considered the fastest internet connection so far. Fiber-optics can send information through extremely thin glass carrying light for about one hundred miles without a device that helps boost the signal. Fiber-optics are generally less expensive than than cable or DSL, which saves not only your money, but it also saves your provider money. Fiber-optics has a higher carrying capacity because the fibers are so thin, so they can be bundled together. Unfortunately, because of how new this service is, there are limited service areas because laying down the fiber-optic cables take a long time to finish.

The last form of broadband services is satellite, which is also the slowest service that broadband offers. Satellite internet requires a satellite dish, modems, and cables to connect the dish and modems; satellite is very expensive to install. While satellite is better than dial-up internet for those living in a rural area, but some satellite services still require you to have cable or dial-up connection for sending data over the internet. 

Overall, cable and DSL are the top choices if deciding between the different broadband services, they are faster and have more access. Broadband allows you to use your phone and the internet at the same time, you are also constantly connected to the internet which allows you to connect with others quickly.  

Broadband is expanding into helping students learn outside of the classroom

Broadband is no longer just something to entertain us when we are bored, it now is helping educators expand their instruction outside of the physical classroom. The FCC, Federal Communications Commission, is launching a programs that supports wireless internet, off campus, for mobile learning devices. These mobile devices are not only high quality, but they are relatively low cost and very accessible, which helps digital equity among students, especially those from disadvantaged communities. Broadband provides customized learning for students with high-quality and personally relevant material. Broadband improves the information flow among teachers and parents to help them make better decisions about their students' needs. 

In the past if a course is not offered at the student's school then they are just out of luck, but now with the new plan for involving broadband in education a teacher can instruct the student online. The teacher and student can communicate through online lectures, e-mail, and instant messaging, the teacher could also show the student tools online that are interactive to help him learn more about the subject. Broadband is helping the education system expand outside of the classroom, not only can students now take their work home on a mobile device and actually be interested in it, but students at a small school that does not offer a certain subject can still learn about things that they are interested in.

Digital Media is Becoming more User Generated through Facebook and Twitter

The way that news stories are being shared has been changing for years, but recently it seems that media is moving towards becoming more consumer produced. Social media is a growing franchise that people cannot seem to get enough of. From pictures to statuses to links, anyone can share anything they want to whenever they want to. Now days if you want to stay up to date on the latest gossip or news reports you have to log onto Facebook or Twitter. When on Facebook you can see which of your friends have just changed their relationship status and how everyone of their friends feels about it. On Twitter you can keep up with not only hundreds of your "closest friends," but also all of your favorite celebrities. Anytime you want, you can log onto Twitter and see what Justin Bieber had for lunch, when Lady Gaga's new album is being released, and what new music Katy Perry has been listening to.

User-generated media has been growing for years and will continue growing for many years in the future. 

User-generated media is content that has been created by the general public for distribution by the digital media. When someone posts a video of themselves singing an original song on YouTube, they have posted user-generated content. Macy Maloy is a girl who has posted many videos of her singing covers of popular songs and some original songs, and while she is not famous, she has plenty of viewers and is a wonderful example of user-generated content.  Peer to peer media distribution is when a user has the ability to store, send, and accept communications from other users. In Facebook chat, users can talk to their friends on Facebook digitally. Viral marketing is the spreading of news and information through word of mouth. Every time someone posts a status on Facebook or tweets something on Twitter they are spreading media to all of their friends who can then share it with theirs and so on.

Changes to digital media are positive for the creators of the media, but not for the consumers.

Blog readers, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends either have to believe everything they read or they have to research and fact check everything that is posted to make sure it is true. This is a hassle, not only for those just surfing the web and reading what sounds interesting, but to those who are searching for information. When researching on the web you have to be careful with user generated material because they tend to have strong biases towards the story, especially since the creator is not a professional and does not have to hold back their opinion. Also, you should always fact check things that you read on the web to verify that it is correct and they are not just reading a story that somebody made up or heard through the grapevine and got some facts wrong.

The future of digital media is unknown, but the increased use of  blogs and social media is definitely leading towards a more open, diversified, and democratic media, whether this is a good or a bad thing is yet to be seen.

This is An Interesting Test That You Should Read

Today's weather is wet and cold because of the freezing raining.

Welcome!

My name is Holly and I am a sophomore Family Sciences major. I am hoping to go into the social work field and work with children and their families. I am a member of many different social media sites, but I am interested to learn how I can utilize them to help me in my major and future career.