Development of Language from Rituals

Development of Language from Rituals To what extent has language evolved from complex rituals? Is ritualistic behaviour a necessary step in the development of complex language? This essay will examine the possibility of a connection between rituals and ritualistic behaviour and the development of language, with some analysis of ritual behaviour in the animal world as well as briefly examining the extent to which human use of language today is itself ritualistic. The questions above are by no means simple to answer, nor indeed is any question relating to the origin of the spoken word. How exactly language itself came about is a question which countless historians, evolutionists, biologists and linguists have tried, over many years, to answer without conclusive success. J. G. Penner, in his book Evolution Challenged by Language and Speech, in the appropriately named chapter How did language and speech originate? A confession of ignorance demonstrates this most effectively by quoting no less than 35 eminent experts, renowned in their respective fields, all essentially saying the same thing; that an understanding of exactly how language evolved is beyond human comprehension. Any attempts to explain it, it would appear, can never be much more than speculation. The evidence (that there is no evidence) is certainly compelling. In light of this, it would seem appropriate and wise to proceed with an understanding that whilst we can attempt to answer these questions, the approach, will, by necessity, be purely theoretical in essence. That said, the lack of concrete scientific evidence should not be a reason to discredit all theories completely – this essay will attempt to explore some of the more persuasive theories in investigating the link between ritualistic behaviour and the development of language. In John Haiman’s essay Perspectives on Grammaticalization, he starts by positing the concept of a ritual’s evolution into signals using the example of a basic rite performed by insects – the mating ritual of the dancing fly. Originally the male dancing fly would present the female with a smaller dead insect wrapped in silk. The purpose was for the male to use the opportunity presented by the female’s preoccupation and engagement in unwrapping the bundle to mount her, achieving his instinctual aim of copulation and impregnation. Over many years, the dead insect itself became superfluous, and now, whilst the ritual itself remains the same, the silk parcel presented to the female is empty. This, Haiman explains, has transformed the nature of the ritual inasmuch as the presenting of the empty wrapping alone has evolved into a process which serves purely as a mating signal. The above example serves to demonstrate the evolutionary complexities and potential for development in ritualistic behaviour, however, in order to postulate the origins of the spoken word it would make more sense to consider our closest primate cousins. In The Talking Ape: How Language Evolved Robbins Burling poses the question: â€Å"How did we get from an ordinary primate that could not talk to the strange human primate that can’t shut up?† (p.4)[1] Chimpanzees and Bonobos are clearly also a great deal further along the evolutionary scale than the dancing fly, but Burling provides a very similar example of the development of signal, or ‘ritualisation’, in the evolution of lip-curling in primates. As he explains, the retraction of the lip as a precursor to biting would originally have been a simple movement in order to facilitate the action of biting itself and nothing more; were the lip not to be moved, the ape would bite it. Over millions of years, the curling of the lip would have been universally recognised as a precursor to aggressive behaviour; an imminent bite. Natural selection would favour a) those clever enough to recognise this warning sign of aggression and escape without harm, and b) those who were clever enough to curl their lips and repel aggressors without needing to fight; â€Å"The sign would have then evolved from a purely instrumental act into a stereotypic communicative signal. By evolving into a communicative symbol, the retracted lip became useful for both the aggressor and his potential victim†¦ after some thousands of generations, the behaviour became almost, or fully automatic.† (Burling pp.14-15)[2] Burling explains this process of ritualisation as a logical progression of what is widely considered to be an important concept in the development of language; comprehension. It is only when the significance of a given signal is understood that it becomes a sign of communication, and thus potentially an ancestor of spoken language: â€Å"The ritualization of the lip twitch turned an instrumental act into a communicative signal, but ritualization could not even begin until the twitch was understood. Other animal signals began much as did the retracted lip. Only after meaning is discovered in instrumental gestures or vocalizations can they be ritualized into stereotypic signals.