Obsessive looks

Do you find it so annoying when people spend too much time focussing on the way they look? Well I do. It is just so frustrating when people should I have my hair like this, this, or this. The same person over and over asks me this everyday. ‘Very irritating’. People spend too much time on their makeup or deciding what clothes to wear. Who cares!

   This isn’t something that has just occurred but has been going on for a long time. People spend too much time and money fussing over themselves.  They are becoming insecure or envious to the way they look. They just have the need to do it. I don’t understand: what is the point. You can never truly change who you are. You can do exercise to become finer, put on fake tan to look like you have been on a really expensive holiday but you can never change you innersole. Who are you putting the act on for? People don’t judge you by your looks. It is just annoying.

The media and the ignorance of Celebes do not prevent people being obsessed with them self. The technologies that we have today can litary do anything. It can change a person’s look completely. Celebes looking like they are anorexic. What can we believe in society today?

    It doesn’t matter the way that somebody looks it matters who they are in their personality. Also if someone bullies you because of the way you look just try and ignore they have probably experienced the same problem as you before and need to take it out on somebodyelse. They may also be doing it for attention, never change who you are just to become popular. Everybody has their own special thing inside them that makes them who they are. Never change it unless it is for the better. People will like you if you just be yourself.

Sarah

High Flying Hooligans

One thing I cant stand is them pesky Pimped out boy racers.  They really get on my wick! They drive dangerously around our  streets with their music played for the whole street to hear, with noisy exhaust defining everyone in its path. Who do they think they are?

Whats even more annoying about it is they pimp the worst cars. They drive around in small, cheap cars yet  drive them around like there Ferraris. They crave attention, but im not sure they realise how stupid it looks. They put their own and other peoples lives at risk by driving around like maniacs. For example last week as I left school I saw two young hooligans drifting round corners nearly hitting two students. What has the world come too?

Do you believe spoilt children become spoilt brats?”

Many of my friends enjoy looking more expensive to impress the people around them. Typical teenager. My friend always has to wear the designer clothing as it “shows that your wealthy” and “makes you stand out from others”, but I question these statements How do you stand out from the others if everyone prefers to buy the latest fashion, and maybe it does show that your more wealthy but it could possibly suggest that you prefer to spend your parents money on looking a certain image that everyone else copies as a reflection. I believe that the maturity of spoilt children turn out to be incapable adults, less aware of how the outside world works compared to teenagers luxurious and lavish lifestyles that they prefer to keep tight-knit to feel more protected. I can’t say that its completely the parents fault, I mean teenagers are always copying “celebrity idols” and their friends as teenagers believe that they are the beacon of hope to a more glamorous and brighter future. The more and more teenagers that pursue this lifestyle the more determined they are going to be to get what they want, the young men and women that I have encountered that have a more rich and wealthy lifestyles have come across the more aggressive and ill mannered to other people. What do you think?

 How much do you get spoilt? Lots of teenagers nowadays feel the need to indulge themselves in bling, designer clothing and the latest technology. Does it ever get to a point were parents spend too much on their teenagers? Do you believe that spoilt children become spoilt brats?

Eloise

Breathing

Today I took a breath. Some people would think it is just the normal process of breathing in oxygen, having it rush through your lungs and then expelling carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. But really breathing is something else. Breathing is a very simple sign that you are alive. Some people go to sleep one night and find out they are no longer breathing. However, we get the chance to carry on breathing every… single...day. We should be using the time we have on this Earth to do something with our lives. To make a difference. We shouldn’t go around smoking, doing drugs or taking up alcoholism like modern society pressures us to. We should be using it to do big and small things. We can donate to charity, give blood, help build a house, help at shelters for people and animals.

And remember, the next time you take a breath think about all the good things you have been given. A family, a home, food, drink , education and LIFE.

BY ANITA

AWKWARD MOMENTS

Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes every once in a while, from tripping on your shoelace, to dropping your phone. Many people look over simple mistakes, or an awkward moment. Except for people in school. A simple mistake, whether due to an accident or ignorance, can stay with you for years.

I know people who join and screw up their first impression, who wear embarrassing clothes on non-uniform day, who have awkward mannerisms or just try to be funny and fall flat on their face. It seems even an awkward moment can ruin a relationship with a friend, or a crush.

I know of a “friend” who did it all wrong. He had a bad first impression, being awkward and solitary. When he snapped out of the solitary part, the awkwardness still carried on. When he made a stupid error, he never heard the end of it. I feel sorry for him in a way.

Awkward moments linger. Having an awkward moment, say, a year ago, ruins your day, and anything closely resembling it a year later just triggers a horrible feeling. Just writing this I get reminded of 2 or 3.

To deal with them, I try not to make them happen, and if it does, say, I laugh it off, as having a negative reaction lingers, but being positive about your mistakes turn it into a funny memory. Having a positive thing to look back on will make you feel good, instead of being embarrassed.

A Compliment Paid

Tugging at a straw with her teeth, she consumed the liquid, emerging for a second to smile at how little of the liquidised food she had actually eaten. “What’s that?” I venture to ask only to be met with a cascade of information about the latest ‘diet’ on which she has embarked, her size zero jeans hanging off of her waist as she tells me how she has lost 10 pounds in just one week. 10 pounds in a week. I’m left to question “is that even healthy?” But perhaps my mouth would not have dropped open with such vigour if she had needed to loose any weight at all.

You see, it really grates on me when people can’t see things how they really are. Its like they are blind to any compliments that they receive always proclaiming that they’re ‘ugly’ when somebody else compliments their new haircut or in this case that they are ‘fat’ when they’re clearly not.

