Mauro – Portfolio #1

Nowadays, the consumption of alcohol by the teens has been increasing by leaps and bounds rate. In Brazil, the Instituto da Droga e Toxicodependência (IDT) claimed that the rate has risen from 30% in 2001 to 40% in 2007. In the United States, the use of alcohol is associated with teen’s death: according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2001, the car accidents involving teens was its main cause.
Teen access to booze without bound is a problem that has not been treated with due attention, mainly because the society has a penchant for accepting the consumption of alcohol as a normal fact. It is not considered as harmful as the other drugs. For instance, the advertising of beer is associated with happiness. It always presents health and beautiful people in pleasurable moments, but its consequences are never shown. Another example is a nonsense fact in which some fathers incentives their sons to drink only to “become a man”.
For the adolescents, it is extremely excruciating since they are more vulnerable to the action of alcohol in their minds. Their brains are still in formation. As a consequence there is an increase of the chance of having a mental disorder disease in the future. This fact, associated with inexperience is responsible for the enhancement of the accidents. The free access to booze is the first step for the teens to become an addict as an adult. According to Associação Brasileira de Estudos do Álcool e outras Drogas (Abead) the earlier is the consumption, greater is the probability of dependency.
For this reason, it is necessary to make the population think over about this issue. Campaigns should be made targeted on the consequences of the earlier consumption of alcohol. The government can contribute classifying alcohol in the same category of tobacco with a more strict control, applying the legislation effective, punishing who do not accomplish it. Also the authorities could considerer it as a public health problem, giving special attention that it deserves. Last but not least, the parents should warn their children about the risks that they are taken. An open discussion is also about this issue, since in order to be accepted by the group they are sometimes forced to consume alcohol. At any rate, if some of these measures were adopted, we would have at least the beginning of the solution of a problem that our society has been facing for a long time.

Ana #7 – Work versus Private Life

Boundaries at work regarding personal life are insidiously blurry to employees. Making phone calls at work, using the work phone to call the loved one, going to the bathroom to send and receive texts, giving excuses to get off earlier are common mistakes, that surely would jeopardize the employee’s image with his employer. The massive amount of people mix both sides of their lives very often, and this damage productivity at work as well as soothing moments of leisure with family. Maintaining work life apart from personal matters seem to be a tricky issue for most people, when it should not be.

Employees should prioritize what comes first to them at the moment, if it is sticking with their job or taking care of their children, for instance. Feeling guilty for not being present enough when you have a child ought not to happen, the employee has to balance tasks and not give up his personal life at the same time, or else it will gradually become overwhelming. Dwelling on what is going on with your child at work harms self-steem and stresses out, due to this, people should always be organized and have a backup plan in case they have to work an extra hour or their child is sick or if the child needs extra care. Therefore, Maria wouldn’t have to make phone calls during the work time, because she wouldn’t be worried about what’s going on with her child.

What cannot happen is being unhappy, incensed and overpowered at having to go to work everyday. If Maria is not happy with her job she should give it up or find another one or, on the other hand, it’s almost certain she won’t escalate the success ladder in her career. Going to work has to be pleasing or else it’s a sign that your future in the company is bound to fail.