† (p.15)[3] In what we mean by ritual, then, we may perhaps use John Haimans definition; A ritual is identified as one when it ceases to be a purely instrumental act and becomes a signthe ritualized activity is regularized so that its form is relatively independent of (emancipated from) its original stimulus. (p.5)[4] Using this approach then, the question arises, and it is one that has puzzled scholars from all disciplines for thousands of years: How did these signals evolve into spoken language? If we adhere to the logic of the argument presented by Burling, based upon comprehension and ritualisation, it can be put down to the process of evolution, namely natural selection. However, as Burling argues, there is a fundamental difference between the inheritance of basic animal signals, such as those described above, and the development of the spoken word. Natural selection may well have favoured those with the ability to comprehend visible or audible signs, but spoken language could never have been passed on genetically; it would have had to be learnt by the members of each successive generation. This is one of the most vital differences between us and our simian relatives. What distinguishes us from apes, more than anything else, is the ability to communicate via spoken language, as opposed to sig nals, or ‘visible language’ (p.122)[5]. Acknowledging all the while how difficult his task is, Burling attempts to answer the question of how audio signals developed from visual ones, going on to explore various theories including the beginnings of verbal communication as a development of vocal accompaniment to music, and â€Å"motherese†, the cooing vocalisation of mothers toward their children. Burling makes a significant distinction between human language and ‘human screams, sighs, sobs, and laughter’ (p.16)[6]. Our own ‘audible cries, howls, giggles and snorts, along with our visible scowls, smiles, and stares’, he argues, are directly descended from the ‘primate calls’ of the apes, and indeed bear far more relation to the latter than to spoken language. To Burling, our own ‘primate calls’ are, being solely based on instinct and governed directly and purely by emotion, inherent and genetically passed on from generation to generation (indeed, from our simian ancestors to us). Oral Language can only be learned anew. In Language in the Light of Evolution: Volume 1, The Origins of Meaning, James Hurford explores further the difference between learned and unlearned signals, but he takes a different tack to Burling when it comes to the significance of primate communication in the origin of spoken language. Whilst agreeing with the principle of the separateness of learned and inherent communication, Hurford does not draw quite such a radical division between primate calls and spoken language. He sees language as having evolved from a mixture of what is innate and what is learned: â€Å"†¦I see enough common ground between primate calls and human utterances not to give up the idea that the evolution of human language built upon the pre-existing use of arbitrary signals by animals to do things to each other† (p.119)[7] Indeed, Hurford sees the unlearned ‘primate calls’ themselves as a direct ancestor of spoken language. He uses the analogy of the modern wonders of nanotechnology having developed only as a result of the evolution of basic Stone Age tools. There would be no computers or spacecraft had it not been for those rudimentary early tools, however primitive they may have been. Hurford goes on to point out the role of emotion in governing the variance of spoken communication; â€Å"Human language is a unique naturally occurring case of learned and arbitrary symbolic communication, about objects and events in a shared external world. Alongside modern human language, and accompanying it in utterances, we find elements of the kind of non-referring communication that we have just surveyed in animals. Some aspects of speech, such as speed, loudness and pitch range, are iconically connected with the affective mood of the speaker, and these correlations are found across all languages with little variation. You can tell when a speaker is excited, even if you can’t understand a word he is saying. These aspects of human language behaviour are largely unlearned, and come instinctively. They have been called ‘paralanguage’, implying that they do not belong to a language system proper.