A compliment is not something to be thrown around and when someone compliments you it may just be easy to brush it off with a simple shake of the head, or a remark about how they are wrong. But in essence, if somebody compliments you, they really mean what they say. And instead of disagreeing with them maybe you should listen, because they may just be right.

Megan W

Britain's Got Talent - kids v adults?

Should children be allowed on Britain got talent?

Earlier this week Bruce Forsyth went on radio  and said that he likes Britains Got Talent, but he does not think that it should be for children because it would be too much of an ordeal for them and its not a good idea to put kids of that age through it. He said that instead Simon Cowell should make another Britains Got Talent for children called "Britains Children's Got Talent". During the week both sides of the argument have been stated, on episodes of Britains Got Talent,  but mainly by judges and acts, but the question remains should there be another show?

We believe that children on tv shows such as BGT tend to get the sympathy vote or the "aww factor", when other deserving acts tend to get the boot.

On the other hand though if you have got talent nothing should stop you! And also many famous singers were recognised from a young age - what's wrong with that? Giving children opportunities and broadening their horizon gives them more options in the future.

In the end we believe  children  should be able to show their talents but on a different show.  We think it would be less pressure because they are not going against experienced adults, they are going against people their same age and roughly the same experience.

Written by Suen, Tyler and Megan 

Some people just hate everything

Now, I know that everyone hates something or has something that annoys them. But there are some people that hate absolutely everything. It really frustrates me because they are the ones that don’t know how lucky they are to be alive.

There are plenty of examples of this in modern day life. Like when Margret Thatcher died. There were lots of people talking about how she was a horrid person and throwing parties because she has died. Even though she wasn’t perfect, it’s still horrible to treat someone with that much disrespect. 

There are lots of examples of this on the internet. There are people that will put comments on every YouTube video saying that its rubbish. And that can really hurt people’s feelings. People could do it because they are jealous or just because they are grumpy and mean.

I thank God for every day that I’m alive and that I live in a place that is quite well off. Why can’t they just realise how amazing that their life could be if they just stop putting others down.

Reported by Megan

Drama Dramas!

The last two weeks, the teens have been working with a journalist, Jacky, from Brighton.  Jacky has challenged the young people and encouraged them to really push themselves to produce final pieces.  Over the next few days we will see some of their results....

A couple of weeks ago, I had to perform my Ks3 final piece for drama. My group was doing Pinocchio (I was Jiminy Cricket) and I was in a group with my friends Agnes and Aderiike. We had practised a lot (we were given 10 weeks to prepare) we had learnt our lines and I had put a lot of effort into our set and props. The only problem was- we are the quiet ones of the group and to be honest, compared to other people, we weren’t exactly comfortable on stage. And then it came to the day of the performance. My heart was pounding as I walked onto the stage.

To me, the performance was just 7 minutes of pain. So much went wrong during it! We had missed out parts, our props got muddled up and our set fell down during the final scene. After that, I just felt embarrassed. 

Then, last Friday, our teacher was giving us our results. I was sure I had a low level. And then when I was about to receive my results, she told me that I had the highest mark in the class. I couldn’t believe it! Our group got 20 out of 20 marks for our group work and I got 28 out of 30 marks for my performance. I got a 7a! Maybe the performance was better than I thought, maybe she liked my art skills on the set, or maybe she just felt sorry for us. Either way, I know that there were definitely better actors in my year. There are girls in that class that are talented and confident and long to be on stage. There are boys who, even though they might be annoying in class, are funny and entertaining in each and every performance they do. Yet, it was me who got the highest mark. The girl who once, had to play the donkey in the nativity play in primary school (whilst all my friends were playing angels). And even though that confuses me, it also makes me feel really happy.

Reported by Megan.

A discussion on present and future libraries:

There is a wide debate over the positives and negatives of libraries in the UK; are libraries a dying tradition, or can they be modernised to appeal to upcoming generations?

Research into the young generation’s opinion shows that due to the digital world’s dominance and accessibility, libraries have lost their purpose and significance. The birth of kindles, iPads and eBooks has allowed the world to have easy access to any form of literature they choose with less responsibility of returning it on time or keeping it in pristine condition. The absence of time limits, fines and possibilities of the desired books unavailability have seen a dramatic drop in UK libraries’ popularity. To add to this, the stereotypical view of librarians amongst the younger generations is that they are strict, unwelcoming and petty. With better things to be doing in their free time, visiting a library which has a reputation of being ‘un-cool’ is not common choice.

However, libraries do have their positives for teenagers who are faced with examinations. They offer quiet study areas outside of the house and away from any distractions where resources are easy to find and mainly free. There is also specialised help on offer and access to computers for research on specialised projects. In addition, libraries offer placements for voluntary work which enhances many young people’s personal statements for university. Computer access also allows older generations to attend courses that familiarises them with the internet and general use of a computer; this service encourages them to accept the digital age and move with the times. 

In an informal interview, some young people were questioned on where they see libraries in five years time. The widespread agreement was that they would be digital based providing free access to kindles, iPads and eBooks for the public that could not be removed from the premises. Also it was discussed that libraries would become more popular if treated like a community centre; where workshops, projects and clubs would bring the local community together.

Libraries may not appeal to everyone in the community, but their presence and resources will always have a purpose to generations to come. Perhaps the stereotypical reputation will never be removed, but as the young generation mature, they will realise the importance of libraries in the local community. 

Written by Georgia