Can I have your number ? 

It is obvious that mobile phones and social networking sites are of great importance in our everyday life. I mean have you ever scoped a room where people have been asked to turn off their phones and been amused by each individual’s facial expression when asked to put their precious “baby” to sleep. The pain that’s displayed on their faces is priceless as they all rush to send last minute texts.

Many of you are perhaps unaware that the mobile phone was first invented for those busy people in the business world. However it now exists for everyone, including young people and even children. These small, fashionable and portable devices are used mainly for communication. Nevertheless in recent years they have evolved. Your average mobile phone performs the basic tasks such as receiving, making calls and text messaging. Yet nowadays, it has many other features like a built in camera and music player. They even have internet access, making social networking sites (another one of modern life’s necessities) more accessible.

I was first given a mobile phone in 2005. I was starting secondary school and I was to keep it with me in case of an emergency. But then I began to make friends. We exchanged numbers and soon enough I was constantly ringing and texting people. Like many of you I discovered that phones had many advantages. It really is like having the world in the palm of your hand. You make appointments using its calendar feature. And thanks to its alarm clock you are never late for those important meetings. However the harsh reality of the mobile phone is that it is undoubtedly expensive.  Bill payers unknowingly make long distance phone calls and are unpleasantly surprised at the end of the month. And Pay as you go users top up like there is no tomorrow.  We must also not forget about the amount of money spent upgrading to the next best model.  It is in fact mind blowing to think there was once a time when dinosaurs roamed and people actually used a pen and paper to stay in touch!

Yes phones are important to have and there is also no denying that texting provides hours of endless enjoyment. However, I urge you all to keep one word in mind, moderation!  Cliché as it sounds; I believe life is too short to let it be totally consumed by texting etc. No one wants there last words to be “ttyl”! 

Media Magazine Maddness

As I was flicking through the pages of a magazine today I found that each page seemed to consist of the same thing, women in expensive fashionable clothing that I could never afford, famous women in bikinis showing their perfectly toned and proportioned bodies and pictures of women who were eating too much or just pictures of women who were not eating at all.

I found it difficult to approve of the pictures I was looking at because I didn’t think they really represented realistic females. But then I came across some images of women with their children. Of course most of the women pictured with their babies were celebrities but others were also ordinary ladies who had a story to share. The reason I liked these pictures were because the women looked truly happy, relaxed and proud to be photographed with their children. You see that is one of the great things about being a woman. We get to bring another life into this world. Think about it, any man who has ever done a great thing on this earth was born from a woman!

Everything in the magazine I was looking through was very stereotypical. The women all seemed to be judged by how they appeared in the picture. I even found myself forming opinions based purely on a photo. All the women were skinny, with perfect white teeth, beautiful hair and makeup done to perfection with an amazing outfit to match. These women are nothing like me .

So why do we buy these magazines? Many say it is because we want to be entertained and updated on all the latest celebrity gossip.  But personally I do not find these magazines entertaining and it seems that every famous woman always has the same news; they either have a new boyfriend or have lost or gained weight. So I will admit it, I buy the damn things because I envy their lives. But is being like these famous women really what being a woman is about?  Of course not.  I could make this blog so much longer by writing about why women, real women, are amazing but that is for another time. But I would just like to say that there are also many famous women who young girls should admire. The following ladies are my heroines - Oprah and Sophia Bush. They are strong, compassionate, their beauty goes far beyond the physical appearance, they make a difference, they accomplish great things and most of all are they do not pretend to be perfect because who is! 

Bursting Bubbles 

We have this amazing group in school called "The Peace & Social Justice Group". I was only 12 when I first joined and I didn't really understand what was going on. As I like to say , I was living in my own little bubble. But then one day this incredible thing happened. My bubble burst. I realised that I have to share this world that I live in. We all have to work together to keep it in good shape. And quite frankly we aren't all doing such a good job. Our planet is getting warmer and damaging our environment becasue we are burning fossil fuels like there is no tomorrow. . . . .