† (p.120)[8] Hurford quite correctly draws attention to the fact that what he describes as ‘paralanguage’ can significantly alter the nature of the communication itself without changing a single word. A vast range of intonations can radically change spoken language, and these variances in pitch, expression and emphasis, which often serve to indicate an emotion on the speaker’s behalf, have, as Hurford says, been shown to be very similar in spoken dialects all over the world, which would appear to indicate that they are indeed inherent (i.e. non-learned). It is in increasing our use and knowledge of the ‘learned’ aspect of language that we have grown apart from our primate relations and their ritualised, instinctive, signal-based communication. Burling however, in his absolute insistence on the mutual exclusivity of learned ‘primate calls’ (human and simian) and spoken language, appears in effect to have shut himself off from being able to reach a decisive conclusion about how exactly language came to evolve from the early, ritual-based, genetically inherited form of communication into the complex dialects spoken by humans today. He does little to hide the obvious difficulty he finds in making the leap from the â€Å"ordinary primate that could not talk to the strange human primate that can’t shut up†. Hurford takes a more inclusive view, and whilst acknowledging that ‘language proper’ is undeniably distinct and separate from ‘paralanguage’, he declares that ‘uniquely complex human language could not have evolved without the social ritualized doing-things-to-each-other scaffolding found in many other social species, including our nearest relatives, the primates’ (p.120)[9]. Given the limits of this essay it is only possible to explore [to a certain depth] a limited range of theory on the ritualistic origins of language, but the conclusion Hurford reaches appears to be a rational [and intelligent] one. Burling may be himself unable to convincingly bridge the gap between pant-hoots and human verbal discourse, but like Haiman, he does at least acknowledge that the roots of human language lie in ritualised behaviour. Haiman casts an intriguing perspective on the extent of ritualisation in language today. Certainly we may take Hurfords paralanguage, the contextualisation of spoken utterances dependent on variables such as pitch, intonation and volume as an example of ritualisation occurring from instinctive signal transmission. Having demonstrated, with his example of the dancing flies, an example of ritualisation resulting from repetition, Haiman expands the concept and explores the phenomenon of ritualisation occurring from what he calls grammaticalization – the transformation of the significance of verbal markers. Quoting Brophy and Partridge, he provides an example of soliders so inured to the word fuck, that its effect is practically reversed: So common indeed was [the word fuck] in its adjectival form that after a short time the ear refused to acknowledge it and took in only the noun to which it was attachedIt became so common that an effective way for the soldier to express emotion was to omit this word. Thus, if a sergeant said Get your f***ing rifles! it was understood as a matter of routine. But if he said Get your rifles! there was an immediate implication of emergency and danger. (Brophy and Partridge 1931: 16f) (p.9)[10] This look at a handful of theories relating to one of the most widely considered topics of language does, for all the various differences within, seem to point towards the fact that ritualistic behaviour was indeed an important, if not necessary step in the development of complex language as we know it today. The terms ritual and ritualisation are widely open to interpretation, but a brief glimpse at some of Haimans theories and examples of the ritualisation of modern language goes at least some way towards demonstrating the presence and significance of ritual still present in our spoken language today. Bibliography Boysson-Bardies, B (1991) â€Å"How Language Comes to Children†: MIT Press, Cambridge Burling, R (2005) â€Å"The Talking Ape†: Oxford University Press, UK Ellis, A Beattie, G (2005) â€Å"The Psychology of Language and Communication†: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hove and London, UK Hurford, James R (2007) â€Å"Language in the Light of Evolution: Volume 1, The origins of Meaning†: Oxford University Press, UK Krebs, J.R Davies, N.B (Ed) (1984) â€Å"Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach†: Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford McWhorter, J (2001) â€Å"The Power of Babe: A Natural History of Language†: William Heinemann, London Pagliuca, W (Ed) (1994) â€Å"Perspectives on Grammaticalization†: John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam Penner, J.G (2000) â€Å"Evolution challenged by language and speech†: Minerva Press, London 1 Footnotes [1] Burling, R (2005) â€Å"The Talking Ape† [2] ibid [3] Burling, R (2005) â€Å"The Talking Ape† [4] Pagliuca, W (Ed) (1994) â€Å"Perspectives on Grammaticalization† [5] Burling, R (2005) â€Å"The Talking Ape† [6] ibid [7] Hurford, James R (2007) â€Å"Language in the Light of Evolution [8] Hurford, James R (2007) â€Å"Language in the Light of Evolution [9] ibid [10] Pagliuca, W (Ed) (1994) â€Å"Perspectives on Grammaticalization†

Interactive Museum Experiences :: essays papers

Interactive Museum Experiences â€Å"I am Richard Nixon, president from 1969 to 1974. I was a lawyer and studied at Duke University Law. I died in 1994,† says Marjorie Cozzens, age 8 (Dooley, 2003, p. F4). The third grade class at Karigon Elementary School, of which Marjorie is a member, were preparing for the opening of their Presidential Wax Museum on Friday, March 7, 2003. Marjorie’s third grade teacher, Renee Bortolini has her class choose a president, learn about them, and on Friday, the students will put their hard work together to create their very own wax museum. The wax museum serves a purpose to help the students learn through an interactive museum experience. Hands on learning helps the students to experience the lesson being taught as well as helping them to apply class instruction to real world applications. Many students are more apt to receive and understand information through visual techniques. Interactive museums can provide teachers with classes and seminars, which help them to incorporate a field trip, plus the pre- and post-work, into an acceptable curriculum. Certain techniques are also beneficial for museums to follow when they are setting up special exhibits. Overall, interactive museum experiences are beneficial to both student and teacher. Techniques used in developing interactive museums Many different techniques are used to develop a children’s interactive museum. Physical objects, including the exhibits and activities should be scaled down to size and should also be built with the mental capacity of elementary school children in mind. Exhibits should not be difficult to understand, and activities should be easy to follow. Multiple items of interest included into one exhibit tend to be too difficult for the youth. When constructing an exhibit centered around a youthful audience, one item of interest should be incorporated into the exhibit so that the youth are able to understand and can follow the exhibit. Organization should also be brought into consideration, so that the student can interpret the exhibit successfully. Finally, these interactive exhibits and activities may be run by the public school district and can even be staffed by teachers (Burcaw, 1997). Within the museum, certain exhibits should be produced to help stimulate the learning abilities of younger children. A city zoo provided the community with an interactive exhibit by building two identical monkey islands side by side.

Greek Tragedy Exemplified in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare

Greek Tragedy Exemplified in Shakespeare's Hamlet For several thousands of years, drama has existed among mankind. The ancient Greeks are accredited with the creation of drama, which began as simple religious rituals and eventually evolved into the more complex forms of tragedies and comedies. The first rules of drama, not surprisingly, were also written by a Greek--the famous philosopher and intellectual, Aristotle. Aristotle took note of the what qualities created a successful dramatic piece by observing a plethora of plays written by different Greek dramatists. As a result of what he observed, Aristotle compiled a set of guidelines to define the perfect tragedy. So influential, thorough, and well crafted were his writings that many poets and playwrights since have patterned their own works after them. Aristotle noted six basic requirements for a good tragedy--plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and song. The most important of all of these is obviously the plot. The plot needs to have a beginning, which doesn't necessarily follow any event; a middle, which follows the beginning and causes the ending; and of course the finale, which is caused by the middle and does not itself cause any other event. Common sense, therefore, dictates that all of the acts need to be skillfully woven into one another instead of each act abruptly starting and abruptly ending. The last need of a good plot is the incorporation of situation reversals and scenes of recognition. These are almost always the most powerful parts of any good plot, as they invoke emotional interest in the viewer. Character is the next most important aspect of the perfect tragedy after the plot. Every tragedy needs to contain a tragic hero. A complete vil... ...oetic form of all of Shakespeare's plays is always well crafted and problems with wording are nonexistent. Hamlet also contains some of the most famous soliloquies that Shakespeare ever wrote. Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech is probably one of Shakespeare's best known speeches outside of Mark Antony's "friends, Romans, county men, lend me your ears" speech from Julius Caesar. Elements of song are also found in this play through the character Ophelia when she is in her maddened state. Hamlet is most definitely a shining example of an ideal tragedy. Its plot, characters, and wording are all masterfully crafted. It is well thought out and flows smoothly. William Shakespeare has truly embraced Aristotle's idea of the perfect tragedy through his own Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Global Shakespeare Theatre Series. 1996.

Speech: Classroom and Beloved Principal Sir/madam

Hello and a very good evening to our beloved principal sir/madam, teachers and my dear friends. Today I stand here to bid a formal goodbye to all of you. When I joined this school many years back (you may mention the correct number of years in here for your speech), I was filled with lots of doubts and of course was scared a bit. But slowly with time we all got glued so strongly that even ‘fevicol' started feeling jealous.I still remember our small mischief in the class room, teasing each other, laughing out loud on a silly joke, reading a novel in maths class, eating other's lunch boxes before break, fighting on petty issues, competitions on stages, crying over each other's shoulders, and lot more which is hidden in deep in my heart and of everyone's around here. These memories are just too valuable. These walls of our classroom have known so many great moments of our friendship and fight; these walls are like our second home.I used to hate holidays of more than 3 days as it a lways meant being away from my friends which was too unbearable and now we stand on the turning point of our life when we have to move on our different paths. God only knows if ever we would be able to meet each other later in our life or not. I am also grateful to Facebook, twitter, email and Google plus for uniting us in our friendship chain even when we leave this school. I have made countless memories that I will treasure forever.I take this farewell speech as an opportunity to thank my teachers who provided direction to our knowledge and shape to our future. I know, we're one of the naughtiest classes in the whole school but we love you all and would never forget the lessons of books as well as of life that you have taught us. Thank you everyone for making this moment a very special for all of us. I will always cherish this moment. All the very best for your future. I hope that all of you will get great success in your future. Thank you.