And of course I discovered that our world isn't fair. Ever hear of a thing called 80/20 ? This is one of the things I learnt in school. And once you know something , you can't unknow it.  20% of the world have 80% of the worlds wealth. How is that fair , how is that equal ? This has to change.

As a young woman I changed when I had the most amazing opportunity to go to Kenya. I spent two weeks there. I went to school with girls just like me. I took part in MDG disscussions and I learnt so much. I visited women in the slums who are suffering with HIV , such amazing women. My heros , real heros. I want to go back some day soon.

At the moment I am trying to my find my feet. I am only young and I am scared. But i'm trying to do my best. Hopefully next year I will go to college. I am one of the lucky ones due to where I was born. But someday I hope everyone  , in every country will recieve an education.

My dream is to become a teacher.  And this where it gets cheesy but I couldn't care less. I want to inspire young people especially young women like I have been. To motivate the youth to make a change. I would love to build my own schools in places where there are none. Education is freedom.

Obsessions 

Having an interest or a hobby is all well and good until it develops into an obsession. Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have them. We sometimes do not even realise we do because it actually becomes a part of who you are.  There will be those few who claim they are obsession free, but I would like to ask those individuals to think carefully. If you do things repeatedly, think about it constantly or you discover that it takes or makes up a huge portion of your life, then I believe you are clearly obsessed.

 It is obvious that having an obsession is something which we have no control over.  It becomes a drug. At first you do it just for fun, curiosity or boredom but soon enough you are addicted. I would like to use myself as an example. I was one of those people who believed that “It won’t happen to me”. But three years later I can hang my head in shame and admit I have a problem. I am addicted to Facebook.

In the beginning I used the social networking site to catch up with family and old friends. I’d check my page once or twice a week and only update my status when I had something important to say. But back then I had a life.

I discovered I had an obsession one random morning. I was extremely tired because I had neglected myself of sleep by staying up late on facebook.  And when I finally got out of bed . . . . . guess what I did?

Logging on to this site has become part of my daily routine. When I turn on the computer the first thing I check is facebook.  I update up status several times a day and then spend hours refreshing the home page waiting for someone to comment. I even have lists set up to organise my friends into groups.

Nevertheless I am not alone. I share this obsession with thousands of people. In fact 57% of people talk more to people online than in real life. 
I have discovered that being obsessed is like being in love. Once you find that thing that makes you feel happy, you become blind to everything else. 

Teenagers , Trust and Decisions 


Why do we teenagers find it hard to be trusted to make our own decisions? 

Well , I believe that the problem lies with the parents. They have a problem with letting go. 

Even though in their eyes we are still children , in the eyes of the law and society we are in fact young adults. We are making our transition into adulthood and it is at this critical time in our lives when our parents support and encouragement is greatly needed and appreciated. Parents may feel that they are helping by protecting us but they are actually hindering. They need to trust us. I myself have just turned eighteen and now have the right to vote, buy alcohol, cigarettes, buy lottery tickets; get married even use the Jacuzzi in the swimming pool !! However I can also now be prosecuted as an adult! I believe that once you turn eighteen you are automatically granted a lot of power. And with power comes great responsibility. So parents should teach that responsibility now by letting us make our own decisions . It is better to make the mistakes now rather than later.

Just A Newbie 

Honestly , I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I have never written a blog before. Infact I don't even know what a "blog" really is. Nevertheless I now have one. 

I once read that when a writer sits down to write , the page should never be blank. You should just write, its doesn't  matter what it is , even if its just one word , becasue you have to start somewhere and let that one word be the foundation.  So I'm guessing the same rule applies for a "blogger". So this is the content of my first blog , my foundation of what is to come -

One more thing . . . . . . haha , excuse me for laughing but for those of you who watch " One Tree Hill" ( I'm a huge fan by the way), well I sort of feel like Lucas . You know the way  at the start of nearly every epsoide he gives a little speech , and you can just hear his voice. Well I can hear that voice in my own head as I'm typing !