Advertising white chocolate

This advert will aim at introducing white chocolate in the Indian market. The following is a brief about the advisement.White chocolate is a portfolio of the Cadbury chocolate. Unlike the other chocolate which are dark purple in appearance, white chocolate comes in white milky color.   It also comes in different sizes starting with 45 gram bars, 100 gram bars, and 250 gram bars or the King size bar.   It is mostly preferred dues to it color and its grainy texture which turns very smooth in the mouth.(ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Advertising objectivesThe following will be the objectives of this advertisement putting into consideration that this will be the first time the product will be appearing in the market.; ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Induce trail usage of the product ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Intensify usage of the   product ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Build a personality brand appeal ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Generate sales lead(iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Target marketAccording to the market research data, it has been shown that white chocolate is famous among the female segment of the population. However chocolate is famous among children and therefore this advertisement will be target both market. It will be aiming at reaching both the female adult population and children(iv)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Positioning statementThis advisement will be aiming to create a brand personality around the dream. Therefore it will be expressed in such a way that it appear to the most female characteristic so that they can associate themselves with the brand.In order to create positioning through association, the advertisement the following position statement;‘My white chocolate, my dream’(v)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Key messagesThere are key message that will e expressed in this advertisement. Key among them will be the aim of creating a close association with the brand. The advertisement will look to appeal to the female market segment by associated with most of the characteristics that they like.For example the advisement will be produced in blue and white colors which have been found favorite among women.The other message that the advertisement will be taking across to the consumer is price advantage. Although there is not close competitor in the white chocolate market, it is clear that the chocolate the dark chocolate has dominated the market. Therefore it will be looking at appealing to the population to consider switching on to the white chocolate due to its price advantage.Media planThe marketing plan will use three channels for advertisement. These will include broadcast media, print media, and internet.

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Multi-Racial Society Essay

Nowadays 99% of the modern world countries have become a multiracial society, whether it is relative to their language, religion , culture, or traditions . Also universities , schools and other societies have become multiracial, it is not necessary for the whole country . And today with all aspects of economical, social and other types of growth , it is distinguishably linked to the globalization and the immigration of people to other countries, which has become more and more common . But can a multiracial community exist with no problems attached ? A multiracial society is very rich in culture heritage , where you get the opportunity to learn about other cultures. A multi-racial society is also a multi-linguist society so people living in such societies benefit from the richness of languages and are thus able to speak different languages , there is also a wide variety of traditions, customs and festivals that are being carried out in such countries. In addition with the fusion of cultures food becomes national, people are able to eat a wider variety of food, learning to prepare them in different ways, even celebrations of festivals become national. In addition a multi-racial society teaches people how to respect and understand the religion and cultures of others. Therefore this leads to tolerance. Moreover multi nationality makes the country more dynamic because there are people who come from different places and this can help to develop new ideas about how to make our lives better. In these multi-racial societies very often there are misunderstandings, which lead to conflict . Fanaticism is another factor, which creates conflicts in a multi-racial society. These conflicts and divisions between people is further increased by politicians who practice racial and ethnic politics, only to obtain votes. Fanaticism also encourages people in becoming racist which then leads to intolerance and misunderstandings. Not to mention that sometimes some religions in some societies get stereotyped in an insulting way, which creates clashes between two cultures or more . To conclude I will say that peace remains very fragile, it can break at any time. So we should not let anyone gamble with it. We should neither allow ourselves to be manipulated by the governments nor the people in power.

Child Poverty in the UK Essay

Poverty means people are unable to live their lives to the minimum standard of the society in which they live. Inadequate income is the overall deciding factor of poverty when basic material needs cannot be met and people are excluded from taking part in their society because of this situation. Third world countries are the stereotypical places that people associate with poverty yet according to The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP, 2012) there are 3. 6 million children living in poverty in the UK today. That’s 27 per cent of children, or more than one in four. Therefore, the face of poverty is now a child from a heavily populated urban area in the UK, living in poor quality social housing, where local governments are operating on reduced budgets and wages for the employed aren’t sufficient enough to cover the rising costs of childcare. The effects of child poverty in the UK create a cycle of intergenerational poverty including poor health, low educational attainment and limited social mobility. Children need to be educated to a standard to enable them to gain employment, contribute to society and therefore eliminate the cost to our society. Barnardos (2012), states that the risk of children living in poverty is greatly dependent upon circumstance. The unemployed face benefit cuts resulting in low income; large families are at risk due to increased costs in providing for additional children and young parents just beginning in the world of employment will earn low salaries due to their age. Working families and lone parents deal with government cuts to tax credits; closures of Sure Start Centres and are living on the ‘bread line’ because the minimum wage is low and often they do not progress onto higher paid jobs or better prospects in employment. Children from poor families show low levels of educational attainment as supported by (End Child Poverty, 2012) where it is stated that â€Å"poverty predicts educational outcomes† and children from poor backgrounds do not perform as well academically or achieve the qualifications required to secure well-paid jobs. Therefore, the cycle of poverty remains unbroken, which is a result of intergenerational poverty. A restricted benefits system along with low paid jobs creates an economic inequality gap as suggested by (TED, 2011) which results in limited social mobility. According to The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, 2012), children that have low educational attainment also become disadvantaged in other areas of their lives. This can be carried into adulthood limiting their employability and the opportunity for progression. Behavioural and psychological issues arise from educational failures and feelings of social inequality and personal failure can contribute towards on-going mental health problems. Therefore, it is apparent that child poverty increases health issues and costs to The National Health Service (NHS) spanning several years of a person’s life time. D Acheson (1998) draws attention to how poverty effects maternal health and increases low birth weights which are linked to disabilities, poor physical and emotional health in childhood and even deaths. This again is the result of the poverty cycle which creates a long term social cost as argued by Polly Toynbee (BBC Today, 2011) where the view is held that child poverty is creating a social deficit that is becoming harder to get out of. To stop this social deficit growing there are changes that need to be made by the government and by society as a whole to eradicate child poverty. As concluded in the research by D Hirsch, (2006) increased benefits and tax credits directed specifically towards poor families and extra payments for larger families are needed. Provisions for affordable child care will give incentives to work and enable parents to be able to afford to work. Looking longer term to solve the problem, emphasis is made upon educating the parents of tomorrow by supporting the disadvantaged in education now. The government’s commitment to end child poverty, (Child Poverty Act 2010) has, according to L Judge (2012, p. ) shown significant improvement in educational attainment and students staying on in further education as well as a decrease in income poverty, mental health issues and homelessness. There are many charities campaigning from different angles and in different problematic areas to end child poverty; for example, Barnardos (2012 ) are campaigning for a fairer and more accessible financial system through banks and post offices, since their investigation revealed that poor families are vulnerable to having to pay extortionate prices to purchase essential items they need via expensive rent-to-own schemes . Society must acknowledge and take responsibility for the snowballing effects of child poverty as it is partly to blame for its existence. Decisions in voting for government along with attitudes held by people within the UK can fuel child poverty’s growth or eradicate its existence. Just as poverty limits a child’s potential, this in the long term limits society and the economies chance to reach its full potential, thus affecting all inhabitants within the UK whether or not they are rich or poor. To ensure a healthy, positive, lucrative, secure and trusting future environment for all to live in, society today must care about the existence of the next generation and care about today’s children in their communities. In this day and age in a country considered rich within Europe, there should not be children going hungry, missing education or feeling the cold. Children are vulnerable and they have only adults to rely on to make the right decisions for them and to guide them. These are the reasons why we should care about Child Poverty in the UK because it is the responsibility and duty of society to care.